06/17/2025
Today, 250 years ago, South Carolina’s Council of Safety met for the very first time in Charleston. The group served as one of the branches of government during the early days of the American Revolution here in our state. The men that sat on the Council were already leaders in the community – mostly wealthy planters. But their actions and decisions affected everyone in the state – including those who were enslaved, Native Americans who lived under their own ruling systems, men who were not of means, and women who had no say in how their government was run. The men appointed by the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, in the wake of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Colonists everywhere were feeling a sense of urgency at that point and life then began to change rapidly.
Here at the Historical Society, we hold journals from the first meetings of the Council of Safety, in our Henry Laurens papers. Their main jobs were to form the militia regiments and give orders as to where they went. They also created a currency for the state, right down to the design of the paper money, oversaw the Secret Committee (who acted on secret missions), communicated about the conflict with indigenous tribes, and even handled citizen reports of those who may be loyalists. Over the next month or so, we’re going to post about what the Council did, and what effect their orders and resolutions had on those living in South Carolina.
