1782-Charleston evacuated by British; end of war in South Carolina. 1786-Site in exact centre of State chosen for the capital city, and Columbia founded. 1788-Constitution of the United States ratified by South Carolina. 1790-State Constitution adopted. Columbia formally becomes the capital. 1791-President George Washington paid a visit to South Carolina. 1811-Free schools established. 1813-14-Engagements between British vessels and American privateers off the Carolina coast. 1830-Great debate in the United States Senate between Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina. 1832-Nullification Act, by which State declared tariff laws unconstitutional and void. 1833-Railway from Charleston to Hamburg completed, 137 miles long, then the longest railway in the world. 1834-5-Severest cold on record in South Carolina. 1847-Distinguished services of the Palmetto (South Carolina) Regiment in the war against Mexico. 1850-Death of John C. Calhoun, South Carolina's most distinguished statesman. 1860-Ordinance of Secession passed at Charleston. 1861-Beginning of hostilities between North and South. The steamer "Star of the West" fired upon from Morris Island, January 9. Fort Sumter reduced, April 13. 1861-Provisional government of the Confederate States. 1862 Permanent Confederate government inaugurated; South Carolina represented in President Davis's cabinet by C. G. Memminger, Secretary of the Treasury, and George A. Trenholm, who succeeded him in that office. 1863-Slavery abolished by proclamation of President Lincoln. 1863-5-Siege and bombardment of Charleston by Federal troops. 1865-General Sherman marched across South Carolina. Charleston abandoned by Confederates. End of war. 1865-7-State government under Johnson's reconstruction policy. 1867-Congressional reconstruction; military government; negro suffrage guaranteed by amendments to the Federal Constitution. 1868-Radical Constitution framed. 1868-71-Troubles with Kuklux Klan. 1871-Discovery of rich phosphate deposits." 1872 The State plundered under the administration of Governor Moses. 1876-State redeemed from Radical rule, through the leadership of Wade Hampton. 1886-Severe earthquake; great damage in Charleston. 1888-Legislature charters Clemson College for instruction in agriculture and allied subjects. 1892 State dispensary law for the regulation of the liquor traffic adopted. 1893-Legislature establishes Winthrop College for Women. 1890-1900-Rapid development of cotton manufacturing. South Carolina now ranks second to Massachusetts in this respect. 1895-New Constitution adopted to displace the Radical Constitution. 1906-South Carolina's area, 30,570 square miles; popu lation (census 1900), 1,340,316. Produces annually about 1,000,000 bales of cotton; rice, tobacco, and other staples. |