A Tale of Two Chemists: Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC … Saturday 20th April 2013

Well we made it through last nights storms. I have to say it's a lot more scary being on a boat in a thunderstorm than it is on dry land. This morning we needed to pump out the dinghy before heading to shore. I think there was more water in it than I have seen at any time previously. Anyway, once completed we bundled up and motored in to the marina and spent the bulk of the day walking around Charleston. The wind is now out of the north and it seemed quite cold, maybe we just got very wimpy after being down in the Bahamas. Charleston really is a lovely city - of all the cities we have visited on this trip Charleston is probably my favorite. There are lots of beautiful old houses, flowering trees and shrubs, parks, restaurants and art galleries. We visited the National Park memorial to Fort Sumter, although we didn't actually take the ferry to the Fort itself. The very first shot of the American Civil War was fired on Fort Sumter and there was an interesting set of exhibits at the memorial outlining the history and the significance of Charleston during that era. Overall I came away with a strong impression of how contentious the authority of the federal government was compared to that of State government and I can see how that still lingers today in the way that current issues are resolved (or not). I had not appreciated that the whole question of slavery was deliberately not addressed in the constitution, or at least left ambiguous, because the southern States would never have signed up for the Union if it had been included. I was also a little shocked to read a quotation from Lincoln which he made in Charleston, Illinois in 1858 and I think shows him in a somewhat different light than history now remembers him. I'd like to read more about him, but the takeaway message for me is that whilst he was strongly opposed to slavery he was not a believer in racial equality.

“I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." …. Abraham Lincoln, 1858

Mike

A typical leafy street in the "South of Broad" (SOB) section of Charleston

One of the many beautiful old building - love the purple shutters and the make up of the walls

Buildings old and new - the red roof building is one of several built in the1940s - most of which were leveled in the 1990s when it was found the ground was toxic