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After Charles II was restored to the English throne, he granted the
chartered Carolina territory to eight of his loyal friends, known as the
Lord Proprietors, in 1663. It took seven years before the Lords could
arrange for settlement, the first being that of Charles Town. The
community named for the King Charles I was established by English
settlers in 1670 across the Ashley River from the city's current
location. It was soon chosen by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, one of the Lord
Proprietors, to become a "great port towne," a destiny which the city
fulfilled. By 1680, the settlement had grown, joined by others from
England, Barbados, and Virginia, and relocated to its current peninsular
location. The capital of the Carolina colony, Charleston was the center
for further expansion and the southernmost point of English settlement
during the late 1600s.
The settlement was often subject to attack from sea and from land.
Periodic assaults from Spain and France, who still contested England's
claims to the region, were combined with resistance from American
Indians as well as pirate raids. Charleston's colonists erected a
fortification wall around the small settlement to aid in its defense.
The only building to remain from the Walled City is the
Powder
Magazine, where the city's supply of gun powder was stored.
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Aerial view of Four Corners of
the Law
Photograph courtesy of City of Charleston Department of
Planning and Urban Development
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A 1680 plan for the new settlement, the Grand Modell, laid out "the
model of an exact regular town," and the future for the growing
community. Land surrounding the intersection of Meeting and Broad
Streets was set aside for a Civic Square. Over time it became known as
the Four Corners of the Law, referring to the various arms of
governmental and religious law presiding over the square and the growing
city. St.
Michael's Episcopal, Charleston's oldest and most noted church, was
built on the southeast corner in 1752. The following year the
Capitol of
the colony was erected across the square. Because of its prominent
position within the city and its elegant architecture, the building
signaled to Charleston's citizens and visitors its importance within the
British colonies. Provincial court met on the ground floor, the Commons
House of Assembly and the Royal Governor's Council Chamber met on the
second floor.
While the earliest settlers primarily came from England, colonial
Charleston was also home to a mixture of ethnic and religious groups.
French, Scottish, Irish and Germans migrated to the developing seacoast
town, representing numerous Protestant denominations, as well as
Catholicism and Judaism. Sephardic Jews (of Spanish and Portugese
ancestry) migrated to the city in such numbers that Charleston became
one of the largest Jewish communities in North America. The Jewish
Coming Street
Cemetery, first established in 1762, attests to their long standing
presence in the community. The first Anglican church,
St. Philip's
Episcopal, was built in 1682, although later destroyed by fire and
relocated to its current location. Slaves also comprised a major portion
of the population, and were active in the city's religious community.
Free black Charlestonians and slaves helped establish the
Old Bethel
United Methodist Church in 1797, and the congregation of the
Emanuel A.M.E.
Church stems from a religious group organized solely by African
Americans, free and slave, in 1791.
Historic view of the Exchange and
Provost building from Broad Street, circa 1866-1900
From the photographic collections of the
South Carolina Historical Society, 39/007/072
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By the mid-18th century Charleston had become a bustling trade center,
and the wealthiest and largest city south of Philadelphia. Rice and
indigo had been successfully cultivated by gentleman planters in the
surrounding coastal lowcountry, while merchants profited from the
successful shipping industry. As the relationship between the colonists
and England deteriorated, Charleston became a focal point in the ensuing
Revolution. In protest of the Tea Act of 1773, which embodied the
concept of "taxation without representation," Charlestonians confiscated
tea and stored it in the
Exchange and
Custom House. Representatives from all over the colony came to the
Exchange in 1774 to elect delegates to the Continental Congress, the
group responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence; and
South Carolina declared its independence from the crown on the steps of
the Exchange. Soon, the church steeples of Charleston, especially St.
Michael's, became targets for British war ships. A siege on the city in
1776 was successfully defended by
William
Moultrie from Sullivan's Island, but by 1780 Charleston came under
British control for two and a half years. After the British retreated in
December 1782, the city's name was officially changed to Charleston. By
1788, Carolinians were meeting at the
Capitol
building for the Constitutional Ratification Convention, and while there
was support for the Federal Government, division arose over the location
of the new State Capital. A suspicious fire broke out in the Capitol
building during the Convention, after which the delegates removed to the
Exchange
and decreed Columbia the new State Capital. By 1792, the Capitol had
been rebuilt and became the Charleston County Courthouse. Upon its
completion, the city possessed all the public buildings necessary to be
transformed from a colonial capital to the center of the antebellum
South. But the grandeur and number of buildings erected in the following
century reflect the optimism, pride, and civic destiny that many
Charlestonians felt for their community.
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Main Building, also known as
Randolph Hall, of the College of Charleston
Photograph by Lissa D'Aquisto, courtesy of City of Charleston
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As Charleston grew, so did the community's cultural and social
opportunities, especially for the elite merchants and planters. The
first theater building in America was built in Charleston in 1736, but
was later replaced by the 19th-century Planter's Hotel where wealthy
planters stayed during Charleston's horse-racing season (now the
Dock Street
Theatre). Benevolent societies were formed by several different
ethnic groups: the
South Carolina
Society, founded by French Huguenots in 1737; the
German
Friendly Society, founded in 1766; and the
Hibernian
Society, founded by Irish immigrants in 1801. The
Charleston
Library Society was established in 1748 by some wealthy
Charlestonians who wished to keep up with the scientific and
philosophical issues of the day. This group also helped establish the
College of
Charleston in 1770, the oldest college in South Carolina and the
13th college in the United States.
Charleston became more prosperous in the plantation dominated economy
of the post-Revolutionary years. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793
revolutionized this crop's production, and it quickly became South
Carolina's major export. 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. Many black
Charlestonians spoke Gullah, a dialect based on African American
structures which combined African, Portuguese, and English words. 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. Hundreds of blacks, free and slave, and some white
supporters involved in the planned uprising were held in the
Old Jail.
It also was the impetus for the construction of a new
State Arsenal
in Charleston.
Historic engraving of the Bank of South Carolina (then the
Charleston Library), based on a photograph
Photo by Barnard, engraving by Photo. Eng. Co., NY
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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 located in Charleston in 1800
and 1817. While the First Bank was converted to
City Hall
by 1818, the
Second Bank proved to be a vital part of the community as it was the
only bank in the city equipped to handle the international transactions
so crucial to the export trade. 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. Buildings such as the
Marine
Hospital ignited controversy over the degree in which the Federal
government should be involved in South Carolina's government, society,
and commerce. During this period over 90 percent of Federal funding was
generated from import duties, collected by custom houses such as the one
in Charleston. 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 recent 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 underlying argument over state's rights would
continue to escalate in the coming decades. Charleston remained one of
the busiest port cities in the country, and the construction of a new,
larger United
States Custom House began in 1849, but its construction was
interrupted by the events of the Civil War.
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Hibernian Hall
Photograph by Lissa D'Aquisto, courtesy of City of Charleston
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In 1860, the National Democratic Convention convened in Charleston.
Hibernian Hall
served as the headquarters for the delegates supporting Stephen A.
Douglas, who it was hoped would bridge the gap between the northern and
southern delegates on the issue of extending slavery to the territories.
The convention disintegrated when delegates were unable to summon a
two-thirds majority for any candidate. This divisiveness resulted in a
split in the Democratic party, and the election of Abraham Lincoln, the
Republican candidate. On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina
legislature was the first state to vote for secession from the Union.
They asserted that one of the causes was the election to the presidency
of a man "whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery."
Ruins of Fort Sumter
Photograph by Jack Boucher, courtesy of HABS
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On January 9, 1861,
Citadel
cadets fired the first shots of the Civil War when they opened fire on a
Union ship entering Charleston's harbor. April 2, 1861, shore batteries
under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard opened fire on the
Union-held
Fort Sumter in the harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert
Anderson surrendered the fort. Cadets from the Citadel, South Carolina's
liberal arts military college, continued to aid the Confederate army by
helping drill recruits, manufacture ammunition, protect arms depots, and
guard Union prisoners. The city under siege took control of Fort Sumter,
became the center for blockade running, and was the site of the first
submarine warfare in 1863. In 1865, Union troops moved into the city,
and took control of many sites, such as the
United States
Arsenal which the Confederate army had seized at the outbreak of the
war.
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Some of the destruction of Charleston that resulted from the
Civil War, several black children are leaning on a column of the
Circular Church
Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress, cwp 4a39920
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After the eventual and destructive defeat of the Confederacy, Federal
forces remained in Charleston during the city's reconstruction. The war
had shattered the prosperity of the antebellum city. Freed slaves were
faced with poverty and discrimination. Industries slowly brought the
city and its inhabitants back to a renewed vitality and growth in
population. As the city's commerce improved, Charlestonians also worked
to restore their community institutions. In 1867 Charleston's first free
secondary school for blacks was established, the
Avery
Institute. General William T. Sherman lent his support to the
conversion of the United States Arsenal into the
Porter
Military Academy, an educational facility for former soldiers and
boys left orphaned or destitute by the war. The
William Enston
Home, a planned community for the city's aged and infirm, was built
in 1889. An elaborate public building, the
United States
Post Office and Courthouse, was completed in 1896 and signaled
renewed life in the heart of the city.
In 1886 Charleston was nearly destroyed by a major earthquake that
was felt as far away as Boston and Bermuda. Few buildings escaped
damage. Coupled with fires, hurricanes, tornados, several wars, and
urban renewal in the 20th century, it is extraordinary how many of
Charleston's historic buildings remain. Today the city's community
buildings help to make Charleston one of the most complete historic
districts in the country, with more than 1400 historically significant
buildings.
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