North Carolina and South Carolina
Two bordering states, along the East Coast of these United States.
Both in the American South.
Talladega Nights clip: Well the teacher asked me, what was the capital of North Carolina?
I said Washington, D.C.
Bingo! Nice!
She said "no, you're wrong."
I said "you've got a lumpy butt."
I'm just so proud of you.
The capitol of North Carolina is Raleigh, kid.
Anyway, let's just start with the question
why are there two Carolinas? Why’d they have to be all separate and stuff?
So let’s start with some history.
Many Native American tribes lived in what is today the Carolinas at the time of European arrival.
There were dozens of Algonquian-speaking tribes in the east, and further inland, in the west, there were a few Siouan and Iroquoian-speaking tribes.
The Spanish and French were the first Europeans to settle the area, but they didn’t make it too long.
The Native Americans drove them out.
And then, in 1629, an English dude named Sir Robert Heath claimed part of the area for...you guessed it...England, calling it the Province of Carolana.
But due to the hostile Natives, the malaria and smallpox, and crazy pirates like Blackbeard going up and down the coast, Heath never colonized the area.
Later, King Charles II let eight rich English dudes take over what was now called the Province of Carolina, to repay them for helping him become King.
Charles II wanted the area as a buffer zone between the colonies of the north and Spanish Florida to the south.
So when these eight dudes controlled Carolina between 1663 and 1729, they constantly fought, and had a hard time controlling the giant area anyway.
The settlements in the north were so far away from the settlements of the south, after all.
In 1669, Carolina became two provinces to try to solve this, the Albemarle province in the north and Clarendon province in the south.
In 1712 they just went ahead and became two separate colonies.
But really, historically the colonies have had much more in common than they have had differences.
Both were two of the original 13 colonies, and both did not hesitate to rebel against the British during the American Revolution after Britain starting taxing the heck out of them.
Both remained mostly rural after becoming states, relying on agriculture to drive their economies.
And that agriculture relied heavily on slave labor.
This slave labor helped several planters in the eastern, lowland areas of both states to become filthy rich as they produced lots of indigo, rice, tobacco, and especially cotton.
More than half of farmers in both states, however, did not own slaves, and were self sufficient.
They had small farms, and the ones who struggled the most tended to be in the west towards the mountains.
During the Civil War, of course both North and South Carolina seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America, but South Carolina was the very first state of all of them to secede.
Also, for decades, South Carolina had leaders like John Calhoun who were much more outspoken about seceding and just talked a lot of trash in general about the North and them wanting to take away state’s rights (i.e. slavery).
After the the Confederates lost the Civil War, both states were readmitted into the Union within days of each other in July 1868.
Since both states had relied so much on slave labor before the war, their economies now both sucked now that slavery was illegal.
It was an extremely difficult adjustment for everyone involved.
After the Reconstruction era, it was the Jim Crow era in both Carolinas, where laws discriminating against blacks and promoting segregation were the norm.
The progress that African Americans in the two states made during Reconstruction was halted for decades until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
But of the two states, North Carolina seemed to be more of a place where the movement for equality thrived. North Carolina was where the sit-in protests began, and where the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was created, after all.
Around the same time as the Civil Rights Movement, the Carolinas, as well as the rest of the South, finally made the shift from a rural, more agricultural-based economy to a more urban, industrial-based economy.
For the first time, cities started to quickly grow, but mostly in North Carolina.
Today, Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina, is one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
It had just over 134,000 people in 1950 and has grown to more than 850,000 today.
So yeah, today North Carolina is much, much more urban than South Carolina.
South Carolina’s largest city, Charleston, is also its oldest.
It has just 138,000 people.
Speaking of population, North Carolina has about twice as many people as South Carolina.
It’s not twice as big in terms of actual land, but it’s about 62% bigger.
It also has more coastline.
Sure, South Carolina may be the tenth smallest state, but it’s the 24th largest in terms of population.
Both states are two of the fastest growing states in the country.
Yeah, check out my Sun Belt video if you haven’t caught that one yet.
Both states border the Atlantic Ocean in the east and Appalachian Mountains in the west.
Specifically, the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Driving from the beaches to the western edges of each state, things go from fairly flat and palm trees to gently rolling to holy crap we’re in the freaking mountains!
The mountains are a bit more dramatic in North Carolina, which has the highest peak in the Eastern United States, Mount Mitchell.
And yeah, since South Carolina is a little bit further...um, you know...SOUTH, it does have a bit warmer temperatures overall than North Carolina.
You know, a bit milder winters and less snow and ice. But it’s not a dramatic difference.
And obviously there’s the east/west difference. The closer to the coast, the nicer, in general.
The closer to the mountains, the cooler and less predictable, in general.
Oh, and the eastern portion of both states has to worry about hurricanes.
But the western portion still has to worry about tornadoes so you know...
Both states have a really high African American population compared to most other states.
With the legacy of slavery in both, that certainly make sense.
North Carolina has a much larger Native American presence compared to South Carolina.
Both states are pretty religious, with Christianity dominating as the most popular religion in both. Protestant Christianity, in particular.
In terms of politics, South Carolina is definitely more conservative-leaning.
North Carolina has become a swing state for presidential elections in recent years, while South Carolina hasn’t voted for a Democratic candidate since 1976, and that’s only because it was Jimmy Carter, who was the governor of Georgia, their next door neighbor.
Both state legislatures are majority Republican, however.
The North Carolina General Assembly and South Carolina General Assembly are pretty dang similar.
Some state laws are noticeably different in the two states.
The fireworks laws are much more lenient in South Carolina.
North Carolina has decriminalized marijuana use and possession a bit, and will most likely legalize it before South Carolina does.
Although it was really difficult to research taxes in both states, I’ve determined South Carolina as a lower tax burden overall.
The most noticeable difference is that gas is cheaper in South Carolina due to a much smaller gas tax.
Sales taxes start lower in North Carolina compared to South Carolina, but counties and cities often add their own sales taxes on top of it.
North Carolina seems to have a more promising economic future compared to South Carolina.
According to Forbes magazine, it’s the number one state for new businesses.
But both are rocking, with similar unemployment rates and job growth rates.
Both states have identical poverty rates.
The cost of living is pretty similar, too, although it’s slightly more expensive in North Carolina, especially if you move to Asheville.
What the heck, Asheville? I mean, are you really that cool?
Speaking of poverty, South Carolina has higher crime overall.
I’m sorry, South Carolina government, about publishing that and stuff.
But South Carolina gets 3 more sunny days a year compared to North Carolina. Did that make up for it?
South Carolina also spends more money per student on education.
But that doesn’t match up with the crime statistics. Hmmmm
Let’s see. What else? Mr. Beast is from North Carolina.
That’s not his real name, and no I am not related.
And Fernando from the YouTube channel E Pluribus Unum is also from North Carolina.
Ian is from South Carolina. And so is Tom freaking Richey.
North Carolina has more college basketball teams I don’t like.
So let’s wrap this up. More than any other two states I’ve compared so far, North Carolina and South Carolina have much more in common than they have differences.
Both are exciting places right now as they look to continue growing thanks to all those dang Midwesterners and Northerners moving to them.
But that’s what happens when you’re awesome. You attract people.
Tom: Hey Tom Richey here,
coming from South Carolina
That's right. SOUTH Carolina, ladies and gentlemen.
It seems that no matter how many times I tell people that's where I'm from
the next time someone wants to verify
they ask "aren't you from North Carolina?"
like, almost as if my state doesn't exist.
Just remember. I'm from South Carolina.
Not North, and it's a state that does exist
and is very significant in the history of the United States.
It's always a pleasure.
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