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www.discoversouthcarolina.com/

www.state.sc.us

 

 

 

#     Entered Union   Year Settled

8th         May 23, 1788      1670

 

Nickname

Palmetto State

 

Rank      Population

24th       4,479,800

 

Rank      Square Miles

40th       32,020

 

State Bird

Carolina Wren

Wild Turkey (state wild game bird)

 

State Flower

Yellow Jessamine

Goldenrod (state wildflower)

 

State Tree

Cabbage Palmetto

 

State Motto

Dum spiro spero               Animis opibusque parati               While I breathe, I hope 

Ready in soul and resource

 

Settled by the English in 1670, South Carolina was based on a plantation culture with an aristocratic, wealthy society that was dependent on black slave labor. One of the original 13 colonies, South Carolina was first formed in 1729 when the Carolina colony was divided in two to form North and South Carolina.

 

The attack on Fort Sumter in the Charleston harbor launched the Civil War. After the war, the structure of the state changed. Today South Carolina honors its history and culture while also working to become a global business center. It is fitting that the state tree of the "Palmetto State" is the cabbage palmetto, which also appears on the state flag. The capital is Columbia.

 

Cowpens Battlefield Fourth of July Event

Some historians say that the battle at Cowpens, near Chesnee, South Carolina, was the single most brilliantly planned and fought battle of the Revolutionary War. This was thanks to a clever strategy on behalf of an American general. Do you know what happened?

 

During the battle, on January 17, 1781, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan did two things -- he predicted how the British would react and he took advantage of mistakes that the British troops made. At one point, he ordered his men to retreat, and the British, thinking they had won the battle, charged forward. Then, the Americans surrounded the British and defeated them. The victory at Cowpens inspired Americans to continue the war to victory at Yorktown, Virginia.

 

On the Fourth of July, the National Park Service celebrates at Cowpens National Battlefield with people in period costumes and demonstrations of life and battle during the Revolutionary War. It all ends with a great display of fireworks.

 

Yap Ye Iswa (Day of the Catawba)

The Catawba Indians used to inhabit the territory around the Catawba River in North and South Carolina. In the 17th century the Catawba, which means "people of the river," numbered about 5,000, but by the end of the 20th century there were only about 1,200 descendants of the Catawba, who lived around Rock Hill, South Carolina. The last known speaker of the Catawba language, Red Thunder Cloud, a singer and storyteller, died in January 1996.

 

The heritage of the Catawba is celebrated by the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project, which holds a festival every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving -- Yap Ye Iswa (Day of the Catawba). The festival is a way for the Catawba to celebrate their culture and share it with people of all backgrounds.

 

The festival begins with a calling song performed by the River Spirit drum group with the Grand Entry of tribal veterans, dancers and drummers. After the Grand Entry, various tribal drum groups play while tribal dancers perform traditional Catawba dances. A puppet show based on Catawba folklore and in the Catawba language is presented, as well as video presentations on the Catawba culture.

 

Charleston Surrendered

Soldiers are coming! Yankee soldiers! Quick, pack your bags.

 

Imagine that tomorrow is February 18, 1865, the day the mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, will surrender control of the city to the Union Army. The Union General William T. Sherman is on his way and you have to leave.

 

What will you take with you? Clothes? A favorite toy? Food? The citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, had less than a day to decide what to pack. In wagons and carriages, on horseback and on foot, the people of Charleston moved sadly past war-damaged buildings on their way out of the city.

 

South Carolina had been deeply involved in the Civil War from the start. Like other Southern states, South Carolina believed in and defended slavery. Before the war, the state was the first to declare it no longer wanted to be part of United States of America. Then, in April 1861, Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and the war began. It took four years for the Union to recapture the fort.

 

On July 10, 1863, the Union Army began an attack on the city that continued for almost two years. People lost their lives and many buildings were destroyed. When Charleston finally surrendered to the North it was a sad day for Confederates, but a happy day for those who did not like slavery and wanted the Union to stay together. How would you feel if you had lived in Charleston during the war?