when did south carolina and north carolina split
The Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Charlotte is the Carolinas' largest city. The largest metropolitan area is the Charlotte metropolitan area, which also includes Uptown Charlotte and Rock Hill (the fifth-largest city in South Carolina). Combining North Carolina's population of 10,042,802 and South Carolina's of 4,896,146, the Carolinas have a population of 14,938,948 as of 2015. If the Carolinas were a single state of the United States, it would be the fifth-most populous state, behind California, Texas, Florida, and New York. The Carolinas were known as the Province of Carolina during America's early colonial period, from 1663 to 1710. Prior to that, the land was considered part of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, from 1609 to 1663. The province, named Carolina to honor King Charles I of England, was divided into two colonies in 1729, although the actual date is the subject of debate.
History of South Carolina In the early decades, the colony cultivated cotton on plantations of the sea islands and Low Country, along with rice, indigo and some tobacco as commodity crops, all worked by African slaves, most from West Africa. In the 19th century, invention of the cotton gin enabled profitable processing of short-staple cotton, which grew better in the Piedmont than did long-staple cotton. The hilly upland areas, where landowners were generally subsistence farmers with few slaves, were much poorer; a regional conflict between the coastal and inland areas developed in the political system, long dominated by the Low Country planters. With outspoken leaders such as John C. Calhoun, the state vied with Virginia as the dominant political and social force in the South. It fought federal tariffs in the 1830s and demanded that its rights to practice slavery be recognized in newly established territories. With the 1860 election of Republicans under Abraham Lincoln, who vowed to prevent slavery's expansion, the voters demanded secession. In December 1860, the state seceded from the Union; in February 1861, it joined the new Confederate States of America.