South Carolina

To start with it is necessary to underline some general information. South Caroline is one of the states, situated in the South-West of the United States of America. It belongs to the group of South Atlantic states. It has a lot of nicknames, among them - Palmetto State, Swamp State, Rice State, Sand-Lapper State and Keystone of the South Atlantic Seaboard. Its total area is nearly 82,931 square kilometers; it is the 40-th place in the USA. The capital is Columbia and by the way it is one of the biggest cities of the sate including Charleston, North Charleston, Greenville, Rock Hill and Mount Pleasant.
The state has a rather long history. The first settlement on the territory of South Carolina was founded near Ashley River in 1670, but severe conditions of life made the people move to Charleston region, which was called Charles Town in 1680. At that time the economy was based on a slave-holding system, and the main production was represented by rice, Indian blue and then cotton. During the period of American revolution Carolinians took the power in their hands, forcing the royal administration leave. The Englishman seized Charles Town in 1780, but the same year they were smashed near Kings Mountain. In 1830-s South Carolinians troubled by federal tariffs, accepted nullification doctrine, according to which any state can annul the Congress acts. South Carolina was the first state that left the USA part and it initiated separatist confederation of the South states in 1861. The bombardment of Fort Sumter by the rebels on the 12-th of April 1861 was the origin of the American Civil War. After the war during the period of reconstruction South Carolina joined the USA.
To speak more about this state it is important to describe some other points to make the picture full about South Carolina. First of all let’s speak about its borders. In the North it borders on North Carolina, in the South and West it borders with Georgia. And in the East it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. Then we should speak about the relief of the territory and its climate conditions. Two thirds of the state’s territory fall at coast plain, less than one third of the territory is presented by the hilly table (the Piedmont) with its height consisting 120-370 meters. Two per cents of the area belong to the Blue Ridge (the highest point – 1085 meters). The biggest rivers are the Santee, which crosses the middle part of the state and the Savannah, which stretches near the border of Georgia. Crossing the eastern part of the Piedmont, the rivers form waterfalls. The most favorable for agriculture territory is not as vast as it is in North Carolina. While sandy and swampy territory of the coast plain in South Carolina quite the contrary occupy larger area (that is why the population of South Carolina is twice as much in North Carolina). The climate is subtropical: it is damp near the Atlantic shore and moderately damp on other territories. Winters are mild especially on the cost, where the temperature is 10 degrees above zero. Summers are hot and stuffy. Woods occupy 5 millions of hectare, which makes up 63 per cents of the state’s territory (before the white people came woods covered the whole state). The area under crops is nearly 1,4 hectares. Speaking about flora pine-tree prevail on the whole territory, while in mountains – oak.
General population of South Caroline is 4,321,249 (according to the year 2006); it is formed by 68,8 per cents of white people, 30,1 per cents of blacks. Spaniards compose 33 thousands, American Indians 5,8. Before the year 1920 the number of African Americans was higher (in 1880 they made up 61 per cents). Ten there was a strong flow-out of the black population to the industrial centers of the North and as a result the number of African Americans decreased together with the absolute population. Only in the 1970-s South Carolina started to accept migrants and its population began to grow. The part of the urban population is only 55 per cents. The cities are not large, only 4 of them have the population with more than 50 thousands of people: Columbia - 122 thousands of people, Charleston - 99 thousands, North Charleston - 78 thousands, Greenville – 66 thousands of people.
South Carolina belongs to 20 leading industrial states in the United States. The biggest industrial object is the complex “Savannah River” near the border with Georgia. The personnel consist of 16 thousands of people. During the war period the complex was a secret enterprise, as it produced the components of hydrogen bombs. The complex combined 5 reactors, 2 chemical plants and the enterprise of heavy water. Today all the reactors are closed and the complex is focused on processing of nuclear materials (it is the only complex of tritium regeneration in the USA). The specialization of the state in the scales of the United States is determined by textile industry. 80 thousands of people are busy in the manufacture of cotton and synthetic fabric. This brunch of industry occupies the 3-rd place after North Caroline and Georgia.
Speaking about mineral recourses, it must be admitted that the state contains not very large sources of non-fuel mineral recourses that determines the development of mineral resource industry. The main kinds are sand, stone, clay. South Carolina is the only state where iron- manganese ore is mined. According to the output of mica the state occupies the 2-nd place in the United States, gold – the 10-th place.
Agriculture is developed as the plantation one. Formerly tobacco and cotton-plants dominated on this territory. Today the areas of cotton-plants on the coast plain are occupied by pastures and small woods. According to the harvest of tobacco South Carolina has the 3-rd place after North Caroline and Kentucky, while according to the harvest of cotton it reaches only the 12-th place. Tobacco is cultivated predominantly in the East of the state, cotton – in the West. Gardens in South Caroline are plenty of peaches, so it reaches the 2-nd place after California. The part of cattle breeding is 40 per cents; the part of plant cultivation is 60 per cents. Meat direction dominates, especially birds rearing. Hen rearing composes 2,2 per cents of the American production, turkey cock rearing – 5 per cents.
The transport system is developed in a good way. The picture of transport network looks like a lopsided letter “H”. The main transport highways are the Piedmont trass from Richmond to Atlanta and the trass along the ocean line. They are connected by a road coming from Charleston through Columbia to Greenville. Port, which is situated in Charleston, is the main sea gate of the state. Its turnover of goods reaches 12 millions of tons. Today this port is the 4-th significant port in the US.
Education and science in South Carolina is different than in most American states, as the number of African Americans is rather high. That is why the part of people with secondary education is low. Race division in schools was present up to the year 1963. In contrast to North Carolina, South Carolina brag about prestigious higher educational establishments. One of the most substantial – The University of South Carolina and Columbia was organized in 1601. It contained 25 thousands of students.
Speaking about the government it is necessary to admit that like in other states it consist of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. The Executive branch is presented by the governor. Today this position belongs to a Republican Mark Sanford. The second branch is known as the General Assembly and consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Judicial branch is composed of the Supreme Court, the Circuit Court, the Court of Appeals and others.
The main religion in South Carolina is Protestant Christian, and the number of non-religious people is not so large. Other religions form only 1 per cent, while Christianity has 92 per cents.
Bibliography
Charles Fredeen. South Carolina. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2002.
Mary Dykstra. South Carolina. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 2006.
South Carolina. 14 May 2008. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 14 May 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina
Walter B. Edgar. The South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2006.
Walter B. Edgar. South Carolina: A History. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.