Battleground of Freedom: Reviving Civic Spirit in the Palmetto State
Civic knowledge and engagement have been in decline nationwide for decades. South Carolina is no exception.
The Palmetto Civics Project is the state’s response to this trend — asserting that South Carolina’s students should exit school not only with academic skills, but also with readiness to participate in democracy, preserve freedom, and strengthen community.
The Palmetto Civics Project
This initiative by the South Carolina Department of Education offers free, standards-aligned resources to K-12 public, private, and homeschools throughout South Carolina. The aim is to help students understand foundational principles like liberty, self-government, and rule of law — and connect those ideas to the responsibilities of citizenship today.
Educators and families can tap into a library of lesson plans, character-development modules, and historical narratives, separated into distinct categories such as “Palmetto Pioneers,” which highlights notable South Carolinians, a partnership with the American Battlefield Trust, and programs tied to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.
By integrating stories of South Carolina’s own heroes and historical institutions (e.g., “Palmetto Pioneers,” revolutionary-war narratives, civil-rights resources), it contextualizes civic life in a local-to-national framework.
Take, for example, Mary McLeod Bethune. As a native South Carolinian from Mayesville and a child of former slaves, she founded a school that would eventually become Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Or, rather, Thomas Eugene Atkins from Campobello who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions above and beyond the call of duty while fighting in the Philippine Islands.
As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, we are reminded that the strength of America has always rested on an informed and engaged citizenry. The ideals that shaped our republic—liberty, equality, justice, and self-governance—are not self-sustaining; they depend on each generation understanding and upholding them. As Ronald Reagan stated in his 1967 Inaugural Address as Governor of California, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”
South Carolina is no stranger to the fight for freedom and liberty (especially since more battles in the American War for Independence were fought in our state than any other), and the Palmetto Civics Project reaffirms that commitment. By investing in strong civics instruction today, we honor the vision of our Founders and reaffirm our commitment to a government of, by, and for the people—one worthy of the next 250 years of freedom and democracy.
