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The gunboat "Planter," seized by an African-American crew and the daring African-American harbor pilot Robert Smalls, did manage to break the federal blockade of the city in May of 1862. Smalls...
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This view of the Battery in Charleston, circa 1865, gives a good view of how that city appeared during the Civil War, and how it had prepared for its defense. The area is still known as the Battery...
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The palmetto symbol of the South Carolina regiment's heroic exploits at Cherubusco, Vera Cruz, and Chapultapec became the rallying cry for South Carolinians in general, as well as for veterans of the...
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South Carolinians were among those who most strongly supported the Mexican War, for it promised westward expansion of the nation in territory south of the Missouri Compromise Line of 1820, and thus...
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The front page of the short-lived "Union and States' Rights Gazette" illustrates the complexity of South Carolina politics even though many outsiders thought the state unified behind opposition to the...
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The Webster-Hayne Debate. Bitter sectional disputes emerged during the presidency of Andrew Jackson: the issues that divided north from south, and sometimes east from west, included the disposal of...
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The legislature of South Carolina retained a great deal of authority over many aspects of everyday life. Roads could not be built, ferries across rivers could not be established, slaves could not be...
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"Southern Chivalry - Argument versus Clubs," a cartoon by I.L. Magee, illustrated the strong feelings of revulsion that Northerners expressed over the Sumner-Brooks affair. The question of expansion...
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The lands added to the nation through the conquests of the Mexican War raised anew the question of whether or not slavery would be allowed to expand into the new territories of the west. For two years...
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Runaway slaves were a constant problem in maintaining a workforce of unfree laborers. Slaves ran away because of mistreatment, out of a desire for freedom, or often simply to be reunited with husbands...