South Carolina - The US Explained

in this series the u.s explained i've so far covered the first seven states to join the country altogether they've been home to just under 50 million people about 15 percent of the entire u.s population all but one has sat in the densely populated megalopolis located in the northeastern corner of the country and that exception georgia is itself home to one of the nation's largest urban centers i bring this up because south carolina the state i'll be discussing today is quite different from any other state i've covered so far except maybe it's neighbor to the southwest politically it's the first reliably red state i've discussed in this series and the most republican leaning state on the entire east coast it's the first state in the u.s explained that has a national park and one of the first whose population is not centered around one or two major urban areas but is instead spread out between several smaller similar sized cities it has one of the most challenging histories of any u.s state and by most definitions is one of the poorest in the country yet it brings in more tourists each year than all but six other states south carolina is a unique and fascinating state and the eighth place i will cover in the u.s explained a 56-part series on every state territory and federal district in the country by order of admission hello and welcome to that is interesting i'm your host carter this is the u.s explained episode 8 south carolina [Music] before i begin if you enjoy this series please join my discord server and help support the channel by joining my patreon or buying some merchandise from the ti store now back to south carolina the entire state sits in the kevin climate classification's humid subtropical climate zone with hot humid weather in the summer and somewhat mild winters but the mountain areas located upstate tend to have colder weather than the rest it's nicknamed the palmetto state after the sable palmetto south carolina's state tree it grows throughout much of the southern parts of the united states including much of the low-lying humid coastal state it looks similar to a palm tree but they actually aren't the same thing the palmetto is prominently displayed on south carolina's flag which shows it in white alongside a crescent symbol over a dark blue background the story behind the state's nickname and flag goes back to the revolutionary war at the time the coastal city of charleston was one of the most important cities in the 13 colonies a major port on the atlantic when the first u.s census was held a decade and a half later it would be the fourth most populous city in the country surpassed by just new york philadelphia and boston british ships led by henry clinton and peter parker no not the peter parker you're thinking of otherwise things might have turned out differently attempted to take the harbor and lay siege to the city at the time the entrance to charleston harbor was guarded by a barrier island called sullivan's island anticipating an attack colonial troops led by a man named william moultrie built a fort called fort sullivan on the island and built its walls out of palmetto logs which were extremely effective against the incoming cannonball fire allowing colonial troops to fight back taking out numerous ships and causing the british fleet to turn back though britain would successfully lay siege the city a few years later the fort was renamed fort moultrie in honor of the colonel who led its defense moultrie also created a flag for the fort based off of the uniforms of his soldiers with the same dark blue color and a crescent symbol reading liberty that was found on their caps while you might think that crescent is a moon many people think it actually represents a gorget an old piece of armor worn over the neck and there isn't really a clear consensus on which origin is correct the moultrie flag became very popular across south carolina as did the palmetto which started becoming a state symbol for its role in preventing the siege after its secession from the union really started setting to motion the events that would lead to the civil war south carolina adopted the current flag adding the palmetto to a variation of the moultrie design interestingly while the flag is supposed to include a blue background alongside a white palmetto and crescent there are no standards for the shade of blue or what the crescent in palmetto are supposed to look like so there are all sorts of different variations of the flag and it doesn't have one standard design although one is currently in the works south carolina's flag is widely considered to be one of the better state flags in the country due to its being unique simple and recognizable especially due the fact that a good half of state flags are just a state seal slapped on a blue background south carolina takes his name from british king charles the first specifically from the latin version of his name careless king charles's son charles ii granted the colonial charter to colonize the area and kept the name his father given the land earlier originally a massive province called carolina it eventually split into two separate colonies of north and south carolina the state takes up a land area of 3061 square miles or 77 857 square kilometers interestingly this means that only 10 states are smaller than it most of which are located in the northeast and tend to be far far smaller than it with 4.89 million residents it's basically right in the middle of all the states in terms of population coming in at 23rd place with more residents than alabama but less than colorado though it doesn't have any of the massive urban areas that most if not all the states have covered so far have been home to south carolina does sit in the eastern half of the u.s which is generally more densely populated than the west and the state has a remarkably even population distribution for example the two largest urban areas in the state colombia and charleston are the 75th and 76th most populous urban areas in the country respectively separated by just 1 000 people of course with numbers this close it all depends on what standards you're using for measuring an urban area's population so whether colombia charleston or greenville which is very close in population to the other two is the larger urban area is really up to interpretation all in all its population density is fairly average the 19th highest out of any state with 162 people per square mile or 62 per square kilometer a similar population density to bulgaria tanzania in the world on average actually south carolina sits in the southeastern u.s a region typically referred to as the south and is along with georgia alabama mississippi and louisiana one of the five states usually considered part of the deep south it borders only two other states to its north and east sits its northern counterpart north carolina the two are often collectively referred to as the carolinas their border starts near the mouth of the little river not far from myrtle beach heading northwest for 93 miles or 149 kilometers to a point in marlborough county where it then turns to an east-west horizontal border it then continues for 64 miles or 103 kilometers to a region known as the waxhaws where it then weaves and cuts northward at times bordering the north carolina city of charlotte with some of the city's suburbs sitting across the state line in south carolina after traveling north on a section of the catawba river it slices west again until it reaches the appalachians or appalachians the pronunciation really depends on where you live where it then winds southwest stopping at ellicott rock a stone sitting in the chattuga river that serves as a tri-point separating the south carolina from north carolina and georgia from there the border follows the chatuga to its mouth in the tugaloo river which then flows into the savannah river these three rivers make up the entire georgia-south carolina border with georgia's second and third largest urban areas augusta and savannah both sitting alongside the savannah river across from south carolina with several of augusta's suburbs located in the state the state is typically divided into four regions each anchored by one or two of its largest urban areas the low country and pd lie along the state's coast home to seaside cities like charleston and myrtle beach in the state's northwest is the upstate or upcountry consisting of the mountainous appalachians and the roaring hills of the piedmont home to fast-growing cities like greenville and spartanburg in between sits the midlands straddling the fall line that separates the southeast's piedmont from its coastal plain the drop in elevation creates waterfalls and rapids along rivers heading from the appalachians the atlantic meaning areas along the fall line are the furthest boats can travel up the river and tend to be great locations for the milling and industry as well south carolina's capital city colombia sits in the midlands right on the fall line of the congary river while many people think of flat land beaches islands and swamps when they think of south carolina the upstate is pretty mountainous with the blue ridge mountains a range of the appalachians cutting into the state for about a dozen miles along its northwestern border where its highest point sassafras mountain is located the appalachian trail in fact does not cut through the state making it along with florida rhode island and delaware one of just four east coast states that the trail does not pass through most of the state's largest rivers such as the savannah santee and pd all begin in the appalachians before flowing southeast to the atlantic in the piedmont right at the base of the mountains it's greenville which is home to about 520 000 people in its urban area while this would make it the third most populous urban area in the state colombia and charleston each have less than 30 000 more residents in it and with figures so close choosing to count one town or another as a suburb would make all the difference so it is in my opinion essentially a three-way tie for a largest urban area which i'm not sure occurs in any other state though i could be wrong just 18 miles or 29 kilometers northeast of greenville sits spartanburg which comes in fifth with 180 000 people in its urban area the state's seventh largest urban area anderson home to 75 000 people is located to the southeast of greenville further to the southeast the agricultural and residential areas of the upstate give way to a more rural forested area where the midlands begin york county on the state's northern border borders the north carolina city of charlotte and includes major suburbs like rock hill the suburban county is home to 250 000 people making it one of the most populous areas in the state even though its urban core sits in north carolina colombia sometimes known as cola south carolina's capital as well as the largest city in the midlands and perhaps the state sits in the region right about in the middle of the state and is home to around 549 000 people in its urban area suburbs of augusta georgia across the savannah river into the midlands as well such as the city of north augusta and the midlands are also home to the carolina sand hills an area of sandy soil where an ancient coastline was located the savannah river site takes up hundreds of miles in the region and is a major nuclear site there's also a town there called north south carolina which is kind of fun though they have decently large populations many of south carolina's largest cities such as columbia and greenville aren't super well known outside of the area the same cannot be said for the state's coast with places like charleston myrtle beach and hilton head bringing in millions of tourists each year the state's coastal plain is split into two regions the low country to the southwest and the pd to the northeast the low countries coast is dominated by marshy swamps and sandy barrier islands known as the sea islands which continue into georgia and even northern florida the warm weather and sandy beaches of the sea islands are a major draw for tourists and the economy in the area is centered around the tourism industry the most famous the islands hilton head not far from savannah georgia has been pretty much fully developed by resorts and vacation homes and brings in a stunning 2.5 million visitors annually paris island not far from hilton head is home to a large marine corps recruit depot as development continues to spread across the islands it threatens the gola also known as giji people who have lived there for centuries their ancestors were brought in chains from west africa working as slaves on rice and other plantations throughout the sea islands their isolation from the mainland allowed the gola to maintain traditions and culture similar to those of their ancestors and today they speak a creole language known as cola that is similar to english but heavily influenced by a number of other languages originating in west africa the low country's main population center home to around 548 000 people in this urban area is the famed city of charleston which sits on a peninsula in a bay known as the charleston harbor many of the city's suburbs stretch out across some of the nearby sea islands which surround the coastal city further inland most of the region is flatter and agricultural home to regional population centers like orangeburg the pd is a mostly agricultural area in the eastern part of the state located around the pd river and is a center of tobacco farming some of its largest cities include sumter and florence but the most urbanized part of the region is the stretch of coast called the grand strand anchored by the city of myrtle beach the city home to 215 000 residents in its urban area comes in at number four population wise out of south carolina's urban areas and is long and thin with its suburbs even stretching into nearby north carolina the grand strand the pd's coastline is not dominated by marshes and barrier islands like the low country but instead by long almost unbroken spans of beach that stretch across much of the state what is now south carolina was originally home to many different indigenous peoples the area around where myrtle beach is today was home to the guacamole and seaweed people with the lumbee living further inland in the pd as did the pd people for whom the region takes its name the santee lived along the santee river the congress along the congress river the westow and yamasee along the savannah river and the watery around what is now the town of sumter the kuso lived in the low country around charleston the area around what is now the northern border with north carolina was home to the shura waxa and sugary and the yuchi and salua both lived in areas within and around the appalachians vast swathes of northwestern south carolina were inhabited by the catawba and the cherokee people as colonists from europe arrived on the continent they brought with them extremely contagious and deadly diseases that the native people the americas had not had exposure to such as smallpox these diseases decimated the continent's indigenous people killing an estimated 90 percent of native americans survivors often came into conflict with their rapidly expanding european colonies and on many occasions were victims of wars and brutal massacres as they were forced west while numerous native peoples still reside in or around south carolina such as the lumbee who mostly live just across the border in north carolina and are the largest tribe east of the mississippi many others such as the congress watery shura and waxhaw no longer exist other groups such as the yucci and cherokee were along with other native people from the region forced west to oklahoma along the brutal trail of tears which resulted in the deaths of 4 000 cherokee people alone and thousands more people in total andrew jackson the president who implemented this policy was potentially from south carolina which i'll get to later in much of the land the native people were forced off of was then used to make way for slave plantations the spanish empire which had established a massive colonial presence in the caribbean began venturing up the coast of what would become florida georgia and south carolina founding a settlement at south carolina's win yam bay named san miguel de guadalupe lasting just a month it was the first town ever founded by european settlers in what would become the continental u.s and mark the first time black people were ever enslaved and would become a u.s state french huguenots founded a short-lived town on paris island part of a colony they called french florida but other than that colonial settlement was minimal and largely unsuccessful until 1629 when british king charles the first gave a massive swath of the south which he named carolina to a british politician named robert heath however the english civil war broke out king charles was executed and heath fled the country when charles ii the previous king's son regained power he instead granted carolina to eight noblemen who had helped him take back the throne while colonies further to the north were intended primarily for settlement the main focus of the british colonies in what is now the deep south was agriculture and they typically had far smaller populations in addition carolina was intended to act almost as a buffer state preventing spain from expanding north past florida to more populous british colonies like virginia though carolina had a relatively small population its capital city charlestown which later became charleston grew quickly becoming the fifth largest city in the continent in 1690 just 20 years after its founding it became essentially the port city of the south and as such was the center of the transatlantic slave trade people were taken from their homelands primarily along the west african coast in chains and brought in ships to charleston where they were then sold and sent to the rice plantations of the lowcountry and the tobacco and later cotton plantations located across much of the south in fact between 40 and 50 percent of all enslaved people brought from africa to north america entered through the city all the while charleston merchants and carolina planters grew immensely wealthy off of the appalling practice and the agricultural goods harvested by slave labor were then shipped out of the city to be sold to colonial and international markets in the mid 1700s after the colony had split into north and south carolina and the new colony of georgia had been carved out of it south carolina was one of the wealthiest places in the world at the same time two-thirds of its people lived in shackles south carolina was devastated by the revolutionary war with a third of the entire conflict occurring within its borders no state was home to more revolutionary war battles than south carolina and as the war raged on supporters of the revolution and supporters of the monarchy formed militia groups waging war against one another throughout the state's rural areas on may 23 1788 south carolina became the eighth state to ratify the constitution and join the united states charleston became a major center of international immigration with many jewish immigrants in particular choosing to settle in the city during the state's early years it often went head to head with the federal government the slave owning elite dominated state politics it was literally a requirement for serving the state legislature that members had at least 500 acres of land worked by slaves so many early south carolina politicians focused on preserving the racist and awful institution which kept the vast majority of the state's residents in shackles one of those politicians was senator john c calhoun who along with henry clay and daniel webster was part of the great triumvirate a name for three extremely influential politicians who shaped american politics in the early 1800s arguably one of if not the most pro-slavery politician of the era calhoun made it to the vice presidency where he served alongside another carolinian president andrew jackson the two did not get along and when the administration enacted a series of tariffs that were expected to hurt south's agriculture-focused economy calhoun was one of many south carolina politicians who promoted the idea of nullification an unconstitutional theory which claimed that if a state disapproved of a federal law it could simply declare it null and void and then wouldn't be subject to that specific law beneath disagreements about the tariffs were fears among plantation owners about more influential federal policies that could be enacted further down the line specifically regarding slavery if slavery was abolished nullification would have allowed southern states like south carolina to just ignore the law nullification also posed a major threat to the country's federal system it's hard to imagine a country in which laws passed by congress could be overruled by state legislatures but this practice is what promoters of nullification sought to make happen a third party called the nullifier party was formed and their nominee john floyd won all of south carolina's electoral votes in the 1832 election though it was the state legislature not the people who elected presidents in south carolina at the time that year calhoun even resigned the vice presidency something that wouldn't happen for another 140 years so he could promote nullification from the senate south carolina claimed to nullify the tariffs and prepared troops to prevent their enforcement the crisis continued to escalate in the u.s ready troops as well bringing the state to the brink of open rebellion eventually the situation settled down but south carolina came very close to seceding the nullification crisis as it became known is often somewhat forgotten because of what happened just 28 years later tensions over slavery between northern and southern states had continued to escalate dominating american politics and several armed skirmishes had broken out in states like kansas and west virginia the two major political parties the whigs and the democrats had each essentially split in two over the issue and the 1860 election saw four different candidates vying for the presidency the winner was abraham lincoln the most anti-slavery of the four and his victory shocked the south fearing that the incoming president would bring an end to slavery less than two months after the election south carolina made a shocking and unprecedented decision they seceded from the union within two months ten other southern states had joined them collectively calling themselves the confederacy they sought to preserve slavery across the south and began assembling an army still under union control though was fort sumter an unfinished fort built on a small man-made island guarding charleston harbor in april of 1861 just a month after lincoln was sworn in as president the fort was running low on supplies a ship was sent to restock it but was shot at by confederate forces who launched cannonballs to the besieged fort which then returned fire after undergoing severe destruction union troops surrendered the fort no one was killed but one thing was clear civil war was underway the bloodiest war in american history which south carolina played a large part in bringing about upended life in the state tens of thousands of troops died and william t sherman's march left the city of colombia in ruins today you can see stars marking spots on the state capitol building where sherman's cannon struck much of charleston 2 was burned this time by confederate forces as they fled the city in 1868 three years after confederate defeat the state was allowed to rejoin the union slavery which had long dominated the state's economy was abolished and significant progress regarding voting rights was made in the years following the war known as reconstruction but after reconstructions end racist jim crow laws were passed throughout south carolina and other southern states enforcing racial segregation despite being a majority black state most black south carolinians were refused the right to vote just over one half of one percent of the state's black residents were allowed the right taking away essentially all their political power many remained trapped in jobs as sharecroppers working on the same plantations they'd once been enslaved on for poor wages and white supremacist groups terrorized black south carolinians with hundreds of lynchings occurring within the state during the world wars job opportunities opened up in the north and many of the state's black residents left for the chance at a better life or were simply driven out by fear over the next few decades black south carolinians went from making up 60 percent of the state's population to just 30 percent as the civil rights movement spread throughout the country led in part by black south carolinians like jesse jackson and mary mcleod bethune south carolina senator strom thurmond became one of the most ardent supporters of segregation and the confederate battle flag was raised over the state capitol it flew on the capitol grounds as recently as 2015 when it was finally removed following the murder of nine black worshippers by a white supremacist during a charleston church service throughout the 1900s the state's economy began to change with the textile industry growing in the upstate and tourism gaining a major presence along the state's coast the upstate cities of spartanburg and greenville were both major centers of the textile industry home to textile manufacturers like roger milliken and j.d hollingsworth today the cities have seen major revitalization and are home to the us headquarters of companies like michelin and denny's as well as the only bmw manufacturing plant on the continent interstate 85 connects the upstate to fast-growing urban centers in north carolina and georgia such as atlanta charlotte raleigh and durham which has helped lead to the area's strong population growth the region's proximity to the forests and mountains of the appalachians as well as reservoirs which sit all over south carolina give them access to lots of nearby outdoor activities though a fairly small city with around 549 000 people in its urban area south carolina's capital city of colombia has probably the most urbanized feel of any city in the state home to the vast majority of south carolina's tallest buildings it's home to the university of south carolina as well as fort jackson a major military base centrally located in the home of south carolina's government it plays a crucial role in the state just outside the city is congary national park home to a large forest sitting alongside the swampy floodplains of the congaree river it's one of very few national parks in the eastern u.s where many natural areas had been developed before the formation of the national park service in fact there are only six other national parks located in states on the east coast and only 11 others east of the mississippi compared to the nearly five times that many that sit in a stunning mountainous west congress is relatively unknown and is one of the least visited national parks in the country so if you visit it shouldn't be super crowded with tourists like some of the more popular sites are certainly the most famous part of the low country and probably south carolina as a whole is the city of charleston a historic and well-known port city home to around 548 000 people it has a major influence on the lowcountry and coastal areas of the southern u.s as a whole bringing in a whopping 7.3 million visitors a year the city of course has had a major impact on u.s history the spot where most enslaved people were brought into the u.s will soon be home to the international african american museum set to open in 2022 and you can take a ferry to fort sumter to better understand the city's pivotal role in the civil war charleston is famed for its warm weather and beautiful architecture and travel and leisure has consistently ranked it as the best city in the world some very high praise the pineapple is a symbol of the city and it even has this cool pineapple fountain it's home to the citadel an important military college as well as the port of charleston the state's busiest port and the 34th busiest in the country bringing in more trade than cities like boston chicago or miami the final city i'll discuss is myrtle beach though the city itself is only home to 32 000 people its urban area is home to 215 000 and it brings in a stunning 14 million tourists every year making it by far the most visited place in the state and giving a large skyline dominated by hotels and high rises for many people living in inland parts of the united states south carolina has become the place to go on vacation home to warm weather and long stretches of sandy beaches especially around myrtle beach in addition to being relatively close to many of the country's major cities the area around the city has the most golf courses per capita in the entire us hilton head near the georgia border is also a major tourist destination an island almost entirely covered with resorts and vacation homes but myrtle beach has a reputation for being relatively more affordable and accessible than some other beach destinations south carolina has the fifth highest percentage of residents who are black of any state in the country at 28 percent and has small but growing latino and asian american populations the pew research center ranks it along with many of its neighbors in the deep south as one of the most religious states in the country tied for fifth place the vast majority of its religious residents are christian with evangelical protestants making up the largest share at 35 percent of the state's population like much of the south it's known for its southern hospitality and delicious food home to a lot of seafood and coastal areas as well as its unique style of barbecue typically pork with a golden mustard-based barbecue sauce which tends to be more popular in more southern parts of the state whereas ketchup and tomato-based sauces are common up north of course i can't talk about south carolina without bringing up the carolina reaper officially the world's spiciest pepper it was created by smokin ed curry a pepper grower from the charlotte suburbs in south carolina and this thing even looks absurdly spicy you can find plenty of videos of people eating carolina reapers which are ranked at 2.5 million on the scoville scale which measures the heat of peppers for comparison habaneros are at most around 350 000. smokin ed has claimed to have created an even spicier pepper called pepper x which may be even spicier potentially over 3 million on the scoville scale the state faces challenges with poverty with 13.8 percent of the population living below the poverty line no professional sports teams are located in the state but the nfl's carolina panthers located in charlotte represent both states and are opening a major practice facility just across the state line in rock hill the state out of colombia is the most circulated newspaper published in south carolina although charleston's post and courier is also popular politically south carolina is quite conservative it's a red state the first real red state i've covered in a series with a cook partisan voting index of r plus eight meaning in a given year the republican party does about eight percent better in south carolina than the country on average making it by far the most republican leaning state on the east coast with most east coast states either typically voting blue or leaning one way or the other but still being quite competitive there is one president who was potentially born in south carolina andrew jackson was born in the waxhaws a region along the border between the carolinas near where charlotte and its suburbs are today no one is quite sure which state jackson was born in and both carolinas have claimed that they are the true sight of his birthplace though jackson himself considered him to be from south carolina today numerous politicians from south carolina are pretty influential in today's political scene including republicans like tim scott nikki haley and lindsey graham and democrats like jim clyburn whose endorsement helped joe biden win the 2020 democratic primary that is it for south carolina i tried to be pretty thorough with this video but i know there were definitely things i missed as there was a lot to talk about i want to give a big thank you to everyone from south carolina who helped give me information for this video leaving detailed and informative comments on youtube as well as discord i truly would not have been able to make this video without all your help my next video in the series will be on new hampshire and i've actually never been there so i'll need all the help i can get if you're from new hampshire please respond to my community post or my comment here or leave something in the discord server to let me know what you'd like to see included about your home state i want to give a big thank you to everyone who has already joined my patreon through it you can access different things such as behind the scenes videos early access to maps i create an exclusive discord q a with me ad free content and shout outs in my videos which are included right here please be sure to check out the tii store where you'll be able to purchase all sorts of official that is interesting products and merchandise including shirts hoodies embroidered beanies masks mugs embroidered backpacks made by champion laptop stickers and sleeves and so on one of the products that i'm most excited about are these limited edition framed state prints that commemorate each video in the us explained these are available as soon as the corresponding us explained video is uploaded but only 10 of each will be released so make sure to buy one before they go out of stock right now you'll be able to buy a south carolina state print so please click the link in the description and go pay a visit to the ti store also please subscribe to my brother's channel quinn the cameraman he made the great intro at the beginning of this video that i'll use in all the us explained videos i really appreciate the well over 300 of you who have already joined my discord server if you haven't joined the discord server yet it's a great place to continue conversations about the topics discussed in these videos interact with fellow viewers and help provide information about upcoming states in this series it's a great community and we do fun stuff like geography game nights live podcasts and so on i'll put links to both the patreon and the discord in the comments thank you for watching this video and i hope you learned something new subscribe for more content like this i cover the countries cities people and places of the world and beyond these videos will leave you saying that is interesting [Music] you

Channel: That Is Interesting

Views: 105,613

Keywords: south carolina, us explained, interesting videos, state series, charleston, columbia, myrtle beach

Id: goEBYaoix-w

Length: 35min 34sec (2134 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 07 2021