As the relationship between the colonists and England dissolved , Charleston became a focal point in the ensuing American Revolution. It was twice the target of British attacks . At every stage the British strategy assumed a large base of Loyalist supporters who would rally to the King given some military support. General Henry Clinton with 2000 men and a naval squadron tried to seize Charleston on June 28, 1776 , hoping for a simultaneous Loyalist uprising in South Carolina. When the fleet fired cannonballs, the explosives failed to penetrate Fort Moultrie’s unfinished , yet thick palmetto log walls. Additionally, no local Loyalists attacked the town from behind as the British had hoped.
Clinton returned in 1780 with 14,000 soldiers. American General Benjamin Lincoln was cornered and forfeited his entire 5400 men force after a long fight, and the Siege of Charleston was the greatest American defeat of the war (see Henry Clinton “Commander in Chief” section for more). Several Americans escaped the carnage, and joined up with several militias, including those of Francis Marion, the ‘Swampfox,’ and Andrew Pickens.Until 1782 the British retainned control of the city.
Although the city would lose the status of state capital to Columbia, Charleston became even more prosperous in the plantation-dominated economy of the post-Revolutionary years. In 1793 the invention of the cotton gin revolutionized this crops production , and it quickly became South Carolina’s major exportation. Cotton plantations relied heavily on slave labor. Slaves were also the primary labor force within the city, working as domestics, artisans, market workers or laborers. By 1820 Charleston’s population had grown to 23,000 , with a black majority. When a massive slave revolt planned by Denmark Vesey, a free black, was discovered in 1822 , such hysteria ensued amidst white Charlestonians and Carolinians that the activities of free blacks and slaves were severely restricted.
As Charleston’s government, society and industry grew, commercial institutions were established to support the community’s aspirations. The Bank of South Carolina, the second oldest building constructed as a bank in the nation, was established here in 1798 . Branches of the First and Second Bank of the United States were also situated in Charleston in 1800 and 1817. By 1840, the Market Hall and Sheds, where fresh meat and produce were brought daily, became the commercial hub of the city . The slave trade also depended on the port of Charleston, where ships could be unloaded and the slaves sold at markets.
In the first half of the 19th century, South Carolinians became more devoted to the idea that state’s rights were superior to the Federal government’s authority. In 1832 South Carolina passed an ordinance of nullification, a procedure in which a state could in effect repeal a Federal law, directed against the most late(a) tariff acts. Soon Federal soldiers were dispensed to Charleston’s forts and began to collect tariffs by force. A compromise was reached by which the tariffs would be gradually reduced, but the fundamental argument over state’s rights would continue to escalate in the coming decades.
Free Reocation Packages for Charleston, SC
