Emanuel Nine

Since 1670 there has been a visible African American presence in South Carolina. Regardless of individuals’ status, that black presence has had an incalculable impact of the cultural, economic, and political development of the state.

Charleston was the first permanent European settlement in Carolina, its first seat of government, and the most important city in the southern United States well into the nineteenth century.

Advocating “the Gospel of Freedom,” African Methodist ministers have played important roles as secular leaders.