S.C. State House, Part 2 | Project Discovery Revisited

The first of the three State House buildings was located in Charleston, South Carolina, in the mid-18th century. After the Revolutionary War, the capital of South Carolina was moved from Charleston to Columbia. New plans were made for the second State House, which was built in the late 1780s. It served as the governmental building until Sherman burned it on February 17, 1865. Construction of the third, and present, State House began in the 1850s. Construction was slow, and the Civil War further delayed its progress. It was not completed until 1905, but, due to a lack of funds, it still lacked many of the details of the original plans.

The State House renovation project was a blend of history and archaeology. Many artifacts were found during the renovation, including carved marble, a box lock and key, pieces of a chandelier, pry bars, chisels, horseshoes, railway spikes, a coppersmith’s hammer, gas fixtures, ceramic tiles, insulators, a flag box and lanyard, and light bulbs. The artifacts show a range of times in construction, especially since the building was never really completed until now. The artifacts confirm events and illustrate an evolution in history. The flag lanyard artifact has four clips to hold two flags, unlike the three flags flown from 1963 until 2000.

Standards

• 3-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of life in the antebellum period, the causes and effects of the Civil War, and the impact of Reconstruction in South Carolina.
  • South Carolina played a key role in events that occurred before, during, and after the Civil War; and those events, in turn, greatly affected the state. To understand South Carolina’s experiences during this tumultuous time, the student will uti...
    • 3-4.4 Summarize the course of the Civil War in South Carolina, including the Secession Convention, the firing on Fort Sumter, the Union blockade of Charleston, the significance of the Hunley submarine; the exploits of Robert Smalls; and General William...
• 8-3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of South Carolina’s role in the development of the new national government.
  • Independence from Great Britain made the creation of a new national government and individual state governments imperative. To understand how and why these governments were created, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the fo...
    • 8-3.1 Explain the tensions between the Upcountry and the Lowcountry of South Carolina, including their economic struggles after the Revolutionary War, their disagreement over representation in the General Assembly, the location of the new capital, and ...
• 8-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the multiple events that led to the Civil War.
  • The outbreak of the Civil War was the culminating event in a decades-long series of regional issues that threatened American unity and South Carolina’s identity as one of the United States. To understand how South Carolina came to be at the cent...
    • 8-4.5 Compare the military strategies of the North and the South during the Civil War and the fulfillment of these strategies in South Carolina and in the South as a whole, including the attack on Fort Sumter, the Union blockade of Charleston and other...