We’re exploring the life of one of our state’s most passionate seekers of American liberty – Christopher Gadsden. You may have heard his name before, because various areas and streets across the state bear his name - even a wharf in Charleston. And you may also know that he created the famous Gadsden flag, with the coiled snake that says Don’t Tread on Me. We’re going to talk more about that flag and his life as an outspoken merchant and leader when tensions with England were at their height.

Because the American Revolution was being fought on American soil, the soldier’s family was often involved in the war in some way, too – no matter if they were Patriots or Loyalists. Sometimes this took the form of sons and fathers fighting in battles side by side or in separate areas. Sometimes, this meant that wives followed their husbands and camped with them as the men fought. But it also meant that when husbands and fathers were off fighting, the women and children were home to deal with daily life, invading enemy troops, or keeping their families fed.

We talk the lives of about some of those women in this episode, Real Housewives of the Revolution.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about some early declarations of independence here in South Carolina. That’s right, there were some parts of the state – or then colony – who put themselves forth as independent even before July 4, 1776. And the pronouncements here were in large part due to one man, William Henry Drayton.

Surprise! We have a bonus episode for you, just in time for Spooky Season. We are re-airing last year's Halloween episode on a mysterious ghost story about Goose Creek Church. There are many South Carolina ghost stories and legends, but when we came across this story in our pamphlet collection, we knew it was the one. Tune in for the story of a man who thinks he falls in love with a peculiar woman... and what he realizes when she won't return his affection.

In this episode, we discuss a talk, written down in letter form, given to the people of the Catawba Nation by the members of the SC Council of Safety, to explain the beginnings of the American Revolution. How did it affect the way the Catawbas participated in the war?

In this episode, we’re going back a few centuries to the Revolutionary War and looking at the problem of clothing American soldiers. The lack of basic necessities for soldiers led to deaths and desertions, according to George Washington. Letters between Washington and Congress, some of which are housed in the Henry Laurens papers in our archives, illustrate how bad the conditions sometimes were.

This month's episode is all about the Futerells – the family of the man who was Henry Laurens’s jailer in the Tower of London, but whose children ultimately became wards of Henry and lived – and died – here in America after the war.

In this episode, we are looking back for the last time at the Order Book of South Carolina’s Fourth Regiment during the American Revolution. It’s the summer of 1777, and we talk about changes in leadership and one lieutenant accused of ungentlemanly conduct who does not go quietly .

June 2025 is the 250th anniversary of first meetings of South Carolina’s Council of Safety, which served kind of as a branch of government during the early days of the American Revolution here in our state. One of their main jobs was 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. 

The Council was a group of men appointed by the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, in the wake of the Battles of Lexington and Concord up in Massachusetts. Colonists everywhere were feeling a sense of urgency at that point and life then began to change rapidly.

We are diving back into the Fourth Regiment’s Order Book for today’s episode. It’s August of 1776, and the people of South Carolina have just heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud for the first time. The soldiers of the Fourth Regiment are leaving the city - but will it quell all the rule-breaking they were doing in the last episode?