C. An Illustrated History, 1550-1988 | History of SC Slide Collection

It is impossible to include all of the history of South Carolina in the images that have been included in this roughly chronological section of the entire collection. Those who wish to expand their understanding of a particular period are urged to use the search function for particular dates for images from the other sections of the collection illustrating other aspects of South Carolina life at that time.

More in this Series

Petition to Free Slaves, 1815 | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Petition to Free Slaves, 1815 | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 17

The legislature of South Carolina retained a great deal of authority over many aspects of everyday life. Roads could not be built, ferries across rivers could not be established, slaves could not be...

Southern Chivalry - Argument Versus Clubs | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Southern Chivalry - Argument Versus Clubs | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 16

"Southern Chivalry - Argument versus Clubs," a cartoon by I.L. Magee, illustrated the strong feelings of revulsion that Northerners expressed over the Sumner-Brooks affair. The question of expansion...

Practical Illustration of the Fugitive Slave Law | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Practical Illustration of the Fugitive Slave Law | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 15

The lands added to the nation through the conquests of the Mexican War raised anew the question of whether or not slavery would be allowed to expand into the new territories of the west. For two years...

Runaway Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Runaway Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 14

Runaway slaves were a constant problem in maintaining a workforce of unfree laborers. Slaves ran away because of mistreatment, out of a desire for freedom, or often simply to be reunited with husbands...

Photo

Legareville | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 13

Legareville was a summer resort community of the early 19th century, where planters and their families could retreat from the heat and disease of their plantations and enjoy cooling breezes. This 1919...

Plantation Owner Land Distribution | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Plantation Owner Land Distribution | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 12

This relief map of what is now Parris Island shows the distribution of the land among the large plantation owners around 1820. Courtesy of the United States Marine Corps, Parris Island Museum.

Photo

Charleston Jockey Club Advertisement | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 11

Antebellum Charleston was famed for its racing, and for the devotion that its citizens showed to breeding and racing horses, making the contests extravagant betting and drinking events. Here the...

Photo

Friends and Amateurs in Musick | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 10

"Friends and Amateurs in Musick" was drawn in 1827 by Thomas Middleton, an amateur artist; it is probably deliberately modeled on the convivial gathering of "Peter Manigault and His Friends" (see...

Photo

The seat of Dr. William Read on the Cooper River | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 9

"The seat of Dr. William Read on the Cooper River" illustrates the continued wealth and prosperity of the large planters in the Lowcountry even as the economic center of cotton growing moved westward...

Photo

Encampment at Hadril's Point | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 8

John C. Calhoun (see John C. Calhoun and John C. Calhoun), newly elected to the House of Representatives in 1811, was an eager supporter of avenging American honor by going to war against England...

Photo

Petition from "Free people of Colour and free Negroes," 1820 | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 7

Petition from "Free people of Colour and free Negroes," 1820. In 1756, the General Assembly passed a law which levied a tax on "All free Negroes, Mulattos and Mestizos who do not pay any other part of...

Cherokee Reservation, Fort Gibson, Arkansas | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Cherokee Reservation, Fort Gibson, Arkansas | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

The Cherokee nation was gradually pushed out of the western Piedmont by the expanding European encroachment on their lands. The Cherokees in South Carolina had been hard hit by the attacks of Andrew...

George Washington Letter to Charles Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

George Washington Letter to Charles Pinckney | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

One of the objections of those who opposed the adoption of the Constitution was its lack of a Bill of Rights, and South Carolina's ratifying convention directed that its delegates to the new Congress...

Delegates to a 1787 Convention in Philadelphia | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Delegates to a 1787 Convention in Philadelphia | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

Delegates to a convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 drew up a constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation. For the next year, supporters and opponents of the stronger national...

A Coffle of Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

A Coffle of Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

A coffle of slaves is being marched through town by an overseer. From "Slavery in South Carolina," 1862. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.

Middle Passage for Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Middle Passage for Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

The slave trade continued in South Carolina until the constitutionally set limit of 1808. The "middle passage" for slaves from Africa to the New World was full of hazards. Many slaves did not survive...

Battle of Eutaw Springs | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Battle of Eutaw Springs | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 13

Battle of Eutaw Springs. Fought late in September of 1781, this was the last significant battle of the Revolution in South Carolina. General Nathanael Green and his forces did not win, but forced the...

Battle of Cowpens | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Battle of Cowpens | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 12

The Battle of Cowpens has been called the "best planned battle of the Revolutionary War." "Bloody Tarleton" (see Banastre Tarleton), a fine British tactician, attempted to surprise a portion of...

Battle of Kings Mountain | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Battle of Kings Mountain | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 11

The Battle of Kings Mountain, engraved in 1859 by Johnson, Fry and Company from an original painting by Chappel. Although the leader of the British forces here was a Scotsman, Major Patrick Ferguson...

Battle Of Camden Map | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Battle Of Camden Map | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 10

A map of the Battle of Camden. After Charleston fell to the British in 1780, Lord Cornwallis established posts at a number of places in the interior of South Carolina to serve as a base for pacifying...

General Francis Marion, a.k.a. "Swamp Fox" | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

General Francis Marion, a.k.a. "Swamp Fox" | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 9

General Francis Marion inviting a British officer to share his meal. With the British in charge of the city of Charleston, the war in South Carolina became one of guerilla warfare, with the British...

Siege of Charleston Plan | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Siege of Charleston Plan | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 8

Plan of the Siege of Charleston, 1780. The British did not capture Charleston in 1776, but when their strategy for winning the war shifted the military offensive from the north to the south in 1779...

Old Powder Magazine | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Old Powder Magazine | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 7

The "old powder magazine," built in 1703 as part of the northwest bastion of the city's original fortifications, was a storage area for arms as Charleston prepared for the Revolutionary War. Courtesy...

Sergeant William Jasper, Hero of Fort Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection

Photo

Grades

Sergeant William Jasper, Hero of Fort Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

When a British shot tore the South Carolina flag from its staff during the attack on Sullivan's Island, Sergeant Jasper, an Irishman, risked becoming a target himself to replace the flag, lest the...