South CarolinaSouth Carolina The History of an American StateThe History of an American State

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A New State and NationA New State and Nation

©2006 Clairmont Press

South CarolinaSouth Carolina The History of an American StateThe History of an American State

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A New State and NationA New State and Nation

Section 1: Section 1: New Government

Section 2: Section 2: The New NationalGovernment

Section 3: Section 3: South Carolina Society

Section 1: New GovernmentSection 1: New Government

Essential Question

• What challenges did South Carolina face in creating a new government after the Revolutionary War?

Section 1: New GovernmentSection 1: New Government

What terms do I need to know?

• amerced

• amnesty

• capitol

• incorporation

• Articles of Confederation

• ratify

Section 1: New GovernmentSection 1: New Government

What terms do I need to know?

• unicameral

• amend

• U.S. Constitution

• Antifederalist

• Federalist

• apportionment

• 1782: Charles Town still occupied by the British: legislature met in Jacksonborough in order to identify and determine punishment for the estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people who were loyalists

• A series of three acts identified those who would be banished and their property confiscated, those whose property was to be assessed a 12% penalty, and those who would be granted amnesty with a fine of 10% of their property value

• Most staunch loyalists were living in Charles Town and left the state when the British withdrew at the end of 1782; from South Carolina, many went to British colonies in the Caribbean or Canada

South Carolina After the WarSouth Carolina After the War

• During the war, both sides seized food, supplies, and private property from South Carolinians; repayment was promised, it was never given, leaving many citizens without basic necessities

• Broken trade ties and the removal of British bonuses for growing certain crops meant that planters and merchants had to establish new markets and trade routes

• In order to help planters rebuild damaged fields and help citizens repay debts, the state began issuing paper currency to help pay taxes and rebuild farms

• Allowed debtors to repay debts with land rather than cash; extended the time period for debt repayment

South Carolina After the WarSouth Carolina After the War

• Charles Town remained an important city, becoming incorporated and renamed Charleston in 1783 – gained a semi-independent government and resolved tensions between upper and working classes by giving voice to artisans and mechanics

• To resolve tensions between Up Country and Low Country legislative representatives, the legislation agreed to build a new capital, Columbia, in the center of the state

• As part of the compromise, the Low Country maintained its majority in the legislature

South Carolina After the WarSouth Carolina After the War

• To create a stable national government, Congress wrote the first national constitution, Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781

• The Articles established a weak central government, controlled by a unicameral legislature: Congress

• Each state had one vote in Congress, but Congress had little power and could not tax or regulate trade, and any laws required the approval of 9 out of 13 states; the Articles could only be amended with a unanimous vote

• Shays’ Rebellion, a 1786 conflict in Massachusetts between debtors and wealthy citizens, pointed out to national leaders the inability of the government both to help debtors and to maintain order

Building A New NationBuilding A New Nation

• Delegates sent to Philadelphia to improve the Articles of Confederation, but when they met in May 1787, they decided to write a new constitution

• This constitution divided the government into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative (bicameral)

• Debate raged about whether representation for the legislature should be equal for every state or whether it should be determined by population “Great Compromise” decided that the lower house, the House of Representatives, would be based on population; Senate would have equal representation for each state

• A final compromise involved the counting of slaves with regard to taxation and representation; it was decided that each slave would count as three-fifths of a person

Building A New NationBuilding A New Nation

• In order for the new Constitution to go into effect, it had to be ratified by nine out of the thirteen states; each state was to call a special convention to discuss ratification

• South Carolina’s convention was based on the representation in the General Assembly, and the Low Country leaders, who favored the document, had a majority

• Up Country representatives largely opposed the Constitution, stating that it created a strong central government and threatened the powers of the states; Federalists, the group that supported ratification, insisted that the U.S. needed a strong government for foreign affairs and to establish economic stability

• Both groups agreed that amendments were needed to protect the rights of the people and the states

Building A New NationBuilding A New Nation

• Up Country representatives, sought a new state constitution in order to obtain equal representation in the General Assembly

• The Low Country was not willing to give up its majority, and the convention instead reduced the number of members in the lower house from 212 and 124; while the Up Country gained some representation, the Low Country maintained a majority

• Two other important points of the 1790 constitution were the separation of church and state and an increase in the property requirements to vote or hold office

Another Constitution for South Another Constitution for South CarolinaCarolina

• The legislature remained the most powerful branch of government, electing almost all of the state officials, including the governor, judges, and many local officials

Another Constitution for South Another Constitution for South CarolinaCarolina

Section 2: The New National Section 2: The New National GovernmentGovernment

Essential Question

• How did the United States government develop after the Revolutionary War?

What terms do I need to know?

• cabinet

• appeal

• tariff

• alien

• sedition

Section 2: The New National Section 2: The New National GovernmentGovernment

What terms do I need to know?

• judicial review

• nullification

• states’ rights

Section 2: The New National Section 2: The New National GovernmentGovernment

Domestic Issues in the Early Domestic Issues in the Early YearsYears

• The Constitution left the establishment of the court system to Congress; in the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress established the basic court system, setting up circuit courts in every state and several appeals courts

• Economic development was another important issue; Treasury Secretary Hamilton thought national government should pay war debts, should place a small duty on imports to pay for operations, proposed the establishment of a national bank that would issue money and collect taxes, and a protective tariff that would help American industrial growth

• Thomas Jefferson saw Hamilton’s plans as unconstitutional, that the national government could not set up a national bank, and that a tariff would hurt farmers

Domestic Issues in the Early Domestic Issues in the Early YearsYears

• The disagreements between Hamilton and Jefferson were based on their Constitutional beliefs; Hamilton believed that if the Constitution did not prohibit an action, then Congress could do it; Jefferson believed that if the Constitution did not specifically say that Congress could do something, then Congress could not do it

• This disagreement led to the establishment of the two-party system; Hamilton’s supporters became known as Federalists and Jefferson’s, as Democratic-Republicans

• President Washington sided with Hamilton, and most of his ideas were adopted by Congress, but debate continued about these issues

Foreign AffairsForeign Affairs• When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, the Federalists argued for neutrality because the conflict was not a war for independence, while the Democratic-Republicans argued for involvement, citing a 1778 treaty with France and viewing the war as a fight for freedom; Washington decided upon neutrality and warned in his farewell speech that the U.S. should remain out of European affairs

• In 1795, John Jay negotiated a treaty with Britain on trade and other issues, including continued British occupation of western forts and pre-war debts; most decisions favored the British

• Treaty was made with Spain in order to give the U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River; many southern and western farmers needed the river to transport crops

The Alien and Sedition ActsThe Alien and Sedition Acts• In 1798, the crisis with France led the Federalist-controlled Congress to pass a series of laws that raised the residency requirement for an alien to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years, gave the president power to arrest and deport dangerous aliens and citizens of foreign countries with which the U.S. was at war; these laws were mainly aimed at new immigrants who tended to support the Republicans

• The Sedition Act made it a crime to speak or print anything false or malicious about the federal government, the president, or Congress, or to oppose the “lawful acts” of Congress

• Many South Carolinians and others felt that these acts violated the First Amendment rights of free speech and free press; several state legislatures passed resolutions declaring a state’s right to refuse to obey and enforce a federal law with which they disagree, asserting the concepts of nullification and states’ rights

The Alien and Sedition ActsThe Alien and Sedition Acts

Section 3: South Carolina Section 3: South Carolina SocietySociety

Essential Question

• What was South Carolina society like following the Revolutionary War?

Life in the Low CountryLife in the Low Country• As a busy, bustling port, Charleston and the surrounding Low Country area contained most of the state’s wealth

• Wealthy residents could afford to hire others to do jobs for them, providing plenty of job opportunities

• Slavery usually associated with plantations and agriculture; many slaves were used as house servants in Charleston, housed in isolated slave quarters close behind the main house

Life in the Up CountryLife in the Up Country• Unlike Charleston, most of the state was rural and dependent on agriculture; water power was used to grind grain and saw timber, but almost everything else—cutting trees, hauling wood, digging stones, churning butter, sewing clothes—was done by human power

• Women’s and men’s work often overlapped, but women generally handled domestic chores, while men worked in the field and workshop; men cut and plowed, while women cooked, cleaned, mended, and raised the children

• Slave labor was not as distinctly divided; both men and women performed field work; only men worked in the woods, and on larger farms, slave women often did general chores in the owner’s house

Life in the Up CountryLife in the Up Country• The average house in South Carolina was very small, usually consisting of only two rooms and a loft above; both rooms shared a central fireplace, and a porch might be added and used as an extra room if the family grew

• Slaves’ quarters were usually one-room cabins with dirt floors; many had no windows, and two families often shared one cabin

• The homes were drafty and had no insulation, so people relied on South Carolina’s temperate climate for warmth

• During the day, those inside the house depended on sunlight, and at night, candles provided light, often reflected by mirrors which had prominent places on the walls of rooms

• Some households had enough seating, but many poorer families only had two or three chairs; an obvious social distinction was whether one slept on feathers or straw

Life in the Up CountryLife in the Up Country• Washing facilities were often outside, the water was not heated, and soap was saved for laundry

• A chamber pot was used to avoid a dark nighttime trip outside, and those that were wealthy had one in every room; some farms had privies or outhouses, while others simply used the closest patch of woods

• Food supply was limited by available methods of preservation; few families had regular supplies of fresh meat and relied on dried, smoked, or salted meat and corn as the basis of their diets, alternated with wild game, chicken, and seasonal vegetables

Life in the Up CountryLife in the Up Country• Slaves’ diets usually consisted of leftovers or cornmeal and porkfat, though some were allowed to raise their own livestock

• Because life was hard, with little time for play, the people often turned work into a social occasion; house raising, log rollings, corn huskings, and quilting bees combined productivity and social interaction

• The Puritan background of American settlers meant that most European holidays were no longer celebrated; Christmas was observed on a small scale; Sunday was a day of rest, and going to church was a spiritual and social practice

• Parents wanted their sons, and very rarely their daughters, to know the basics of reading, writing, and calculating for practical purposes; those who could afford it sent their sons to school in Great Britain, but even for those who could afford it, sessions were limited to about four months because of farming

Becoming SouthernBecoming Southern• The traits that eventually became “southern” were widespread in America at the end of the eighteenth century; South Carolinians, like all Americans, had developed language patterns that were the result of the fusion of many dialects, including a dialect of Old English, in combination with poor grammar

• Slaves had a very distinct dialect, representing their lack of education in combination with African language structure and rhythm

• Democracy and the American Revolution did away with many of the colonial practices that were associated with class differences; for men, bows, curtsies, and averted eyes were replaced with a simple handshake, while for women, children and slaves, averted eyes, lowered heads, bows, and other deferential behaviors were expected to demonstrate social inferiority