South Carolina Historical Timeline


	South Carolina Historical Timeline

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DATE	EVENT
1566	A Spanish settlement is established at Santa Elena (Parris Island).
1663	Charles II grants the region of Carolina to eight Lords Proprietors.
1669	The Lords Proprietors approve the Fundamental Constitution of Carolina, written by the philosopher John Locke, which guarantees religious freedom in Carolina.
March 1670	The first permanent English settlement was made at Albemarle Point (Charles Town).
1680	Charles Town is moved to Oyster Point. 45 French Protestants (Hugenots) arrive from England.
1693	The populace is granted power to initiate legislation.
1695	Approximately 500 French Huguenots live in and around Charles Town.
1698	The first library is established in Charles Town by Thomas Bray.
1700	Hurricane strikes Charleston.
November 30, 1706	The province is divided into 12 parishes as the Church of England becomes the state church.
1713- 1719	The South Carolina region separated from North Carolina and became a royal colony. Records were kept in Charleston.
1715 - 1717	Yemassee Indian Wars.
1730	Nine townships are laid out to extend the settlement and provide for a better defense. Boundary lines, defining the two Carolinas, are begun but not completed until 1815. Settlers began to move into the interior when the colonial government provided incentives for landowners in new townships.
September 1739	"Stono's Rebellion" - insurrection of slaves on Stono River plantations.
November 30, 1755	Joseph Salvador purchases land near Fort Ninety Six for Jewish settlement.
1760 - 1761	The Cherokee War ended in a treaty that opened the Up Country for settlement. The Bounty Act of 1761 offered public land tax free for ten years, and settlers from other colonies began pouring into the Up Country.
1769	Nine original judicial districts were established, but records continued to be kept in Charleston until 1785. "Regulators" attempt to suppress horse-stealing and arson in the inland settlements.
1783	Charles Town is renamed Charleston.
1785	Legislation passed by the General Assembly laid out counties in each of the judicial districts and established county courts.
1788	South Carolina became a state. The state government was moved from Charleston to Columbia in 1790, although some functions remained at Charleston until after the Civil War.
1790	The capital is moved from Charleston to Columbia to ease the struggle between the aristocratic Low country and the poorer, industrial Up country.
1830 - 1840	Overseas immigration to South Carolina, which had begun to decline about 1815, virtually ceased in this decade.
1860	South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. The Civil War began there in 1861. About 63,000 men from the state served in the Confederate armed forces.
1868	South Carolina was readmitted to the Union. Districts are now called counties. Townships are created.

Compiled by Victoria Proctor, 1996-2001

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