Charles Town was named in
honor of King Charles II of England. King
Charles was known for many things, but was
most notorious for his womanizing and his
lifestyle as a hedonistic pleasure seeker.
His father was beheaded by the puritans for
his exploits. It has been said the King
Charles was "the father of his people, or at
least, a great many of them." Founded in 1670
at Albemarle Point, now a state park, the
settlement moved to Oyster point in 1680,
which is now White Point Gardens. Either of
these sites can be visited today, where you
can imagine what it was once like. Early
settlers were threatened by Spanish more than
Indians, and Albemarle Point provided a
vantage point from which to view any
approaching vessels. The boundaries of the
new city were streets Meeting, Water and
Broad and the Cooper River. At the time,
Water Street was a creek, which later had
bridges passing over it. Amazingly, by 1690,
Charles Town was America's fifth largest
city. Initially, the population consisted
mostly of English settlers, and later added
many French Protestants called "Huguenots" as
well as quite a few Irish.
Early Charles Town
suffered a serious threat by murderous and
thieving pirates, most notably Blackbeard.
Blackbeard was captured and convicted in 1718
but quickly escaped. He was later killed by a
small military group of Virginians. Also
threatened by Spaniards and Indians, it
didn't take long for resentment to build
against the English Lord Proprietors who were
neither willing nor able to protect Charles
Town from her attackers. Revolutionary
activity began in Charles Town as early as
1719. More on this later.
In spite of Charleston
being referred to as "The Holy City", most
likely because of the church steeples that
distinguish the skyline, Charles Town was
known more for its tolerance and decadence
than religious fervor. Church attendance was
mandatory on Sunday, and gambling was
prohibited on the Sabbath. The other six days
a week, however, gambling and prostitution
were common and barely discouraged.
Slavery was not a
significant part of the first 30 years of
Charleston history as she was mostly a
trading town. By 1710, part of the very
profitable trade and commerce in Charles Town
involved the buying and selling of slaves
which contributed significantly to early
fortunes both from the trade of slaves and
from planting using slaves.
Charles Town became one of
the largest and wealthiest cities in America
as the result of the trading of indigo, rice
and slaves. African Slaves brought their
knowledge of rice planting with them as well
as the ability to survive the heat and
disease. The same genes that made them prone
to sickle cell anemia, made them resistant to
malaria and yellow fever. Resentment against
slaves and blacks started early as many
competed with white tradesmen. For all the
bitterness and hate against blacks, the white
slave owners were quite fond of their female
black slaves and used them quite openly to
serve them sexually.
It is most interesting
today to walk the original streets of
peninsular Charles Town. You can walk the
cobblestone streets built from the ballast of
merchant ships. A good many of the original
17th and 18th century structures were
destroyed in one of the many fires she
endured, many of which were caused by
military sieges by the British and later by
the Union Army. If you'd like to learn more
about Charleston History, there is a very
concise and interesting work written by a
Charleston Attorney named Robert Rosen. It is
entitled, A Short History of Charleston. We
also credit this work for most of the facts
in this summary.
