The Founding of Charles Towne
The origins of Charleston are rooted in the English Civil War of 1642. The primary cause was a serious disagreement
between King Charles I and Parliament over a concept known as the "divine rights of kings". This concept implied
that kings received their dispensation to rule directly from God, rather than from the consent of their subjects. The
king was firmly in the pro-divine camp, and Parliament was firmly against it. So, like the reasonable educated men
they were, they started a war. The Parliamentary forces were led by a Puritan named Oliver Cromwell and by 1649 they
were celebrating their victory. In defeat, King Charles I lost two things: first, he lost his crown, and second, he lost
his head.
For the first time in its history, Great Britian was a commonwealth and under the rule of a commoner. When Cromwell
died in 1658 his son, Richard, tried to take over a leader of the government, but he was a mere shadow of the man his
father had been. This created an opportunity for the English aristocracy to return to power. In 1660, the son of
Charles I (conveniently named Charles II), returned from exile in France and was restored to the throne of England.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry: In contrast to the stern and bleak rule of the Puritans, Charles II became known as the
Merry King. If you've ever heard the expression "eat, drink and be merry", it came from the Restoration period of
English history. After a decade of Puritanical rule, the English went wild. Debauchery, drinking, and gambling all
became standard practice. Charles II himself, sired over 100 illegitimate children with as many of 18 different women.
Lords Proprietors: In order to convey his appreciation for their help in his return to power Charles II rewarded eight
men. On March 24, 1663, the eight Lords Proprietors (as they were to be called) received their charter from King
Charles II for the Carolina colony. The Carolina colony at the time consisted of present day North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, northern Florida, and all the land west of that region to the Pacific Ocean. These eight men put up
the money for the venture of settling a colony in Carolina with the ultimate aim of growing rich from their
investment. In this way Charleston differed from many of the early settlements in America. In the beginning Charles
Town was not a Royal colony, it was a private business venture. Since these noblemen were not going to leave their
comfortable life in England for the harsh reality of colonizing an untamed wilderness, they offered 75 acres of land for
every freeman who volunteered plus an additional 50 acres for each of his party. The group consisted primarily of low-
income working-class folk who saw this as an opportunity to better their lives.
In early April 1670 the ship Carolina and a sloop Three Brothers sailed into what is now Charleston harbor. The ships
landed a few miles up the Ashley River in an area called Albermarle Point, and was named Charles Towne. It was the
third successful English colony in America, after Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.
By 1672 the Carolina colony had a population of over 400; it was then that the leaders began to think about relocating
the settlement across the Ashley River to the peninsula. There were two major reasons for moving the settlement:
- The original Charles Towne was a haphazard settlement. The buildings, both public and private, had been erected
in a random fashion; there were no defined streets. That was in direct violation of the wishes of the Lords
Proprietors who had commissioned a "Grand Modell" for the settlement. The "Grand Modell" called for wide,
straight streets running perpendicular to each other, creating well defined lots and blocks.
- Mosquitoes. The colonists noticed that the sea breezes on the peninsula drastically reduced the mosquito
population, making life miserable rather than intolerable. Medical science at that time had no idea that
mosquitoes carried malaria. All they knew was that in the low-lying swamp lands people came down with "swamp
fever."
By 1680 the move was complete, and the colony began its first period of prosperity. By 1700 the population was
approaching 2000, making Charles Towne the fifth largest city in America after Boston, New York, Philadelphia and
Newport.
The Walled City, Pirates and the "Bloodless Revolution"
By 1704 Charles Towne was a walled city. The colony was under constant threat from hostile Indians, Spaniards from
St. Augustine, Florida, and pirates. The walled city area was about 50 acres, containing about twelve blocks. There
were six fortified bastions along the wall and a drawbridge at the intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets. Four of
the bastions are marked with plaques throughout the city. Each marker contains a map that illustrates the locations
of the bastions and the perimeters of the walls of Charles Towne.
Indians: The Yemassee Indian War of 1715 was the bloodiest and most threatening even to early Charles Towne. The
Yemassee Indians, in an alliance with fifteen other Indian nations, including the Creeks, took up the "bloody stick"
and swept through the countryside from Charles Towne down the coast to present day Hilton Head, burning and
killing. There was soon a force of six hundred Indians within striking distance of Charles Towne. Governor Craven
declared martial law, sent to England for supplies and support, raised an Army and fought the Indians all over
Carolina for the next twenty months. The Lords Proprietors were slow to respond to the call for assistance. By the end
of the war, resentment against the Proprietors was strong, with many calling for outright revolution against the
Proprietory government. In 1717 agents of Charles Towne sailed to London and presented their case before
Parliament.
Pirates: One of the other most prominent threats to the city was pirates. When pirates first appeared in Charles
Towne they weren't considered a threat because their targets were the Spanish galleons from St. Augustine carrying
treasures to Spain. In fact, many merchants welcomed the pirates with open arms because they sold their booty for a
fraction of its value and spent their money in the city's taverns.
However, by 1710, the pirates had begun attacking English merchant ships, and the citizens did an about-face on their
opinion of pirates. The most infamous pirate of the era was Blackbeard (Edward Teach), and his first protégé, Stede
Bonnet. Bonnet was a most usual pirate because he was an educated aristocrat who apprenticed himself to Blackbeard
and a few years later, he was plundering merchants ships along the Atlantic coast. Blackbeard and Bonnet blockaded
Charlestown harbor in May of 1718 for three days and took several locals as hostage. Blackbeard demanded a ransom
which was paid by the city. The pirates then fled the city.
In September 1718, Col. William Rhett, commander of the Charles Towne militia, set out for Cape Fear, North
Carolina, a known pirate hangout. Rhett had received news that Blackbeard was in the area. Rhett arrived with two
ships and after a protracted battle, the Charlestown militia was able to capture Bonnet and his crew. Back in
Charlestowne, the pirates were imprisoned. Stede Bonnet, having promised on his honor as a gentleman not to
attempt an escape, was placed under house arrest. At first opportunity, Bonnet escaped. He disguised himself as a
women and headed for Sullivan's Island, hoping to be rescued by other pirates. However, Col. Rhett rounded up a
posse and recaptured Bonnet. On December 10, 1718 Bonnet and his crew were hanged at White Point Gardens (entry
#92 in Walking Tour). A total of 49 pirates were hanged at this location.
The people of Charles Towne had had enough of the Proprietors. They formally petitioned Parliament to become a Royal
colony, and on May 1721, Gen. Sir Francis Nicholson arrived as the first Royal governor. The "bloodless revolution"
was over.
Colonial Charlestown – The Holy City and Wicked, Wicked Charlestown
By the 1730s Charlestown was the most beautiful and wealthiest city in America. The wealthiest man in Charlestown,
perhaps in America, was a French Huguenot named Gabriel Manigualt. The popular perception was that the plantation
owners controlled the wealth of Charlestown when in fact, it was the merchants and traders who amassed the first real
fortunes. They heyday of colonial Charlestown as a trading port was from 1730s to the 1820s. It was the advent of
steam power that destroyed Charlestown as a port. As long as the age of sail lasted, Charleston was on the main
Atlantic highway. Vessels that left England sailed southwesterly on the trade winds to the West Indies. Then they
made their way to the Gulf Stream, hugging the eastern Atlantic seaboard before veering off back to northern England.
Wicked Wicked Charlestown: Naturally, the trading ships brought large numbers of sailors and seaman into
Charlestown, and their first priority was to explore the variety of stress relieving activities available. As a result,
Charleston has a long history of taverns and bordellos. In fact, at one point, Charlestown had one tavern for every
thirteen citizens. The Puritans from Boston looked down their righteous noses at "wicked, wicked Charleston".
After the sailing vessels were unloaded the sailors received their wages, and they would spend the rest of their shore
leave spending as much of that money as possible. Most sailor arrive in port with three goals: eat, drink and be Mary.
In Charlestown is was 'eat, drink and be with Mary.'
Though Charlestown had a reputation as a wild and bawdy city, it was also one of the most religiously tolerant places
in America. The official recognized religion was Anglican, which accounted for almost half of the population, but there
was a diverse group of dissenters, congregations that dissented from the Church of England. Calvinists, (including
Huguenots and Presbyterians), Baptists, Methodists, Quakers and Jews were allowed to worship freely in Charlestown.
For that reason Charleston today is called the Holy City, due to the diverse history of religious congregations.
Making a Fortune: The earliest merchants made fortunes by trading deer and beaver skins, and soon after naval
stores – lumber, pitch, tar staves, turpentine – were traded with the West Indies for sugar and rum. And slaves. The
slaves were needed to work a new crop introduced to the colony: rice.
African slavery was the engine that drove rice production. Rice was a labor intensive crop to cultivate, but it was so
profitable that within a decade, the black population doubled that of the white Europeans. The slaves brought over
from the west coast of Africa had been harvesting rice for generations; it was their expertise that allowed the
plantation owners to turn enormous profits. By 1740 forty-three million pounds were exported out of Charlestown
every year.
Another crop at that time was indigo; this plant was a source of the blue dye that was in much demand by the English
textile industry. The crop was first introduced into Charlestown by Eliza Lucas, one of the most impressive women in
Charlestown history. Eliza had grown up in British Antigua, the daughter of a colonel in the British Army. Due to the
ill health of his wife, Col. Lucas moved his family to Charlestown in 1738 and took up residence on one of their three
plantations. Col. Lucas was summoned back to Antigua, and he left his seventeen-year old daughter in charge of the
family plantations, a daunting job for a grown man, much less a female teenager.
Eliza was up to the challenge. She was not only well educated and mature beyond her years, she was a woman of
extraordinary strength and courage. Eliza was also an avid botanist. She spent much of her free time experimenting
with a variety of tropical plants, including indigo. It took four tries to produce a successful indigo crop, and it
quickly became enormously profitable.
Pinckneys: As if that wasn't enough in terms of accomplishments, in 1744 Eliza Lucas married Charles Pinckney (see
entry # 167 in Walking Tours). Charles was the second son of Thomas Pinckney who had arrived in Charlestown in
1692. Like the majority of Pinckneys, Charles was an overachiever. He became the first native-born Charlestown
lawyer, and later served as Chief Justice of the Colony, and Speaker of the Commons. He also became a major
plantation owner. Eliza Lucas had given Charles his first indigo seed to plant, and put him on the road to financial
prosperity.
After Pinckney's first wife died, Charles wasted no time; he quickly married Eliza. She gave birth to a son, Charles
Cotesworth, who overshadowed his father's accomplishments by becoming nothing less than a Founding Father.
Cotesworth was trained in England as a lawyer; he became a Revolutionary War general (serving on Gen. Washington's
staff), a minister to France, a governor of South Carolina, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and a three time
unsuccessful candidate for President on the Federalist ticket (1800, 1804, and 1808). Cotesworth's younger brother,
Thomas, was the low achiever of the family, only managing to be elected as a one time governor, although he did
negotiate a treaty with Spain which gave the United States free access to the Mississippi River.
When Eliza Lucas Pinckney died in 1793 one of her pallbearers, at his request, was President George Washington.
Open the phone book today, and look at the two-page list of Pinckneys. (And just for comparison, look up Rutledge,
Calhoun, Lynch and Middleton – four other prominent Charleston family names.)
A Genteel Society: Rice, indigo and to a lesser extent, tobacco, pumped such enormous amounts of money into
the city, that the wealthy Charlestown men began building elaborate mansions on the peninsula as second homes. The
great planters left their plantations in May to escape yellow fever and malaria. They came to escape the "country
fevers" but also, the boredom of plantation life. Charlestown offered theatre, music, dance, intellectual stimulation,
and high society, as well as the aforementioned bordellos, gambling houses and taverns.
In order to understand the social life of these well-to-do planters and merchants, you must realize their goal was to
emulate the life of the British aristocracy. In fact, some of the Charlestown families returned to England after
amassing their fortunes in an attempt to enter the British upper class. However, in England you do not join the
aristocracy, you must be born into it. Therefore, the wealthy of Charlestown created their own aristocracy based on the
only thing that matters – money. In England nobility married nobility. In Charlestown money married money (see Eliza
Lucas and Charles Pinckney above).
Fires, Earthquakes, Epidemics and Hurricanes and other disasters
- 1698 – Smallpox; fire destroys one fourth of the city. First earthquake shakes the city.
- 1699 – Yellow fever, responsible for 200 deaths; a major hurricane sweeps across the city.
- 1740 - The worst fire in America to that date ravishes Charles Towne. It destroys 334 buildings in the most
valuable part of the city. The first fire insurance company in America had been started in Charles Towne in
1735, but it failed as a result of the 1740 fire.1752 – A hurricane washes across the city; two weeks later,
another hurricane follows.
- 1778 – Another fire destroys several blocks of the city
- 1796 – A fire spreads west from East Bay Street to Meeting Street.
- 1813 – Hurricane.
- 1838 – A fire sweeps through Ansonborough and the Market, an area of 145 acres, consuming over 1000
buildings.
- 1861 - In December, the worst fire in the city's history sweeps in a diagonal path across the peninsula. The fire
burns from Hasell Street on East Bay through the Market to Meeting Street and down Tradd Street to the Ashley
River, a path of over three miles. Even though the fire took place eight months after the beginning of the Civil
War, the fire was not war related. The fire burned the Circular Church, and entire sections of Meeting and Queen
Streets. 540 acres burned and over 500 homes were destroyed.
- 1885 – Hurricane.
- 1886 – At 9:45 p.m., on August 31, 1886, the Great Earthquake struck and by midnight the city was hit by four
additional shocks. Buildings collapsed and people ran into the streets to escape falling walls. Twenty-seven
people were killed immediately and sixty more died due to injury, shock and exposure. The earthquake was of
such magnitude that it rang church bells in Chicago, and the tremors were felt in Havana, Cuba. Damage was
estimated at six million dollars.
- 1911 – In August a hurricane hits the city, winds speeds at over 100 mph. The storm brings to an end rice
production in South Carolina.
- 1938 – Two tornadoes strike the city within fifteen minutes, destroying the City Market.
- 1989 – September 21, Hurricane Hugo, a class Four storm, with sustained winds of 140 mph, devastates
Charleston. The eye of the storm passes a few miles north of downtown Charleston.
You Say You Want a Revolution?
Stamp Act: The American Revolution was the culmination of the French and Indian War. That war had put the
British government deeply in debt. Great Britian looked to the colonies to pay their share of the cost. The Stamp Act
of 1765 inflamed the passions of many American merchants, including a crafty Charleston man named Christopher
Gadsden. Gadsden attended the Stamp Act Congress with John Rutledge (see entry #171 in Walking Tour) and Thomas
Lynch to protest the "taxation without representation" cry that was sweeping across America. Gadsden quickly drew
attention among the delegates for his fire-breathing pronouncements. Even Bostonian Samuel Adams considered
Gadsden to be an extremist. Gadsden was talking independence and revolution in 1765, a decade before most of the
colonial leaders began to consider that a possibility.
Sons of Liberty: In Charleston Gadsden and his group, dubbed the Sons of Liberty, became a political and social
force. The Sons of Liberty included mechanics (craftsmen such as silversmiths, blacksmiths and cabinetmakers),
young lawyers and young planters. They would meet in the evening at the Liberty Tree close to Gadsden's property and
discuss their strategy. More "substantial citizens", such as the Rutledges and Pinckneys (Charles, Charles Cotesworth
and Thomas) agreed with the basic stand taken by the Sons of Liberty, but were more moderate in their course of
action.
When the Tea Act was passed, it only inflamed the Sons of Liberty (and other emerging American Patriots) even more.
When the tea arrived in Charlestown it was resolved not to allow it to land. In Boston they dumped the tea overboard;
in Charlestown it was seized and kept in the vaults of the Exchange, and later sold to finance ammunition for the war
against the British.
First Victory: On June 28, 1776, on the day the committee assigned to draft the Declaration of Independence
reported to Congress, Charlestown took center stage in the unfolding drama of American Revolution and was to
provide the Patriots one of its first significant victories.
A British fleet of 50 ships and 3000 soldiers under the command of Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Charles Cornwallis,
attempted to crush the revolt in the south. The plan of action was simple: the British were to land soldiers on Long
Island (Isle of Palms) and cross Breach Inlet (which separates the Isle of Palms from Sullivan's Island) while the British
fleet bombarded the small Fort Sullivan from the sea. Thus the small fort would be under siege from all sides.
It did not go off as smoothly as the British had planned. First of all, Breach Inlet was as dangerous and deep then as it
is now. The British misjudged the depth of the inlet at low tide; several soldiers drowned and 2500 soldiers were
unable to cross the inlet and lay siege on Fort Sullivan.
It was left to the British navy to do the job. On paper, it was no contest. Fort Sullivan was a half-finished fort built in
a square with two concentric rows of palmetto logs separated by sixteen feet of sand. At that time only the walls
facing the ocean and the harbor were completed. If the British had not misjudged the depth of Breach Inlet, they could
have easily overrun the fort.
The fort was under command of Col. William Moultrie, with 435 men and a total of 25 guns. Sir Peter Parker had 11
ships with 270 guns anchored off Fort Sullivan and soon they began the bombardment. It looked to be a mismatch, and
it was, just not in the way the British had imagined. At dawn the British ships began firing at point plank range; but
their position made them easy targets for the gunners at Fort Sullivan. The patriots were able to make almost every
shot count. On the flagship Bristol, the death toll reached over 100.
Parker realized he was losing badly and came up with what must have seemed like a brilliant idea: to sail three ships
past the battle and through the harbor entrance so they could circle around the island and attack the fort from its
unfinished side. Not so. All three ships ran aground on the sandbar (where Fort Sumter now sits) and one had to be
burned by the British to keep the patriots from taking it over.
The attack ended at sunset and it was a stunning victory for the patriots. British casualties were 300 killed or
injured, while at Fort Sullivan it was 12 dead and 25 injured. In addition, the British had lost one warship and
suffered extensive damage to several others. A group of motley patriots in a half-finished fort had defeated the
"invincible" British Navy.
Some consequences of the battle: the palmetto logs which protected the fort was adopted as the state symbol and
South Carolina is now known as "The Palmetto State"; the fort was renamed Fort Moultrie after the commander.
Meanwhile, one week later in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by the Continental
congress on July 4, 1776. On August 4 it was signed by four young Charleston men: Edward Rutledge (age 26), Thomas
Lynch, Jr. (26) Thomas Heyward, Jr. (29) and Arthur Middleton (34).
British Occupation: On May 12, 1780, after a one month siege by 10,000 British soldiers and 5000 sailors,
Charlestown surrendered and for the remaining of the war it was an occupied city. Dozens of Charlestown men
(including Gadsden, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward, Jr.) were arrested and imprisoned for the duration of the
war. Henry Laurens, a successful merchant and President of the Continental Congress, traveled to Europe to acquire
funds from France to help finance the war effort. His ship was stopped by the British and Laurens was arrested; he
became the first American to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. When the British surrendered, Laurens, along
with Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams negotiated the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the American
Revolution.
During British occupation, a reign of terror began throughout the countryside. The British, led by Col. Banestre
Tarleton, were authorized to confiscate the property of "traitors'. Tarleton burned houses and buildings, and also
killed anyone who defied his actions. He quickly became one of the most feared (and hated) British officers in South
Carolina. The behavior of these British troops galvanized the patriots. Indeed, it swayed many people who had initially
been against the Revolution to support the patriot cause.
Even though Charlestown had fallen, the war in South Carolina was not over. Ingenious patriot leaders such as
Thomas Sumter, the "Gamecock", and General Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox", led small bands of men on strikes
against slow moving British supply lines and heavy fortified artillery units, using a "strike and disappear" method.
Francis Marion's role in the Revolution got the Hollywood treatment in the film, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson.
End of War: On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown. Almost one year later,
British troops left Charlestown, taking with them the booty of war – silver, gold, jewels and the bells of St. Michael's
Church. Charlestown was in ruins. Neighboring plantations were in tatters; many families had lost fortunes. For the
next two years, there were riots of all kind. Most of the violence was directly mainly against the Tories, who had
helped and supported the British during the occupation. Tarring and feathering were frequent.
The Golden Age
New Governments Are Formed: On August 13, 1783, Charleston was incorporated and its name was changed to
Charleston. Four Charleston men – John Rutledge, Pierce Butler, Charles Pinckney, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney –
went to Philadelphia to help draft and then ratify the Constitution of the United States.
Charles Pinckney proposed several important sections. He proposed that "no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office under the authority of the United States". As all states had a religious test for public office,
this was an important precedent. Charles also pushed the idea for a single executive (the Virginia Plan called for a
three-person Executive Branch), and he suggested that the position be called "President".
John Rutledge, likewise, was a significant contributor to the Constitution. He headed the Committee which wrote the
final document. He was considered an eloquent and persuasive speaker. In 1795, Rutledge was appointed Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court by President George Washington, replacing John Jay.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney served as Washington's Minister to France after rejecting an offer to become Secretary of
State. Cotesworth was instrumental in the XYZ Affair, in which French officials asked for bribes in order to negotiate
treaties. Pinckney refused to pay the bribe and exposed the corrupt officials. His behavior in that affair earned him the
1800 nomination for Vice-President on the Federalist ticket with John Adams against Republicans Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr.
A President Visits: President George Washington arrived in Charleston in May 1791 as part of a southern tour. He
was greeted at the Exchange and during his several days in the city was given an extensive tour of Charleston. He
undoubtedly took interest in the new courthouse which was almost completed. Washington had the charge of building
the new Federal City on the banks of the Potomac River and he was looking for architects and builders. A young Irish
builder, James Hoban, was involved in the construction and Washington must have been impressed with the young
man, for shortly, Hoban was hired to build "the President's House", now called the White House. In the official history
of the White House, it is said that the Charleston Courthouse was the "model for the White House."
King Cotton: Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized the South Carolina economy. It
made cotton a profitable crop, replacing rice and indigo as the major economic engine. Physically, Charleston grew by
leaps and bounds. The peninsula began to fill from river to river. The east and south Battery was laid out during this
period, with the seawalls constructed in 1820 and the magnificent mansions constructed along the waterfront
between 1825 and 1860. The western side of the city (Harleston Village) turned into a substantial neighborhood during
this period.
The love of pleasure and high living from the colonial period remained the accepted way of life for the gentleman
planter. The St. Cecelia Society held concerts and balls and dances that were well attended by the Charleston
aristocracy.
Slave Rebellion: Slave labor became even more essential during this period. The trade of West African blacks
through the Caribbean produced a diverse mix of people. Unable to communicate with fellow slaves because many
spoke different African languages the Low Country blacks developed their own language and culture, Gullah.
While many blacks valued their Gullah traditions, which included aspects of voodoo and "root doctors", others
converted to Christianity. In 1816 Northern black communities created the African Methodist Episcopal (AME)
Church. Morris Brown, a black minister, formed Emanuel AME Church which became one of the largest black
congregations in Charleston. Blacks were allowed to attend church services unsupervised by whites and it was in the
churches that resistance to slavery was strongest. This loophole in security led to the Denmark Vesey plot in 1822.
Vesey was a free educated black, and a successful carpenter. He had a plan to organized plantation slaves and
household slaves into a conspiracy to overthrow the white population. The plot was well organized and financed and
if not for a confession from an involved slave, it may have been successful. Vesey and 35 other slaves were executed.
One result of the Vesey plot was the creation of the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. Another result was
the passage of the Negro Seaman's Act requiring all black seamen (freed or slave) to be jailed while their ships were in
port at Charleston.
From that point onward, white Charlestonians lived with the uneasy knowledge that their existence was not as secure
as they had thought. Many white South Carolinians began to worry, and even question, slavery.
The Grimké Sisters: Two of the most famous abolitionists were Charleston aristocrats, Sarah and Angelina
Grimké. Growing up in a prominent Charleston family which owned slaves, the sisters moved north after their father's
death. Angelina married Theodore Weld, a famous abolitionist and on February 21, 1838, Angelina Grimké spoke
against slavery before the Massachusetts Legislature, becoming the first woman in American history to address an
legislative body.
Nullification and Calhoun: Even though slavery is considered to be the most important issue at stake during the
Civil War, there was another issue that went hand-in-glove with slavery: state's rights. The rise of the abolitionist
movement in the North, and the Federal government's protest that the Negro Seaman's Act was unconstitutional,
pushed South Carolina to take bold steps to protect themselves.
Enter John C. Calhoun, Vice-President of the United States and husband of a prominent Charleston woman. Between
the close of the War of 1812 and the election of 1828, the American scene had changed radically. A postwar depression
had aroused a hard core of hostility against the Bank of the United States and had brought the first of a long series of
increases in the tariff. Citing Jefferson and Madison's arguments against the Alien and Sedition Laws Calhoun
advanced the theory of nullification which held that the States were sovereign before they entered the federal
government and could, therefore, nullify any federal law, like the tariff. Since President Andrew Jackson was against
nullification, Calhoun resigned as Vice-President (the first man to do so) and after being elected as a U.s. Senator, he
was better able to fight for the state's rights issue that he felt so important. . Ultimately a compromise tariff was
negotiated, largely by Henry Clay. It would be another 30 years until the state's right issue came blazing to the
forefront.
First Shots of Civil War: On December 20, 1860, the State of South Carolina voted to secede from the Union by a
vote of 160-0. At that time, stationed at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, was a U.S. Garrison under the command of
Maj. Robert Anderson who had received oral instructions to hold possession of the forts in Charleston harbor, and if
attacked, to defend himself "to the last extremity". The smallness of Anderson's force would not permit him to occupy
more than one of the three forts (Moultrie, Sumter and Johnson), but he was told that any attempt to take possession
of any of them should be regarded "as an act of hostility". Anderson concluded that Fort Moultrie was an indefensible
position so on Christmas morning he spiked the cannons moved his garrison to the pentagon shaped Fort Sumter
sitting in the mouth of Charleston harbor. And they sat there until April 12, 1861, by which time, Anderson and his
men at Ft. Sumter were out of supplies, having no food for two days by this time.
It was a cloudy morning, not a star was visible. A heavy mist covered the Charleston harbor and islands. At 4:30 a.m. it
began. The first mortar shot was fired from Fort Johnson and landed a direct hit against the parapet of Fort Sumter.
By 5:00 a.m. forty cannons from eight batteries were firing upon Ft. Sumter. Through the gloom came brilliant flashes
of exploding shells from the batteries all over the bay, with the echoing booms of cannons reverberating across the
water. The noise woke slumbering Charlestonians from the beds.
Anderson waited until daybreak to respond. Captain Abner Doubleday fired the first retaliatory shot for the Federals.
The bombardment lasted for thirty-six hours; eighteen hundred shots were fired into Fort Sumter. There were no
fatalities, and very few wounded, even though the upper walls of Sumter were, as Doubleday wrote: "knocked to pieces."
Charlestonians climbed on tops of roofs to watch the attack. People stood along the Battery and sat on the piazzas of
the mansions facing the harbor, cheering their Confederacy. The attack continued unabated into Saturday, April 13
and early on April 14 Anderson surrendered. The Stars and Stripes was lowered and Charleston celebrated. The first
battle for the Confederacy was an unequivocal victory.
Under Seige: On August 29, 1863, the bombardment of Charleston began. President Lincoln himself gave the order
to fire. The Union had set up a long range 200-pound Parrot Gun (named "the Swamp Angel") on Morris Island and the
first incendiary shells were launched into the city. The shell exploded near the corner of Church and Pinckney Streets.
For the next 589 days Charleston was under constant bombardment by Union guns. Downtown Charleston became a
ghost town. The entire city relocated above Calhoun Street (out of range of the artillery) and lived a cramped and
haggard existence. On February 18, 1865 Federal troops entered the city and the war, for all intents and purposes, was
over. General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote, "Anyone who is not satisfied with war should go and see Charleston,
and he will pray louder and deeper than ever that the country may in the long future be spared any more war."
COMING SOON: RECONSTRUCTION AND THE 20th CENTURY
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