Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. J. Brent Morris
Committee Member
Dr. Joshua Catalano
Committee Member
Dr. Otis W. Pickett
Abstract
Greenville County, South Carolina was created in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. The boundaries that define Greenville follow the natural topography of its mountains and rivers, but also permanently mark its relationship with the historic location of the Cherokee Nation as well as distinguishing it from North Carolina. Through the Regulation Movement and the Revolutionary War, the politics of the backcountry of South Carolina were molded by the men who occupied and laid claim to the land. The primary driver of political decisions was the protection and expansion of personal and community economics.
In this paper I argue that the economic motivations for the founding of Greenville continue to define the political persuasions of the county through the antebellum period. While this economic drive is true of the entirety of South Carolina from its inception as a proprietary colony, I argue that the same motivations in Greenville often caused it to veer off course from the majority politics of the remainder of the state. I trace this divergence from the Regulator Movement, through the tendency to remain loyal to the British during the Revolutionary War period and into the Nullification Crisis when Greenville stood as a last hope of Unionism until the eve of Secession.
Recommended Citation
Boatwright, Candace Rae, "The Lost Cause of Unionism: How Greenville Became a Failed Stronghold of Unionism in Antebellum South Carolina" (2024). All Theses. 4231.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4231