The line drawn between North and South Carolina wasn't completely arbitrary, as the two halves were decidedly different in industry and ethnicity. According to U.S. History, South Carolina had a major role in supporting the British Empire's endeavors in the Caribbean and became a hub for shipping — and slavery. Slavery was so rampant that Africans quickly became the dominant ethnic group in the South, particularly around Charles Town, which was eventually renamed Charleston.
North Carolina, by contrast, housed many displaced and discontented from the other colonies as they set up small farms throughout the northern half of the sizable colony. By the beginning of the 18th century, calls to make the split between North and South Carolina more formal escalated, and in 1712 the Carolinas officially became two distinct colonies — a peaceful split brought about by the ample size of the land and considerable differences between the two halves.
