Page 4 - Welcome to South Carolina

Brief History of Our Colony from the Founding to 1755

The first English settlers came to the land we now know as South Carolina in
1670. Before South Carolina became its own colony, it was part of a colony with North
Carolina. Sayle was the first governor of the colony, followed by Yeamans, John West,
and then Sothel, who was forced to flee after an uprising from the colonists. In 1687, the
British government decided to try and enforce the Fundamental Constitution, but the
colonists resisted. The contest lasted for a few years, but in the end, the colonists won.
Though separation had been building for several years beforehand, North and South

Carolina were officially split into two colonies in 1712. In 1740, the city of Charleston
burned down, only to be rebuilt better than before. South Carolina relied on slave labor to
keep plantations running. Also in 1740, the colony suffered from a slave rebellion, led by
Cato, but it was soon stopped. One day in 1748, Governor Glen wrote to the rulers in
England that the crown had been stripped of its power in the colony. The South Carolina

colony became its own ruler that day, and it will stay that way until 1788 when it joins
the United States.

Governor William Sayle

(1590-1671)