Tomorrow, we will be leaving on a road trip to South Carolina.
A few interesting facts about South Carolina:
- parts of South Carolina, at least around Charleston, are friendly, fun and guilt-free. I say guilt-free for two reasons: no Puritans settled there, and it was anti-Catholic for a very long time. The Church of England (Catholic without the guilt) was the area's main religion.
- when Oliver Cromwell (a Puritan) was Lord Protector, he expected the colonies to clean up their acts and put godliness first. As soon as Cromwell gave up the ghost, Carolina screamed, "Party on, dudes!"
- 1749, the State of Carolina became 2 states, North and South.
- the 1800 census shows the population was nearly 340,000 of which 146,000 were slaves.
- the 1800 census also shows South Carolina had the largest population of Jews in the U.S., mostly in Savannah and Charleston.
- in 1861 South Carolina was the first state to declare succession from the United States. It officially started the U.S. Civil War by firing on U.S. troops at Fort Sumpter. 620,000 fighters lost their lives in this war, hundreds of thousands of disease.
A few interesting facts about Charleston:
- in 1670, the city was settled as Charles Town, inhonor of King Charles II of England.
- it is the oldest and largest city in South Carolina.
- it was originally a walled city with a moat.
- the area was unsuitable for growing tobacco, soslaves were brought in to use their knowledge of rice cultivation. Indigo was also grown and profitable.
- in 1783, the city's name was changed from Charles Town to Charleston.
- it is known as the "Holy City" not because of the piety of its residents but due to the numerous church steeples which dominate the low-rise cityscape.
- Charleston allowed Jews to practice their faith without restriction which resulted in many Sephartic Jews from London flocking to Charleston in the early 1700's.
- Roman Catholics eventually came to the city.
- rich history, preserved architecture, great food,extremely friendly people, and a unique accent, which unfortunately is quickly disappearing, makes "Chah-l-ston" a fantastic place to visit.
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