Ninety Six National Historic Site

NINETY SIX — Just a mile down the road from Edgewood Middle School is the site of the South’s first land battle in the Revolutionary War nearly 250 years ago.

Using virtual tours, information sheets and interactive maps, K-12 students across the state will be able to learn more about the November 1775 Battle of Ninety Six and the other significant people and events in South Carolina’s military history, the Department of Education announced Wednesday.

Teachers newly have access to free, optional lessons that emphasize the state’s role in winning America’s independence, to help bring South Carolina’s outsized role to life, said state Superintendent Ellen Weaver.

“There are so many special things about the state of South Carolina that I want every student in our state to know and to love,” Weaver said.

This is the first time the American Battlefield Trust, a nonprofit focused on preserving battlegrounds and educating people about their history, is offering resources on the war tailored specifically to a single state, said Van Hipp, a trust board member.

Preserving battlefields is one thing, but making sure people understand what happened there and its importance is a key part of ensuring history isn’t forgotten. Forgetting history, in turn, means forgetting the foundations of freedom on which the country was built, said Hipp, who lives parttime in Georgetown.

“Without telling the stories and passing them down, in a generation or two, our work will have lost its meaning,” Hipp said.

The curriculum also comes at no cost to the state, since the nonprofit funded it using private donations. All offered resources align with state standards for each grade, Weaver said. That means teachers can use them toward preparing students for what they’re supposed to learn.

Although the resources are part of the state’s Palmetto Civics Project, a catalogue of historical resources for teachers, they aren’t restricted to lessons on history and social studies, Weaver said. Any teacher who can find a way to fit the resources into their classroom should feel free to do so, she said.

For instance, teachers could use one-page sheets on significant people from the Revolutionary War to teach students about exemplary traits and life skills, Weaver said.

“Young ladies and young men, I want you to remember that you are the legacy of these amazing American patriots, who bled and fought for our freedom right here on the soil of South Carolina, winning the American Revolution and setting us on a trajectory of freedom and continuous improvement,” Weaver told about 100 students at Edgewood Middle School.

She pointed to the resilience of William Jasper as one example of a life lesson students can take from history.

During the Battle of Sullivan’s Island in June 1776 — the Patriots’ first decisive win — Jasper braved enemy fire to restore the flag shot down from the island’s fort. South Carolina’s flag is a combination of the crescent on that 1776 indigo flag and the Palmetto tree, Weaver told the students.

(The British Royal Navy lost that battle, thanks partly to the fort’s construction, as cannons bounced off the palmetto tree trunks that made up the fort.)

“It’s really just about the teacher and their creativity in terms of how they want to deploy these resources to support their students’ learning,” Weaver said.

Students already learn about the Revolutionary War and state history during social studies classrooms, but seeing the places where battles played out can make a big difference in conveying the war’s significance, Weaver said.

A video will walk students through historical sites in Charleston, not just from the Revolutionary War but from all parts of history.

Students can see the inside of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor — where the Civil War began — learn the history of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley and hear about Gullah Geechee culture from Boone Hall Plantation, according to the lesson plan.

Weaver’s own experience of history was shaped by walking through historical sites and standing in the same places as the people she learned about, she said.

“That’s the experience I want our students to have,” Weaver said. “To see that these battlefields, these historic sites, of which we have so many here in South Carolina, are actual places where real people fought and died so they could be free today.”

As the country’s birthday approaches next year, Weaver is asking other states to pick up the curriculum and teach students more about South Carolina’s role in the Revolutionary War, she said.

The announcement coincided with the 238th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, which is a perfect example of how history continues to play out nearly 250 years after the country’s founding, said Beth Taylor, superintendent of Greenwood School District 52.

During Wednesday’s assembly, a middle school student read the Constitution’s preamble.

The stories from history included in the curriculum “are not just South Carolina’s stories. They are America’s stories,” Taylor said.

“And now, they are our stories to continue,” Taylor said. “Let’s continue to honor the sacrifices of the past, celebrate the freedoms of the present, and work together to continue building a stronger future for the children of our country.”