Founding Principles of North and South Carolina

North Carolina (chartered 1663, settled 1650s):

• Religious freedom for dissenters (Quakers, Baptists).
• Economic opportunity: fertile land, naval stores, timber.
• Self-government: early assembly, resistance to proprietary rule.

South Carolina (chartered 1663, settled 1670):

• Profit-driven: plantation agriculture (rice, indigo, later cotton).
• Religious tolerance: attracted Huguenots, Jews, dissenters.
• Political liberty: strong assembly, local control.

Both emerged from the same Carolina charter but diverged: NC yeoman/smallholder; SC hierarchical plantation society.