B 



Charleston, the largest and most prosperous city 

 in the colonies south of Philadelphia, remained the 

 capital and was the city where the first independ- 

 ent state constitution was adopted in the American 

 colonies. The capital was moved to Columbia in 

 1786, after South Carolina ratified the United 

 States Constitution, and it has remained there 

 since. 



uilding for the future 



South Carolinians had contributed heavily to 

 the war with England. Many great South Carolina 

 heroes emerged from the war, among them Francis 

 Marion, or the "Swamp Fox," as he was then 

 called. Marion's colorful escapades with the Brit- 

 ish seemed to have been more like fictional tales 

 rather than fact, but he and his brave South Caro- 

 lina troops justly rank among the heroes of the 

 American Revolution. 



After the Revolution much of South Carolina 

 and Georgia adopted tobacco as a staple and in- 

 troduced regular warehouse and inspection pro- 

 cedures. The "golden leaf" was already booming 

 throughout Virginia and North Carolina. But the 

 invention of the cotton gin held back the growth 

 of tobacco and although there was a good deal of 

 tobacco harvested in the state, planters focused 

 much of their attention on cotton. 



In the latter part of the 18th century tobacco 

 markets were established in Cheraw, Columbia, 

 Charleston, Camden and Beaufort. Shipping of 

 South Carolina tobacco to other states and over- 

 seas was handled through Charleston. Much of 

 the South Carolina tobacco was sent to Virginia 



16 



