This South Carolina trivia quiz has 100 free questions with answers and covers the Palmetto State from the Lowcountry to the Upstate: Charleston and Columbia, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, the palmetto-log walls that bounced British cannonballs, the first state to secede, the Confederate submarine that sank a warship, and the Revolutionary War battle that turned the tide in the South. It also covers what makes the state itself: the Grand Strand and Myrtle Beach's 86 golf courses, Congaree's giant trees, Gullah sweetgrass baskets, the state dance, the state snack, the BMW plant that is America's biggest car exporter, and famous natives from James Brown to Stephen Colbert. Questions range from easy to hard, with the difficulty shown on each. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital of South Carolina?
Columbia
It was laid out in 1786 as one of America's first planned capitals, taking over from Charleston, which remains the most populous city.
Q 02South Carolina is named in honour of which English king?
Charles I
Carolina comes from Carolus, Latin for Charles. Charleston, confusingly, was named for his son Charles II.
Q 03South Carolina was which number state to ratify the US Constitution, on May 23, 1788?
Eighth
Seventy-two years later it became the first state to vote to leave the Union.
Q 04What distinction does South Carolina hold in the run-up to the Civil War?
First state to vote to secede
The secession vote came in December 1860. It was readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868.
Q 05Which Charleston Harbor stronghold was shelled by Confederate batteries on April 12, 1861, opening the Civil War?
Fort Sumter
Nobody died in the 34-hour bombardment. One Union soldier was killed afterwards when a cannon misfired during the surrender salute.
Q 06Which Union officer commanded the garrison that surrendered Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861?
Robert Anderson
P. G. T. Beauregard, once his artillery student at West Point, commanded the Confederate guns. The fort is named after Revolutionary officer Thomas Sumter.
Q 07What is South Carolina's official nickname?
The Palmetto State
The sabal palmetto is the state tree, and it earned its place by absorbing British cannon fire at Sullivan's Island in 1776.
Q 08Why did palmetto logs prove such a good building material for the fort on Sullivan's Island in June 1776?
The spongy wood absorbed cannonballs
British cannon fire simply sank into the walls, and the patriots held the harbour. The tree went on the state flag in 1861 in tribute.
Q 09Besides the palmetto tree, what other white symbol appears on South Carolina's blue flag?
A crescent
Colonel William Moultrie took it from the cap insignia of his militia in 1775. Vexillologists ranked the flag sixth-best among US states in 2001.
Q 10Roughly what share of all combat in the Revolutionary War took place in South Carolina?
About a third
Battles like Kings Mountain and Cowpens turned the war in the South, and an estimated 25,000 enslaved people fled, migrated or died during the conflict.
Q 11Which American general beat Tarleton at Cowpens in 1781 with a textbook double envelopment?
Daniel Morgan
One writer compared it to a miniature Cannae. The Americans lost 25 killed; the British lost 110 killed and 629 captured or missing, and Cornwallis's road to Yorktown began.
Q 12What is the highest point in South Carolina?
Sassafras Mountain
It rises about 3,560 feet on the North Carolina line. Two-thirds of the state is Atlantic coastal plain.
Q 13How many counties does South Carolina have?
46
The state ranks 40th in area at about 32,000 square miles and had 5.12 million people at the 2020 census.
Q 21What natural disaster struck Charleston on August 31, 1886?
An earthquake
Estimated at magnitude 7.0, it remains one of the strongest quakes ever recorded on the US East Coast.
Q 22Which two rivers meet at the state capital to form the Congaree?
The Broad and the Saluda
Sherman's army captured the city on February 17, 1865, and much of it burned that night, though historians say he never ordered it.
Q 23Which Army post near the state capital is the US Army's largest basic combat training installation?
Fort Jackson
Roughly half of all Army recruits pass through it. Parris Island, down the coast, is the Marines' famous boot camp.
Q 14Which small brown songbird is the state's official bird?
Carolina wren
The state flower is the yellow jessamine and the state fruit, to Georgia's annoyance, is the peach.
Q 15What is South Carolina's official state dance?
The shag
The Carolina shag grew up along the Grand Strand to the sound of beach music in the 1940s and 50s.
Q 16What is South Carolina's official state snack?
Boiled peanuts
They are sold from roadside pots across the state, often spiced with Cajun seasoning.
Q 17In what year did English settlers found the city now called Charleston?
1670
It moved to its present peninsula in 1680 and by the 1690s was the fifth-largest city in North America. Nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to the US landed there.
Q 18What is Charleston's best-known nickname?
The Holy City
It refers to the church steeples that dominate the low skyline; locals also call it Chucktown, and its tech scene has been dubbed Silicon Harbor.
Q 19What was the H. L. Hunley the first vessel of its kind to do, on February 17, 1864?
Sink an enemy warship as a submarine
It sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston and then vanished with its crew. Twenty-one men died in its three sinkings, including its inventor. It was raised in 2000 and is displayed in North Charleston.
Q 20How was the H. L. Hunley submarine propelled?
A hand-cranked propeller
Seven men turned the crank while an eighth steered, managing about four knots flat out.
Q 24In what year was the University of South Carolina founded, as South Carolina College?
1801
It was meant to knit together the state's feuding Lowcountry and Upstate elites. Its arch-rival Clemson opened in 1889.
Q 25Congaree National Park protects the largest remaining tract of what kind of forest in the United States?
Old-growth bottomland hardwood
Its trees are among the tallest in the eastern US. It was upgraded from Congaree Swamp National Monument to a national park in 2003, and the word 'swamp' was dropped.
Q 26How long is the Boardwalk Loop, the most popular trail through Congaree National Park?
2.4 miles
The park covers about 26,700 acres 18 miles from Columbia and is one of the least visited national parks in the country.
Q 27Myrtle Beach sits at the centre of a continuous stretch of beach called the Grand Strand. How long is it?
60 miles
The city is named for the local wax-myrtle shrub, was incorporated in 1938 and now draws more than 20 million visitors a year.
Q 28Roughly how many golf courses does the Myrtle Beach area have?
About 86
Add the 200-foot SkyWheel, opened on the boardwalk in 2011, and a boardwalk National Geographic rated the nation's third best.
Q 29Gullah sweetgrass baskets are nearly identical to coiled baskets made by which West African people?
The Wolof of Senegal
The Gullah preserved more African language and craft than any other African American community thanks to their isolation on the Sea Islands. In Georgia they are also called Geechees.
Q 30What is Gullah, apart from the name of a people?
A creole language
It is English-based but keeps African vocabulary and grammar. Justice Clarence Thomas is among the notable people of Gullah descent.