Education.—As early as 1710 public school education was provided for indigent children. The present free-school system was established in 1868. The educational system is under the supervision of the state superintendent of education, with the assistance of a board composed of the governor and not exceeding seven other persons appointed by the governor. The constitution of 1895 ordered a three-mills levy. The present high-school system dates from an act of 1907; and in 1909-1910 there were 131 high schools, six of which required a full four-years' course. The per capita expenditure according to enrolment was $4.98 for each white pupil and $1.42 for each negro pupil in 1899; in 1909 it was $10.34 for each white pupil and $1.70 for each negro. The schools are supported by taxation; they formerly received the profits from the dispensary. The maximum local tax levy is eight-mills for elementary schools and two-mills for high schools. In 1908-1909 the total expenditures for 5066 public schools (2712 for whites, 2354 for negroes) in the state was $1,898,886, of which $1,590,733 was for whites. The average yearly salary in 1908-1909 in white schools was $479.79 for men and $249.13 for women teachers; in negro schools the corresponding salaries were $118.17 and $91.45. The state supports wholly or in part, the university of South Carolina (before 1906 South Carolina College), established at Columbia in 1801; the South Carolina Military Academy (locally called “The Citadel”) established at Charleston in 1845, Clemson Agricultural College (1889), at Clemson, Oconee county, with departments of agriculture, chemistry, mechanics and electricity, textiles and military, and academic and preparatory courses; Winthrop Normal and Industrial College for Girls (1895) at Rock Hill, and the Coloured Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College (1896) at Orangeburg. Among the other higher institutions of learning are the college of Charleston (1790, non-sectarian), Newberry College (1858, Lutheran) at Newberry, the Presbyterian College of South Carolina (1880) at Clinton, Erskine College (1839, Associate Reformed Presbyterian) at Due West, Furman University (1852, Baptist) at Greenville, and Wofford College (1854, Methodist Episcopal South) at Spartanburg; for women, Converse College (1890, non-sectarian) at Spartanburg, the College for Women (1890, Presbyterian) at Columbia, Columbia College (1859, non-sectarian) near Columbia, Greenville Female College (1854, Baptist) at Greenville, Lander Female College (1872, until 1903 at Williamston, and until 1904 the Williamston Female College, Methodist Episcopal South) at Greenwood, and the Due West Female College (1859, Associate Reformed Presbyterian) at Due West; and for negroes, Claflin University (1869, Methodist Episcopal) at Orangeburg, Allen University (1881, African Methodist Episcopal) at Columbia, and several normal and industrial schools. There are theological seminaries at Columbia (1828, Presbyterian), at Due West (1837, Associate Reformed Presbyterian), and at Mount Pleasant (1898, Lutheran).
Charities, &c.—The state has no board of public charities, and under the present constitution the county commissioners are overseers of the poor, except in Charleston and Columbia whose poor are provided for by the municipal authorities. The county commissioners of each county have charge of the poor-house of the county, appoint its superintendent, physician and other officials, and report annually to the judge of the Court of General Sessions, who submits this report to the grand jury. Each poor-house must have sufficient tillable land to give employment to all paupers who are able to work. There is an institution for the deaf, dumb and blind (1849, since 1857 a state institution) at Cedar Springs, and a state hospital for the insane, founded in 1821 at Columbia by Samuel Farrow (1760-1824) and opened in 1828. The state penitentiary is also at Columbia.
Finance.—The revenues of the state are derived mainly from the general property tax, fees, licences, dispensary profits and phosphate royalties. At the beginning of the Civil War the public debt was $3,814,862.91 and the credit of the state was sound. The obligations contracted in support of the war, amounting to about $3,000,000 were of course nullified by the Fourteenth Amendment. There were so many irregularities and so much corruption connected with the bond issues of reconstruction days that it is impossible to discover their exact amount. Estimates of the total debt in 1872 vary from $28,000,000 to $33,000,000 The first step towards repudiation was taken by the “carpet-bag” legislature of 1873, when it provided for the issue of consolidated bonds to replace the outstanding obligations at the rate of fifty cents on the dollar. Nearly six million dollars worth were declared null and void because issued without authority of law. After the return of the Democrats to power in 1877 a further investigation was made and the government finally assumed responsibility for $6,406,606 The greater part of this was funded under an act of October 1892, and provision was made for a sinking fund, derived mainly from the royalty on phosphate beds. In 1909 the funded debt amounted to $6,526,885 The legislature is forbidden to create any further debt except for the ordinary current business of the state, unless the proposition be submitted to the voters of the state and approved by a two-thirds majority. After the abolition of the state dispensary system in 1907 a State Dispensary Commission was created for winding up the business of the dispensary and distributing about $900,000 (of which $100,000 was still due) of dispensary funds. Two companies brought suit for moneys owed for liquor sold to the state dispensary; the commission resisted the suit on the ground that as a court and as a representative of the state it could not be sued; the circuit court and the circuit court of appeals overruled this plea and put the funds into the hands of a receiver; but in April 1909 this famous cause was closed by the decision of the Federal Supreme Court, upholding the commission and restoring to it the fund. Banks are subject to the supervision of an examiner and in addition are required to make weekly reports to the comptroller-general.
History.—The history of South Carolina may be divided into four main periods: the period of discovery and exploration (1520-1663); the period of proprietary rule (1663-1719); the period of royal rule (1719-1776); and the period of statehood (from 1776). The first Europeans to visit the coast were a party of Spaniards from Cuba in 1520. In 1562 some French Protestants under Jean Ribaut made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony near the mouth of the Broad river (see Port Royal). In 1629, Charles I. granted to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath, all the territory lying between the 31st and the 36th parallels and extending through from sea to sea, but no settlement was made, and in 1663 the same territory was granted to the earl of Clarendon (1609-1674), and six other favourites of Charles II. A second charter in 1665 extended the limits to 29° and 36° 30'. The proprietors were to legislate for the colony “by and with the advice, assent and approbation of the freemen.” They were empowered, though not required, to grant religious freedom to Dissenters. Land was held in free and common socage, and the statute quia emptores was suspended, thus allowing subinfeudation. Concessions or immigration circulars were issued in 1663 and 1665 offering most liberal terms to prospective colonists. This policy was soon abandoned. In the Fundamental Constitution, adopted by the proprietary board in 1669 John Locke and Lord Ashley (1621-1683) prepared for the colony an elaborate feudal system of government which would have been obsolete even in Europe (see North Carolina). Subsequent issues in 1670, 1682 (Jan. 12), 1682 (Aug. 17), and 1698 modified the original plan to some extent. The constitutions possess more than a mere antiquarian interest. They helped to arouse that feeling of discontent among the colonists which culminated in the overthrow of proprietary rule, and they encouraged the large plantation system which constituted the foundation of the slave-holding aristocracy.
The first permanent English settlement was made in April 1670 at Albemarle Point, on the west bank of the Ashley river, but as the situation proved unfavourable the government and most of the people moved over in 1680 to the neck between the Ashley and the Cooper rivers, the site of the present city of Charleston. The area of settlement was gradually extended along the coast in both directions, but did not penetrate far into the interior. The province was soon divided into three coast counties: Berkeley, extending from the Stono river to the Sewee and including Charleston; Craven to the north of the Sewee; and Colleton to the south of the Stono. In addition to those settlers who came direct from England there were many Englishmen from Barbadoes and French Protestants, both of which classes exercised considerable influence upon the history of the colony. It was largely due to the Barbadian connexion that South Carolina was for many years more closely associated with the island than with the continental colonies. Her political history during the colonial era is the story of a struggle between popular and prerogative interests, first between the people and the lords proprietors, later between the people and the Crown. From 1670 to 1700 the principal questions at issue were the refusal of the settlers to subscribe to the numerous editions of the Fundamental Constitutions and disputes over the collection of quit-rents. Concessions were finally made which brought the government more directly under popular control. In 1692 the legislature was divided into two houses, and in 1693 the commons house, elected by the people, secured the privilege of initiating legislation. The truce was followed by a controversy
