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Charleston
KNOWLEDGE OF Charleston
The 17th century saw a mass migration of colonists and pilgrims from the west coast of Europe across the Atlantic to the North American continent. Along with Spain and France, Great Britain was a major force in carving out the new frontier that was Colonial America. With a large number of settlers sailing from England, it is not hard to understand why so many settlements were named after British aristocracy.
King Charles II of England granted the Carolina territory to his eight loyal “Lord’s Proprietors". The first colonists arrived in 1670 at an attractive harbor off the southeastern edge of the lush, green region. They established themselves on the west bank of the Ashley River in what is now the state of South Carolina. They named the settlement “Charles Towne after the monarch. These early colonists were unhappy with the location and in 1680 they re-established themselves three miles further down the river onto the peninsula, where the Ashley and Cooper rivers empty into the harbor. The city was re-incorporated in 1722 as “Charles City and Port and renamed again in 1783 as “Charleston. The original site still exists as Charles Towne Landing.
Merchants in the young city earned a decent living trading pelts supplied by the Native American peoples along with lumber, beef, hides and indigo. The soil conditions in the Low Country made the region a prime area for growing rice and this became a major part of the city’s agricultural output for years. Conditions in the Low Country were harsh. Labor was intense and the stagnant, marshy surroundings bred disease. This contributed to a high mortality rate.
With the increasing availability of slave labor from Africa and the Caribbean islands, planters continued to expand their agricultural empires into the fertile Low Country. They built mansions in town to avoid disease-prone conditions brought on by Charleston’s warmer months. Over time, Charleston became the richest town in the colonies. With wealth came position and power, and eighteenth century planters were hungry for a more refined image than that of their recent settler descendants. They began to cultivate as much of a British way of life as they could.
If they impressed each other, they certainly did not impress the British soldiers, who occupied the city from 1780 to 1782. They were particularly harsh on colonial sympathizers. In America, the joke is, “George Washington slept here. America’s first president did live up to that legend at least once by staying in a Charleston hotel owned by Thomas Heyward, who was jailed for supporting independence. The hotel is now known as the Heyward-Washington house and is a tourist attraction.
King Charles II of England granted the Carolina territory to his eight loyal “Lord’s Proprietors". The first colonists arrived in 1670 at an attractive harbor off the southeastern edge of the lush, green region. They established themselves on the west bank of the Ashley River in what is now the state of South Carolina. They named the settlement “Charles Towne after the monarch. These early colonists were unhappy with the location and in 1680 they re-established themselves three miles further down the river onto the peninsula, where the Ashley and Cooper rivers empty into the harbor. The city was re-incorporated in 1722 as “Charles City and Port and renamed again in 1783 as “Charleston. The original site still exists as Charles Towne Landing.
Merchants in the young city earned a decent living trading pelts supplied by the Native American peoples along with lumber, beef, hides and indigo. The soil conditions in the Low Country made the region a prime area for growing rice and this became a major part of the city’s agricultural output for years. Conditions in the Low Country were harsh. Labor was intense and the stagnant, marshy surroundings bred disease. This contributed to a high mortality rate.
With the increasing availability of slave labor from Africa and the Caribbean islands, planters continued to expand their agricultural empires into the fertile Low Country. They built mansions in town to avoid disease-prone conditions brought on by Charleston’s warmer months. Over time, Charleston became the richest town in the colonies. With wealth came position and power, and eighteenth century planters were hungry for a more refined image than that of their recent settler descendants. They began to cultivate as much of a British way of life as they could.
If they impressed each other, they certainly did not impress the British soldiers, who occupied the city from 1780 to 1782. They were particularly harsh on colonial sympathizers. In America, the joke is, “George Washington slept here. America’s first president did live up to that legend at least once by staying in a Charleston hotel owned by Thomas Heyward, who was jailed for supporting independence. The hotel is now known as the Heyward-Washington house and is a tourist attraction.
Chapi