3-3.3

It Is Essential For Students To Know

• South Carolina changed from a colony to a state by writing a new state constitution after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Although states in the North were influenced by the words of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” to gradually free their slaves, South Carolina slave owners did not support such laws.
• The plantation-owning Lowcountry elite continued to have more political power than the Backcountry farmers because they were given a greater representation in the state legislature.
• Later, compromises helped the Backcountry farmers.
• The capitol was moved from Charleston to Columbia to give Backcountry people more of an opportunity to petition and influence their government.
• However the Lowcountry retained its representative majority in the state legislature.
• Finally, new counties with court systems were created to address the lack of law and order in the Backcountry.
• Backcountry farmers were granted more equal representation once they began to own slaves and the Lowcountry elite no longer feared that the Backcountrymen would vote to limit slavery.
• After the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress had established a new government for the United States [the Articles of Confederation].
• However other states were having conflict between the lowcountry elites and Backcountry farmers that was similar to the conflict in South Carolina, [especially Massachusetts’ Shays’ Rebellion].
• Some Americans thought that the first United States government was too weak and called for changes. Representatives of the states met in Philadelphia to set up a better government for the new nation. This meeting resulted in a second constitution and became known as the Constitutional Convention.
• South Carolina sent four delegates to Philadelphia. All were rich planters from the Lowcountry. Although South Carolina delegates had to compromise and did not get everything they wanted in the United States Constitution they, and other members of the Lowcountry elite, supported its ratification.
• Backcountry farmers did not support ratification because they feared the power of the elites.
• The compromise of adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution in order to protect the rights of individuals was promised and South Carolina became the 8th state to ratify the new United States Constitution.
• Authority in the new government derived from “We, the people.” The new government of the United States had three branches: the legislative branch that makes the laws, the executive branch which carries out the laws and the judicial branch which interprets the laws.
• The people were given the right to elect representatives to the House of Representatives and to indirectly elect Senators and the President.
• No branch of the government could become too powerful because of a system of checks and balances.
• The constitution also included a process that allowed it to be updated or amended.
• The amendment process has allowed the Constitution to continue to work for over 200 years, longer than any other constitution in the world to this day.

It Is Not Essential For Students To Know

• Students do not need to know that Backcountry farmers paid a disproportionate amount of tax because they were taxed on the amount of land they had rather than its value in producing crops.
• Students do not need to know that taxes were changed so that land was taxed based on how much money farmers were able to make from it, not its size.
• Students do not need to know details about the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan and the Connecticut or Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention.
• Students do not need to know the position of the South Carolina delegates in the debates at the Constitutional Convention. 77
• Students do not need to know that the state’s delegates supported the establishment of a stronger national government that would support their interests. They supported the states with large populations like South Carolina but were willing to compromise on representation in a two house national Congress. They advocated an aristocratic republic in which only property owners could vote. Since almost all Americans owned property however this was not undemocratic. They wanted their slaves to be counted for the purposes of representation so that they would have a greater voice in the government and they did not support the 3/5s compromise which finally resolved this issue. They wanted to protect the slave trade from government interference and won a 20 year moratorium on ending the international slave trade that lasted until 1808.
• Students do not need to know the circumstances of South Carolina’s ratification of the Constitution or the debates that took place at the ratifying convention.