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South Carolina

  • Places
  • Grades 3-4
  • 459 words
  • Also written for younger readers

Quick facts

Capital
Columbia
Largest city
Charleston
Motto
Dum spiro spero
Abbreviation
SC
Became a state
May 23, 1788 (the 8th state)
Area
32,020 sq mi (82,933 km²)
Population (2020)
5,570,274

Facts from Wikipedia’s “South Carolina” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).

South Carolina is a state in the southeast United States. Its capital city is Columbia which with 137,300 people is the largest city in South Carolina by population. The population of the state is about 5.2 million people, ranked 23rd in the United States. South Carolina has an area of 32,030 square miles, making it the 40th largest state in the United States.

Other important cities in South Carolina are Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Sumter, and Florence.

Major landforms include beaches, “barrier islands”, salt marsh, sandhills , rolling piedmont, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Because of its natural beauty, the state attracts many tourists, especially to Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and Hilton Head Island. South Carolina became a state in 1788. The economy was agriculture-based, known for cotton, rice, indigo, and tobacco by African American slaves. After the American Civil War, the state lost much of its political and economic power. Towards the end of the 20th century, the state began to strengthen its economy and add population. Today, the major industries are tourism, textiles (clothing materials), golf, and manufacturing. South Carolina has the second highest number of workers employed by international companies per capita in the United States.

South Carolina is bounded to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia, located across the Savannah River, and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean.

History

The original inhabitants of South Carolina were Native Americans. At least 29 Native American tribes lived in South Carolina. The Native American population declined after the arrival of Europeans.

Farming

Before the Civil War, South Carolina grew a lot of rice. African slaves worked on slave plantations in the state.

The Civil War

South Carolina became the first of eleven states to secede from the union, on December 20, 1860, to protest the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln. It joined the Confederacy. The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter, in Charleston.

1876-1966 Segregation & Democratic Dominance

After the Civil War, African-Americans in South Carolina got to vote for some time, but soon black codes were enacted, and white-supremacist groups like the KKK were reborn, restricting African-Americans from voting. South Carolina thus became a Democratic stronghold. In fact, in 1904, Republican Theodore Roosevelt, who was running for president, won less than 5% of the vote in the state. The Democratic candidate won over 95% of the vote. This cult of fear disabled most African-Americans in South Carolina from voting till 1965, when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.

Confederate Flag

For a long time, South Carolina had the Confederate flag hanging over its capital. This is no longer the case.

Famous People

  • Eartha Kitt, actress
  • Viola Davis, actress
  • Angell Conwell, actress and model
  • Bill Murray, comedian
  • U.S. President Andrew Jackson was born in South Carolina.

Written for younger readers

South Carolina, in simpler words

This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.

From Wikijunior: North America

South Carolina is a state located in the southern or Deep South region of the United States of America. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and was a founding state of the Confederate States of America. South Carolina currently ranks 24th in population. The capital is Columbia and the state’s largest city is Charleston.

The Spanish established the first settlement in 1526, however it was soon abandoned. Later on the French would establish a settlement in 1562, however it was also abandoned. In 1629, King Charles of England established the Province of Carolina, which would later become a crown colony in 1719. North Carolina would later become separate from South Carolina in 1729. South Carolina later participated in the American Revolution, and officially became a state on May 23, 1788. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America in 1860 and was later readmitted to the Union in 1868.

South Carolina has a total area of 32,020 (82,932 km 2 ). It is bordered by Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

From east to west, South Carolina can be divided into three geographic regions: the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In 2020, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of South Carolina was 5,118,425. In 2010, 662.% of people in South Carolina were White/Caucasian, 27.9% were Black, 1.3% were Asian, and 1.8% were Native American.

  • The state nickname is The Palmetto State
  • The state mottos are “Dum spiro spero” and “Animis opibusque parati”. They are Latin for “While I breathe, I hope” and “Ready in soul and resource”.
  • The state amphibian is the spotted salamandar
  • The state animal is the white-tailed deer
  • The sate beverage is milk
  • The state hospitality beverage is tea
  • The state bird is the Carolina wren,
  • The state wild game bird is the wild turkey
  • The state duck is the the wood duck
  • The state botanical garden is the South Carolina Botanical Garden
  • The state butterfly is the eastern tiger swallowtail
  • The state color is indigo blue
  • The state craft is sweetgrass basket weaving
  • The state dance is the shag
  • The state folk dance is the square dance
  • The state waltz is the “Richardson Waltz”
  • The state dog is the Boykin Spaniel
  • The state fish is the striped bass or rockfish
  • The state flower is the yellow jessamine
  • The state wildflower is the goldenrod
  • The state folk art and crafts center is the South Carolina Artisans Center
  • The state fossil is the Columbian mammoth
  • The state fruit is the peach
  • The state gemstone is the amethyst
  • The state grass is Indian grass
  • The state hall of fame is the South Carolina Hall of Fame
  • The state heritage horse is the Carolina Marsh Tacky
  • The state heritage work animal is the mule
  • The state insect is the Carolina mantis
  • The state marine mammal is the bottlenose dolphin
  • The state migratory marine mammal is the northern right whale
  • The state military academy is the Camden Military Academy
  • The state music is spirituals
  • The state popular music is beach music
  • The state railroad museum is the South Carolina Railroad Museum
  • The state rural drama theater is the Abbeville Opera House
  • The state reptile is the loggerhead sea turtle
  • The state shell is the lettered olive
  • The state snack is boiled peanuts
  • The state songs are “Carolina” and “South Carolina On My Mind”
  • The state spider is the Carolina wolf spider
  • The state stone is blue granite
  • The state tree is the sabal palmetto
  • The state tobacco museum is the South Carolina Tobacco Museum
  • The state vegetable is the collard

Where this page comes from

The article above is adapted from “South Carolina” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.

Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.

Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.