South Carolina is one of the thirteen original states of the United States of America. Its history has been remarkable for an extraordinary commitment to political independence, whether from overseas or federal control. As a cornerstone of mercantilism and the slave trade, as the powder keg of the American Civil War, as the home of Jim Crow, and as the heart of the Dixiecrat movement, South Carolina's history has been the epitome of decentralization (Anti-federalism) in the U.S.Although the area that is now the contemporary U.S. state of South Carolina has been populated since at least 13,000 BC (when tool-making nomads began to leave material remains), the documented history of South Carolina begins in 1540 with the visit of Hernando de Soto.The proprietary colony of Carolina was first settled at Charles Town in 1670, mostly by immigrants from the (one of many) English colony of Barbados. There was discontent with the Lords Proprietors from the earliest years of the colony. Colonists overthrew the proprietors after the Yamasee War of 1715-1717. In 1719 the colony was officially made a crown colony, although the Lords Proprietors held their rights until 1729.Differences between the northern and southern parts of Carolina were recognized during proprietary rule. Separate governors were established for each section. The de facto separation of the two colonies was made official when they were admitted as crown colonies in 1729.South Carolina declared independence from Great Britain and set up its own government on March 15, 1776. It joined the United States by signing the Declaration of Independence. For two years its president was John Rutledge, who became governor. On February 5, 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first constitution of the U.S., the Articles of Confederation.With the election of Abraham Lincoln on an anti-slavery platform in 1860, South Carolina immediately and with considerable unanimity decided to secede. On December 20, 1860 it became the first state to leave the Union. In February it joined the Confederate States of America. In April the American Civil War began when Confederate forces attacked the American fort at Fort Sumter, in Charleston, 1861.After the Confederate defeat, South Carolina underwent Reconstruction. Freed African Americans and poor whites benefited during Reconstruction, when they expanded the franchise, created and funded a public school system, and created social welfare institutions. The constitution they passed was kept nearly unaltered for 27 years, and most legislation passed during the Reconstruction years lasted longer than that.. African American gains were short-lived. As white planters returned to dominance, they passed Jim Crow laws, especially severe in South Carolina, to create public segregation and control movement of African American laborers. The whites passed laws that effectively disfranchised African Americans by the turn of the century. Although a majority in the state from before the Civil War, African Americans suffered much diminished civil rights until they won restored protection under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson.From 1865 to 1940 the state was poor. Educational levels were low as public schools were underfunded, especially for African Americans. Most people lived on farms and grew cotton. The more affluent were landowners, who subdivided the land into farms operated by tenant farmers or sharecroppers, along with land operated by the owner using hired labor. Gradually more industry moved into the Piedmont area, with textile factories that turned the raw cotton into yard and cloth for sale on the national market.Politically the state was part of the Solid South. Because African Americans were disfranchised, despite the fact they paid taxes and supported other citizen obligations, no black officials were elected between 1900 and the late 1960s. Whites rigidly enforced segregation in the Jim Crow era, limiting African Americans' chances for education, representation and free public movement. The Civil Rights laws of the 1960s ended segregation and protected voting rights of African Americans and other minorities.The cotton regime ended by the 1950s. As factories were built across the state, the great majority of farmers left agriculture. By 2000 South Carolina voted solidly Republican in presidential elections, but state and local government elections were contested by the two parties. The population continued to grow, reaching 4 million in 2000, as coast areas became prime locations for tourists and retirees. With a poverty rate of 13.5%, the state was only slightly worse than the national average of 11.7%.