Many of South Carolina's people maintained strong ties with the British. As an agricultural area, the colony exported rice, indigo, and deerskin to other members of the Empire. Indigo growers were especially dependent upon the British government since the government paid a bounty for all the indigo grown by the South Carolinians. Along with selling their products to the Empire, South Carolinians imported a great deal of their luxury goods from England.

Politically, the colony depended on the British army for military support in their battles with the Native Americans, the French, and the Spanish. The colony's governors were all appointed by the Crown and most came directly from England to serve. The laws, the structure of government, everything had its source in Great Britian.

The ties between colony and Empire were more than just political and economic. They were also ties of kinship and friendship. South Carolinians had, more than many colonies, maintained bonds with their mother country. Wealthy Carolinians sent their sons to be educated in England. Intermarriage was common. And, remember, many of the colonists were still new arrivals who had more in common with the people they left behind then they had with the more established colonials.