This is the eighth of a series column that will look at the history of all 50 States,
all 5 territories, and the Capital and the influence history has on our
current political environments. The aim of this column is to capture that
our country is not just red or blue, but rather many shades in between.
Each Lower 48 state’s current political landscape can be traced back to
its early settlement and geography and its particular involvement in the
Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Civil Rights Era.
South Carolina – The Palmetto State
South Carolina’s history, from a bird’s eye view, might be readily apparent to most people, but the state is a regular surprise when certain aspects of its history, such as war, state symbols, and political milestones are reviewed. Additionally, few states have experienced such a complicated history in population shifts over time as South Carolina has.
Formation and Early History
The area that would become South Carolina was initially explored by Spain, namely Hernando de Soto, as early as 1540. Early skirmishes with the indigenous population would start the state’s history of massive, fundamental population shifts over time. After failed colonization by the Spanish and the French, the English took over the area. As the Province of Carolina became a Crown Colony of Britain in 1663, many of its early settlers were wealthy sugar and cotton farmers from English Barbados. The Province was split into North and South Carolina in 1712.
Early farmers were ruthless in their conquest of the land. An estimated 24,000-51,000 Native American slaves were exported to markets ranging from Boston to Barbados from 1670-1717. In exchange, African slaves were imported as the plantation owners knew they were unfamiliar with the territory and could not use it to their advantage as the Natives did. South Carolina had removed so many Natives during this period that there were hardly any left by the time of Andrew Jackson’s (D-TN) Trail of Tears in the mid-1800s.
The two major crops going into the 1700s were rice and indigo. By 1708, enslaved Africans outnumbered white settlers in the colony. Unfortunately, the colony of South Carolina provided a staggering statistic: more than 40% of enslaved people from Africa arrived through the ports of Charleston until the international slave trade was banned in 1808.
Revolutionary War
When most people think of the battles of the Revolution, they usually picture the Northern states. Despite this, South Carolina actually holds the record for the most battles during the war, over 200 in total. The 1776 battle at Sullivan’s Island was one of the first battles during the war. The British, facing roadblocks in the North, diverted their attention to the South, hoping to gut the 13 Colonies economically and take advantage of one of the strongest Loyalist factions in the states, and began a tour through South Carolina.
The state received its name – the Palmetto State – from the palmetto tree. Separatists used the wood to build walls for defense at Sullivan Island. Britain’s cannonballs bounced off the spongy logs.
South Carolina would ratify the Constitution in 1788.
Civil War
Talks of secession had been salient in the state since the 1820s. Despite the slave trade having been banned, South Carolina continued its use. Secession lacked widespread popular support until Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) won the 1860 Election. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union and the Civil War began in 1861 when Confederate soldiers fired the first shots on Fort Sumter. Surprisingly, few Civil War battles were actually fought in South Carolina, although one-fifth of the state’s white male population died in the war. General Sherman’s March to the Sea included sieges on Columbia and Charleston shortly before the Confederacy’s surrender in 1865.
The Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction would financially ruin the state. The Capitol building would not be repaired until 1903 and the poverty as a result of the destruction would set the state back as the Industrial Revolution swept across the nation. As the agriculture industry took a downturn after the war, along with the highest proportional deaths from the war, the state entered a deep recession.
Reconstruction and Civil Rights
Although some thought the state would adhere to President Andrew Johnson’s (D-TN) terms for admittance, the state legislature passed the Black Codes, severely restricting the freedoms and identities of blacks.
Before the war, some blacks were integrated in parts of Charleston and other areas and were able to obtain education, land, and occasionally slaves. This led to some networks of power among black men at the time, allowing the Republican party to gain a temporary foothold in the state in the 1860s-70s. Freedmen made up 26% of blacks elected to office and bolstered the GOP. In 1866, the Radical Republicans took control of the state. Blacks made up more than 60% of the voting population at the time, which resulted in a majority of black Republicans to the legislature. This body produced more legislation to support freedmen than any other state body.
After the Plessy V. Ferguson Supreme Court trial that set a precedent of “separate but equal,” power slowly began to be wrestled away from the black Republicans as white Democrats regained power in the 1890s, shuttering the state into Democratic control and establishing it as a staunch member of the Solid South. As such, the KKK made a resurgence in the early 1900s, in addition to Jim Crow laws and mass segregation. The result was the Great Migration, which saw the black population flock from the state to the North. This is the reason why so many cities along the I-95 Corridor, such as Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia, have such high black populations today.
South Carolina once had a majority black population, but by 1970, less than one-third of the state was black.
The Civil Rights Era produced many characters, but none quite as iconic as Strom Thurmond. A staunch supporter of segregation in the 1950s and 1960s, he is credited with having performed the long speaking filibuster by a lone Senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes. A common misconception is that the 20 Democratic Senators to protest the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became Republicans. The reality is that only one did: Strom Thurmond.
Thurmond served as governor of South Carolina from 1947-1951 and ran for President in 1948 on the State’s Rights Dixiecrat ticket. He carried four states, including South Carolina, but Harry Truman (D-MO) was reelected.
Thurmond served in the US Senate from 1956-2003, a whopping 47 years that places him as the fourth-longest serving Senator. In 1966, his election as a Republican and Fritz Holling’s (D) special election win marked the last time two simultaneous Senate races – double barrel Senate elections – produced a split delegation.
In 1964, Thurmond switched to the Republican party and supported fellow Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), who also did not support the Civil Rights Act, citing state’s rights issues as his main reason, despite being a frequent donor of the NAACP.
He is the first person to win a successful write-in Senate campaign (1953). In 1996, he was reelected to the Senate at 93 years old, making him the oldest person to ever be reelected to the Senate. He completed his final term at age 100.
Current Political Leanings
The GOP’s three consecutive wins in South Carolina from 1868-1867 marked the first and last time until 1964 that the state would vote for the GOP. Like other Southern states governed harshly by Democrats, the GOP was unable to wield power. The state would alternate between parties from the 1960s-1980s. Jimmy Carter (D-GA) is the last Democrat to have won South Carolina. Since 1992, no Democrat has received less than 40% of the vote here.
Democrats can easily play into the fairly large black population here, but the state lacks large, diverse urban areas and sprawling suburbs that neighboring Georgia and North Carolina possess. Additionally, the state’s agricultural profile still heavily influences the state’s pro-small government Republican lean. Democrats can usually rely on 40% of the vote, but crossover support will be needed to bridge the gap. Barack Obama (D-IL) came within 10 points of winning the state in 2008, the closest margin as of today.
Tourism is a big industry, with Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island being popular destinations. Myrtle Beach is named the “Golf Capital of the World,” with more than 80 golf courses along the 60-mile coastline. The state has over 350 in total.
The GOP has held the governorship since 2003. The GOP experienced a gap in power from 1877 until 1975.
Republicans currently control both Senate seats, with Democrats having not held a seat since 2005 when prominent Fritz Hollings retired. Democrats last controlled both seats in 1964, when Strom Thurmond switched to the GOP. South Carolina remains on the fringe of competition. It would take a significant Democratic landslide to flip this state, but until then, Democrats can only really contest light-red areas in the Charleston area.
