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Economic hardships suffered by both regions following the Revolution

Both groups suffered economically as a result of the war. During the war years, fighting ravaged the countryside and slaves, livestock, and goods were taken by the British. Once the war ended, the economy was slow to improve. The Lowcountry suffered because the mercantilist policies of Great Britain that had offered them economic subsidies and protected markets while South Carolina was a colony were now turned against them as part of an independent United States.

The planters also owed money to creditors in England which they could not pay. The United States government and the state governments were unable to pay for the goods they had commandeered during the fighting from the citizens. Poor crop yields made it even more difficult to recover economically. Economic problems would persist until the early 1800s when cotton became a new cash crop.

Causes for tension over economic differences

Tension between the regions rested in part on their economic differences. Many of the Upcountry folk were subsistence farmers. Although a few owned slaves, they did not have large plantations and most worked their farms without the assistance of slave labor. The Lowcountry was dominated by the planter elite whose economic well-being and social status depended on their slave holdings.

Causes for tension over political representation and location of state capital

During South Carolina’s early years, the Lowcountry elite had little respect for the people living in the Upcountry. Political representation was a major source of tension. There was a larger white population living in the Upcountry, but most of the political power rested in the Lowcountry. Not only did the Lowcountry have greater representation in the legislature but Charleston was the capital and legal business was transacted there. The Charleston elite had a greater influence on the government. Upcountry people objected to having to travel so far to present issues to the legislature or argue their legal matters in court. In 1785, counties and county courts were created.

Establishment of Columbia as the capital in an effort to ease tensions

The next year, the capital was moved to the newly established city of Columbia in the center of the state and equally accessible to both the Upcountry and the Lowcountry [just as the national capital was moved to the more central location at the District of Columbia (8-3.4)]. These measures helped ease, but did not eliminate, political tensions between the Upcountry and the Lowcountry since the Lowcountry maintained its majority in the legislature.

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