"By the decade before the Revolution, a few rough wagon roads connected with water transport on the Wateree or with a more central wagon road that led through the site of Columbia to Charleston. The journey was long and hard, but with difficulty the backwoods farmer could take to market wheat -- or flour after mills were built -- peas, corn, cured meats, butter in wooden tubs, cheese, and skins and furs obtained in winter hunting or trapping. Such products he exchanged for sugar, tea or coffee, powder and shot, cutlery, and utensils that he could not make for himself. He might also procure cloth and a few articles of clothing. Spinning and weaving, both of wool and flax, however, provided most households with needed apparel. Leisure, obviously, was not a problem for our ancestors in the Up Country as they struggled against the forces of nature for subsistence and a modicum of prosperity.
"The backwoods people had little time to devote to cultural improvement -- and few opportunities, if they had had the time. Some were religious and brought along a Bible and maybe a spelling book and a reader for the instruction of their children. Schools at first were nonexistent, and few itinerant teachers were available. Literate parents did their best to teach their children the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is a matter of wonder that the level of literacy remained relatively high." (pp. 95 & 96)