Province of South Carolina | ||||||||||
Colony of Great Britain | ||||||||||
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Capital | Charles Towne | |||||||||
Languages | English, Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, Yuchi, Shawnee | |||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||||||||
Legislature | Commons House of Assembly | |||||||||
Historical era | Colonial Era | |||||||||
• | Established | 1712 | ||||||||
• | Independence | 1776 | ||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling | |||||||||
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Today part of | United States |
The Province of South Carolina (also known as the South Carolina Colony) was originally part of the Province of Carolina in British America, which was chartered by eight Lords Proprietor in 1663. The province later became the U.S. state of South Carolina.
The Carolinas were named for King Charles II of England. Derived from Latin Carolus, the colony was originally "Carolana," the spelling eventually changed to "Carolina." [Note that Carolana was also the name of a failed settlement plan in the late 1690s.] Charles Towne was the first settlement, established in 1670.
Charles II had given the land to a group of eight nobles called the Lords Proprietors; they planned for a Protestant Christian colony. Originally a single proprietary colony, the northern and southern sections grew apart over time, due partly to neglect by the (individual) legal heirs of the original Lords Proprietor. Dissent over governance of the province led to the appointment of a deputy governor to administer the northern half of the Carolina colony in 1691. The division of the Carolina Province into North Carolina and South Carolina became complete in 1712.