In this chapter of Colonial South Carolina: A History, Weir deals with the elite class and the function of society for them. Wealth in coming over from England played a role in attaining elite status but maintaining it was a different matter. With high mortality rates just maintaining a family lineage was a major obstacle for keeping status. As a result women played an important role as potential landowners. Marriage was often an economic decision and settlements were made to protect wealth and land for both parties especially if one person died. One other factor in dealing with the problem of death in families was the complex system of kin, which made many relative ties in the community. So, orphans would be more able to survive and even maintain the family’s wealth. This kin system however was so interconnected in the small community that a meritocracy of sorts developed.
Weir addresses a few of the assumptions that many have about the Carolinian elite. They were materialistic but proportionally not more than any other well-to-do colonists. The difference was that the South Carolinian elites were wealthier and so appeared more materialistic. In fact, religious consciousness of this materialism created differing perspectives on the colonies wealth. For the elite, though, religion meant a moral code more than it did zeal for God.
In many ways the Carolinian culture was intentionally modeled after England. Clubs developed that were often based on either English ideals of intellectualism or on clubs that were in England. The people in the colony were well aware of British culture because they were consuming British literature and writings. They also modeled their art especially portraiture after the British style. Although the architecture was a sort of West Indies form, the style was intended to be as much like English homes as possible to the point of wood fronts made to look like stone.
Education too favored the English methods. For early education the main forms were tutors, private schools, or going to England, but for college the situation became more complex. The colonists sent many to British schools but growing distrust of the British education system led to a new system involving more than just sending students to other schools. There was actually debate over the forming of a college. Women were mainly trained in domestic matters of genteel nature such as French and sewing. Men on the other hand were taught based on the ideal of personal freedom, which Weir describes as the ability to support oneself and think freely. This “freedom” perpetuated slavery ironically and was taught as a code of values. This personal freedom tied into the system of laws.
Some knowledge of laws was considered necessary for such freedom, but lack of knowledge characterized the court system. Due to distrust of lawyers Carolinians maintained a lay court. Although the idea was that they would enforce English laws, the system of such laws was complex and mostly unknown to the members of the justice system. The law courts in South Carolina were conducted very informally, much to the shock of English lawyers, as a result of varied knowled
ge and lay practitioners. But, for their irregular system they gained the reputation as agreeable. In fact, the whole of the elite class had the reputation as personable. Weir ends his discussion with a summary of how the South Carolina elites were deeply devoted to England but also to South Carolina.
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