Colony of South Carolina, British Colonial America (North America)

History of South Carolina, one of the original 13 US states Timeline Pre-colonial period 1540–1651 Colonial period 1651–1774 American Revolution 1775–1788 Antebellum period 1812–1860 Civil War era 1861–1865 Reconstruction 1865–1877 European exploration of the area began in April 1540, with the Hernando de Soto expedition, who unwittingly introduced new Eurasian diseases that decimated the local Native American population as they lacked any immunity In 1663 the English Crown granted land to eight proprietors of what became the colony. The first settlers came to the Province of Carolina at the port of Charleston in 1670; they were mostly wealthy planters and their slaves coming from the English Caribbean colony of Barbados