Misplaced Pages

#36963

86-698: The Montana Freemen, who were direct ideological descendants of the Posse Comitatus movement , espoused the doctrine of individual sovereignty and based on this belief, they rejected the authority of the federal government of the United States . On March 2, 1995, William Stanton, a Garfield County rancher, became the first Montana resident ever to be convicted of terrorism ; District Judge Kenneth Wilson sentenced Stanton to 10 years in prison (the maximum penalty) for using violence for political ends. The following day, four armed men who styled themselves

172-451: A Jim Crow society occurred because the state's white and black leaders were willing to accept slow change, rather than being utterly unwilling to accept change at all. Other South Carolina political figures, like Sen. Strom Thurmond , on the other hand, were among the nation's most radical and effective opponents of social equality and integration. During the mid-to-late 20th century, South Carolina started to see economic progress first in

258-504: A conspiracy-minded , anti-government, and antisemitic message linked to white supremacy aiming to counter what they believe is an attack on their social and political rights as white Christians. Many Posse members practiced survivalism and played a role in the formation of armed citizens' militias in the 1990s. The Posse Comitatus pioneered the use of false liens and other types of " paper terrorism " to harass their opponents by mounting frivolous legal actions against them. As

344-603: A humid subtropical climate characterized by hot, humid summers and mild winters. In the Upstate region, the climate shifts to a subtropical highland type. The eastern coastal plain is dotted with numerous salt marshes and estuaries . The southeastern Lowcountry of South Carolina includes parts of the Sea Islands , a series of barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean. There is evidence of human activities in

430-607: A royal colony in 1719. Throughout the American Revolutionary War , South Carolina witnessed significant military engagement, hosting over 200 battles and skirmishes. On May 23, 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution . As a slave state , it was the first to vote for secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. Following the American Civil War , South Carolina

516-482: A "firm offer to pay off the national debt ." The Freemen claimed that the liens conformed to the Uniform Commercial Code and that their township's court had an interest in a tort claim for damages incurred by the named public officials for violations of their oaths of office. They also claimed that support of the corporate credit system was an unconstitutional and corrupt act which has throughout

602-541: A Hostile Act", and within weeks South Carolina became the first state to secede . On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries began shelling the Union Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and the American Civil War began. In November of that year, the Union attacked Port Royal Sound and soon occupied Beaufort County and the neighboring Sea Islands . For the rest of the war, this area served as

688-501: A Union base and staging point for other operations. Whites abandoned their plantations, leaving behind about ten thousand enslaved people. Several Northern charities partnered with the federal government to help these people run the cotton farms themselves under the Port Royal Experiment . Workers were paid by the pound harvested and thus became the first enslaved people freed by the Union forces to earn wages. Although

774-634: A broader range of industries. By the early 21st century, the state's economy had evolved to include sectors such as aerospace , agribusiness , automotive manufacturing , and tourism. South Carolina features three primary geographic regions stretching from east to west: the Atlantic coastal plain , the Piedmont , and the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the northwestern part of Upstate South Carolina . The state predominantly experiences

860-566: A company that supposedly held assets that included a $ 100 trillion default judgment against the United States. He then sold "shares" of the phony company to fellow inmates and others. He claimed that these shares were backed by "redemption certificates", which would be redeemed when the "judgment" was collected. The judgment which he referred to came from a self-created court, after then- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declined to respond to his demands. He demanded $ 100 trillion, as well as $ 1 billion per day in interest, because he believed that

946-434: A cruel injustice and the source of endless litigation, of scandal, horror, feud, and bloodshed to undertake to annul or forbid marriage for a remote, perhaps obsolete trace of Negro blood. The doors would be open to scandal, malice and greed; to statements on the witness stand that the father or grandfather or grandmother had said that A or B had Negro blood in their veins. Any man who is half a man would be ready to blow up half

SECTION 10

#1732776863037

1032-492: A federal court ordered the change. As of 2022, South Carolina had one of the lowest percentages among all states of women in state legislature, at 17.6% (only five states had a lower percentage; the national average is 30.7%; with the highest percentage being in Nevada at 61.9%). The state can be divided into three natural geographic areas which then can be subdivided into five distinct cultural regions. The natural environment

1118-671: A federal judge. The FBI investigated the group and initiated a sting operation aimed at one of the Freemen's financial programs, which led to the arrest of two members of the group in March 1996. The FBI also had warrants for eight other persons suspected to be at the farm, but before they were able to arrest them an armed confrontation developed and the FBI withdrew to a safe distance to avoid violence. The similar 1993 standoff in Waco, Texas , involving

1204-510: A fugitive. Another shootout ensued on June 3, 1983, in which Kahl and Lawrence County, Arkansas , Sheriff Gene Matthews were killed. Other members of the group have also been convicted of crimes ranging from tax evasion and counterfeiting to threatening the lives of IRS agents and judges. On October 23, 1984, Posse member Arthur Kirk, 49, was killed in a raid on his home. The organization also demonstrated support for its members over other issues. On September 2, 1975, Francis Earl Gillings,

1290-417: A new constitution in 1895 which effectively disenfranchised almost all blacks and many poor whites by new requirements for poll taxes , residency, and literacy tests that dramatically reduced the voter rolls. By 1896, only 5,500 black voters remained on the voter registration rolls, although they constituted a majority of the state's population. The 1900 census demonstrated the extent of disenfranchisement:

1376-569: A northwest to southeast orientation. The eastern portion of the coastal plain contains many salt marshes and estuaries , as well as natural ports such as Georgetown and Charleston . The natural areas of the coastal plain are part of the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ecoregion . The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 10–35 mi (16–56 km) wide region within the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, along

1462-506: A plant source of blue dye, developed by Eliza Lucas . Meanwhile, Upstate South Carolina , west of the Fall Line, was settled by small farmers and traders, who due to resource competition fought a number of wars with confederated Native American tribes westward. Colonists overthrew the proprietors' rule, seeking more direct representation. In 1712, the former Province of Carolina split into North and South Carolina. In 1719, South Carolina

1548-680: A settlement at what is now the Charlesfort-Santa Elena archaeological site on Parris Island . Many of these settlers preferred a natural life far from civilization and the atrocities of the Wars of Religion . The garrison lacked supplies, however, and the soldiers (as in the France Antarctique ) soon ran away. The French returned two years later but settled in present-day Florida rather than South Carolina. Sixty years later, in 1629, King Charles I of England established

1634-457: A single county. The group fielded a candidate for sheriff and registered fictitious voters using post office boxes and vacant lots as their addresses. Six people were prosecuted for voter fraud, the false registration thrown out, and the incumbent sheriff was re-elected. The posse had a presence in Tigerton, Wisconsin , until a crackdown by government prosecutors in the early 1980s left many of

1720-441: A thriving textile industry . The state also converted its main agricultural base from cotton, to more profitable crops. It would attract large military bases during World War I , through its majority Democratic congressional delegation, part of the one-party Solid South following disfranchisement of blacks. In the late 19th century, South Carolina would implement Jim Crow laws which enforced racial segregation policies until

1806-673: A version of the movement's beliefs. The sovereign citizen movement in turn gave rise to the " redemption movement ," which claims that the U.S. government has enslaved its citizens by using them as collateral against the foreign debt. Redemption scheme promoters sell instructions explaining how citizens can "free" themselves by filing particular government forms in a particular order using particular wording. The movement "has earned its promoters untold profits, buried courts and other agencies under tons of worthless paper, and led to scores of arrests and convictions." Sovereign citizen ideology eventually spread to Canada where it gave birth during

SECTION 20

#1732776863037

1892-438: A week about Freemen checks. In 1995, members wrote a fraudulent check to try to purchase $ 1.4 million worth of firearms, ammunition, and bulletproof vests. In late 1994, foreclosure proceedings were initiated against the farm that contained Justus Township. The Freemen refused to be evicted from the land. They had also conducted their own mock trials of numerous public officials, and issued their own writ of execution against

1978-798: Is divided from east to west by the Atlantic coastal plain , the Piedmont , and the Blue Ridge Mountains . Culturally, the coastal plain is split into the Lowcountry and the Pee Dee region. While, the upper Piedmont region is referred to as the Piedmont and the lower Piedmont region is referred to as the Midlands. The area surrounding the Blue Ridge Mountains is known as the Upstate . The Atlantic Coastal Plain makes up two-thirds of

2064-529: Is the most populous combined metropolitan area in the state, with an estimated 2023 population of 1,590,636. South Carolina derives its name from King Charles I of England , who was instrumental in establishing the English colony, with Carolus being the Latin equivalent of "Charles". The Province of South Carolina was officially created in 1712. As one of the original Thirteen Colonies , it transitioned to

2150-464: Is water. The Atlantic Coastal plain consists of sediments and sedimentary rocks that range in age from Cretaceous to Present. The terrain is relatively flat and the soil is composed predominantly of sand, silt, and clay. Areas with better drainage make excellent farmland, though some land is swampy. An unusual feature of the coastal plain is a large number of low-relief topographic depressions named Carolina bays . The bays tend to be oval, lining up in

2236-526: The Branch Davidians , as well as the 1992 incident between the Weaver family and the FBI at Ruby Ridge, Idaho , were still fresh in the public mind, and the FBI was extremely cautious and wanted to prevent a recurrence of those violent events. In late April, political activist Bo Gritz was allowed by the FBI to enter Justus Township so he could try to negotiate a conclusion to the standoff. Gritz

2322-607: The Carolinas region of the East Coast . South Carolina is the 40th-largest and 23rd-most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,118,425 according to the 2020 census . In 2019 , its GDP was $ 213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties . The capital is Columbia with a population of 136,632 in 2020; while its most populous city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,227. The Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area

2408-907: The Jews seek to help Satan destroy civilization and undermine white citizens' rights through the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Service . Posse charters were first issued in Portland, Oregon in 1969 by Henry Lamont Beach, "a retired dry cleaner and a one-time member of the Silver Shirts , a Nazi -inspired and clerical fascist organization which was established in America after Hitler took power in Germany ." One expert has considered William Potter Gale

2494-715: The Province of Carolina by granting the same land to eight Lords Proprietors in return for their financial and political assistance in restoring him to the throne in 1660. Anthony Ashley Cooper , one of the Lord Proprietors, planned the Grand Model for the Province of Carolina and wrote the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina , which laid the basis for the future colony. His utopia

2580-734: The Thirteen Colonies . On March 26, 1776, the colony adopted the Constitution of South Carolina , electing John Rutledge as the state's first president. In February 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation , the initial governing document of the United States, and in May 1788, South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution , becoming the eighth state to enter

2666-738: The Yamasee . Further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River , the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their primary food source. The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, roofed with wood or thatched grass. About a dozen or more separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles (80 km) mostly by canoe, they wintered on

Montana Freemen - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-480: The inland margin of this province. The Carolina Sandhills are interpreted as eolian (wind-blown) sand sheets and dunes that were mobilized episodically from approximately 75,000 to 6,000 years ago. Most of the published luminescence ages from the sand are coincident with the last glaciation, a time when the southeastern United States was characterized by colder air temperatures and stronger winds. Much of Piedmont consists of Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks, and

2838-625: The "Garfield County Freemen" were arrested when they entered the Musselshell County Courthouse and tried to file papers protesting the seizure of Rodney Skurdal's house by the Internal Revenue Service . The Freemen, led by LeRoy M. Schweitzer, used inter alia Anderson on the Uniform Commercial Code and Bankers Handbook to draw notices of lien against public officials. The liens were then allegedly sold to generate equity to fund an effort to make

2924-548: The 1960s. During the early-to-mid part of the 20th century, millions of African Americans left South Carolina and other southern states for jobs, opportunities, and relative freedom in U.S. cities outside the former Confederate states. In total from 1910 to 1970, 6.5 million blacks left the South in the Great Migration . By 1930, South Carolina had a white majority population for the first time since 1708. South Carolina

3010-604: The 2000s to a local offshoot known as the freeman on the land movement . The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifies some sovereign citizens ("extreme sovereign citizen extremists") as a domestic terrorist movement. In 2010 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) estimated that approximately 100,000 Americans were "hard-core sovereign believers" with another 200,000 "just starting out by testing sovereign techniques for resisting everything from speeding tickets to drug charges." In

3096-666: The 782,509 African American citizens comprised more than 58% of the state's population, but they were essentially without any political representation in the Jim Crow society. The 1895 constitution overturned local representative government, reducing the role of the counties to agents of state government, effectively ruled by the General Assembly, through the legislative delegations for each county. As each county had one state senator, that person had considerable power. The counties lacked representative government until home rule

3182-639: The Antebellum period (before the Civil War) the state's economy and population grew. Cotton became an important crop after the invention of the cotton gin . While nominally democratic, from 1790 until 1865, wealthy male landowners were in control of South Carolina. For example, a man was not eligible to sit in the State House of Representatives unless he possessed an estate of 500 acres of land and 10 Negroes, or at least 150 pounds sterling. Columbia ,

3268-514: The Baptist Parish, Louisiana . Terry Smith, 44; Brian Smith, 24; Derrick Smith, 22; Teniecha Bright, 21; and Kyle David Joekel, 28, were identified, with Brian Smith and Joekel (who was wounded by Deputy Charles "Chip" Wale) identified as the shooters in the incident. The men are rumored to be affiliated with a Posse Comitatus group. On August 17, 2012, two more suspects—Chanel Skains, 37, and Britney Keith, 23—were charged with accessory after

3354-527: The Confederate Army, and are now landowners and taxpayers. Those men served creditably, and it would be unjust and disgraceful to embarrass them in this way. It is a scientific fact that there is not one full-blooded Caucasian on the floor of this convention. Every member has in him a certain mixture of   ... colored blood. The pure-blooded white has needed and received a certain infusion of darker blood to give him readiness and purpose. It would be

3440-644: The Freemen surrendered to authorities on June 14, 1996. LeRoy Schweitzer was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, false claims to the IRS , interstate transportation of stolen property, threats against public officials, armed robbery of a television news crew, and firearms violations. He received a 22-year sentence for 25 convictions in a South Carolina federal prison. After Ervin Elbert Hurlbert and Donald Little, who identified themselves as "Montana Marshals", attempted to free Schweitzer from

3526-493: The Freemen. A 2011 National Public Radio report claimed that some of the people who were associated with the Montana Freemen were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit . Posse Comitatus (organization) The Posse Comitatus (Latin, " force of the county ") is a loosely organized American far-right extremist social movement which began in the late 1960s. Its members spread

Montana Freemen - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-572: The Posse Comitatus began their decline in popularity at the turn of the 21st century, their tactics and ideology evolved into those of the Christian Patriot movement and the sovereign citizen movement . Due to the strong ties that they forged with the white supremacist Christian Identity movement, members of the Posse Comitatus believe that they are the true Israelites , the people who were chosen by God . They state that

3698-553: The South in the period 1670 to 1715". In the 1670s, English planters from Barbados established themselves near what is now Charleston. Settlers from all over Europe built rice plantations in the South Carolina Lowcountry , east of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line . Plantation labor was done by African slaves who formed the majority of the population by 1720. Another cash crop was the indigo plant ,

3784-628: The U.S. Constitution , and free trade . In 1832, the Ordinance of Nullification declared federal tariff laws unconstitutional and not to be enforced in the state, leading to the Nullification Crisis . The federal Force Bill was enacted to use whatever military force necessary to enforce federal law in the state, bringing South Carolina back into line. An 1831 House Report from the Committee on Military Affairs noted that Before

3870-679: The Union. However, South Carolina did not regain representation in Congress until that date. Until the 1868 presidential election , South Carolina's legislature, not the voters, chose the state's electors for the presidential election. South Carolina was the last state to choose its electors in this manner. During Reconstruction, South Carolina maintained a majority-black government, which lasted until approximately 1876 when Democrats and former Confederates committed voter fraud to regain power. On October 19, 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant suspended habeas corpus in nine South Carolina counties under

3956-421: The United States government was unlawfully confining him. Petersen followed up by filing liens against property which was owned by the three federal judges. He also offered bounties for the arrest of the same judges to facilitate their transport to Minnesota to respond to his liens. Scott Roeder , convicted for the 2009 murder of physician and abortion provider George Tiller , was also reportedly involved with

4042-619: The Upstate topography and traditional community relations to resist service in the Confederate ranks. At the end of the war in early 1865, the troops of General William Tecumseh Sherman marched across the state devastating plantations and most of Columbia. South Carolina would be readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868. In Texas vs. White (1869), the Supreme Court ruled the ordinances of secession (including that of South Carolina) were invalid, and thus those states had never left

4128-981: The World Jewry." Members of the Posse Comitatus frequently refuse to pay taxes , obtain driver's licenses , or comply with regulatory authorities. They deny the validity of United States fiat money because it is not backed by gold , which they claim the Constitution requires. They draw up unusual legal documents and attempt to record them, they declare their independence from the United States, or they claim to file " common law " liens against their perceived enemies such as Internal Revenue Service employees or judges . They are frequently involved in various tax protests , and they have invoked ideas that have been popularized by tax protesters . The Posse Comitatus made national news when, on February 13, 1983, Posse member Gordon Kahl killed two federal marshals who had come to arrest him in North Dakota and became

4214-655: The area dating to about 50,000 years ago. At the time Europeans arrived, marking the end Pre-Columbian era around 1600, there were many separate Native American tribes, the largest being the Cherokee and the Catawba , with a total population being up to 20,000. Up the rivers of the eastern coastal plain lived about a dozen tribes of Siouan background. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee , Yuchi , and

4300-555: The authority of the Ku Klux Klan Act . Led by Grant's Attorney General Amos T. Akerman , hundreds of Klansmen were arrested while 2,000 Klansmen fled the state. This was done to suppress Klan violence against African-American and white voters in the South. In the mid-to-late 1870s, white Democrats used paramilitary groups such as the Red Shirts to intimidate and terrorize black voters. They regained political control of

4386-612: The bar, and its commander apparently meditating an attack upon the forts, the quantity of gunpowder in the harbor, belonging to the United States, was not more than sufficient to have enabled the garrison to fire a single round. In the United States presidential election of 1860 , voting was sharply divided, with the South voting for the Southern Democrats and the North for Abraham Lincoln 's Republican Party . Lincoln

SECTION 50

#1732776863037

4472-440: The broader sovereign citizen movement. The legal theories of Posse Comitatus have been further developed by the sovereign citizen movement, which claims that a U.S. citizen can become a "sovereign citizen" and thereby be subject only to common law or "constitutional law," not to statutory law (including most taxes). The Uniform Commercial Code plays a part in these legal theories. The term "sovereign citizen" began to supplant

4558-473: The coastal plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts and fruit. The names of these tribes survive in place names like Edisto Island , Kiawah Island , and the Ashepoo River . The Spanish were the first Europeans in the area. From June 24 to July 14, 1521, they explored the land around Winyah Bay . On October 8, 1526, they founded San Miguel de Gualdape , near present-day Georgetown, South Carolina . It

4644-469: The commencement of the war with Great Britain, and for a long time afterwards, the State of South Carolina was almost destitute of any of the means of military protection, excepting as such could be furnished by her own resources. In the harbor of Charleston alone were there any forts, and these were in so feeble a condition, that at a period, when a British squadron was engaged in sounding the depth of water off

4730-669: The convention realized prominent white families with some African ancestry could be affected by such legislation. In terms similar to a debate in Virginia in 1853 on a similar proposal (which was dropped), George Dionysius Tillman said in opposition: If the law is made as it now stands respectable families in Aiken , Barnwell , Colleton , and Orangeburg will be denied the right to intermarry among people with whom they are now associated and identified. At least one hundred families would be affected to my knowledge. They have sent good soldiers to

4816-448: The fact. The direct ideological descendants of the Posse Comitatus movement were found in the "Christian Patriot" branch of the Patriot movement . Most Christian Patriot groups adhere to Christian Identity's white supremacist views and the Posse Comitatus' view that the American government had deprived citizens of their natural "common law" rights. They have notably espoused Gale's concept of "individual sovereignty", which developed into

4902-565: The founder of a San Joaquin County Posse group, led a group of armed Posse members to prevent United Farm Workers union organizers from attempting to organize non-union tomato pickers. As sheriff's deputies attempted to arrest Gillings on a traffic warrant, one got into a scuffle with Gillings, and a shot was fired. On August 16, 2012, five suspects were arrested concerning the fatal shooting of two sheriff's deputies (Deputies Brandon Nielsen and Jeremy Triche) and wounding two others (Deputies Michael Scott Boyington and Jason Triche) in St. John

4988-469: The founder of the movement. Posse members believe that there is no legitimate form of government above that of the county level and no higher law authority than the county sheriff . If the sheriff refuses to carry out the will of the county's citizens: "he shall be removed by the Posse to the most populated intersection of streets in the township and at high noon be hung by the neck, the body remaining until sundown as an example to those who would subvert

5074-424: The group's leaders imprisoned. South Carolina South Carolina ( / ˌ k ær ə ˈ l aɪ n ə / KARR -ə- LY -nə ) is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia to the southwest and south across the Savannah River . Along with North Carolina, it makes up

5160-428: The judge who had originally sentenced him to prison. In 1996, Petersen had been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, after being convicted on 19 counts, including bank fraud and armed robbery . While he was serving his sentence in a federal prison in Minnesota, Petersen devised a scheme in which he would retaliate against those three judges. After an investigation, federal prosecutors found that Petersen had invented

5246-429: The landscape has relatively low relief. Due to the changing economics of farming, much of the land is now reforested in loblolly pine for the lumber industry. These forests are part of the Southeastern mixed forests ecoregion. At the southeastern edge of Piedmont is the fall line , where rivers drop to the coastal plain. The fall line was an important early source of water power. Mills built to this resource encouraged

SECTION 60

#1732776863037

5332-490: The last half of the twentieth century "...[deprived the majority of Americans] of their property until [their] posterity wakes up homeless...", a paraphrased quotation attributed to Thomas Jefferson . The Freemen were known to produce their own very realistic counterfeit checks and money orders, sometimes ordering items and deliberately overpaying so they could demand refunds. The president of one bank reported that over an 18-month period his bank received two to five complaints

5418-427: The late 1970s, the Posse Comitatus attempted to take over Alpine County, California , by settling there and fielding candidates in local elections. Alpine County is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of Stockton on the west and east slope of Ebbetts Pass on State Highway 4. The 2010 population is 1,175 people. The posse thought winning local elections in Alpine County was their best opportunity to take control of

5504-432: The law." Some Posse members embraced the antisemitic and white supremacist beliefs of Christian Identity. Some believe that the U.S. federal government is illegitimate and in the hands of a Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG), the supposed international Jewish conspiracy . Christian Posse Comitatus Newsletter has reported, "Our nation is now completely under the control of the International Invisible government of

5590-401: The name "Posse Comitatus" by the late 1990s, mirroring movement members' renewed focus on personal liberty. Some within the movement see African Americans , who only gained legal citizenship after the Civil War and passage of the 14th Amendment, as "14th Amendment citizens" with fewer rights than whites. However, African American groups have adopted sovereign citizen ideology and developed

5676-443: The new state capital was founded in the center of the state, and the State Legislature first met there in 1790. The town grew after it was connected to Charleston by the Santee Canal in 1800, one of the first canals in the United States. As dissatisfaction of the planters ruling class with the federal government grew, in the 1820s John C. Calhoun became a leading proponent of states' rights , limited government , nullification of

5762-404: The number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period. Additional enslaved Native Americans were exported from South Carolina to other U.S. colonies. The historian Alan Gallay says, "the trade in Indian slaves was at the center of the English empire's development in the American South. The trade in Indian slaves was the most important factor affecting

5848-474: The prison, he was moved to the Administrative Maximum (ADX) facility at the Florence Federal Correctional Complex at Florence, Colorado , in 2006. Schweitzer died, aged 73, in ADX Florence on September 20, 2011. On April 7, 2008, Russell Dean Landers's sentence was extended by 15 years for attempting to extort his release from prison. He and two other inmates at the federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma , had demanded millions of dollars from prison officials for

5934-403: The province of Carolana , an area covering what is now South and North Carolina , Georgia and Tennessee . Carolana was granted to Sir Robert Heath , who intended to allow French Huguenots to settle there; however, King Charles refused to grant permission to settle to anyone who was not a member of the Anglican Church , leading to the failure of the colony. In 1663, King Charles II created

6020-475: The state under conservative white " Redeemers " and pro-business Bourbon Democrats . In 1877, the federal government withdrew its troops as part of the Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction. The state became a hotbed of racial and economic tensions during the Populist and Agrarian movements of the 1890s. A Republican-Populist biracial coalition took power away from White Democrats temporarily. To prevent that from happening again, Democrats gained passage of

6106-412: The state was not a major battleground, the war ruined the state's economy. More than 60,000 soldiers from South Carolina served in the war, with the state losing an estimated 18,000 troops. Though no regiments of Southern Unionists were formed in South Carolina due to a smaller unionist presence, the Upstate region of the state would be a haven for Confederate Army deserters and resisters, as they used

6192-436: The state. Its eastern border is the Sea Islands , a chain of tidal and barrier islands . The border between the lowcountry and the upcountry is defined by the Atlantic Seaboard fall line , which marks the limit of navigable rivers. Altogether, the state has a total area of 32,020.49 square miles (82,932.7 km ), of which 30,060.70 square miles (77,856.9 km ) is land and 1,959.79 square miles (5,075.8 km ) (6.12%)

6278-559: The textile industry and then in manufacturing. Tourism also started to form into a major industry within the state during the 20th century, especially in areas such as Myrtle Beach and Charleston . As the 21st century progresses, South Carolina has attracted new business by having a 5% corporate income tax rate, no state property tax , no local income tax, no inventory tax, no sales tax on manufacturing equipment, industrial power or materials for finished products; no wholesale tax, and no unitary tax on worldwide profits. South Carolina

6364-532: The union. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), about a third of combat action took place in South Carolina, more than any other state. Inhabitants of the state endured being invaded by British forces and an ongoing civil war between loyalists and partisans that devastated the backcountry. It is estimated 25,000 slaves (30% of those in South Carolina) fled, migrated or died during

6450-449: The use of their names, which they claimed were "copyrighted". They were found guilty of "conspiring to impede the duties of federal prison officials and extortion in (their) efforts to gain release from prison by making financial demands on prison staff and attempting to seize their property." On April 6, 2010, Daniel E. Petersen was sentenced to serve additional time for filing bogus liens against three federal judges from prison, including

6536-459: The war. America's first census in 1790 put the state's population at nearly 250,000. By the 1800 census, the population had increased 38 per cent to nearly 340,000 of which 146,000 were slaves. At that time South Carolina had the largest population of Jews in the sixteen states of the United States, mostly based in Savannah and Charleston, the latter being the country's fifth largest city. In

6622-400: The world with dynamite to prevent or avenge attacks upon the honor of his mother in the legitimacy or purity of the blood of his father. The state postponed such a one-drop law for years. Virginian legislators adopted a one-drop law in 1924, forgetting that their state had many people of mixed ancestry among those who identified as white. Early in the 20th century, South Carolina developed

6708-469: Was accompanied by Randy Weaver , whom Gritz had convinced to surrender to the U.S. government during the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992. However, the FBI refused to let Weaver enter the ranch. After holding five meetings over four days with the Freemen, Gritz left in frustration, commenting that the group had presented him with a mixture of religious and legal "mumbo-jumbo". After 81 days of negotiations,

6794-551: Was anti-slavery, did not acknowledge the right to secession , and would not yield federal property in Southern states. Southern secessionists believed Lincoln's election meant long-term doom for their slavery-based agrarian economy and social system. Lincoln was elected president on November 6, 1860. The state House of Representatives three days later passed the "Resolution to Call the Election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President

6880-580: Was inspired by John Locke , an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". The Carolina slave trade, which included both trading and direct raids by colonists, was the largest among the British colonies in North America. Between 1670 and 1715, between 24,000 and 51,000 captive Native Americans were exported from South Carolina – more than

6966-401: Was officially made a royal colony . South Carolina prospered from the fertility of the lowcountry and the harbors, such as at Charleston . It allowed religious toleration, encouraging settlement, and trade in deerskin, lumber, and beef thrived. Rice cultivation was developed on a large scale on the back of slave labor. By the second half of the 1700s, South Carolina was one of the richest of

7052-532: Was one of several states that initially rejected the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) giving women the right to vote. The South Carolina legislature later ratified the amendment on July 1, 1969. The struggle of the civil rights movement took place in South Carolina, as they did in other Southern states and elsewhere within the country. South Carolina would experience a much less violent movement than other Deep South states. This tranquil transition from

7138-447: Was one of the first states to stop paying for "early elective" deliveries of babies , under either Medicaid and private insurance. The term early elective is defined as a labor induction or Cesarean section between 37 and 39 weeks. The change was intended to result in healthier babies and fewer costs for the state of South Carolina. On November 20, 2014, South Carolina became the 35th state to legalize same-sex marriages , when

7224-469: Was passed in 1975. Governor "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman , a Populist, led the effort to disenfranchise the blacks and poor whites, although he controlled Democratic state politics from the 1890s to 1910 with a base among poor white farmers. During the constitutional convention in 1895, he supported another man's proposal that the state adopt a one-drop rule , as well as prohibit marriage between whites and anyone with any known African ancestry. Some members of

7310-466: Was readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868. In the early to mid-20th century, South Carolina experienced significant economic development with the establishment of numerous textile mills and factories throughout the state. The civil rights movement during the mid-20th century played a crucial role in dismantling segregation and discriminatory laws in the state. Following World War II , South Carolina's economic diversification accelerated, leading to

7396-535: Was the first European settlement in what is now the contiguous United States . Established with five hundred settlers, it was abandoned eight months later by one hundred and fifty survivors. In 1540, Hernando de Soto explored the region and the main town of Cofitachequi , where he captured the queen of the Maskoki (Muscogee) and the Chelaque (Cherokee) who had welcomed him. In 1562 French Huguenots established

#36963