South Carolina - The US Explained

Music -

Intro Video Segments-

[ThatIsInterestingTII]

The next state up will be New Hampshire! If you're from New Hampshire, please respond to this comment with any information you'd like to include about your home state!

[stevengrant]

Thank you for this video! I was born in Greenville, SC in ‘99 and that is where I am still today. I definitely learned a few things, and have to agree with you. This is a very unique state.

[BluePalmetto]

Me during the first half of this video: "I know most of this already, but I'm learning."
Second half: "oh."
Beautiful video.

[johnalden]

Wide-ranging and pretty thorough, as always! One interesting wrinkle about the state is the smaller cities like Aiken and Camden that became winter retreats for the wealthy folks from out of state during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They would bring their racehorses down for the winter off-season, fostering a major equestrian economy in those towns. You can still watch polo matches in the spring in Aiken (at least you could when I lived there). It's a state of contrasts: incredible beaches and Southern charm, but also some shocking rural poverty. But you could say that about much of the U.S., truthfully.

[aegis]

As a native I would like to weigh in a bit on somethings that were glossed over:

- You stated that Anderson was south east of Greenville when it is mostly west

- Greenville Spartanburg Metropolitan Area and Charleston Metropolitan are apart of the top 25 fastest growing regions in the US (with South Carolina being one of the fastest growing states by population). As an addendum, due to the rural nature of the state, it is easier to view the metropolitan regions rather than look at individual cities as some cities have formed out of the suburban sprawl of other cities.


1. Paris Island: More than a "Major Marine Corp installation", it is the birthplace of the Marine Corps and is the home to the Eastern Basic Training Facility. It was originally chosen for its swampy surroundings and coastal setting being great for practicing amphibious maneuvers, but later the DoD determined that during the July/August part of the year, Paris Island was one of the most inhospitable places on the East Coast as this coincided with peak mosquito swarms, humidity reaching and exceeding 90%, and average day time temperatures reaching 95.
2. Fort Jackson: Similarly to Paris Island, Fort Jackson is home to one of the Basic Training facility for the United States Army.
3. The Sandhills: Expanding on the topic of regional names and ancient coastlines, not only was the Fall Line is generally where the ancient coastline used to be, the surrounding area has a high level of sand content in its topsoil as a result, combined with the generally hilly nature of the region, parts of the Midlands is referred to as The Sandhills. While a narrow band, it is generally used by geologists to separate the Lower Coastal Planes from the Piedmont Regions as it signifies a transition from a Red Clay type of topsoil, to a darker loamy topsoil made from decaying swamp and coastal floodplain material.
4. Population Spread: At the time of writing this comment, South Carolina has 8.9 million residents, Within the Greenville (910, 412), Columbia (837, 092), and Charleston (799, 636) regions, resides less than half of total residents, South Carolina is incredibly rural.

5. Charleston and the Military: Not only is the Citadel a historically significant college for its ties to the US Military, Charleston as a city has held ties to the US Navy since the Revolutionary War. The Blockade of Charleston's Harbor was successful in routing the remainder of the British forces in the South out of the Carolinas as they knew no further aid would have safe passage to them through what they thought would be loyalist's largest ports. Later, the US Nuclear Power School and Naval Nuclear Power Training Command would be based out of Charleston's Naval base. Also, following the events of Pearl Harbor, Charleston's Naval Shipyard was responsible for the reconstruction of several Warships including the USS Missouri, where the Treaty of Tokyo ended the US's involvement in the Pacific Theater of WWII, and the USS Yorktown, which now overlooks the harbor and is a museum.
6. Lake Murray: As the second largest body of water in the State, Lake Murray is an entirely man-made lake! Located on the Saluda River, the Lake was developed as a reservoir of water for the surrounding city and as the cite of a coal power plant. Later, the Dam would be retrofitted for Hydroelectric power and is home to one of the largest Bass Fishing tournaments in the world! Also, during World War II, Owens Field Airport was used as the training grounds for the Doolittle Raiders as it was 6 ft. shorter than the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, B25s would fly out over Lake Murray and use Bomb Island as practice before circling back and landing at Owens Field.
7. Columbia: Columbia itself was a city that was intentionally built on the Fall Line as it allowed easy access by both the upstate and low country to use the navigable rivers. Since it was a city specifically built for the purpose of holding state government, it was the first planned city in all of the US!
8. Public Research Initiatives: Both Clemson University and the University of South Carolina (which I will be referring to as USC for brevity) are among some of the top institution for Public Research with Clemson hosting the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Lab (Pendleton), the Clemson University Research Institute (Charleston), the Sandhills Ecology Lab (Richland), and the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (Greenville); The Adaptive Real-Time Systems Lab, and The Advanced Materials Discovery and Simulation Lab both hosted by USC and the Joint Labs for the Edisto Natural Conservation Lab and the Beaufort Barrier Island Conservation Lab. All of this leads to South Carolina having one of the quickest developing research corridors in the South.
9. Annulment: So, before we dive into this topic I think it's important to set up some important context that comes from the Revolutionary War (and subsequently why there were so many conflicts in the State), as most US school children are taught, the primary reasons the revolutionary war was started was due to unfair taxation to fund the 100 years war (or as it was known here as the French and Indian War) by George III. While this is true, Great Britain was terrified of the French influence that was growing in Charleston and was worried they would lose their monopoly on rice and indigo and had exempted the Elite Planter class from the majority of these taxes to encourage them to stay loyal to them rather than selling to any other foreign power. As such, South Carolina for most of the Revolutionary War was against rebellion, and was predominantly Loyalists. As such, when the war dragged on, British Forces believed that they could retreat to South Carolina and resupply through the Charleston Harbor before marching back north. Per British Law, any subject must provide quarter for troops, without consent of the Owner for any length of stay that British Officers enacted onto Charleston. This, in stark contrast to the favoritism shown previously, enraged many South Carolinians and turned most of the state against the British that believed that they were entitled to anything they wanted while in South Carolina. This is why enshrined in the Constitution is the "right to refuse quarter" also known as Article V. Moving forward to Annulment, the believe that South Carolina could exempt out of laws or choices made by this government comes from this exemption from taxation that the British had given them prior to the start of the war. The belief at the time was that the US Government would be closer to what the European Union is today than the Federal Government that we have now and that opting out was just as easy as opting into this union. I am not condoning their reasons or their actions, I am wanting to provide context behind why they thought this was possible.

Other Fun Facts:
The Venus Flytrap is actually Native to South Carolina and Louisiana and can still be found in the wild!
The Praying Mantis is also native to South Carolina and is our State Insect!
Sweet Tea (as known by Americans) was said to be created in Charleston when they chose to add sugar to Black Tea (which was treated more like coffee at the time and had only cream)

[cameronpratt]

As someone from SC, this video is quite good and accurate. Great job!

[HunterBidenCocaineBag]

Thank you for not forgetting Florence, Sumter, and Anderson! Most videos like this focus far too much on Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

[zachperkins]

I'm glad you mention the Gullah Geechee people!

[Grafknar]

Born, raised, live, and God willing will die here in South Carolina. Outside of a few small points, exceptionally well done!

[carlfromtheoc]

Someone in the earlier part of the 1800s said, "South Carolina, too small to be a country, and too big to be an insane asylum."

[livewiki]

This was recommended as a SC resident, and it is very well done. Bravo

[MHomey]

The small city of Aiken, located about 17 miles east of Augusta, Georgia, has a history worth exploring as well. Best known as a winter quartering area for world class horse breeding and training, it has an area in the center of town with racing tracks, polo fields, stables, etc., and the streets remain unpaved sand to accommodate the horses. Also in the center of town is a huge wooded area, known as Hitchcock Woods that were given to the city by a wealthy northern aristocrat that wintered in Aiken. It was part of the gift that the area would never be developed, but left in a natural state for people and horses to enjoy. Aiken was also the site of a minor civil war skirmish.

[Drummasterjay]

Born and raised in Orangeburg, SC and it’s really crazy how much I’ve learned about my state after being in California for 6+ years.

[nicoheintel]

I love this series! So interresting for me as a German, I hope that I can visit this fascinating country soom enough :)

[edwardrivers]

What an excellently produced video. As a native South Carolinian, I learned a great deal of new information as well as being reminded of much of what I already knew.

[joefuckingflaccotds-int]

From a Marylander, South Carolina is one of the most beautiful state's I've been to.

[RSmyII]

As a South Carolinian I loved this video, you did your research well. much love.

[terrancemcdonald]

I was born and raised in South Carolina… I grew up in a small town called Lynchburg. Not too many people know about this town, but we’re right in between Sumter and Florence… I’m glad I came across this video. It highlighted a few things that I didn’t even know about my state!! Great work!! 👍🏾👍🏾

[matthewbrown]

Awesome video dude. I'm from Roebuck SC which is right outside of Spartanburg. I've always been fascinated with the Revolutionary War and the battles that took place in SC. Cowpens is one of the most known and is a historical park

[juanpineda]

Yet another amazing masterpiece from the king 🤩