Outline of South Carolina
South Carolina is the smallest state in the Deep South region of the United States. In spite of its size, South Carolina is an important manufacturing and farming state. It is one of the leading states in the nation in the manufacture of textiles. South Carolina also raises one of the largest tobacco crops in the United States. Most South Carolina workers are employed in service industries, which include trade, health care, and government. Tourism is also important to the economy of South Carolina.
More than half the people of South Carolina live in urban areas. Columbia is the capital and largest city in the state. South Carolina still has many features of the South of pre-Civil War days. Graceful buildings erected before the war still stand in Beaufort, Charleston, and other cities. Large plantations, which were once the backbone of the South's economy, remain in parts of South Carolina. The state's many beautiful flower gardens recall the leisurely life of the South that existed before the Civil War.
The eastern part of South Carolina is a lowland that borders the Atlantic Ocean. In the west, the land rises to sand hills, and then to mountains. The people of South Carolina call the eastern part of the state the Low Country. They call the western part of the state the Up Country.
Many important battles of the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783) were fought in South Carolina. Colonial victories in the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Cowpens were turning points of the war in the South. In 1776, colonists in a small fort built of palmetto logs defeated a British fleet that tried to capture Charleston Harbor. The next day, William Moultrie, the colonial commander, saw a column of smoke rising from a burning British ship. The shape of the smoke reminded Moultrie of the palmetto tree, which grows widely in South Carolina. These wartime events supposedly gave South Carolina its nickname.
South Carolina was the first state to secede (withdraw) from the Union before the Civil War (1861-1865). It did so on Dec. 20, 1860. Confederate troops fired the first shot of the Civil War when they attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861.
The largest cities in South Carolina, in order of size, are Columbia, Charleston, North Charleston, and Greenville. In 2000, they were the only cities with a population of more than 50,000. South Carolina has eight metropolitan areas. Six of the areas are entirely within the state. Parts of the Augusta (Georgia) and Charlotte (North Carolina) metropolitan areas extend into South Carolina.
South Carolina's attractions include wide, sparkling beaches, excellent golf courses, beautiful gardens, numerous historic sites, and charming cities. Abundant wildlife in the state's fields and streams provides exciting action for hunters and fishing enthusiasts. Among the favorite annual events in South Carolina are the Carolina Cup, a steeplechase (horse race) that takes place in Camden in late March, and the Pepsi Southern 500, a stock car race that is run in Darlington on the Sunday before Labor Day.
South Carolina was named for King Charles I of England, in 1629. Carolina is a Latin form of Charles. The word South was added in 1730, when North and South Carolina became separate colonies. South Carolina's nickname is the Palmetto State.
