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"R" is for Ramsay, David (1749-1815)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"R" is for Ramsay, David (1749-1815). Physician, legislator, historian. A native of Pennsylvania, Ramsay graduated from Princeton and studied medicine at the College of Philadelphia. He moved to Charleston in 1773 where he soon became involved in local politics. Ramsay’s election to the General Assembly in 1776, marked the beginning of twenty-three years in the legislature. He was an ardent supporter of the American Revolution and served as a military surgeon in the war. In 1789 he was among the founders of the South Carolina Medical Society. His lasting legacy, however, was as a historian, in which role he gained national and international renown. David Ramsay produced six major works of history including History of the American Revolution, which went through six American editions and was also published in English, French, Irish, German, and Dutch editions.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.