1671

Sir John Yeamans

The first election was held in Charles Town, choosing twenty men as a Parliament and Sir John Yeamans as speaker. Over half the councilmen were Barbadians. Five men were then selected to represent the people as the Grand Council – Mr. Thomas Gray, Mr. Maurice Mathews, Lt. Henry Hughes, Mr. Christopher Portman and Mr. Ralph Marshall.  Yeamans took every opportunity to question the legality of West’s appointment as governor.

John Coming, first mate of the Carolina, wrote that “the Barbadians endeavor to rule all.” Yeamans complained that “West is proud and peevish.” Others called Yeamans “disaffected and too selfish.” The colony was firmly divided into separate factions.

1766 – American Revolution – Foundations

John Rutledge, conveying the wishes of the South Carolina Assembly, instructed Charles Garth, their agent in London, to oppose the stamp tax, and any other tax by Parliament. Rutledge claimed it was “inconsistent with that inherent right of every British subject, not to be taxed but by his own consent, or that of his representatives.”

1781 – American Revolution

Col. John Laurens arrived in Boston with two shiploads of military supplies and half a million dollars in aid from the French.