1. A New State and Nation Chapter 9
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 the transformation of the state’s economy.

2. How did the American Revolution stress the already poor relationship between the Low Country and the Up Country?

3. Up Country vs Low Country
The American Revolution
Made the already stressed relationship even worse
Low Country Patriots fought Up Country Loyalists
Sometimes turning neighbors and even family members against each other
These tensions continued after the Revolutionary War ended

4. What caused most of the differences between the Low Country and the Up Country? How did the Low Country view the Up Country settlers?

5. Up Country vs Low Country
The Economic Differences
Caused most of the differences between the Up Country & the Low Country in SC
The first white settlers to move to the Up Country were traders and woodsmen
They were viewed by the Low Country elite as “uncivilized.”

6. The Up Country “Folk”

7. Up Country vs Low Country
Up Country Folk
Subsistence farmers who worked the land
A few owned slaves, but
they did not have large plantations and large slave holdings
Many worked their farms without the assistance of slave labor

8. The People of the Low Country

9. Up Country vs Low Country
The Low Country
The first area settled in the state
Dominated by the wealthy planter elite
Whose economic well being and social status depended on their slave holdings
Eventually, the plantation owners in this area grew wealthy (rich) from the export of rice and indigo.

10. As a result of the American Revolution, what happened to South Carolina’s farms/fields?

11. All of South Carolina suffered economically as a result of the war
Economic issues
All of South Carolina suffered economically as a result of the war
During the war years:
Fighting destroyed the countryside
Slaves, livestock and goods were taken by the British
Fields/farms were also damaged from revenge actions between loyalists and patriots, OR as a result of supporting the armies camped nearby
The fields that had grown rice before the war were damaged beyond repair
After the War: The economy was slow to improve

12. As a result of the American Revolution…
What happened to South Carolina’s slave population?
What happened to South Carolina’s cash crop market?

13. Economic issues The slave population Drastically decreased
By the end of the war nearly 25,000 slaves had been killed, stolen, or escaped.
This made rebuilding the damaged fields and growing new crops extremely difficult.
Before the war: the Low Country benefited from England’s subsidies, and Great Britain provided SC a guaranteed rice market
After the war: the subsidies were gone
Great Britain was lost as a trade partner

14. Poor crop yields: Planters’ debt:

15. Economic issues Poor crop yields
Made it even more difficult to recover economically
When you don’t have a lot of crops to sell, you don’t get a lot of money to repay debt.
The planters owed money to creditors in England
Which they had borrowed before the war and they could not pay it back because they weren’t making money off of their crops.

16. Commandeered goods:

17. Economic issues Commandeered goods
During the war the Armies from both side took food and property from the local people.
Commandeered goods
Property that was lost to either army and not repaid/replaced

18. What plant helped South Carolina recover economically when it became a cash crop in the 1800s?

19. The American Government
Economic issues
The American Government
Was also unable to pay for the goods it had commandeered during the fighting from the citizens of the state
Economic problems persisted until the early 1800s when cotton became a new cash crop.

20. For what 3 reasons did the Low Country have a greater influence on the SC government?

21. South Carolina’s early years
Economic issues
South Carolina’s early years
There was a larger white population living in the Up Country
Most of the political power rested in the Low Country
The Low Country had greater representation in the legislature
Charleston was the capital
Which gave the Charleston elite a greater influence on the government

22. What was a major complaint that the Up Country had about having the state capital in Charleston? To where was the capital moved? What did the Low Country get to keep in the compromise to move the capital?

23. Economic issues
Up Country people didn’t like having to travel so far to present issues to the legislature.
In 1786, the Low Country compromised and the capital was moved to the newly established city of Columbia.
It was in the center of the state and equally accessible to both regions
As a compromise for moving the capital, the Low Country maintained its majority in the legislature.

24. Economic issues
This helped ease but did not eliminate political tensions between the Up Country and the Low Country.