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THE YEMASSEE WAR.

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North Carolina had hardly covered from these Indian depredations, when South Carolina was called upon to undergo the same experience. For a long time past the Indians had been plotting to lay waste the South Carolina frontier and extirpate the whites, the combination extending extending from the tribes of Florida to those of Cape Fear. The day before the bloody work was begun, deep gloom was observed to have settled on the Yemassees, which boded no good to the colonists. On the morning of April 15, 1715, hostilities broke out. The leaders, all heavily armed, called upon their their followers among among the young men to begin the work. Within a few hours they had massacred about 90 persons in Pocotaligo and the neighboring plantations, and a large number of the settlers on Port Royal Island were also killed, although many escaped because they had been previously warned. After spreading desolation and ruin on

* Hildreth, vol. ii., pp. 271-275.

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every side, and driving the planters into Charleston, the Yemassees were joined by the Catawbas, the Cherokees and the Creeks, all of whom a short time before were allies of the Carolinians in the war against the Tuscaroras. According to the most authentic computations, the Indians numbered about 6,000 or 7,000, while to oppose them in Charleston were not more than 1,200 men fit to bear arms. Nevertheless, Governor Charles Craven determined to attack the enemy even with so small a force. He proclaimed martial law, and laid an embargo on all ships in order to prevent either men or provisions from leaving the country. He prevailed upon the Assembly to pass an act empowering him to impress men, to seize arms, ammunition, and stores, wherever they were to be found, and to arm such negroes as might be considered trustworthy, for prosecuting war. Military stores were sent from New York and Virginia, while North Carolina lent such aid as was in her power. When the equipment was complete, Craven marched against the Indians and coming upon them in their encampment, at Saltcatchers, a bloody engagement took place, in which Craven was victorious. The Yemassees, finally driven entirely out of the entirely out of the province, retired to Florida, and shortly afterward peace was concluded with the other tribes. As a result of the war, several hundred lives were lost and damages to the extent of £100,000

36

CAROLINA A CROWN COLONY; THE PIRATES.

were inflicted, in addition to a colonial debt in bills of credit of a like amount.*

SO

The colonists then solicited aid from the proprietaries in paying the debt, but the latter refused, and in 1716, in order to remunerate the colony, the Assembly passed an act disposing of the lands from which the Indians had been expelled. The terms offered by the Assembly were favorable that 500 Irishmen immediately came to the province and settled along the frontier. The proprietaries, however, refused to sanction these proceedings, and deprived the emigrants of these lands. Being thereby reduced to extreme poverty, most of them perished from want, while others went to the northern colonies. Thus the barrier between the colony and the Indians was removed and the colony the colony again exposed to the Indian incursions. This exasperated the people and caused them to express a desire for a change of masters. The discontent was increased by the corrupt and oppressive conduct of Trott, the chief justice, and Rhett, the receiver-general. In 1718 the governor and Council complained to the authorities at home, asking for Trott's removal, but the proprietaries treated their appeal with contempt. They further ordered Governor Johnson to dissolve the

* Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. i., pp. 373-375; Hildreth, vol. ii., pp. 276-277; The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. ii., 12.

Assembly, which he did, in spite of the state of the public mind. In 1719 the newly elected representatives declined to act as an Assembly, and assumed the character of a revolutionary convention. Johnson refused to sanction their proceedings, and on December 21 they selected Colonel James Moore (2d) to govern the colony in the king's name, and entered into an association for the defence of the colony not only against the Indians, but also against the Spanish. The colonists then sent an agent in their behalf to England, where in 1720, after a hearing, legal process was taken for vacating the Carolina charter. Pending this process, the administration of affairs in South Carolina was assumed by the

crown.

In the summer of 1718 the colony was attacked by pirates under Blackbeard. With a frigate of 40 guns and three sloops, manned by over 400 of his band, Blackbeard blockaded Charleston harbor, capturing several merchant vessels and the passengers which they carried. He then demanded food, drugs and other supplies on pain of killing all his prisoners, and in order to save them, some of whom were men of importance in the colony, the settlers quickly furnished all he demanded. Blackbeard soon afterward was killed in Pemlico Sound. In the same year another desperate gang, under Major

* Hildreth, vol. ii., pp. 285-288; Bancroft, vol. ii., pp. 214-216.

NICHOLSON GOVERNOR; PEACE WITH INDIANS.

Stede Bonnett, began to prey on the colonists, but Colonel William Rhett soon succeeded in capturing the band. and they were executed. These measures against the pirates had the desired effect, and by 1730 the fear of them was gone.*

In 1721 a provisional royal governor was sent out to South Carolina in the person of Sir Francis Nicholson. Having learned that the most judicious course was to gain the favor of the settlers, Nicholson endeavored to make himself popular and favored the wishes of the people as much as possible. Among his first steps in his effort to gain popularity was the appointing of Middleton to the presidency of the Council, and Allen to the chief justiceship, both of whom had been active in the late movement against the proprietaries. In 1722 he also gave his approval to a bill providing for an additional issue of paper money. Regarding this paper money, however, there was considerable confusion and much controversy during the next few years.†

South Carolina Carolina had not been joined in the insurrection against proprietary authority by her northern neighbor, North Carolina. In 1729, however, the proprietaries of the latter province made an arrangement by which they sold out their rights to the crown on payment of

* Fiske, Old Virginia, vol. ii., chap. xvi., "The Golden Age of Pirates."

+ Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. i., pp. 375-380; Hildreth, vol. ii., pp. 290-292.

37

about £50,000.
about £50,000. Robert Johnson was
appointed royal governor of South
Carolina and George Burrington to
the same office in North Carolina.*
In 1734 Burrington was succeeded by
Gabriel Johnston, and in 1737 the
president of the Council, William
Bull, succeeded Thomas Broughton in
South Carolina.† In 1730 Sir Alex-
ander Cumming (or Cuming) was
sent out to effect an amicable and
peaceable settlement with the Chero-
kees of the dispute over the lands
near the Savannah River. He was
entirely successful in his mission. A
treaty was drawn up and signed, in
which the Indians recognized the
sovereignty of the king, and the privi-
lege of settlement on Indian territory
was granted.‡
was granted. This state of peace
continued for many years, thus per-
mitting the colonists to follow their
various employments and vocations
in the neighborhood of the Indians
without fear of molestation.||

The Carolinas were now beginning to attract considerable attention in Europe, in consequence of which numerous bands of emigrants came into both provinces. One of the most prominent emigrants was John Peter Purry, a native of Neufchatel, in Switzerland. He succeeded in persuading about 170 of his countrymen to emigrate to the Carolinas, and not long after their arrival in the prov

*For his disputes with the Assembly see Doyle. Colonies under Hanover, p. 138 et seq. Hildreth, vol. ii., p. 336 et seq.

Doyle, Colonies under Hanover, pp. 299-301.
Hildreth, vol. ii., p. 333.

38

SWISS EMIGRANTS; DISPUTE OVER QUIT-RENTS.

ince, they were joined by 200 more. The governor had agreed to allot them certain territory on which they might settle, and after their arrival set aside 40,000 acres of land on the northeast side of the Savannah River, where a town was laid out and named Purrysburg, from the name of the promoter of the settlement. It was a long time before the settlers became acclimated and before they had done so, a large number died. For a number of years the survivors deeply regretted that they had left their native land.* Nevertheless, when they had become inured to the climate, they made rapid progress and succeeded in all branches of commerce and industry. In the same year, eleven towns were marked out on the sides of the rivers, in square plots, each consisting of 20,000 acres. Two of these towns were laid out each on the Santee, the Savannah, the Altamaha; one each on the Black, the Wacamaw, and the Wateree. The land in each of these townships was divided into shares of 50 acres for every man, woman and child who should come over to occupy and improve them. In 1737 a number of Irishmen embarked for Carolina, because of the unsettled conditions in Ireland which precluded the possibility of obtaining a comfortable subsistence for their families in their native land. The first colony of these Irish received a grant of lands near the Santee River and

* Doyle, Colonies under Hanover, p. 320.

established a settlement called Williamsburg.

In 1739 South Carolina was disturbed by a slave insurrection, but it was easily subdued.* In 1740, Charleston was burned, but it was a benefit instead of a misfortune, as the old village was replaced by handsome buildings, becoming the commercial as well as the political capital of the colony. The Carolinians were not content to maintain themselves in peaceful relations with the outsiders and consented to join an enterprise against the Spaniards. The majority of the expeditions sent against the Spanish were not successful, particularly the one in 1740 against St. Augustine. In North Carolina there was some discord caused by the question of quit-rents, and for a number of years the colonists refused to pay these quit-rents to the properly authorized officers. In 1748, however, the matter was finally adjusted to the satisfaction of all. Notwithstanding the difficulties, the colony increased in population and wealth.

Throughout the colonial period Charleston constituted the heart and life of South Carolina. In 1700 there were about 6,000 white colonists, most of whom lived at Charleston. The dwelling houses were made of wood and brick, and the only public buildings were the churches. From the first, many of the colonists were ac

*Doyle, Colonies under Hanover, pp. 254-255; South Carolina Historical Collections, vol. ii.,

p. 290.

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES.

tively engaged in sending the products of soil and forest across the sea, cedar logs being sent to Barbadoes, pitch and tar to England, and oak boards, pine shingles and tar to the West Indies. The skins of wild animals formed an important part of the export trade, the colonists obtaining the skins of deer, bear, otter and other fur-bearing animals from the Indians.* As early as November, 1680, there were 16 trading vessels at anchor at one time in the harbor of Charleston, which number soon increased. After 1693 rice became the chief article of export, cattle and hogs became numerous, and cured meat was sent to the West Indies; during a brief period much attention was given to the growing of mulberry trees and the manufacture of silk from the cocoons spun by the silk worms; and by 1730 large quantities of raw silk, lumber, shingles and cowhides were being exported, about 52,000 barrels of tar, pitch and turpentine and 250,000 deer skins also being sold. In 1747 the indigo crop had become of vast importance in that region, 100,000 pounds of blue dye being sent to England. From that time indigo became the most valuable product of the province, and just before the Revolution the annual crop amounted to more than 1,100,000 pounds, and her trade in rice and indigo was worth about $5,000,000 each

* The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. ii., pp. 15-16.

† Ibid, p. 16.

66

39

year. A large fleet of vessels was
necessary to carry these products to
England and the other American colo-
nies. At the outbreak of the Revolu-
tion, South Carolina had five ship-
yards and a large number of her own
vessels engaged in foreign and coast-
wise trade.* An official report in
1708 tells us that the colonists were
then exporting "rice, pitch, tar, buck
and doeskins in the hair and Indian
dressed; also some furs, as beaver,
otter, wildcat, raccoon; a little silk,
whiteoak staves, and sometimes other
sorts." They also sold pine and cy-
press trees for shipments, hoops and
shingles, pork,
green wax, candles
made of myrtle berries, tallow and
tallow candles, butter, English and
Indian peas, and sometimes a small
quantity of tanned leather." Con-
tinuing, the report says: "We have
also commerce with Boston, Rhode
Island, Pennsylvania, New York and
Virginia, to which places we export
Indian slaves, light deerskins dressed,
some tanned leather, pitch, tar and a
small quantity of rice. From thence
we receive beer, cider, flour, dry cod-
fish and mackerel, and from Virginia
some European commodities." The
only manufactures mentioned are
"a few stuffs of silk and cotton and
a sort of cloth of cotton and wool."
A little later sugar, oil, salt fish,
snake root, and other wood barks
were exported. Several colonists
made journeys in the mountain
regions to locate gold or silver mines,
* Ibid, p. 17.

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