, at 17 Chalmers Street, was built of
Bermudian limestone between 1694 and 1712 and is the oldest stone building in Charleston.
Native American settlement The unified
Cusabo people (including sub tribes such as
Kiawah) and the
Ittiwan people inhabited the area prior to colonial settlement. They were known as "Settlement Indians" by colonists.
Colonial era (1670–1776) chief for
Governor Francis Nicholson. "This map describing the scituation [sic] of the several nations of Indians to the NW of South Carolina was coppyed [sic] from a draught [sic] drawn & painted on a deer skin by an Indian Cacique and presented to Francis Nicholason Esqr. Governor of South Carolina by whom it is most humbly dedicated to his Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales".
King Charles II granted the chartered
Province of Carolina to eight of his loyal friends, known as the
Lords Proprietors, on March 24, 1663. Later that year, prominent planters from
Barbados attempted their first settlement in the Carolinas on the
Cape Fear River, building what would become
Charles Towne, North Carolina. This settlement was short lived and most returned back to
Barbados a few years into the enterprise. In 1670, Governor
William Sayle arranged for several shiploads of settlers from
Bermuda and
Barbados. These settlers established what was then called Charles Town at Albemarle Point, on the west bank of the Ashley River, a few miles northwest of the present-day city center. Charles Town became the first comprehensively planned town in the
Thirteen Colonies. Its governance, settlement, and development were to follow a visionary plan known as the
Grand Model prepared for the Lord's Proprietors by
John Locke. Because the
Carolina's Fundamental Constitutions were never ratified, however, Charles Town was never incorporated during the colonial period. Instead,
local ordinances were passed by the provincial government, with day-to-day administration handled by the
wardens and
vestries of
StPhilip's and
StMichael's Anglican parishes. At the time of
European colonization, the area was inhabited by the indigenous
Cusabo, on whom the settlers declared war in October 1671. The settlers initially allied with the
Westo, a northern indigenous tribe that traded in enslaved Indians. The settlers abandoned their alliance with the Westo in 1679 and allied with the Cusabo instead. The initial settlement quickly dwindled and disappeared while another village—established by the settlers on Oyster Point at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers around 1672—thrived. In 1680, this second settlement formally replaced the original Charles Town, which today is commemorated as
Charles Towne Landing. The second location was more defensible and had access to a fine natural harbor. The new town had become the fifth largest in North America by 1690. A
smallpox outbreak erupted in 1698, followed by an earthquake in February 1699. The latter caused a fire that destroyed about a third of the town. During rebuilding, a
yellow fever outbreak killed about 15% of the remaining inhabitants. Charles Town suffered between five and eight significant
yellow fever outbreaks over the first half of the 18th century. It developed a reputation as one of the least healthy locations in the
Thirteen Colonies for ethnic Europeans.
Malaria was endemic. Although malaria did not have such high mortality as yellow fever, it caused much illness. It was a major health problem throughout most of the city's history before dying out in the 1950s after the use of pesticides cut down on the mosquitoes that transmitted it. 's 1733
Town and Harbour of Charles Town in South Carolina, showing the town's defensive walls. Charles Town was fortified according to a plan developed in 1704 under
Governor Nathaniel Johnson. Both
Spain and
France contested Britain's claims to the region. Various bands of
Native Americans and independent
pirates also raided it. On September 5–6, 1713 (O.S.), a violent
hurricane passed over Charles Town. The
Circular Congregational Church manse was damaged during the storm, and church records were lost. Much of Charles Town was flooded as "the Ashley and Cooper rivers became one." At least seventy people died in the disaster. From the 1670s, Charleston attracted pirates. The combination of a weak government and corruption made the city popular with pirates, who frequently visited and raided the city. Charles Town was besieged by the pirate
Blackbeard for several days in May 1718. Blackbeard released his hostages and left in exchange for a chest of medicine from
Governor Robert Johnson. Around 1719, the town's name began to be generally written as Charlestown and, excepting those fronting the Cooper River, the old walls were largely removed over the next decade. Charlestown was a center for the inland colonization of
South Carolina. It remained the southernmost point of the
Southern Colonies until the
Province of Georgia was established in 1732. As noted, the first settlers primarily came from
Europe,
Barbados and
Bermuda. The Barbadian and Bermudan immigrants were planters who brought enslaved Africans with them, having purchased them in the
West Indies. Early immigrant groups to the city included the
Huguenots,
Scottish,
Irish, and
Germans, as well as
hundreds of Jews, predominately
Sephardi from
London and significant cities of the
Dutch Republic, where they had been given refuge. As late as 1830, Charleston's Jewish community was the most prominent and wealthiest
in North America. By 1708, most of the colony's population were
Black Africans. They had been brought to Charlestown via the
Atlantic slave trade, first as
indentured servants and then as
enslaved people. In the early 1700s, Charleston's largest slave trader,
Joseph Wragg, pioneered the settlement's involvement in the slave trade. Of the estimated 400,000 captive Africans transported to North America to be sold into slavery, 40% are thought to have landed at
Sullivan's Island off Charlestown.
Free people of color also migrated from the
West Indies, being descendants of white planters and their Black consorts and unions among the working classes. In 1767, Gadsden's Wharf was constructed at the city port on the Cooper River; it ultimately extended 840 feet and could accommodate six ships at a time. Many enslaved people were sold from here. Devoted to plantation agriculture that depended on enslaved labor, South Carolina became a slave society: it had a majority-Black population from the colonial period until after the
Great Migration of the early 20th century, when many rural Blacks moved to northern and midwestern industrial cities to escape
Jim Crow laws. 's 13 houses along East Bay Street formed the commercial center of the town in the
colonial period. At the foundation of the town, the principal items of commerce were
pine timber and
pitch for
ships and
tobacco. The early economy developed around the
deerskin trade, in which colonists used alliances with the
Cherokee and
Creek peoples to secure the raw material. At the same time, Native Americans kidnapped and enslaved each other in warfare. From 1680 to 1720, approximately 40,000 native men, women, and children were sold through the port, principally to the
West Indies (such as
Bermuda and
the Bahamas), but also to other Southern colonies. The Lowcountry planters did not keep enslaved Native Americans, considering them too prone to escape or revolt. They used the proceeds of their sale to purchase enslaved Black Africans for their own
plantations. The slave raiding—and the European firearms it introduced—helped destabilize
Spanish Florida and
French Louisiana in the 1700s during the
War of the Spanish Succession. Slaves imported from the Caribbean showed the planter George Lucas's daughter Eliza how to raise and
use indigo for
dyeing in 1747. Throughout this period, enslaved people were sold aboard the arriving ships or at ad hoc gatherings in the town's taverns. The planters attributed the violence to recently imported Africans and agreed to a 10-year moratorium on slave importation through Charlestown. They relied for labor upon the slave communities they already held. The
1740 Negro Act also tightened controls, requiring a ratio of one white for every ten Blacks on any plantation (which was often not achieved) and banning enslaved people from assembling, growing personal food, earning money, or learning to read.
Drums were banned because Africans used them for signaling; enslaved people were allowed to use string and other instruments. When the moratorium expired and Charlestown reopened to the slave trade in 1750, the memory of the Stono Rebellion resulted in traders avoiding buying enslaved people from the
Congo and
Angola, whose populations had a reputation for independence. By the mid-18th century, Charlestown was the hub of the Atlantic slave trade in the
Southern Colonies. Even with the decade-long moratorium, its customs processed around 40% of the enslaved Africans brought to North America between 1700 and 1775, and about half up until the end of the African trade. The
plantations and the
economy based on them made this the wealthiest city in the
Thirteen Colonies and the largest in population south of
Philadelphia. In 1770, the city had 11,000 inhabitants—half enslaved—and was the 4th-largest port in the colonies, after
Boston,
New York City, and Philadelphia. The elite began to use their wealth to encourage cultural and social development. America's first theater building was constructed in 1736; today's Dock Street Theater later replaced it. StMichael's was erected in 1753. Benevolent societies were formed by the
Huguenots, free people of color, Germans, and Jews. The
Library Society was established in 1748 by well-born young men who wanted to share the financial cost of keeping up with the scientific and philosophical issues of the day.
American Revolution (1776–1783) Delegates for the
Continental Congress were elected in 1774, and South Carolina declared its independence from Britain on the steps of the
Exchange. Slavery was again an important factor in the city's role during the
Revolutionary War. The British attacked the settlement three times, assuming that the settlement had a large base of
Loyalists who would rally to their cause once given some military support. The loyalty of white Southerners towards
the Crown had largely been forfeited, however, by British legal cases (such as the 1772
Somersett case which marked the prohibition of slavery in
England and Wales, a significant milestone in the
abolitionist struggle) and military tactics (such as
Dunmore's Proclamation in 1775) that promised the emancipation of people enslaved by Patriot planters; these efforts did, however, unsurprisingly win the allegiance of thousands of
Black Loyalists. The
Battle of Sullivan's Island saw the British fail to capture a partially constructed
palmetto palisade from
Col. Moultrie's
militia regiment on June 28, 1776. The
Liberty Flag used by Moultrie's men formed the basis of the later
South Carolina flag, and the victory's anniversary continues to be commemorated as
Carolina Day. Making the capture of Charlestown their chief priority, the British sent
Sir Henry Clinton, who laid
siege to Charleston on April 1, 1780, with about 14,000 troops and 90 ships. Bombardment began on March 11, 1780. The Patriots, led by
Benjamin Lincoln, had about 5,500 men and inadequate fortifications to repel the forces against them. After the British cut his supply lines and lines of retreat at the battles of
Monck's Corner and
Lenud's Ferry, Lincoln's surrender on May 12, 1780, became the greatest
American defeat of the war. The British continued to hold Charlestown for over a year following
their defeat at Yorktown in 1781. However, they alienated local planters by refusing to restore full civil government.
Nathanael Greene had entered the state after Cornwallis's
pyrrhic victory at
Guilford Courthouse and kept the area under a kind of siege.
British Army officer
Alexander Leslie, commanding Charlestown, requested a truce in March 1782 to purchase food for his garrison and the town's inhabitants. Greene refused and formed a brigade under
Mordecai Gist to counter British forays. The British finally evacuated Charlestown in December 1782. Greene presented the British leaders of the town with the
Moultrie Flag.
Antebellum era (1783–1861) , at 8 and 6 Chalmers Street, respectively, were built in 1859. Between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, Charleston experienced an economic boom, at least for the top strata of society. Expanding cotton as a cash crop in the South led to massive wealth for a small segment of society and funded impressive architecture and culture. However, it also escalated the economic importance of enslaving people and led to greater and greater restrictions on Black Charlestonians. By 1783, the city's growth had reached a point where a municipal government became desirable; therefore, on August 13, 1783, an act of incorporation for Charleston was ratified. The act originally specified the city's name as "Charles Ton", as opposed to the previous Charlestown, but the spelling "Charleston" quickly came to dominate. Although
Columbia had replaced it as the state capital in 1788, Charleston became even more prosperous as
Eli Whitney's 1793 invention of the
cotton gin sped the processing of the crop over 50 times.
Britain's
Industrial Revolution—initially built upon its
textile industry—took up the extra production ravenously and cotton became Charleston's major export commodity in the 19th century. The Bank of South Carolina, the second-oldest building in the nation to be constructed as a bank, was established in 1798. In 1800 and 1817, branches of the
First and
Second banks were also located in Charleston. Throughout the
Antebellum Period, Charleston continued to be the only major American city with a majority-slave population. American traders had been
prohibited from equipping the
Atlantic slave trade in 1794 and all importation of enslaved people was banned
in 1808, but American merchantmen frequently refused to permit
British inspection for enslaved cargo, and smuggling remained common. Much more important was the domestic slave trade, which boomed as the Deep South developed into new cotton plantations. As a result of the trade, there was a forced migration of more than one million enslaved people from the Upper South to the Lower South in the antebellum years. During the early 19th century, the first dedicated slave markets were founded in Charleston, mostly near Chalmers and State streets. Visitors commonly remarked on the sheer number of Blacks in Charleston and their seeming freedom of movement, though in fact—mindful of the
Stono Rebellion and the
slave revolution that established
Haiti—the whites closely regulated the behavior of both enslaved and free people of color. The town fixed wages and hiring practices, sometimes required identifying badges, and sometimes censored work songs. Punishment was handled out of sight by the city's
workhouse, whose fees provided the municipal government with thousands a year. In 1820, state law mandated that each act of
manumission (freeing an enslaved person) required legislative approval, effectively halting the practice. All the enslavers taken together held 82% of the city's wealth and almost all non-enslavers were poor. In 1822, members of the church, led by
Denmark Vesey, a lay preacher Hamilton imposed more restrictions on both free and enslaved Blacks: South Carolina required free Black sailors to be imprisoned while their ships were in Charleston Harbor, although international treaties eventually required the United States to quash the practice; free Blacks were banned from returning to the state if they left for any reason; enslaved people were given a 9:15 pm curfew; the city razed Hampstead Church to the ground The estimated 10% of enslaved people who came to America as
Muslims never had a separate
mosque. Enslavers sometimes provided them with beef rations instead of pork in recognition of religious traditions. The registered
tonnage of Charleston shipping in 1829 was 12,410. In 1832, South Carolina passed an ordinance of
nullification, a procedure by which a state could, in effect, repeal a federal law; it was directed against the most recent
tariff acts. Soon, U.S. soldiers were dispensed to Charleston's forts, and five
United States Coast Guard cutters were detached to Charleston Harbor "to take possession of any vessel arriving from a foreign port, and defend her against any attempt to dispossess the Customs Officers of her custody until all the requirements of law have been complied with." This federal action became known as the Charleston incident. The state's politicians worked on a compromise law in Washington to gradually reduce the tariffs. Charleston's embrace of classical architecture began after a devastating fire leveled much of the city. On April 27, 1838, Charleston suffered a catastrophic fire that burned more than 1000 buildings and caused about $3 million () in damage at the time. The damaged buildings amounted to about one-fourth of all the businesses in the main part of the city. A great cultural awakening occurred when many homes and businesses were rebuilt or repaired. Before the fire, few homes were styled as Greek Revival; many residents decided to construct new buildings in that style after the conflagration. This tradition continued, making Charleston one of the foremost places to view
Greek Revival architecture. The
Gothic Revival also made a significant appearance in the construction of many churches after the fire that exhibited picturesque forms and reminders of devout European religion. selling slaves in Charleston in 1853 By 1840, the Market Hall and Sheds, where fresh meat and produce were brought daily, became a hub of commercial activity. The
slave trade also depended on the port of Charleston, where ships could be unloaded and enslaved people bought and sold. The legal importation of enslaved Africans had ended in 1808, although smuggling was significant. However, the domestic trade was booming. More than one million enslaved people were transported from the
Upper South to the
Deep South in the antebellum years, as cotton plantations were widely developed through what became known as the
Black Belt. Many enslaved people were transported in the
coastwise slave trade, with slave ships stopping at ports such as Charleston.
American Civil War (1861–1865) s guarding
the Battery in 1863. was completed in 1870 after construction was halted in 1859 due to the tensions leading to the Civil War. memorializing the Confederate defenders of
Fort Sumter. Charleston was significant in the
American Civil War. As a pivotal city, the U.S. Army and Confederate States Army vied for control of it. The rebellion began in
Charleston Harbor in 1861 and ended mere months after the U.S. soldiers retook control of Charleston in 1865. Following
the election of
Abraham Lincoln, the
South Carolina General Assembly voted on December 20, 1860, to declare
secession from the
United States, becoming the first state to do so. On December 27, the U.S. Army garrison of
Castle Pinckney surrendered to the state militia. On January 9, 1861,
Citadel cadets opened fire on the USS
Star of the West as it entered Charleston Harbor. The first full battle of the war occurred on April 12, 1861, when shore batteries under the command of General
P. G. T. Beauregard fired upon the held
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment,
Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. On December 11, 1861, an enormous fire burned over of the city. U.S. Navy control of the North Atlantic coastline permitted the repeated bombardment of the city, causing vast damage. The early submarine
H.L. Hunley made a night attack on the on February 17, 1864. General Gillmore's land assault in July 1864 was unsuccessful but the fall of
Columbia and advance of General
William T. Sherman's army through the state prompted the Confederates to evacuate the town on February 17, 1865, burning the public buildings, cotton warehouses, and other sources of supply before their departure.
U.S. soldiers liberated the city within the month. The War Department recovered what federal property remained. Also, it confiscated the campus of the
Citadel Military Academy and used it as a U.S. Army garrison for the next 17 years. The facilities were finally returned to the state and reopened as a military college in 1882 under the direction of Lawrence E. Marichak.
Postbellum (1865–1945) Reconstruction After the defeat of the Confederacy, U.S. soldiers remained in Charleston during the
Reconstruction era. The war had shattered the city's prosperity. Still, the African-American population surged (from 17,000 in 1860 to over 27,000 in 1880) as freedmen moved from the countryside to the major city. Blacks quickly left the
Southern Baptist Church and resumed open meetings of the
African Methodist Episcopal and
AME Zion churches. They purchased dogs, guns, liquor, and better clothes—all previously banned—and ceased yielding the sidewalks to whites. The
Pacific Guano Company, established in 1861, opened a plant in Charleston which consumed immense quantities of
menhaden scrap brought from the water by the vessels which carried on their return trip a supply of South Carolina phosphates for the
Woods Hole, Massachusetts factory. By the late 1870s, industry was bringing the city and its inhabitants back to a renewed vitality; new jobs attracted new residents. As the city's commerce improved, residents worked to restore or create community institutions. In 1865, the
Avery Normal Institute was established by the
American Missionary Association as the first free secondary school for Charleston's African American population. Gen. Sherman lent his support to the conversion of the United States Arsenal into the Porter Military Academy, an educational facility for former soldiers and boys left orphaned or destitute by the war. Porter Military Academy later joined with Gaud School and is now a
university-preparatory school,
Porter-Gaud School. In 1875, blacks made up 57% of the city's and 73% of the county's population. In the 1876 election cycle, two major riots between black Republicans and white Democrats occurred in the city, in September and the day after the election in November, as well as a violent incident in Cainhoy at an October joint discussion meeting. The Red Shirts were instrumental in suppressing the black Republican vote in some areas in 1876 and narrowly electing
Wade Hampton as governor, and taking back control of the state legislature. Another riot occurred in Charleston the day after the election when a prominent Republican leader was mistakenly reported killed.
1886 earthquake On August 31, 1886, Charleston experienced a strong
earthquake. The shock was estimated to have a
moment magnitude of 7.0 and a maximum
Mercalli intensity of X (
Extreme). It was felt as far away as
Boston to the north,
Chicago and
Milwaukee to the northwest, as far west as
New Orleans, as far south as
Cuba, and as far east as
Bermuda. It damaged 2,000 buildings in Charleston and caused $6 million worth of damage ($ million in dollars), at a time when all the city's buildings were valued around $24 million ($ million in dollars).
Charleston race riots The Charleston race riot of 1919 took place on the night of Saturday, May 10, between members of the US Navy and the local black population. They attacked black individuals, businesses, and homes, killing six and injuring dozens.
Contemporary era (1945–present) Charleston languished economically for several decades in the 20th century, though the large federal military presence in the region helped to shore up the city's economy. Charleston's tourism boom began in earnest following the publication of
Albert Simons and
Samuel Lapham's
Architecture of Charleston in the 1920s. The
Charleston Hospital Strike of 1969, in which mostly black workers protested discrimination and low wages, was one of the last major events of the
civil rights movement. It attracted
Ralph Abernathy,
Coretta Scott King,
Andrew Young, and other prominent figures to march with the local leader,
Mary Moultrie.
Joseph P. Riley Jr. was elected mayor in the 1970s and helped advance several cultural aspects of the city. Between 1989 and 1996, Charleston saw two significant economic hits. First, the eye of Hurricane Hugo came ashore at Charleston Harbor in 1989, and though the worst damage was in nearby
McClellanville, three-quarters of the homes in Charleston's historic district sustained damage of varying degrees. The hurricane caused over $2.8 billion in damage. The city rebounded fairly quickly after the hurricane and has grown in population, reaching an estimated 124,593 residents in 2009. Second, in 1993, the
Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) directed that
Naval Base Charleston be closed. Pursuant to BRAC action, Naval Base Charleston was closed on April 1, 1996, although some activities remain under the cognizance of
Naval Support Activity Charleston, now part of
Joint Base Charleston. After having been a majority-minority city for most of its history, in the late 20th century, many whites began returning to the urban core of Charleston, and the area gentrified with rising prices and rents. From 1980 to 2010, the peninsula's population shifted from two-thirds black to two-thirds white; in 2010, residents numbered 20,668 whites and 10,455 blacks. Many African Americans moved to the less-expensive suburbs in these decades. Senior pastor
Clementa Pinckney, who also served as a
state senator, was among those killed during the attack. The deceased also included congregation members Susie Jackson, 87; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Ethel Lance, 70; Myra Thompson, 59; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; and Tywanza Sanders, 26. The attack garnered national attention and sparked a debate on racism,
Confederate symbolism in Southern states, and gun violence, in part based on Roof's online postings. A memorial service on the campus of the
College of Charleston was attended by President
Barack Obama,
Michelle Obama, Vice President
Joe Biden,
Jill Biden, and Speaker of the House
John Boehner.
Condemnation of role in the slave trade On June 17, 2018, the Charleston City Council apologized for its role in the slave trade and condemned its "inhumane" history. It also acknowledged wrongs committed against African Americans by slavery and Jim Crow laws. ==Geography==