This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

Tommy Dew's walking tour of Charleston, South Carolina has been praised and

recommended by the likes of the Wall Street Journal to TripAdvisor. Tommy is here to share

the story of Charleston from the American Revolution to today. Here's Tommy Doe.

The South collapsed in 1865 and was left for dead.

Charleston paid a terrible price for her role in the war.

Secession began in Charleston.

The first secession document was signed in downtown Charleston, December 20th, 1860.

And then the first shots were fired here at Fort Sumter.

So the political start to the war was in Charleston, the military start,

and we were a philosophical target.

The federal government bombed Charleston for 587 consecutive days.

It's the second longest artillery siege in modern warfare after Leningrad.

The Germans bombed the Russians for 900

days during the World War II and the Federal's bombed us for 587. And by 1865, it is a ruin.

And that's, for instance, why Sherman didn't come here. In large part, we were not viewed as a viable target.

He did not need to waste his time on us.

As much as he wanted to raise Charleston,

he did more harm to South Carolina and the Confederacy

by burning the middle of the state.

He cut a fire 60 miles wide to central South Carolina.

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