South Carolina Early 19th Century

Introduction

In the years after the American Revolution, South Carolina’s

planters and farmers deserted one of their old cash crops, indigo. With the

invention of the cotton gin, cotton replaced indigo. As cotton production spread

across the state, it carried with it the plantation and slavery. Once thought to be a

dying institution, slavery was rejuvenated by cotton culture and spread not only

westward to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, but south and west to

what we now refer to as “The Deep South.”

Rice

• Rice production increased during the antebellum period all along the state’s tidal rivers.

• Georgetown County became the center of rice culture in South Carolina.

a. Some of the wealthiest men in the United States lived in the county.

b. The county also had one of the heaviest concentrations of black population of any in the state.

Cotton

• Along the coast, sea island (also called black seed and long staple) cotton was grown successfully.

• Upland (also called green seed or short staple) cotton could be grown almost anywhere, but the difficulty in separating the seeds from the cotton fiber by hand made large scale production impossible.

• The 1793 invention of the cotton gin made it possible to separate the seed from the fibers quickly and easily.

• Within a decade, cotton production had swept across South Carolina.

KING COTTON

• Because of cotton production, many South Carolinians abandoned other crops to plant more cotton.

• Cotton is a plant that leeches nutrients from the soil, so after a few years farmers and planters simply abandoned their cotton fields and cleared new ones.

• In 1820, South Carolina was the leading cotton producing state in the nation.

Business and Industry

• South Carolina was primarily an agricultural state.

• Despite the tremendous amount of cotton grown in South Carolina, there were not many textile mills.

• In 1860, there were only 17 textile mills in the state.

The Planting Ideal

• Antebellum South Carolinians developed the idea that planting was the only proper vocation for a gentleman.

• No matter how much money a person made in trade or manufacturing, he was looked down on.

• John C. Calhoun vocally opposed the development of industry in South Carolina because he saw it as a threat to the state’s way of life.

• Because of attitudes, would be manufacturers had a difficult time raising the necessary capital for plants and machinery.

• The General Assembly, dominated by the planting elite, did what it could to discourage manufacturing by not passing a general incorporation law until 1847.

Transportation

• South Carolina’s river systems, while suitable for coastal trade, were not suitable for tapping the rich cotton lands of the piedmont.

• While the elite opposed manufacturing and industry, they supported the development of transportation networks that would help them get their crops to market.

Transportation

• Like other states, South Carolina turned first to canals and by 1827 boasted that every district of the state (except Greenville) could be reached by boat!

• When the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad was completed in 1833, it was the longest railroad in the world.

• By 1860, most major towns in South Carolina were linked by railroad, but the longed for link with the Midwest, the Blue Ridge Railroad, was never completed.

Outmigration

• Between 1820 and 1860, thousands of South Carolinians left the state.

• Farmers and planters left for the better lands of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

• Businessmen found better opportunities in Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans.

• According to the 1860 census, 40% of the individuals who listed South Carolina as their birthplace lived elsewhere.

Outmigration

• South Carolinians abandoned the state in droves and few newcomers took their places.

• Because of out-migration and almost no in-migration, South Carolina went from having the largest population of any state in the Deep South to ranking ahead of only Arkansas and Florida in 1860.

The Elite

• In order the enter the ranks of the elite, a person needed wealth; however, in the 19th century how a person obtained that wealth was just as important.

• Family ties and who were one’s ancestors were more important to 19th century South Carolinians than their colonial forebears.

• With the spread of cotton, the plantation system, and slavery inland, South Carolina’s elite expanded into the upcountry.

The Middle Class

• With the development of county seats and market towns all across the state, the numbers of the middle class grew.

• White artisans, mechanics, and laborers became fewer in number in the post-Revolutionary years.

• The competition from skilled slaves and free blacks was one of the key factors in the decline of the number of white artisans, mechanics, and laborers.

Independent Farmers

• There were yeoman farmers, particularly in the upcountry, who created self-sufficient and prosperous farms.

• Unfortunately, there were thousands of South Carolina farmers who eked out a meager existence on marginal lands.

Free Persons of Color

• Beginning about 1750, some South Carolinians had begun to manumit (free) some of their slaves.

• By the 19th century there was a small community of free blacks in Charleston and another in Columbia.

• Because South Carolina’s had the least repressive laws concerning free blacks, free blacks from other Southern states and the West Indies migrated here in small numbers.

• As the tensions between North and South increased, free blacks were harassed and they began to leave the state for Liberia, Canada, and the North.

Religion in SC

• The Episcopalians (Church of England)- Although small in numbers, it was a powerful force in the state because it was the church of the elite.

• The Methodists- an outgrowth of the old Church of England but were more evangelical and enthusiastic in their worship than Episcopalians.

• The Baptists- one of the oldest denominations in the state; there had been Baptists in South Carolina since the 17th century. By the Civil War, the Baptists were the largest denomination in the state.

Religion in SC

• The African Methodist Episcopal- This denomination originated in Philadelphia in 1787 when blacks withdrew from the Methodist Church to form their own.

• In a few short years it became not only one of the largest churches in the state but also one of the largest AME churches in the country.

Higher Education

• For nearly a half century, the South Carolina College (USC) was the only real college in the state because the General Assembly refused to grant charters for any competing schools.

• In 1850, the General Assembly relented and permitted the chartering of colleges operated by the various denominations.

• Erskine (Associate Reformed Presbyterian) was founded in 1837

• Furman (Baptist) was founded in 1850.

• Wofford (Methodist) was chartered in 1851

Secondary Education

• Private schools dotted the landscape from the mountains to the sea.

• Wealthy families still employed tutors or sent their children to England and Europe for their schooling.

• An 1811 act of the General Assembly created 124 “public schools,” but they were poorly funded and had the stigma of being “paupers’ schools.”

• Charleston’s School System, inaugurated in 1856 and modeled after that of New York City, was an instant success and attracted children of all classes.

• In 1860, less than 50% of the school age children in the state attend schools of any sort.