The Land of Sandlappers, South Carolina! Quiz

Answer: The Ashley and the Cooper

These two rivers were named for Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury. He was one of eight Lords Proprietor appointed by King Charles II to oversee the Province of Carolina. In 1629, the province was initially granted by Charles I to Sir Robert Heath. Charleston boasts beautifully preserved colonial architecture. Tremendously wealthy planters built mansions, churches and civic buildings.

After the Civil War, 1861-1865, these fortunes fell away. The phrase "too poor to paint and too proud to whitewash" was coined and is still used today.

However, this same poverty made it impossible to afford new construction and leading to retention of the city's 18th century architecture for which it is famous today.

Answer: Big Foot

Visitors will see one of the largest old-growth bottom and hardwood forests in North America and get a glimpse of how America looked to the original European settlers. Because it is a flood plain for the Congaree and Wateree rivers, there are cattle mounds scattered in the forest to enable wildlife safety when the area floods. For ornithologists, it is one of the most diverse sighting areas on the Eastern migratory flyway.

Answer: Pineapple

Tillandsia usneodes is its botanical name and so puts it in the taxonomic group of pineapples and succulents. The Native Americans called it tree hair, the French dubbed it Spanish Beard and the Spanish referred to it as French Hair. Eventually, it came to be known as Spanish moss.

Answer: The spongy logs absorbed the impact of cannonballs

The British fleet was initially rebuffed by Charleston patriots forces in 1775. In 1776, intelligence came that the British fleet were planning a new southern offensive. Col. William Moultrie was appointed to command the defense of the city. He ordered a fort to be built on Sullivans Island, the gateway to Charleston Harbor.

The British fleet was defeated by the American troops of Fort Moultrie. Due to the shock-absorbing property of palmetto logs, incoming cannonballs had negligible effect.

Answer: Humid Subtropical

The majority of the state is in the low-lying Coastal plain. The warm Gulf Steam current runs close to the coast and the Appalachian Mountains block many of the cold fronts moving in from the north. High and low temperatures feel higher and lower because of humidity. As we say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity!

Answer: Austria

Austria's area is 88,879 square kilometers or 32,386 square miles. South Carolina's area is 31,055 square miles and ranks 40th in the US. In repose to SC seceding from the Union in 1860, State Representative James Petigru who opposed secession famously commented, "South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum."

Answer: Native American tribes

In the initial encounters between the tribes and European explorers were amicable, but this was short lived. In 1520, the Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in SC. Lucas Vasquez de Allyon took 140 of the Chicora as slaves and returned to Spain. One man, named Francisco Chicora by the Spaniards, was taught the language and acted as an envoy to the Royal Court. He returned with Allyon in 1523 to establish a permanent Spanish settlement which failed after three years.

French efforts to establish a colony were also unsuccessful (1562-1565 at Port Royal). The English explored the coast in 1666. Dr. Henry Woodward stayed behind living with the Cusabo near Charleston. He spent four years learning their language and customs. Certainly his effort of cultural assimilation with the Native Americans contributed to the successful of the first permanent European settlement, that of Charles Towne (now Charleston) in 1670.

Answer: The Great Swampy

The four areas are known as the Upstate, the Midlands, the Pee Dee and the Low Country. The Upstate includes the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Piedmont area of the north. The Midlands are a diagonal strip running southwest from the North Carolina border to Georgia.

The Pee Dee includes the northeast interior and the beautiful beaches of the Grand Strand. The Low Country is the coastal area from the first barrier island, Pawleys Island, south to the Savannah River, which forms the border with Georgia.

Answer: West Africans

The Gullah are the descendants many different tribes of Western Africa. Because of the isolation of the sea islands and the coastal inland, they retained many words and customs of their native lands. The Sweetgrass weavings of the Gullah are made by intricately coiled straw.

Their design is almost identical to the basketry of the Wolof of Senegal. Several outstanding examples can be found in many museums including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The Penn Center, now a Gullah community center on St.

Helena Island, was founded after the Civil War to educate newly freed slaves.

Answer: Rice

All of the river systems of the state flow into the Atlantic in the Low Country. The marshes and tidal estuaries made it an ideal climate for growing indigo and most especially, rice. Rice cultivation required vast manpower to clear the wetlands. This was achieved by African slave laborers working in horrific conditions.

Interestingly, the Africans introduced yellow fever and malaria to mosquitos of the New World. Rice made SC planters the wealthiest men throughout the colonial period and well into the 19th century.