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South Carolina Counties Page

South Carolina


South Carolina Counties Page


History

The colony of Carolina was settled by 8 aristocrats, mostly from Barbados, sent by King Charles II to create a proprietary colony. King Charles gave the 8 aristocrats a royal charter to settle Carolina (Carolina is Latin for "Charles land") because earlier in time the 8 aristocrats helped him regain his throne...Carolina was settled to make profit from trade and also by selling land. John Locke, an English philosopher, wrote a constitution, or plan of government, for the colony that covered topics such as land divisions and social rankings. There was a problem though, not a lot of people bought land in Carolina so large areas of land were sold cheaper. Thus Carolina was born.

Carolina did not develop as planned. It split into northern and southern Carolina, creating two totally different colonies. It separated because of political reasons. Carolina's settlers wanted political power. In 1719 settlers in southern Carolina seized control from its proprietors. Then, in 1729, Carolina became two royal colonies- North Carolina and South Carolina. Farmers from inland Virginia settled northern Carolina. They grew tobacco, and sold timber and tar. The northern Carolina coast lacked a good harbour, so many of the farmers used Virginia's ports to conduct their trade. Southern Carolina, however, prospered from fertile farmland and the great harbours such as the harbour at Charles Town.

On March 15, 1776, the colony declared its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government, under the leadership of South Carolina President John Rutledge, the first colony to do so. On February 5, 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the American Constitution as an entity - the Articles of Confederation. However, in 1780, South Carolinian loyalists to the British crown helped British troops recapture South Carolina from the previously successful rebels...The current United States Constitution was proposed for adoption by the States on September 17, 1787, and South Carolina was the 8th state to ratify it, on May 23, 1788.

South Carolina originally consisted of small parishes and a number of large districts. In 1785, 34 counties were established within the older districts. In 1800, the counties in most of the large districts were converted to districts and the older districts were abolished. In 1868, all the districts were converted to counties.

Modern Day Adjacent Counties

South Carolina borders the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia to the south and west and North Carolina to the north.

Resources

South Carolina Modern Day County Map
See Wikipedia for SC Modern Day County Information
Original Probate Records from estate files and loose papers for South Carolina counties at FamilySearch.org
Original Probate Records from bound volumes for South Carolina counties at FamilySearch.org
South Carolina Department of Archives and History - Record and Image Search


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