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Spaniards explored the South Carolina coast as early as 1514. The first Europeans to visit South Carolina, in 1521, were a party of Spaniards from Santo Domingo (Hispaniola). In 1526 Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón led a colony of Spaniards in the earliest settlement of what is thought to have been South Carolina, but it failed within a few months. French Huguenots (Protestants) under Jean Ribaut made an unsuccessful attempt to occupy the area of Port Royal in 1562. A few years later, in 1566, the Spaniards returned and established Santa Elena on Parris Island. It was an important Spanish base until 1587.

Charles I asserted England’s claim as early as 1629 by granting the territory from latitude 36°N to latitude 31°N (later named Carolina for Charles I) to Sir Robert Heath, but since no settlements were made Heath’s charter was forfeited.

In 1665 Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon, and seven other lords proprietors, the most active of whom was Anthony Ashley Cooper (Lord Ashley, later 1st earl of Shaftesbury), received a charter from King Charles II to establish the colony of Carolina in a vast territory between latitudes 29° and 36°30¢ N and from sea to sea. Under it, the English made the first permanent settlement on the west bank of the Ashley River at Albemarle Point in 1670, under William Sayle. To govern it, John Locke and others wrote (at Lord Ashley’s behest) the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1669), which granted some popular rights but also retained feudal privileges and limitations. It was never ratified. The actual government consisted of a powerful council, half of which was appointed by the proprietors in England; a governor, also appointed by the proprietors; and a relatively weak assembly, elected by all freemen. In 1680, the colony moved across the river to Oyster Point, which was better suited for defense. There the colonists established their capital, called Charles Town (later Charleston), which was to become the chief center of culture and of wealth in the South.

The 1680s saw the beginnings of prosperity. The proprietors’ first settlers included many Barbadians, and South Carolina came to resemble more closely the plantation economy of the West Indies than did the other mainland colonies. Wealthy colonists set up plantations worked by indentured servants and African and Native American slaves, while freemen (many of them former indentured servants) cultivated the 50 acres (20 hectares) of land granted them by the proprietors. On plantations and small farms alike, corn, livestock, and some cotton were raised at first, and tobacco was cultivated in plenitude. Rice, introduced c.1680, flourished in the marshy tidewater area and soon became the plantation staple. Forests yielded rich timber and naval stores. The fur trade (especially in deerskins) with the Creek and other tribes prospered. But conflict with the Spanish and French increased, and the encroachment of the two countries dramatized the proprietors’ lack of concern and their inability to defend the distant colony. Popular antagonism to proprietary rule was spurred by the parceling of much of the land into a few large grants, by the quitrent system, and most importantly by the issue of religion. Several religious groups had freely practiced their faith in the colony until the early 18th century; these included Anglicans, dissenters from Britain (see nonconformists), and French Huguenots. In 1704 the Anglicans, without opposition from the proprietors, managed to deprive the other groups of their religious liberty, and it was not until the English government took action (1706) that religious toleration was restored.

By 1708, a majority of the non-native inhabitants were African slaves.

In 1715–16 the settlers were attacked by the Yamasee, who had become resentful of exploitation by the Carolina traders. The uprising was finally quelled after much loss of life and property. These attacks further revealed the lack of protection afforded by the proprietors, and in 1719 the colonists rebelled and received royal protection. The crown sent Francis Nicholson as provincial royal governor in 1720, and South Carolina formally became a royal colony in 1729, when the proprietors finally accepted terms.

In 1729 the colony was divided into two provinces, North and South; Georgia was carved out of the southern part of the original grant in 1731. Under crown rule, South Carolina prospered, and exports of rice and indigo contributed to its growing wealth. Based on this successful trade, Charleston entered its golden age, and its much-envied refinement and cultural attainment made it a leading city in the colonies. The flood of Scotch-Irish settlers overland from Pennsylvania saw a population explosion in the interior after 1760. Regional antipathies were generated by economic and social differences; the small, self-sufficient farmer of the Up Country, demanding courts, roads, and defense against outlaws and the Cherokee, elicited little sympathy from the powerful plantation lords of the Low Country. In the late 1760s discontent culminated in the formation of the Regulator movement. Finally, the legislature gave in to some Up Country demands, including the establishment of courts in the region.

South Carolina’s long friendship with the mother country was reflected in trade benefits the colony realized under the Navigation Acts and in protection provided to it by the strong British navy. However, public sentiment in the colony was transformed by the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and by British political claims. South Carolinians—Christopher Gadsden, Henry Laurens (served as President of the Continental Congress in 1777 and 1778), and Arthur Middleton—were leaders in the movement for independence, and in March 1776, an independent government of South Carolina was set up with John Rutledge as president.

In the American Revolution the British failed to take Charleston in June, 1776 (Battle of Sullivan’s Island – Fort Moultrie), but Sir Henry Clinton successfully besieged the town in 1780. Over two hundred battles and skirmishes occurred in the State, many of them vicious encounters between South Carolinians who opted for independence and those who chose to remain loyal to King George. In the ensuing Carolina campaign the British were ultimately forced to retreat, although they held Charleston until December 1782. In 1786 the site of Columbia was chosen for the new capital; its central location mollified the Up Country population. South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the federal Constitution in May 1788, replaced the royal charter with a state charter in 1790, and moved its seat of government from Charleston to the new city of Columbia. Complete religious liberty was established and primogeniture was abolished, but property qualifications for voting and office holding was retained, ensuring planter control of the legislature.