Charlesfort

Come learn more about the French and Spanish Colonial landmarks on what is now Parris Island. This island has been home to Charlesfort (1562-1563) and Santa Elena (1566-1587) as well as Native American settlements and British plantations.

• Charles Fort Archaeology Video
• Charlesfort
• Santa Elena
• Parris Island History

Circle of Inheritance

A Struggle for Power: A video by SC ETV

• A Struggle for Power
  Learn about early Spanish settlements and Charles Town Landing.
• Carolina Medley
  Watch this history of Charles Town and the influences of Barbadians, Scots, French Huguenots, and Germans.
• A World Apart
  Discover more about growth of the rest of the state as a Royal Colony, the dominance of the Anglican parishes, and colonial life at the start of the Revolution.

People

• Pinckney, Eliza Lucas
  Eliza Lucas Pinckney is best known for her experiments with creating blue dye from indigo plants.
• Timothy, Elizabeth
  Elizabeth Timothy was America’s first female newspaper editor.
• Lord Proprietors
  Find out more about each of the eight original Lord Proprietors, who were given a huge section of the North American continent to control.
• Henriette Charlotte Chastaigner by Henrietta Johnston
  Explore the pastel drawings of Henrietta Johnston, the first female professional artist in America.

Economy

Image of indigo plant by flickr user museumdetoulouse.

• Indigo
  Indigo was grown in South Carolina to make blue dye.
• Mercantilism
  Learn more about the concept of mercantilism and find out what the Southern Colonies sold or traded to other countries.
• Cow Hunters of Colonial South Carolina
  Did you know that there were black cowboys in colonial South Carolina?
• Riches to Ruin: Pharaohs of the New World
  Read this in-depth article about the rice planters that shaped the Lowcountry.
• Account from South Carolina Gazette, June 1745
  Find out what goods where being brought into and out of Charleston.

Culture

• Early Epidemics in South Carolina
  Find out what diseases were prevalent in the colonies.
• Colonial Dorchester
  Learn more about Colonial Dorchester, a town that no longer exists but that we discover through documents and archaeological remains.
• Pirates of the Lowcountry
  Pirates came to the Carolina coast to capture and steal from cargo ships.
• 1628 in the Southeast
  What was 1628 like throughout the Southern Colonies?

Slavery & The Stono Rebellion

• Contract of Indenture
  This contract was for a three year period of indenture, which was relatively uncommon in South Carolina.
• What is Gullah?
• The Lives of African-American Slaves in Carolina During the 18th Century
  Read this quick introduction to how South Carolina’s first African-Americans lived.
• The Stono Rebellion
  The slave uprising known as The Stono Rebellion took place outside of Charleston in 1739.
  • Letter from Governor Bull to the Royal Council regarding the Stono Rebellion, October 1739
• Slave Code of South Carolina, May 1740
  The Slave Code was a series of laws designed to control the slave population.
• Leg Shackles from the early 1700s
  Use your mouse to rotate the shackles to see all sides.

Charleston, South Carolina, 1671. From the Report on the Social Statistics of Cities, George E. Waring, Jr., 1887. Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin. Relations with Native Americans

• The Yamasee War
  Learn more about the Yamasee War in 1715 and its causes and consequences.
• 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.
• Fort Frederick (c1726 - c1758)
  Fort Frederick in Beaufort was built to defend against hostile Native Americans and protect trade routes.
• "A Treaty of Peace and Friendship..." Indian Treaty between the Cherokee Nation and South Carolina, 1761
  Explore one treaty between the Cherokee Nation and the colonial government designed to end the Cherokee War.

Explore with DISCUS*

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

• South Carolina Colonization
  Read about the first explorers of South Carolina and the Spanish, French, and British colonies that were formed.
• Cherokee Wars and Treaties
  Learn more about the series of wars throughout the Southern Colonies that led to tribes losing land to the colonists.
• Yamasee War
  The Yamasee War in 1715 was fought between Native Americans and British colonists in South Carolina.