南卡罗来纳州小档案：
人口：约410万
面积：约80，432平方公里，排名第40位
州府：哥伦比亚Columbia
南卡罗来纳州其名称系纪念英王查理一世Charles而得，原与北卡罗来纳州为一地，1712年分为两州。
1670年开始殖民。1788年5月23日列为美国13州中之第8州。1868年又重归联邦。本州箴言为“作好意志与策略的准备；当我活着时，我有信心”Prepared in Mind and Resources；While I Breathe，I Hope。以黄色茉莉花jessamine为州花。
州府是哥伦比亚Columbia，位于本州中部。查理斯敦Charleston，位于大西洋岸，为本州第一大港。本州与乔治亚州分界之塞芬那河，富有水力，在阿干Aiken之北，已筑有大水库。使农业的南卡州，一变而为工业化南卡州。本州海岸多沙洲及小岛，风景极美。尤其美特尔沙滨Myrtle Beach最吸引旅游者。
本州大专院校有45所。其中最著名的是南卡罗来纳大学，创于1801年，位于州府哥伦比亚。其次是克伦孙大学Clemson University，在克伦孙，创于1889年。
本州的特征有二：第一，它在南北战争之中为首先开始作战之洲（1861年4月12日）。同时也是首先退出联邦政府之州（1860年12月20日）。因为它有独立时期与南北分裂时期之两种战争，史迹甚多，现今已成为旅游胜地。第二，它的纬度较美国各州为低，气候温暖，已可以生长扇形大叶子的棕榈树。因此，它的别名，叫做“扇榈之州”Palmetto State。
本州工业很发达。主要工业是棉织业。其次是制纸业及烟草工业。主要矿产为蛭石Vermiculite。产量为各州冠。蛭石是一种很轻的黏土矿物。加热之后，体积膨胀，好像水蛭，可加大6倍至20倍，在建筑方面有防热及隔音之用。
Introduction简介
Following exploration of the coast in 1521by Francisco de Gordillo，the Spanish tried unsuccessfully to establish a colony near present－day Georgetown（乔治敦）in 1526and the French also failed to colonize（拓殖，殖民）Parris Island near Fort Royal in 1562．
The first English settlement was made in 1670at Albemarle Point on the Ashley River，but poor conditions drove the settlers to the site of Charleston（originally called Charles Town）．South Carolina，officially separated from North Carolina in 1729，was the scene of extensive military action during the Revolution and again during the Civil War．The Civil War began in 1861as South Carolina troops fired on federal Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and the state was the first to secede（正式脱离或退出，分离）from the Union．
One of the thirteen original colonies，South Carolina has had a rich and varied history．When Spanish and French explorers arrived in the area in the 16th century，they found a land inhabited by many small tribes of Native Americans，the largest of which were the Cherokees（切罗基族（北美易洛魁人的一支）人）and the Catawbas［（北美印第安Sioux 族的）卡托巴部族人］．The first European attempts at settlement failed，but in 1670a permanent English settlement was established on the coast near present day Charleston．The colony，named Carolina after King Charles I，was divided in 1710into South Carolina and North Carolina．Settlers from the British Isles，France，and other parts of Europe built plantations throughout the coastal lowcountry，growing profitable crops of rice and indigo（靛，靛青）．African slaves were brought into the colony in large numbers to provide labor for the plantations，and by 1720they formed the majority of the population．The port city of Charleston became an important center of commerce and culture．The interior or upcountry（向内的），meanwhile，was being slowly settled by small farmers and traders，who pushed the dwindling tribes of Native Americans to the west．
By the time of the American Revolution，South Carolina was one of the richest colonies in America．Its merchants and planters formed a strong governing class，contributing many leaders to the fight for independence．More Revolutionary War（美国之革命战争）battles and skirmishes（小冲突）were fought in South Carolina than any other state，including major engagements at Sullivan’s Island，Camden，Kings Mountain ，and Cowpens．South Carolina ratified（批准，认可）the United States Constitution on May 23，1788，becoming the eighth state to enter the union．
In the following years the state grew and prospered．With the invention of the cotton gin，cotton became a major crop，particularly in the upcountry．A new capital city，Columbia ，was founded in the center of the state，reducing somewhat the political power of the lowcountry elite（中坚分子）．Dissatisfaction with the federal government and its tariff policies grew during this period，however．In the 1820s South Carolinian John C．Calhoun developed the theory of nullification（无效，废弃，使无价值），by which a state could reject（拒绝，抵制，否决）any federal law it considered to be a violation of its rights．Armed conflict was avoided during this period，but by 1860tensions between the state and the federal government reached a climax（高潮）．Unhappy over restrictions on free trade and about calls for the abolition of slavery，South Carolina seceded from the union on December 20，1860，the first of the Southern states to do so．When Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12，1861，the nation plunged into Civil War．
The Civil War and its aftermath were devastating（毁坏）for South Carolina．The state lost nearly one fifth of the white male population，and its economy was shattered．The final blow came in early 1865when General William T．Sherman marched his troops through South Carolina，burning plantations and most of the city of Columbia．The Reconstruction period that followed the war was marked by general economic，social，and political upheaval（剧变）．The former white leaders found themselves without money or political power，while the large population of freed slaves sought to improve their economic and political positions．When federal troops were withdrawn in 1877，white conservatives（保守派）led by Governor Wade Hampton were able to take control of state government once again．The economy continued to suffer in the years that followed，however．Cotton prices were low，and the plantation system that had brought South Carolina such wealth was dead．Populist reforms in the 1890s brought more political power to small white farmers，but African Americans were disenfranchised［（=disfranchise）剥夺……公民权］and increasingly segregated．