In the early 18th century there was sometimes very little difference between legal piracy--the licensing of "privateers" to seize merchant ships of an enemy during a time of war--and illegal piracy on the high seas. The West Indies and the North Carolina inlets both provided protective harbors for the latter.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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Major Stede Bonnet | History of SC Slide Collection
Major Stede Bonnet | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 1

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The Pirate Stede Bonnet is one of the more colorful characters in South Carolina history. In the early 18th century there was sometimes very little difference between legal piracy--the licensing of...
Bill of Exchange | History of SC Slide Collection
Bill of Exchange | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 3

Photo

Grades: 4 8

The availability of "real" money, in the form of coins made of gold and silver, was a constant problem in all of the English colonies. Their need to purchase manufactured goods from Europe meant that...
Purrysburg Cemetery | History of SC Slide Collection
Purrysburg Cemetery | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 4

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During the 1730s, to protect against Native American attack and slave uprising, the government made plans to establish eight townships in a semicircle about one hundred miles around Charles Town (see...
Mulberry House and Street
Mulberry House and Street
Episode 7

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"Mulberry House and Street," painted by Thomas Coram around 1800, shows a typical mid-18th century South Carolina plantation. The "great House," while elegant, was not necessarily the enormous...
Cherokee Alphabet | History of SC Slide Collection
Cherokee Alphabet | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 12

Photo

Grades: 4 8

The title page and first page of hymns, "Cherokee Hymnbook," printed in Philadelphia, for the American Baptists Publication Society around 1820. The Cherokee were a highly organized society, and early...
Oconee Station | History of SC Slide Collection
Oconee Station | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 13

Photo

Grades: 4 8

Oconee Station (also labeled Salem Blockhouse, north of Walhalla). Made of local field stone, this was one of a series of fortifications built for protection against the Native Americans in the...
Proprietary Grant | History of SC Slide Collection
Proprietary Grant | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 14

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Grades: 4 8

Although it was the Englishman Sir Francis Drake whose raids persuaded the Spanish to abandon Santa Elena and concentrate on defending St. Augustine in 1587, it was nearly a century before the English...
Stamp Tax Outrage | History of SC Slide Collection
Stamp Tax Outrage | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 15

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Grades: 4 8 9 10 11 12

The wealth of centers like Charleston helped prepare the way for the dissatisfactions against British rule that finally resulted in the Revolution. A wealthy elite, with connections through trade to...
Goose Creek Church | History of SC Slide Collection
Goose Creek Church | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 19

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Goose Creek Church in St. James Parish was one of the earliest structures built in South Carolina for religious worship. The congregation was founded by Rev. William Corbin in 1702 in the wealthiest...
Landrum Blockhouse | History of SC Slide Collection
Landrum Blockhouse | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 20

Photo

Grades: 4 8

Landrum Blockhouse on the South Carolina and North Carolina line, near Tryon, North Carolina. This was one of a series of blockhouses built for protection against the Native Americans. A WPA photo...