Inside America s OLDEST Museum in Charleston History Traveler Episode 488

I think that more Americans need to know about the American Revolution. I think that I need to know more about the American Revolution, which is why I have traveled all the way out to where I currently am in Charleston, South Carolina. When people think about the American Revolution, their mind probably drifts to certain battles like the battles at Lexington and Concord, or Battle of Yorktown, or Washington's River Crossing, and may overlook the fact that there was some significant conflict that took place in the backcountry of South Carolina. We're getting ready to go on a trip hitting a bunch of these battle sites through the backcountry of South Carolina, but first we're going to start right here in Charleston at the oldest museum in the United States. Now, in my travels across the United States, I've had the opportunity to go to a lot of great museums, but I can't say that I've been to the oldest museum until right now. Currently, we are at the Charleston Museum, which was founded in 1773. It is America's oldest museum, and before we've even walked in the door, I've already been seeing some cool things like an old dugout canoe and a plantation barge. Now, we're getting ready to kick off this trip through South Carolina, focusing on the American Revolution. That's going to be our primary focus today as we go into this museum, but Charleston is a city that has a deep and rich history, so yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the other things that we learn here today at the Charleston Museum. We just rolled into the museum here, and again, as we progress through this museum, we are going to kind of be walking through the history of Charleston and the surrounding area. Charleston is in what is called the Low Country, or the surrounding area is called the Low Country here close to the coast. So, what we are looking at right here as we get into the museum is kind of a fascinating old artifact. This is something from the late 1700s, early 1800s. This is an old horse trough that was carved from a single cypress tree. Again, late 1700s, early 1800s, cypress trees are really kind of an iconic tree here in South Carolina, and like many cities, Charleston is Charleston for a reason, and that reason is connected to its geography. So here, if we look at this old map of South Carolina, well you can see where Charleston is located right here on the coast, but the reason that it pops up has to do with the fact that, well, it lies on a peninsula as you can see right here between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, making it an ideal location for a port city. So, Charleston is going to be a huge center of trade throughout its history in the 1700s and the 1800s. Here in this section, they start talking about the early history of Charleston. Charleston is going to be founded in 1680, right here again at that peninsula between the Cooper and Ashley Rivers, and initially it's going to be this walled city to protect this place from Native Americans and also the French and the Spanish, and here you can see a drawing of that walled city. So it has some pretty humble beginnings, just like any city, but something that is really, really interesting. They did some archaeology work and actually recovered a few pieces from that early settlement. So what we're looking at right here are some cedar pilings from what was called Johnson's Ravelin. Okay, so that would be right up at the top there where you see the number five, and then they also have some of the original wall here. And while I'm standing here in this section, something that jumped out at me, which is new to me that I've never seen or heard of before, is something called a grave rail. So this was made by a cabinetmaker here in Charleston named William Loyton, and for people who couldn't afford an expensive stone marker during the low country's colonial period, well, you would have these wooden grave rails that were made to resemble a typical headboard, like for a bed, indicating that the deceased was at rest. I'm sure that you've heard the term King Cotton from the pre-Civil War era. South Carolina is going to be a massive producer of cotton in the 1800s, but before King Cotton, well, there was King Rice. So one of the things that South Carolina was really producing in its early years was rice. So here in this section of the museum, this is really, really fascinating, they have all kinds of artifacts that are connected to the production of rice. So if we look over here, well, this is an old rice trunk gate. So these wooden sluices would be in rice field dikes and would be used for irrigation and flood control. So you had these big wooden gates on these little uprights here that could be raised and lowered to control water and flood these rice fields. And then right here, you have a rice mortar and pestle from the early 19th century. So enslaved laborers would use this pestle to pound rice in the mortar and separate the grain from the husk. And rice had the nickname Carolina Gold. So this is going to, again, make Charleston kind of a booming center of trade. But of course, as you've probably, we've already alluded to in this section, that is going to require a lot of labor that is going to come in the form of enslaved labor. So here, we see some shackles from the late 1700s and early 1800s. So early on with the connection of rice production, there are going to be plantations that pop up all over South Carolina. And of course, later, that's going to be more cotton production. So in this section, they talk a little bit about the role of Charleston in the transatlantic slave trade. And just a few artifacts that I want to point out. Right here, this is one that caught my eye right off the bat. These are slave badges. So in the city, slaves could be hired out or they could hire themselves out if their owners permitted it. But the city officials required the owner to register any slaves before performing any work in the city. And just to show that they weren't a runaway slave, well, they had to wear one of these slave badges. And then there was a tax that was involved because cities are always wanting to tax something. But the slave badges were unique to Charleston to kind of regulate labor and again distinguish slaves from runaway slaves or freed slaves or anything like that. And speaking of freed slaves, if you look right here, well, this is a free badge. So this is made out of copper. And anyway, yeah, had to be worn where it could be exposed to view. And then people could distinguish a free black person from an enslaved black person. Now, because of its status as a center of trade, as the years progress, Charleston is also going to become a center of conflict, both in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. So as we are kind of moving through the museum and getting closer to the years of conflict, we have a section here that they call the armory. And what we're looking at right here is an old smoothbore howitzer from 1851. It says here that this 12 pound bronze model 1841 mountain howitzer was used by Confederate forces on James Island during the Civil War. It was mounted on a wooden field carriage. And because it was more lightweight than a normal cannon, normal artillery piece, it was a little bit more maneuverable, but had a shorter range and a higher trajectory than the heavier shells. This was captured and sent back to Massachusetts. But it was eventually sent back here to Charleston in 1929. And then as we move up here, well, if you're in an armory, as you can imagine, there are going to be plenty of guns. So look over here, you can see we have some old flintlock pistols and dueling pistols. I'm seeing some double barreled pistols and some derringers. And then just a whole variety of firearms all the way up to this water cooled German MG 08 15 light machine gun. So in the 1770s, as the American Revolution was approaching, Charleston was the fourth largest city in the United States, had about 12,000 people here, about half of whom were enslaved people. So with about 800 ships passing through here every year bringing rice and trading in indigo and in slaves, Charleston was going to be a very important city for the British to secure and also for the American colonists to try and hold. So there's going to be a lot of conflict that is going to happen right here in this area. Moving into the section here on the American Revolutionary War, we are greeted by this famous painting here of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And there were four South Carolina signers who signed the Declaration of Independence. They were Edward Rutledge, you can see right here, and then also over here beneath the number two, kind of back there in the shadows, is Thomas Hayward Jr. And then underneath number three, kind of looking down there, is Arthur Middleton and then Thomas Lynch. So these are four of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who were from South Carolina. One of the early engagements in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War was the Battle of Sullivan's Island. And this model here is depicting the Battle of Sullivan's Island. So Sullivan's Island lies on the eastern side of Charleston Harbor. And at the time, there was a fort that is where present day Fort Moultrie is, that was in the process of being built, but it was incomplete. And for the British, their main focus was New York City. But there was an expedition that was sent down here, led by General Henry Clinton and Commodore Peter Parker, no relation to the Spider-Man, Peter Parker. But the idea was that the British were going to come in in two lines, and they were going to engage the fort from the sea. And then Henry Clinton was going to land troops on the adjacent Isle of Palms, and then cross over to Sullivan Island, and then attack the fort from behind. Well, Patriot artillery ended up basically thrashing the British Navy, and they had problems running aground on sandbars, and the Patriots had built up these log fortifications that absorbed some of the British naval gunfire. And then Henry Clinton had trouble crossing over to this island from the Isle of Palms, and the whole thing was abandoned. So this is going to be an early victory for the Patriots, but the British would certainly be back. And when they came back, things were not going to go as well for the city of Charleston. What we are looking at here are the depictions of a couple of uniforms of soldiers who would have fought in the Revolutionary War. So this one right here is looking at the uniform of a British soldier from the 33rd Regiment of Foot. And if we look down here, this is really cool. Well, this is a brass belt plate of a soldier who would have been in the 33rd Regiment of Foot. And then we also see a cartridge box badge right here. This is from somebody in the 71st Regiment. And then this brass gorgette right here with the South Carolina motto and crest on it. And then over here we see, of course, some solid shot from artillery that would have been used at the time. But the 33rd Regiment of Foot would have participated in the siege of Charleston in 1780. So here we are looking at the depiction of a Continental soldier from the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. And again, in 1780, the British are going to return under General Henry Clinton. And one of the disadvantages that Charleston has is it's on a peninsula. So if you can cut off the neck, basically you can put this city under a siege. And that is exactly what happens. Clinton comes down with about 12,000 British soldiers and sailors. And they start landing in February of 1780 and then cross the Sea Islands, cross the Ashley River, and then cut off Charleston. And if we look right here, we have a couple more really interesting artifacts. This is a crossbar shot. Now, typically this was used in naval warfare to tear through the rigging and sails of a ship. But it was used during the siege of Charleston to smash through the wooden frames of American fortifications. And then this right here is a 13-inch mortar. So this would be hollow on the inside and would have a powder charge and a fuse on the outside and then a powder charge on the inside. And then, of course, when the fuse burns down while the shell is in flight, it's going to explode and send the shell fragmentation everywhere. So again, these were also used during the siege of Charleston. And unfortunately for the Patriots at the time, the siege is going to prove to be too much for the people of Charleston and the British are going to take over this city. I don't know, this is really cool. Here are some old powder horns that really have some interesting carvings and decorations on them. So this would have been from the period of the French and Indian War, but of course would have been used during the Revolutionary War, presumably. Now, South Carolina during the Revolution is going to be a little bit of a mess. It's not going to be just complete, you know, Patriots versus British regulars down here. There's a lot of loyalist forces that are going to be fighting here in this area, forces that were loyal to the crown. So there's going to kind of be a bit of like a civil war in this part of the country. So here you can see some old remains of muskets and bayonets. Here's an old trigger guard right here. And probably one of the most famous individuals who is going to emerge out of this conflict is a guy by the name of Francis Marion, who gets the nickname the Swamp Fox. So Francis Marion, he's going to be at the Battle of Sullivan's Island and is eventually going to command one of the militia regiments here in South Carolina and essentially employ a lot of guerrilla warfare against the British and was an absolute pain in their butt. Here you see a facsimile of some letters that were sent by Francis Marion, as well as this wicker box chest that belonged to Francis Marion. And then back here, well, you can see this saber and scabbard that is believed to have been carried by one of the men that was in Francis Marion's brigade. Yeah, that is really cool. As we move out of the Revolutionary War area, we transition into the section that talks about Charleston in the antebellum era. And one of the first things that we see as we enter into this section is this collection of bricks. So brick making in the low country was one of the industries that they had. Of course, this is going to be driven by slave labor. And something that is kind of interesting is that with a few of these bricks, you can see the fingerprints of the individual who made them. But the thing that is going to make South Carolina absolutely rich is going to be this product right here, cotton. Now, cotton, if you've ever seen a cotton plant, it's kind of a labor-intensive crop because you have to separate the seeds from the cotton. So it was difficult to really produce a lot of usable cotton. That was until a man by the name of Eli Whitney came up with an invention that became known as the cotton engine or the cotton gin. So what we are looking at right here is an example of what was called a roller cotton gin. And essentially what a cotton gin does, if you don't already know, is it separates the seeds from the cotton by running it through this little roller and filter. So you see those little brushes sticking out right in here. The seeds get filtered out and then you have this usable cotton fiber. And with this invention, you could start producing a lot of usable cotton. And this is going to make the demand for slavery go through the roof. In the years leading up to the election of 1860, there was an increase in the amount of hostility between the northern states and the southern states here in the United States. And that split was primarily over the issue of slavery. You can go back and read all of the original documents for yourself. There were peripheral issues, but at the core was the issue of slavery. The economy of the South, especially here in South Carolina, hinged on slave labor. And South Carolina kind of became the epicenter for these feelings of secession and wanting to break away and form a new country. Well, what we are looking at right here with this table and these two cane chairs, this is where the ordinance of secession was drafted here in South Carolina after the election of Abraham Lincoln. So South Carolina is going to be the first state to secede from the Union. And then of course, there's going to be a bit of a domino effect and there are going to be other southern states that follow. But that ordinance of secession was drafted right here on this table. South Carolina is not only going to be the first state to secede from the Union, but it's also going to be where the first shots of the Civil War are fired at Fort Sumter. Now, we've already been to Fort Sumter, so we're not going to linger on this too long. But in short, Fort Sumter basically guarded the entry into Charleston. And again, Charleston is the center of trade and commerce. So in November of 1860, Major Robert Anderson of the federal forces assumed command of this fort. And when South Carolina secedes, basically the Confederates need to take this fort so that Charleston can be opened up. So an ultimatum was sent to Anderson and the troops here that they needed to get out or be fired upon, and they refused. So on the morning of April 12th, well, firing from Fort Johnson, well, the first shots of the Civil War are going to be fired. Right here they have an amazing selection of artillery shells from the Civil War. And it's quite appropriate that they have this display here because Charleston is going to be the recipient of some fierce bombardments during the Civil War. So even though the Confederates are able to take Fort Sumter, well, the Union is going to be coming to take it back and Fort Sumter is going to get pulverized throughout the Civil War. So it's not just in April of 1861 that Fort Sumter receives a bombardment. It's also going to be bombarded when Union forces arrive. And also the city of Charleston is going to be shelled and a lot of it is going to be destroyed. So here in this section, they talk about some of the military operations in this area. So of course, as I was just mentioning, they talk about the Union attack on Fort Sumter. Here they talk about the Union attack and siege of Morris Island, Battery Wagner. So that's depicted in the movie Glory. Best Civil War movie ever made, by the way. They talk about the Hunley and Union attacks on James Island and John's Island. So here you can kind of come to this museum and get a history of the Civil War in this immediate area. And then right over here, this is really fascinating to me. This is a Confederate uniform that belonged to a guy named James Wiley Gibson. He was in Company I of the Orangeburg Artillery, 2nd Regiment of the South Carolina Artillery. And he was shot and killed in June of 1862. So specifically June 16th of 1862 in the Battle of Secessionville. So if you look closely, right there in the chest, well, you can see where the bullet entered into his left chest and killed him. I mentioned how the Charleston Museum is the oldest museum in the United States, actually the oldest museum in North America. And this section of the museum kind of harkens back to the early days of the Charleston Museum. So of course, people couldn't necessarily travel then like what they can travel now. So museums kind of brought history to the people of North America. And I'm just going to show a few of the things that they have in here. One of them being this Egyptian anthropoid coffin from about 1550 to 747 BC. So, you know, people throughout history have been fascinated by the Egyptians. And then here we have different pieces of pottery and whatnot from different eras in history. And then right here we have a mummy. So this is a mummified Egyptian woman that was acquired by a guy named Gabriel Menegout. And he basically wanted to acquaint the people of Charleston with, you know, all kinds of things from extinct civilizations in the world. So he was able to acquire this mummified woman, which was pulled out of a tomb near Cairo. And yeah, so the face has been veiled out of, you know, sense of respect. But you can see just kind of all this ornate artwork on this coffin here. But anyway, yeah, this was to try and bring a little bit of culture and understanding. This is a cast of the Rosetta Stone right here. I'll just take a quick look at a few other things. Got a few other, just like little figurines. Here's a bronze cat mummy case. That's interesting. And then they would also have, you know, some natural history as well. So they would bring in the skeletons of animals from far off places that people of Charleston would never get to see. So they would, you know, get to see this giant moa. Okay, then you see a water buffalo there in the background and this Indian python. Here's the skeleton of a giraffe. So yeah, all kinds of exotic things that the people of Charleston could have come and seen for themselves. All right, we just popped out of the museum and let me tell you something. When I say that I didn't even show a fraction of what they have in this collection, I'm not even kidding. I didn't show nearly all of the Revolutionary War and Civil War stuff that they have. And then it goes on to Reconstruction and World War II and the Civil Rights era. There is so much that is in this museum. We're getting ready to go on a big trip through South Carolina, hitting some of the Revolutionary War sites here in the state. But I wanted to stop here first at the oldest museum in the United States. So if you're ever in Charleston, definitely make this one of your stops.