University of South Carolina Press Who Shall Rule at Home? The Evolution of South Carolina Political Culture, 1748-1776 (Carolina Lowcountry & the Atlantic World)

A reinterpretation of the origins of the colonial revolutionary movement, ""Who Shall Rule at Home?"" charts the changing nature of South Carolina's political culture from the end of King George's War in 1748 to the decision for independence. Mercantini challenges the prevailing interpretation of South Carolina as a politically harmonious colonial entity by examining a series of constitutional and political conflicts that highlight increasing tensions between local authorities and royal officials in both London and Charles Town. Mercantini explains this rejection of British rule through the transformation of the ""rights of Englishmen"" into the ""rights of Carolina Englishmen."" He suggests that South Carolinians, accustomed to authority as slave masters, took the British idea that certain inalienable rights accompanied an English birthright and reinterpreted the concept in ways related to self rule. These ""rights of Carolina Englishmen"" centered on local control of elections, representation, finances, and taxation.