| Summary |
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the Indian trade in South Carolina's early political and economic development. Detailed research reveals that the Indian trade's complex and ironic evolution significantly impacted South Carolina. The young colony's first big business profoundly shaped governmental affairs as it caused irresolvable political conflicts between the proprietors and the colonists, it facilitated South Carolina's economic expansion during the era before the colony discovered a staple crop, and it ultimately created festering wounds of discontent among the Indians that eventually led them to rebel. This study examines the political events of South Carolina's first fifty years and discovers the paramount role of the Indian trade in determining governmental policy. Both the Lords Proprietors and the colonists formed opinions and made decisions based upon their personal interests regarding control of the emerging business. Unsurprisingly, the colonial officials often surfaced as leading traders with specific personal trade pursuits to protect. The actions of Carolina's ruling colonists facilitated the rapid territorial expansion of English influence throughout the southern frontier. as well as the colony's participation in England's maritime empire. Ultimately, South Carolina's profitable Indian trade led the colony into an Indian rebellion that threatened the settlement's existence. This thesis shows how the Indian trade largely shaped important events in South Carolina's first half-century. During these early years of the colony's struggle for subsistence and survival, this first business sustained and increased its economy. Ironically, the trade enabled the colony to survive and created wealth for those who participated in its expansion; yet, it ultimately came to threaten the endurance of all it had helped to create. |
