“C” is for Commission of Indian Trade

“C” is for Commission of Indian Trade. In 1707 the Commons House of Assembly created the Board of Indian Commissioners to regulate the traffic between Indian traders and such nations as the Cherokees, Creeks, and Catawbas. The commission issued licenses to private traders. The inability of the board to end abuses by the traders led to the disastrous Yamassee War (1715-1718.) After the war, the South Carolina government assumed a direct monopoly over the Indian trade, forcing the private traders out. A new law created a public corporation of five commissioners. The act replaced the single Indian agent with government traders, called factors, stationed with the major tribes. The historian Verner Crane noted that the South Carolina Indian Commission system was probably the best among the North American colonies with respect to planning and efficiency.