WEBVTT NOTE 23. Proprietary Rule in South Carolina 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Volume 2, Chapter 23, Proprietary Rule in South Carolina 2 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:15.120 In 1713, the Yamasees and other South Carolina Indians had helped North Carolina annihilate 3 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:22.200 the Tuscaroras. Yet, only two years later, the Yamasee and Creek Indians launched a general 4 00:00:22.200 --> 00:00:28.040 attack on the South Carolina settlements. What had turned erstwhile faithful allies 5 00:00:28.040 --> 00:00:35.600 Partly, it was the old story of settler encroachment on Indian land, but even more important in 6 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:42.240 the case of the Yamasee War were the abuses against the Indians by the white traders. 7 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:49.440 The traders systematically engaged in theft, fraud and illegal enslavement of free Indians. 8 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:55.120 They expropriated the Indians' farm animals and crops and often paid much of the account 9 00:00:55.120 --> 00:01:02.080 in Violence rather than Acceptable Commodities. Often they held an entire Indian town collectively 10 00:01:02.080 --> 00:01:09.480 liable for a private Indian's debt. These accumulating grievances prompted the Yamasees, 11 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:15.960 Creeks and their allies to launch an attack on the white settlements in South Carolina. 12 00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:21.780 Contemporary opinion, quick dissent, alleged foreign conspiracy accused the Spaniards at 13 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:28.420 St. Augustine and the French on the Mississippi of inciting the Indians to attack. But these 14 00:01:28.420 --> 00:01:34.780 powers played only the secondary role of selling ammunition to or purchasing plunder from the 15 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:42.060 Indians. The Indian grievances were real and so was their opposition to the regime. 16 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:48.020 The Yamasee War was launched in the spring of 1715 and might have succeeded in driving 17 00:01:48.020 --> 00:01:53.860 The English into the sea. Governor Charles Craven used the occasion to become virtual 18 00:01:53.860 --> 00:02:00.500 dictator of the colony, prohibiting emigration, conscripting ships and supplies, drafting 19 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:07.020 negro slaves into the army along with their masters, and mobilizing the militia. But the 20 00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:12.900 Indians would have been successful had not the whites induced the powerful Cherokees to 21 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:17.220 to remain aloof and indeed to aid the English. 22 00:02:17.220 --> 00:02:24.660 The Yamases were ejected from the colony and thrust into Florida by 1716, and the following 23 00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:27.940 year a peace was concluded with the Creeks. 24 00:02:27.940 --> 00:02:33.100 The result of the war was to clear the bulk of the Indians from the South Carolina settlements 25 00:02:33.100 --> 00:02:35.900 and the land to the south. 26 00:02:35.900 --> 00:02:40.800 The end of the Yamase war cleared a great deal of land from the Indians and opened it 27 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:47.300 up for White Settlement. The South Carolina Proprietary promptly removed its prohibition 28 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:53.480 against settlement in the South between the Combahee and Savannah Rivers, which had been 29 00:02:53.480 --> 00:03:00.080 preserved for the Yamases. Furthermore, provincial elections had, until now, always been held 30 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.940 exclusively in Charleston, which served to concentrate power in the hands of an oligarchy 31 00:03:05.940 --> 00:03:12.820 Allied to the Proprietary Party. The Assembly now provided for elections in each parish, 32 00:03:12.820 --> 00:03:18.720 distributed representation proportionately to population in the parishes, and allowed 33 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:25.420 voting by ballot. These provisions brought South Carolina into greater uniformity with 34 00:03:25.420 --> 00:03:31.200 other American colonies. Furthermore, the Assembly hit at the Proprietary by excluding 35 00:03:31.200 --> 00:04:01.200 The Proprietary was becoming increasingly disliked in South Carolina, and this temper was aggravated by the rule over the colony by a small clique headed by two men apart from the Governor, Nicholas Trott, Chief Justice of the Province, and his brother-in-law, William Rett, Receiver General of the Proprietary. 36 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:18.200 Trott, a high Tory who had been enthusiastic over the reactionary policies of Queen Anne, was perhaps the last American judge to impose a belief in witchcraft in a charge to the jury. 37 00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:30.200 Trott was given extraordinary powers by the proprietors in 1714 so that without his presence, the Council of South Carolina could not have a quorum. 38 00:04:30.200 --> 00:04:37.280 Trott was also made Judge of the Admiralty and Head of the Chancery Courts, thus virtually 39 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:41.960 monopolizing the administration of justice in South Carolina. 40 00:04:41.960 --> 00:04:48.200 Through collusion with Richard Shelton, Secretary to the Board of Proprietors, Trott was virtually 41 00:04:48.200 --> 00:04:53.540 able to dictate to the entire province, except for the Assembly. 42 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:59.180 William Wrett was not only Receiver General, but also Military Commander and sometimes 43 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:01.700 Speaker of the Assembly 44 00:05:01.700 --> 00:05:07.860 The colony was soon struck a grim blow when Trott and Rett were able to induce the Crown 45 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:14.780 to disallow the electoral reforms of 1716 and to return to the practice of exclusive 46 00:05:14.780 --> 00:05:17.260 elections at Charleston. 47 00:05:17.260 --> 00:05:23.380 Thirty-one articles of complaint against Trott's tyranny were now submitted to the Assembly, 48 00:05:23.380 --> 00:05:28.660 charging him with monopolizing justice, acting as counsel and judge in the same case, and 49 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:35.580 and extracting exorbitant fees. When the proprietors disallowed the electoral reform, 50 00:05:35.580 --> 00:05:41.780 the assembly denied their right of veto, inasmuch as even the proprietary governor and council 51 00:05:41.780 --> 00:05:48.780 had approved the reforms of 1716. Trot stood fast, however, in defense of the veto by the 52 00:05:48.780 --> 00:05:55.380 proprietors. The Carolina proprietors reacted by backing Trot all the way, reprimanding 53 00:06:25.380 --> 00:06:55.380 The Great Britain had now launched a war against Spain and the colony began to go into the usual American conniptions in fear of a foreign attack. This time supposedly directed from Havana. In consequence, Governor Robert Johnson mobilized the militia and the popular forces in South Carolina seized the opportunity of being under arms to conduct a war against Spain. 54 00:06:55.380 --> 00:07:02.740 Revolution Against the Now Hated Proprietary. The militia members, led by Alexander Skeen, 55 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:09.300 one of the counselors ousted by the Proprietary, drew up and virtually unanimously signed articles 56 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:17.520 of association. These articles, signed November 28, 1719, declared the resolve of the members 57 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:24.160 to overthrow the Proprietary completely and to declare South Carolina a royal province. 58 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.880 The revolutionary leaders then took their case to the populace and signed up nearly 59 00:07:28.880 --> 00:07:32.040 every free man in South Carolina. 60 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:37.120 In December, the assembly declared the council illegal and resolved to ignore it. 61 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:44.040 It also declared the reforms of 1716 still valid and the proprietors forfeit of their 62 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:45.320 rule. 63 00:07:45.320 --> 00:07:50.480 The assembly proceeded to form itself into a revolutionary association, naming Colonel 64 00:07:50.480 --> 00:08:05.480 The Convention then voted itself as a new assembly, replaced Trott as Chief Justice, and drew up a statement of its case to put before the Crown. 65 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:18.480 This declaration included a melodramatic wording of the proprietary neglect of the defense of the province against foreign and Indian enemies, an argument that would certainly appeal to the Crown. 66 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:27.480 William Rhett, incidentally, showed no compunction at betraying his brother-in-law, and conveniently joined the revolutionary cause. 67 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:41.480 Robert Johnson tried to reassert his claim to the governorship by threatening to have Charleston bombarded by friendly warships, but the people refused to bow, and Johnson never carried out his threat. 68 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:49.640 For once the royal bureaucracy, never enthusiastic for proprietary colonies, approved of a popular 69 00:08:49.640 --> 00:08:56.160 revolution against constituted government. From that point on, South Carolina was accepted 70 00:08:56.160 --> 00:09:03.080 as a royal province, with a royally appointed governor and council. The Crown was intelligent 71 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:09.060 enough to oust Trott, to replace him with a leader of the opposition, and to return 72 00:09:09.060 --> 00:09:21.260 In 1729, all the rights of the Carolina Proprietors were bought out by the Crown. This not only 73 00:09:21.260 --> 00:09:28.180 made South Carolina a royal colony, but also meant that the Proprietors had lost all their 74 00:09:28.180 --> 00:09:32.620 Their Power to Annoy and Harass the People of South Carolina.