ALARMING NUMBER OF NEGROES. 33 ber of persons engaging in that occupation was so considerable, that in 1767, 300,000lbs of indigo had been shipped from Carolina to England: and at this period there were 330 ships and about 2,000 seamen engaged in the trade with Great Britain. With all their prosperity, however, there was one danger, always inconvenient, and always increasing; namely, the large proportion of the negro population to the whites, and the constant dread of their mutiny or revolt. This fear is strikingly displayed in a memorial from the planters of South Carolina, presented to the British government, against a bill for preventing the exportation of rice from any part of the British dominions, in which they say, "If any stop be put to the exportation of rice from South Carolina, it will not only render the planters unable to pay their debts, but also reduce the government of this province to such distress for want of money, as at this present precarious time may render the whole colony an easy prey to their neighbours, the Indians and Spaniards, and also to those yet more dangerous enemies, their own negroes, who are ready to revolt on the first opportunity, and are eight times as many in number as there are white men capable of bearing arms." This expression of their alarm was perhaps quickened by the fact that the Spaniards, with a force of 32 ships and 3,000 men, had effected a landing in Georgia; and among the force was a regiment of free negroes, the black officers of which were dressed in the same uniform as their white comrades, enjoyed the same rank with the Spanish officers, and maintained exactly the same freedom of intercourse with the commander-in-chief, Don Manuel de Monteano; as such a sight, to the negroes of South Carolina, if they should reach so far, would be an irresistible incitement to the outbreak of that revolt, for which their masters knew they were ripe. After an interval of nearly twenty years, we find South Carolina in a more prosperous condition than the once threatening aspect of affairs would have given reason to expect. In consequence of large grants of money from the provincial assembly, to encourage the influx of emigrants, they had come in great numbers from all parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Germany: so that in 1765 the population had advanced to 130,000, of whom only 90,000 were negroes, thus materially altering the relative proportions between the slaves and the free. But new sources of discontent began to develope themselves; and the general dissatisfaction of the American provinces with the rule of the mothercountry, was felt as strongly in South Carolina as elsewhere. In 1776, when the revolution had made considerable progress in the north, the Carolinians made a noble and successful defence of the city and port of Charleston against the attack of General Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, at the head of a force of 3,000 men, and a squadron of ships mounting 254 guns. The fort, which the people of Charleston had erected on Sullivan's Island, within their harbour, mounted only 26 guns; and the whole number of their troops amounted to no more than 375 regulars, and a few militia-men; but though the assault of the British was maintained for ten hours against this inferior force, it was wholly unavailing; and three of their ships grounding on a shoal, the expedition was aban OPPOSITION TO THE TARIFF. 35 doned, with the slight loss on the side of the besieged of only 10 men killed and 22 wounded, and the fort but little injured, though many thousand balls had been expended on it from the British squadron. Since the period of the revolution, the most marked circumstance in the history of South Carolina has been the attitude of opposition in which it placed itself to the tariff of the general government; and the threats of separation which it made, and seemed prepared to execute, by an appeal to arms. The origin and end of this celebrated controversy may be thus briefly stated. The people of the free states, including all those of the Union north of the river Potomac, wishing to encourage domestic manufactures, and thus to render themselves independent of importations from England, were powerful enough in Congress to establish by law a scale of high duties on almost all British manufactures, ranging from 20 to 50 per cent., professedly with a view to protect the dearer manufactures of their own country. To this the people of the South very naturally objected, as they would derive no benefit whatever from the establishment of manufactures, since their States were not likely to establish any; while on the other hand, they would be injured to a considerable extent, by being obliged to pay for every manufactured article of which they stood in need, from 20 to 50 per cent. more than the price at which they could be supplied from England if no such tariff existed. These high duties were, therefore, clearly founded in injustice, by taxing the consumers of the whole country, for the exclusive benefit of the few engaged in manufactures. To this system, therefore, the Southern States generally objected; and South Carolina put herself forward as the leader of the opposition, who were called Nullifiers, and their doctrine, Nullification; because they contended that, by the right of State sovereignty and independent government, which each State reserved to itself, and had not conceded to the general government, they were perfectly justified in nullifying all the acts of Congress founded in such gross injustice to their particular interests. The more violent of the Nullifiers recommended an appeal to arms, to maintain their position; for, having been threatened by the then existing president, General Jackson, with invasion and coercion by force, to adopt the new system, they had determined to resist force by force, and, if necessary, declare their separation from the Union, and form a confederation of the Southern States, to erect them into a new republic. This state of things lasted for many months, under the greatest excitement, and no less than 30,000 men were said to be under arms in South Carolina alone. At length it was happily terminated by the compromise bill of Mr. Clay, which proposed a gradual biennial reduction of the rates of the tariff till the year 1840, when the duties would be reduced to a very moderate scale, and by which time the native manufactures might be expected to be able to sustain themselves, without much fear of competition with foreign productions. Since that period, Carolina has enjoyed a comparative calm, and is now, at least, tranquil on the subject; though there are still causes of discontent, which will be adverted to further on, after a description of the State, in its present condition, shall have been given. CHAP. III. Description of the State of South Carolina-Topography, soil, climate, productions-Exports of staple commodities, rice and cotton-Mineral productions of the State-Gold recently found in North and South Carolina-Population, gradual increase from 1700-Proportion of slave population to free-Introduction of cotton manufactories-Internal improvements, canals, and railroads Government of the State, legislative and executive Representation in Congress-Judiciary-State of education and religion. - THE State of South Carolina is 188 miles long, from north to south; and 260 broad, from east to west; lying between latitude 32o and 35° N., and between longitude 78° and 83° W., and containing an area of 33,000 square miles, or about 20,000,000 of acres. It is bounded on the north and north-east by North Carolina, on the south-east by the Atlantic, and on the west by Georgia. The sea-coast, which runs nearly N.E. and S.W. is uniformly low, with a number of inlets into creeks and lagoons, affording an inside passage of navigation for boats almost all along the coast, which is here, therefore, broken up into innumerable low ridges and islands. A great portion of these are composed of the sands thrown up by the sea; the rivers and creeks are, therefore, generally shallow, with bars at their entrance; and much of the surface is liable to frequent inundation by the tides of the ocean, which here rise five or six feet, as well as by the floods of the rivers after heavy rains. In the interior, beyond this level maritime tract, the land rises by a gentle slope, is drier, and more healthy. Beyond this, the country becomes hilly, till it verges into the mountainous, as it ap |