The outbreak of the Civil War was the culminating event in a decades-long series of regional issues that threatened American unity and South Carolina’s identity as one of the United States. To understand how South Carolina came to be at the cent...

Grade(s): 8

Subject(s): Social Studies

Year: 2011

Commemorating South Carolina’s Secession
Commemorating South Carolina’s Secession

Lesson

On December 20,1860, the delegates of a special South Carolina state convention voted unanimously to secede from the Union. Secession had been brewing for more than a decade, as white South...

Secession, Part 2 | Palmetto Heritage

Video

Back in South Carolina in December 1860 for a short Christmas break, Allen finds the Secession convention in session at the First Baptist Church in Columbia. He then accompanies his father, who is a...
John C. Calhoun | Palmetto Heritage

Video

It is the summer of 1829 and Vice-President Calhoun is spending the Congressional recess at his home near Pendleton, South Carolina. His youngest daughter, Cornelia is helping her father with his...
Brooks-Sumner Affair | Palmetto Heritage

Video

In 1857 during the heated debate on Kansas in the Senate, Charles Sumner delivered a two-day speech entitled "The Crime Against Kansas," which contained an insulting denunciation of Senator Andrew...
Denmark Vesey | Palmetto Heritage

Video

The program begins with Vesey discussing the condition of slavery with an acquaintance who is a slave. Later, at a meeting, details of a plot are worked out with co-conspirators. Some are concerned...
Secession, Part 1 | Palmetto Heritage

Video

The story begins in 1858 in South Carolina. William Taylor's cousin Allen is visiting from Connecticut. Secession "fever" is rapidly engulfing the state. The scene shifts to West Point where the...
Crisis of 1850 (Secession)
Crisis of 1850 (Secession)

Lesson

As sectionalism arose from racial/societal tension many events occurred that led to South Carolina’s secession from the Union. Students will create an interactive timeline of the Road to Civil War.

Forces of Unity and Division
Forces of Unity and Division

Lesson

Students will read letters written in history and see how they tell the story of the past and what society and the culture was like at the time. After learning more about sectionalism and the division...

John C. Calhoun | Palmetto Special

Video

"The Palmetto Special" goes to John C. Calhoun's old homeplace, Fort Hill on the Clemson campus. Four students, who also appear in the dramatic portion, tour the mansion and grounds. The conclusion of...