was a major seaport by mid-18th century and the 

 people of South Carolina were slow to break away 

 from the British. Her commerce was protected by 

 the British navy, her indigo enjoyed a Parliamen- 

 tary subsidy, her rice was allowed to be exported 

 directly to France, but an instinct for self govern- 

 ment made South Carolinians jealous of imperial 

 restrictions. 



South Carolina sent delegates to the Stamp Act 

 Congress in 1765 and later to the Continental 

 Congresses. Just before the outbreak of hostilities 

 in the colonies. South Carolina annually was ex- 

 porting nearly a million pounds of tobacco to 

 Britain and Scotland and receiving about 17,000 

 pounds of manufactured tobacco back from the 

 British. But in 1775, a revolutionary Council of 

 Safety took over the South Carolina government. 

 The British attempted to recapture Charleston in 

 June of 1776 but they were repulsed at the city's 

 Fort Moultrie. 



From the collections of the South Carolina Histuncd 



A 1794 engraving of the state house at Columbia. 



15 



