South Carolina

(-kar-o-lī'nah,) a S. State of the American Union, b. E. and S.E. by the Atlantic, S. and W. by Georgia, and N.and N.E. by North Carolina; bet. N. Lat. 320-350, W. Lon. 79°-82° 50′. Area, 30,213 sq. m. The configuration of the State is nearly that of an irregular triangle, with its apex at the junction of the Savannah River with the Ocean. The coast-line, 200 m. in extent, is indented with numerous lagoons, coves, and inlets, but with no good harbors excepting those of Charleston, Beaufort, and George town. The coast is also fringed with a congeries of small islands-cut off from the main shore by narrow channels-noted for their fine cotton-growing capacity, and known as the Sea-Islands. The surface of S. C. from the seaboard presents for a hundred miles or so inland, a flat and arenaceous appearance, intersected by many swamps and creeks, and covered with growths of pitch-pine, and with a soil of alluvium. The so-called middle country beyond this is more fertile, though still of a sandy character. Westward of the latter, a more elevated region expands into a diversified and picturesque surface terminating in the Blue Ridge Mts. The State is well watered, the chief rivers being the Savannah (separating it from Georgia), the Great and Little Pedee, the Congaree, Wateree, and Santee, the Coombahee, and the South Edisto. The soil of S. C. is, generally speaking, highly productive, yielding such staples as cotton, rice, indigo, tobacco, sugar, tea, the cereals, hemp, flax, hops, and many varieties of pulse, fruits, and vegetables; and enjoys a climatic temperature corresponding with that of Italy and the S. of France. In 1870, the acreage of land held in improved farms aggregated 3,010,539; and in unimproved 9,094,741, of which latter 6,443,851 consisted of woodland. Total value of farms $44,808,763; of farming appliances and machinery $2,282,946. Aggregate estimated value of farm products $7,404,297; of orchard and garden stuffs $175,419; of lumber $167,253; of home manu fs. $312,191. Total value of live-stock on farms $12,443,510. The mineral resources of the State are considerable: gold has been mined to a profit, and iron, lead, copper, manganese, coal, bismuth, plumbago, soapstone, limestone, ., with fine granite and china clays, are found in various localities within its limits. Mineral springs, too, are found in Laurens, Spartan burg, and other di sts. The manufacturing interests of S. C. are of inferior importance, as considered in comparison with other sections of the Union. The political division of the State embraces 32 counties, of which the chief cities and urban centres are Charleston, Columbia (the cap.), Beaufort, Aiken, Camden, Spartan burg, George town, Winns borough, . According to the provisions of the new Constitution pa ed in 1868, the executive power is vested in a governor and lieut. -governor, each elected biennially; a isted by a Sec. of State, Comptroller general, and Treasurer-holding office for 4 years. The legislature includes a Senate of 32 members chosen for 4years, and a House of Representatives of 124 members electedbi-yearly. The judicature embraces a Supreme Court and two Circuit courts, Probate courts, and justices of the peace. In Congre , the State is represented by 2 senators and 4 representatives. In 1870, the total a e ed valuation of S. C. was computed at $183,913,337, of which sum $119,494,675 stood for real estate; the true value of both real and personal estate being $208,146,989. These figures exhibited a decrease from the last decennial valuation of: a e ed, $305,405,791; true, $339,991,765. Total taxation (not national) of the State in 1870, $2,767,675; public debt (other than rational) $13,075.229, viz.: State $7,665,909; county $97,112; municipal $5,312,208. The educational status of S. C., though, perhaps, not so far advanced as that of other States, is yet a fair one. Besides Columbia University, there are 8 other colleges, and over 200 private schools and academies; independently of nearly 400 national schools open to white or colored persons without distinction. In charitable and other public institutions, S. C. is well found, and quite on a par with her sister States, taking into question differences of wealth and population caused by the events of the Civil War. A body of French Huguenot refugees founded a temporary settlement in this region, which they named 5F Carolina, in 1562. But it was not until 1663 that a well defined colony became established in it. In that year, under a charter granted by Charles II., a number of English noblemen built up a settlement at Port Royal, and in 1680 the city of Charleston came into being. Thenceforward, the progre of S. C. was rapid. She bore her share of the brunt of the Revolutionary War, and was the first State to inaugurate the Civil War of 1861-5, by pa ing an ordinance of Sece ion from the Union. Since the close of that disastrous struggle, the political and social aspect of the State has become wholly changed. After adopting a new Constitution based upon equal rights of citizenship as between the white and colored races, she ratified the 15th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, and thus became reconstructed for representation in the National Legislature. According to the census of 1870, her then pop. numbered in the aggregate 705,606, of whom 289,667 were white (including 8,074 of foreign birth), 415,814 negroes, 124 civilized Indians, and 1Chinese. [s. 841]