Province of South Carolina

This article is about the British province that existed from 1712 to 1776. For the U.S. state, see South Carolina.

The Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies in America of the British Empire. The monarch of Great Britain was represented by the Governor of South Carolina, until the colonies declared independence on July 4, 1776.

Province of South Carolina
Province of Great Britain
1712–1776
British Red Ensign Royal coat of arms (1714–1776)
Location of South Carolina in North America
Anthem
"God Save the King"[a]
Capital	Charlestown
Area
• Coordinates	34°N 81°W
Government
• Type	Proprietary colony (1712-1729) Crown colony (1729-1776)
Monarch
• 1712–1714	Anne
• 1714–1727	George I
• 1727–1760	George II
• 1760–1776	George III
Governor
• 1712	Robert Gibbes (first)
• 1775–1776	Lord William Campbell (last)
Legislature	General Assembly
• Upper house	Council
• Lower house	Assembly
Historical era	Georgian era
• Partition of Carolina	24 January 1712
• Charter of Georgia	June 9, 1732
• Declaration of Independence from Great Britain	4 July 1776
Preceded by Succeeded by Province of Carolina South Carolina
Today part of	United States Alabama Mississippi South Carolina Tennessee North Carolina Georgia

Etymology

"Carolina" is taken from the Latin word for "Charles" (Carolus), honoring King Charles I, and was first named in the 1663 Royal Charter granting to Edward, Earl of Clarendon; George, Duke of Albemarle; William, Lord Craven; John, Lord Berkeley; Anthony, Lord Ashley; Sir George Carteret, Sir William Berkeley, and Sir John Colleton the right to settle lands in the present-day U.S. states of North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.^[2][3]

History

Main article: Colonial period of South Carolina

The Province of Carolina before and after the split into north and south

Charles Town was the first settlement, established in 1670.^[4][5] King Charles II had given the land to a group of eight nobles called the lords proprietor; they planned for a Christian colony. Originally a single proprietary colony, the northern and southern sections grew apart over time, due partly to neglect by the legal heirs of the original lords proprietor. Dissent over the governance of the province led to the appointment of a deputy governor to administer the northern half of the Province of Carolina in 1691. The partition of the province into North and South Carolina became complete in 1712.^[6]

The Yamasee War (1715–1717) ravaged the back-country of the province. Complaints that the proprietors had not done enough to protect the provincials against either the Indians or the neighboring Spanish, during Queen Anne's War (1702–1713), convinced many residents of the necessity of ending proprietary rule. A rebellion broke out against the proprietors in 1719. Acting on a petition of residents, King George I appointed the governor of South Carolina later in that year (the governors of North Carolina would continue to be appointed by the lords proprietor until 1729). After nearly a decade in which the British monarchy sought to locate and buy out the lords, both North and South Carolina became royal colonies in 1729.

Government

See also: List of colonial governors of South Carolina

The Court of King's Bench and Common Pleas was founded c.1725, based in Charles Towne. List of Chief Justices:^[7]

Incumbent	Tenure		Notes
	Took office	Left office
Edmund Bohun	1698	1699	died in office of fever
Nicholas Trott	c.1702	1718	dismissed from office after uprising
Richard Alleyn	1719		not sure
Robert Wright	1730	1739	died in office
Thomas Dale	17 Oct 1739	November 1739	not sure
Benjamin Whitaker	7 Nov 1739	1749	removed from office due to paralysis
James Graeme	6 Jul 1749	29 August 1752[8]	died in office[9]
Charles Pinckney	1752	1753
Peter Leigh	1753
James Michie	1 Sep 1759	16 July 1760	died in office, London, England
William Simpson	24 Jan 1761
Charles Skinner	1762
Thomas Knox Gordon	13 May 1771
William Henry Drayton	13 Apr 1776
John Rutledge	16 Feb 1791	1795	resigned and afterwards Chief Justice of the United States
after 1791 no further Chief Justices were appointed.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1720	17,048	—
1730	30,000	+76.0%
1740	45,000	+50.0%
1750	64,000	+42.2%
1760	94,074	+47.0%
1769	125,000	+32.9%
1770	124,244	−0.6%
1775	150,000	+20.7%
Source: 1720–1760;[10] 1769–1775[11] 1770–1775[12]

See also

• Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life
• Bibliography of South Carolina history

Notes

1. There was no authorized version of the national anthem as the words were a matter of tradition; only the first verse was usually sung.^[1] No statute had been enacted designating "God Save the King" as the official anthem. In the English tradition, such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the national anthem. "God Save the King" also served as the Royal anthem for certain royal colonies. The words King, he, him, his were replaced by Queen, she, her when the monarch was female.