← Explore on the interactive map
Carolina Charter of 1663
On March 24, 1663, Charles II granted the Carolina charter to eight lord proprietors, establishing a proprietary colony between 31° and 36° N in Nort…
Timeline
- 1663London · EnglandCharles II granted the Carolina lands to eight lord proprietors, including the Earl of Clarendon, conferring legislative, judicial, military, and land-granting powers. The charter explicitly provided for religious tolerance and required the colony to remain loyal to the king, constituting a rare proprietary mode of governance in British North America.
- 1663–1670Coastal Carolina · CarolinaThe lord proprietors subsequently revised the charter with a second one in 1665 and promoted settlement; Charles Town (present-day Charleston) was founded in 1670 and became the principal southern port. The land-granting and slave-labor economic model established by the charter profoundly shaped the social structure of the American Southeast.
Sources
- The Charter of Carolina, 1663 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nc01.asp
- Carolina: The Colony https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/carolina-the-colony/