During the American Revolution the colonies were cut off from their former trade routes and access to the financial centers of England. Many colonies resorted to printing paper money to pay their bills and to ensure the availability of currency within their province. South Carolina was no exception; this 1775 note issued by the Provincial Congress of South Carolina is for "ten pounds current money," and proclaims its authority with the Latin motto, "Et Deus Omnipotens."
Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
Photo
During the American Revolution the colonies were cut off from their former trade routes and access to the financial centers of England. Always short of actual sterling (see Bill Of Exchange), many...
Photo
This revolutionary war "Association for Public Defense" was a solemn promise to risk what Thomas Jefferson would later call "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor," rather than give in to...
Photo
The Constitution of 1776. Even before the Declaration of Independence was written, members of the Continental Congress recognized that, because the English officials had fled from Massachusetts and...
Photo
The heroic defense of the fort on Sullivan's Island from a determined attack in June 1776, by a British Fleet under Sir Peter Parker (see Sir Peter Parker) gave South Carolina its state symbol. The...
Photo
The British ships fired on Fort Moultrie on June 28, 1776, in an attack outlined in this map. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
Photo
When a British shot tore the South Carolina flag from its staff during the attack on Sullivan's Island, Sergeant Jasper, an Irishman, risked becoming a target himself to replace the flag, lest the...
Photo
The "old powder magazine," built in 1703 as part of the northwest bastion of the city's original fortifications, was a storage area for arms as Charleston prepared for the Revolutionary War. Courtesy...
Photo
Plan of the Siege of Charleston, 1780. The British did not capture Charleston in 1776, but when their strategy for winning the war shifted the military offensive from the north to the south in 1779...
Photo
General Francis Marion inviting a British officer to share his meal. With the British in charge of the city of Charleston, the war in South Carolina became one of guerilla warfare, with the British...
Photo
A map of the Battle of Camden. After Charleston fell to the British in 1780, Lord Cornwallis established posts at a number of places in the interior of South Carolina to serve as a base for pacifying...