Things to do / Travel Guide
Pre-Civil War Georgia and South Carolina
Many Native American tribes have inhabited Georgia and South Carolina. The dominant groups in Georgia were the Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee, the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes.” Civilized or not, after hundreds of years of interaction with Europeans, the remaining tribes were all eventually forced westward in the late 1800s in what was infamously called the “Trail of Tears.” Similar fates awaited South Carolina's tribes, the Yanassee and the Cherokee.
In terms of European settlement, the Spanish were the first to reach the shores of Georgia and South Carolina. It is suspected that Juan Ponce de Leon first reached the coast in 1513, and the Spanish continued to arrive and set up forts and missions along the coast in the years that followed.
The British founded the colony of South Carolina in the late 17th century, and that of Georgia in the early 18th century. These pioneers quickly set themselves up as masters of the land. Huge plantations got their start mid-century, manned by slaves from Africa. Two of the major cities in the region were founded in these years: Charleston, South Carolina in 1780, and Savannah, Georgia, in 1732. The two states played a major part in the Revolutionary War, heroically fighting off the British and bolstering their freedom. Soon after, Georgia was the first to ratify a constitution, and both colonies went on to play an important role in the American Revolution.
Following independence from Britain, Georgia and South Carolina continued to thrive as agricultural centers. In the antebellum (pre-Civil War) period, the region was dominated by large plantations specializing primarily in growing rice, indigo, and cotton. The coastal plains' sand and mud sediments made it perfectly suited for the growing of cotton The profits from the fluffy white stuff, however, were only sustainable through the continued use of slavery, which became illegal in most of the U.S. by the mid-19th century.
Georgia and South Carolina - Civil War through Civil Rights
Widespread Northern opposition to the Southern practice of slavery, combined with increasingly high tariffs on manufactured goods from the North, had led to an untenable situation. This came to a head with the South seceding from the Union, an act that brought on the Civil War (1861-1865).
After four years of brutal fighting, ending with Union General Sherman's “scorched earth” policy, both Georgia and South Carolina lay in ruins. Atlanta, founded only two decades prior, had been burned to the ground. Charleston had been largely destroyed as well. Slavery was abolished, though the Jim Crow laws kept African Americans' rights at bay.
The decades after the Civil War found both the Southern whites and African Americans adjusting to the new social order. Atlanta was built up and a New South was inaugurated with unprecedented economic growth. This growth was, much more than in the past, based on industry and not plantations.
The Great Depression hurt Georgia and South Carolina just as it hurt the rest of the country, while recovery came partly in the form of the many military production plants operating during the World War II years.
The Civil Rights Movement began in earnest in the 1950s, and Georgia and South Carolina were once again major battlegrounds. The movement was personified by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who had grown up in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn district. Protests, sit-ins, and some violence accompanied the Civil Rights Movement. Finally by the mid-70s, all schools and public institutions were integrated.
History didn't touch much the Gullah, the African Americans living in coastal Georgia and South Carolina Low Country. Europeans were never a majority in this area, and the Gullah were able to preserve their African culture and develop independent of much European contact. There are still several Gullah communities in the South Carolina Low Country, primarily the southern half between Savannah and Charleston. A convenient island to visit in this regard is St. Helena, near Beaufort.
Modern Georgia and South Carolina
With end of segregation, the region, and especially Atlanta, began to thrive. Both states gained a much-needed economic boost from the large number of military bases, many of which were established during World War II. The skyscrapers dotting “Hotlanta's” skyline are a testament to the region's resiliency and ability to adapt. Atlanta has become the cultural hub of the “New South,” home to Def Jam Records, CNN, Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, and the Ted Turner media empire. In 1996, the city played host to the Summer Olympics, the buildup to which vastly improved the city's infrastructure and landscape.
Meanwhile, Charleston has become a major tourist destination on its own, owing to its antebellum architecture, and the wide avenues lined with oak trees. The city's port area is one of the largest on the East Coast, and the U.S. Navy also plays a large role in city life, employing thousands.
The region, with Georgia taking the lead but South Carolina not far behind, has continued to move into new industrial and manufacturing sectors, as profits from agricultural stalwarts like cotton and tobacco have sagged. Today, the two states attract thousands of new arrivals each year as they continue to redefine itself.
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