The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – April 2022: South Carolina
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1bhabeck
Each month, we will visit a different state in the United States of America for the Monthly Reading Challenge in the Mystery & Suspense Extra! Group. This month, we travel back to the southeast and visit – South Carolina.
The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – April 2022: South Carolina
History
South Carolina in the coastal Southern region of the United States. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,124,712 according to the 2020 census. In 2019, its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 133,273 in 2019; while its largest city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,277. The Greenville–Spartanburg-Anderson metropolitan area is the most populous in the state, with a 2018 population estimate of 906,626.
in 1629, King of England Charles I established the Province of Carolina, an area covering what is now South and North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. In 1663, Charles II granted the land to eight Lords Proprietors in return for their financial and political assistance in restoring him to the throne in 1660.
The Carolina slave trade, which included both trading and direct raids by colonists, was the largest among the British colonies in North America. Between 1670 and 1715, 24,000 and 51,000 captive Native Americans were exported from South Carolina — more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period. Additional enslaved Native Americans were exported from South Carolina to other U.S. colonies. The historian Alan Gallay says, "the trade in Indian slaves was at the center of the English empire's development in the American South. The trade in Indian slaves was the most important factor affecting the South in the period 1670 to 1715".
Meanwhile, Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by small farmers and traders, who displaced Native American tribes westward. Colonists overthrew the proprietors' rule, seeking more direct representation. In 1712, the former Province of Carolina split in to North and South Carolina. In 1719, South Carolina was officially made a royal colony.
South Carolina prospered from the fertility of the lowcountry and the harbors, such as at Charleston. It allowed religious toleration, encouraging settlement, and trade in deerskin, lumber, and beef thrived. Rice cultivation was developed on a large scale on the back of slave labor. By the second half of the 1700s, South Carolina was one of the richest of the Thirteen Colonies.
On March 26, 1776, the colony adopted the Constitution of South Carolina, electing John Rutledge as the state's first president. In February 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, the initial governing document of the United States, and in May 1788, South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution, becoming the eighth state to enter the union.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), about a third of combat action took place in South Carolina, more than in any other state. Inhabitants of the state endured being invaded by British forces and an ongoing civil war between loyalists and partisans that devastated the backcountry. It is estimated 25,000 slaves (30% of those in South Carolina) fled, migrated or died during the war.
In the Antebellum period (before the Civil War) the state's economy and population grew. Cotton became an important crop after the invention of the cotton gin. While nominally democratic, from 1790 until 1865, wealthy landowners were in control of South Carolina. For example, a man was not eligible to sit in the State House of Representatives unless he possessed an estate of 500 acres of land and 10 Negroes, or at least 150 pounds sterling, diminishing the electorate. Further, the state maintained indirect election of electors by the state legislature until 1868, the last state to do so. Voters thus did not participate in presidential elections, other than through state-wide elections.
Geography
South Carolina is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.
Within South Carolina from east to west are three main geographic regions, the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern corner of Upstate South Carolina. South Carolina has primarily a humid subtropical climate, with hot humid summers and mild winters. Areas in the Upstate have a subtropical highland climate. Along South Carolina's eastern coastal plain are many salt marshes and estuaries. South Carolina's southeastern Lowcountry contains portions of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean.
Fun Facts
The Argent train Engine No. 7 was donated to the town of Hardeeville upon the closing of the Argent Lumber Company. This narrow gauge train is a rarity and attracts many people from across the nation
On Nov 2, 1954 Strom Thurmond became the first US senator elected by write-in vote. Thurmond received 139,106 write-in votes to win his seat. He defeated Democratic nominee Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes.
South Carolinians have their own lake monster, affectionately dubbed "Messie." The creature supposedly resides in Lake Murray; the South Carolina Fish and Wildlife Department reportedly has a file full of Messie sightings, from "reputable" citizens who were "not on drugs or drinking" when they spotted the beast.
Fountain Inn is proud of the town’s most famous native son. Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates lost his leg in a cotton gin accident at the age of 12; he overcame his tragedy to become a famous dancer. His signature step was the “Imitation American Jet Plane,” in which he would jump five feet in the air and land on his peg leg, with his good leg sticking out straight behind him. During his career, Bates performed more than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan television show more than any other artist.
The nickname of the state “Palmetto State” originates from the fact that during the Revolutionary War, colonists at Fort Moultrie, a small fort built from palmetto trees, defeated a British fleet near Charleston in 1776. The walls, made of spongy Palmetto logs, protected the fort because the British cannonballs bounced off the logs
Myrtle Beach in South Carolina has some 50 golf courses and as a result, it is called the “miniature golf capital of the world.”
A tree in SC called the Angel Oak expected to be between 400 and 500 years old. The 65-foot-tree has survived hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. The tree measures 28 feet in circumference and covers an area of 17,000 square feet with its shade. According to some sources, the age of the tree is believed to be more than 1,500 years.
South Carolina is home to the legendary “Hell Hole Swamp.” Every year, it hosts a festival complete with a tobacco-spitting contest and the 10K Hell Hole Gator Trot, which is also known as “Redneck Run.”
Bishopville, South Carolina, is home to The Button Museum, the brainchild of one Dalton Stevens. A lifelong insomniac, one night in 1983, Stevens decided to while the hours away by sewing buttons on to one of his suits. Two years later, he had successfully attached more than 16,000 buttons to the garment. Stevens kept his project going, adding buttons to all kinds of bizarre objects. Today, the fruits of his labor—including a button-covered hearse—can be viewed in a hangar he rents off of SC-41.
South Carolina is home to the world’s hottest chili pepper, Smokin’ Ed’s “Carolina Reaper,” grown by Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company. Currie’s peppers are so hot that often people who eat them will spasm and vomit.
Notable Residents
Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, c. March 18221 – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage. When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier. She became an icon of courage and freedom.
Famous South Carolinians include Blackbeard, John C. Calhoun, Chubby Checker, Stephen Colbert, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Grimke, Andrew Jackson, Jesse Jackson, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Mary-Louise Parker, Strom Thurmond, and Vanna White.
Mystery authors from South Carolina include: Susan Boyer, Deb Richardson, Patricia Cornwell, and Janet Evanovich. Other authors include: Pat Conroy Robert Jordan, Sue Monk Kidd, Dori Sanders, and Matthew Cordell.
In honor of SOUTH CAROLINA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
Happy Reading ❤
The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – April 2022: South Carolina
History
South Carolina in the coastal Southern region of the United States. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,124,712 according to the 2020 census. In 2019, its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 133,273 in 2019; while its largest city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,277. The Greenville–Spartanburg-Anderson metropolitan area is the most populous in the state, with a 2018 population estimate of 906,626.
in 1629, King of England Charles I established the Province of Carolina, an area covering what is now South and North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. In 1663, Charles II granted the land to eight Lords Proprietors in return for their financial and political assistance in restoring him to the throne in 1660.
The Carolina slave trade, which included both trading and direct raids by colonists, was the largest among the British colonies in North America. Between 1670 and 1715, 24,000 and 51,000 captive Native Americans were exported from South Carolina — more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period. Additional enslaved Native Americans were exported from South Carolina to other U.S. colonies. The historian Alan Gallay says, "the trade in Indian slaves was at the center of the English empire's development in the American South. The trade in Indian slaves was the most important factor affecting the South in the period 1670 to 1715".
Meanwhile, Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by small farmers and traders, who displaced Native American tribes westward. Colonists overthrew the proprietors' rule, seeking more direct representation. In 1712, the former Province of Carolina split in to North and South Carolina. In 1719, South Carolina was officially made a royal colony.
South Carolina prospered from the fertility of the lowcountry and the harbors, such as at Charleston. It allowed religious toleration, encouraging settlement, and trade in deerskin, lumber, and beef thrived. Rice cultivation was developed on a large scale on the back of slave labor. By the second half of the 1700s, South Carolina was one of the richest of the Thirteen Colonies.
On March 26, 1776, the colony adopted the Constitution of South Carolina, electing John Rutledge as the state's first president. In February 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, the initial governing document of the United States, and in May 1788, South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution, becoming the eighth state to enter the union.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), about a third of combat action took place in South Carolina, more than in any other state. Inhabitants of the state endured being invaded by British forces and an ongoing civil war between loyalists and partisans that devastated the backcountry. It is estimated 25,000 slaves (30% of those in South Carolina) fled, migrated or died during the war.
In the Antebellum period (before the Civil War) the state's economy and population grew. Cotton became an important crop after the invention of the cotton gin. While nominally democratic, from 1790 until 1865, wealthy landowners were in control of South Carolina. For example, a man was not eligible to sit in the State House of Representatives unless he possessed an estate of 500 acres of land and 10 Negroes, or at least 150 pounds sterling, diminishing the electorate. Further, the state maintained indirect election of electors by the state legislature until 1868, the last state to do so. Voters thus did not participate in presidential elections, other than through state-wide elections.
Geography
South Carolina is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.
Within South Carolina from east to west are three main geographic regions, the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern corner of Upstate South Carolina. South Carolina has primarily a humid subtropical climate, with hot humid summers and mild winters. Areas in the Upstate have a subtropical highland climate. Along South Carolina's eastern coastal plain are many salt marshes and estuaries. South Carolina's southeastern Lowcountry contains portions of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean.
Fun Facts
The Argent train Engine No. 7 was donated to the town of Hardeeville upon the closing of the Argent Lumber Company. This narrow gauge train is a rarity and attracts many people from across the nation
On Nov 2, 1954 Strom Thurmond became the first US senator elected by write-in vote. Thurmond received 139,106 write-in votes to win his seat. He defeated Democratic nominee Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes.
South Carolinians have their own lake monster, affectionately dubbed "Messie." The creature supposedly resides in Lake Murray; the South Carolina Fish and Wildlife Department reportedly has a file full of Messie sightings, from "reputable" citizens who were "not on drugs or drinking" when they spotted the beast.
Fountain Inn is proud of the town’s most famous native son. Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates lost his leg in a cotton gin accident at the age of 12; he overcame his tragedy to become a famous dancer. His signature step was the “Imitation American Jet Plane,” in which he would jump five feet in the air and land on his peg leg, with his good leg sticking out straight behind him. During his career, Bates performed more than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan television show more than any other artist.
The nickname of the state “Palmetto State” originates from the fact that during the Revolutionary War, colonists at Fort Moultrie, a small fort built from palmetto trees, defeated a British fleet near Charleston in 1776. The walls, made of spongy Palmetto logs, protected the fort because the British cannonballs bounced off the logs
Myrtle Beach in South Carolina has some 50 golf courses and as a result, it is called the “miniature golf capital of the world.”
A tree in SC called the Angel Oak expected to be between 400 and 500 years old. The 65-foot-tree has survived hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. The tree measures 28 feet in circumference and covers an area of 17,000 square feet with its shade. According to some sources, the age of the tree is believed to be more than 1,500 years.
South Carolina is home to the legendary “Hell Hole Swamp.” Every year, it hosts a festival complete with a tobacco-spitting contest and the 10K Hell Hole Gator Trot, which is also known as “Redneck Run.”
Bishopville, South Carolina, is home to The Button Museum, the brainchild of one Dalton Stevens. A lifelong insomniac, one night in 1983, Stevens decided to while the hours away by sewing buttons on to one of his suits. Two years later, he had successfully attached more than 16,000 buttons to the garment. Stevens kept his project going, adding buttons to all kinds of bizarre objects. Today, the fruits of his labor—including a button-covered hearse—can be viewed in a hangar he rents off of SC-41.
South Carolina is home to the world’s hottest chili pepper, Smokin’ Ed’s “Carolina Reaper,” grown by Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company. Currie’s peppers are so hot that often people who eat them will spasm and vomit.
Notable Residents
Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, c. March 18221 – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage. When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier. She became an icon of courage and freedom.
Famous South Carolinians include Blackbeard, John C. Calhoun, Chubby Checker, Stephen Colbert, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Grimke, Andrew Jackson, Jesse Jackson, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Mary-Louise Parker, Strom Thurmond, and Vanna White.
Mystery authors from South Carolina include: Susan Boyer, Deb Richardson, Patricia Cornwell, and Janet Evanovich. Other authors include: Pat Conroy Robert Jordan, Sue Monk Kidd, Dori Sanders, and Matthew Cordell.
In honor of SOUTH CAROLINA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
Happy Reading ❤
2bhabeck
Brenda's Americana Challenge - April 2022: South Carolina
3 of 3 Complete
In honor of SOUTH CAROLINA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
Murder at the Mansions by Sara Rosett; finished 4/21/22; 4 stars; article of clothing with buttons - suit
• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
Voodoo River by Robert Crais; finished 4/29/22; 3.5 stars; takes place in Louisiana
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
Murder in the Drawing Room by C.J. Archer; finished 4/14/22; 4 stars
3 of 3 Complete
In honor of SOUTH CAROLINA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
Murder at the Mansions by Sara Rosett; finished 4/21/22; 4 stars; article of clothing with buttons - suit
• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
Voodoo River by Robert Crais; finished 4/29/22; 3.5 stars; takes place in Louisiana
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
Murder in the Drawing Room by C.J. Archer; finished 4/14/22; 4 stars
3RebeccaJoyce
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4Carol420
Messie Just Needs A Friend
3/3 - Done - 4/14
🎂- ★
1.A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the titleOR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green.
In High Cotton - Kelsey Browning - 3★
🎂2. A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee.
A Potion To Die For - Heather Blake - 3★ (Set in Alabama)
🎂3. A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
Chase in Shadow - Amy Lane - 4.5★ - (A & L)
5gaylebutz
I’m going to read Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs.
It’s set in South Carolina.
It’s set in South Carolina.
6Sergeirocks
A False Mirror - Charles Todd 5★s (Author’s initials in SOUTH CAROLINA)
The Valley of Fear - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 4.5★s (Book cover primarily green)
Billy Boyle - James R. Benn 5★s (Set in WWII)
The Valley of Fear - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 4.5★s (Book cover primarily green)
Billy Boyle - James R. Benn 5★s (Set in WWII)
7gaylebutz
Done - Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs - 4 ★
It's set in South Carolina.
It's set in South Carolina.
9Andrew-theQM
It’s the 24th April so a late start but here goes!
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
The Belladonna Maze by Sinead Crowley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 29/4/22 Cover Primarily Green
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 24/4/22 Set in South Carolina
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
The Dying Game by Ruhi Choudhary ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 28/4/22
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Palm," "South," "Slave," "Pepper," or "Cotton" in the title OR has a picture of a palm tree, a plantation house or an article of clothing with buttons on the cover OR the cover is primarily green;
The Belladonna Maze by Sinead Crowley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 29/4/22 Cover Primarily Green
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book that takes place in South Carolina or one of the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War OR includes an African-American main character OR occurs during a war OR has a main character that is an amputee; and
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 24/4/22 Set in South Carolina
✔️• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's FIRST and LAST initial (no middle initials or names) can be found in SOUTH CAROLINA.
The Dying Game by Ruhi Choudhary ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 28/4/22
10Andrew-theQM
Finished the 3 books
12bhabeck
>4 Carol420: >6 Sergeirocks: >7 gaylebutz: >9 Andrew-theQM: Congrats to you all for finishing this month! Well done!
13bhabeck
>2 bhabeck: done. Had to work for it this month - only 1 of the books I planned to read showed up from the library - had to rearrange a few things as I went. lol.
15Sergeirocks
Yes, we’ve all ‘done good’, this month, ☺️. Now to see what May brings…
Happy Reading, Everyone.
Happy Reading, Everyone.
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