Primary Documents

The House Museum at Middleton Place outside of Charleston was built by Henry Middleton in 1755. Image is courtesy of flickr user rethought.

• Indian Trader John Lawson’s Journal of Carolina, 1709
  Read the journal of a trader who described the people, animals, plants, and landscape of the frontier in the Carolinas.
• "He Lov’d the English Extraordinary Well": Enoe Will Guides John Lawson Through the Carolina Interior, 1709
  This account comes from John Lawson, an explorer who traveled through the interior, meeting Native Americans and describing the natural world around him.
• Letters of Thomas Newe to His Father, from South Carolina (1682)
  Can you visualize Charles Town in 1682 from this letter of a 27 year colonist to his father in Barbados?
• Robert Horne, A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina (1666)
  This pamphlet was designed to entice English men and women to migrate to the colony.

People & Places

• Charles Fort
  Watch this video of archaeologists working to discover the history of Charles Fort, the earliest French settlement in America.
• Routes of South Carolina Explorers
  This map shows the routes of 5 explorers that first came to South Carolina.
• Francisco de Chicora
  Francisco de Chicora was an Indian slave from South Carolina who was brought back to Spain in 1521.
• Blackbeard
  Learn the true story of the legendary pirate captain.
• Eighteenth Century Overseers
  Find out what archeologists have learned about life as an overseer in the 18th century.
• The Walled City of Charleston
  Did you know that Charleston used to have a thick wall around it for protection?
  • The Walled City

Maps

• Mapping Charleston
  These interactive maps show the history of Charleston in a unique format.
• Colonial Maps
  Choose from a wide variety of maps that show what South Carolina looked like as a colony and where people lived.
• Degrees of Latitude: Mapping Colonial America
  Learn more about how maps were made and used in Colonial America.

Culture

Polly Ouldfield of Winyah, ca. 1761 by Jeremiah Theus, a Swiss-born painter who moved to South Carolina around 1735. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

• Contract of Indenture
  This contract was for a three year period of indenture, which was relatively uncommon in South Carolina.
• Gibbes Colonial Art Tour
  Discover portraits from colonial South Carolina and meet the subjects and artists.
• Furniture of the American South
  Take a look at chairs, clocks, tables, and other furniture made in South Carolina and other southern colonies.
• Cow Hunters of Colonial South Carolina
  Did you know that there were black cowboys in colonial South Carolina?
• Cattle Brand Records, 1697-1699
  Livestock in the colonies was branded to identify ownership.

Nature

• "The Scourging Wrath of God:" Early Hurricanes in Charleston, 1700 -1804
  The early years of Charleston were beset with several hurricanes that did considerable damage to property and lives.
• Southern Nature: Scientific Views of the Colonial American South
  Learn more about the naturalists who explored and recorded the natural history of the southern colonies.

Explore with DISCUS*

* Requires access to the DISCUS databases. Learn more here.

• Back Country
  Find out the history of the Back Country, or Up Country, of the colonies.
• Dr. Henry Woodward
  Dr. Henry Woodward was an early English settler and explorer who made several alliances with Indian tribes.
• South Carolina Colonization
  Read a quick history of the colonization of South Carolina, from the first French colony to the American Revolution.