The Colonial Carolinas

String up Trouble with Spain

Aug 1, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

The Carolina land grant is issued in an attempt for England to oust Spain from America. It becomes an important agriculture area and shipping port.

English King Gives Away Spanish Land

In the spring of 1663, King Charles II of England granted eight of his noblemen a generous portion of the Atlantic seaboard. It would be called Carolina and was the largest single unoccupied portion of land between Virginia

and Spanish Florida.

This parcel of land lay between the 36th and the 31st parallels.

England Plots to Take Over Spanish America

Of course the first concern for the Carolina promoters was to make a profit from whatever resources the area had to offer. This move by England to settle Carolina had a second, and exceedingly bold, plot. It was a certain jab at Spain's foothold in the New World. That it was a bold thrust at Spanish claim became more obvious in 1665 when the Carolina charter was expanded to the 29th parallel. This action by England included Spanish St. Augustine, Florida.

Carolina Divided-North and South

Although the original 1663 Carolina charter, comprising of North and South Carolina and a portion of Georgia

had been granted before the one for New York, several years passed before any notable amount of settlement was made. Even so, in the 1650s, some settlers had moved into the Carolinas. After a governor was appointed for what was called Albemarle County, more settlers were persuaded to settle there in the mid-1660s. This became the first legal settlement in the Carolinas.

Charleston Established

In 1670, a settlement called Charleston in Southern Carolina was established. Charleston became an important and growing port with its inhabitants prospering in trading furs with the Indians. It also gained considerably in producing naval stores, growing various crops including rice, which was not grown further north.

The Albemarle Sound region and Charleston settlements stood a considerable distance from each other, eventually separating and creating North and South Carolina.

Colonial America Series continues with:

Aristocratic Carolina .

Previous: The Indians of Delaware.

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