Final answer:
The first South Carolinians settled in the Tidewater area due to its fertile soil for agriculture, essential for growing cash crops like rice and indigo, which contributed significantly to the colony's prosperity. So option c is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first South Carolinians settled in the Tidewater area primarily because of the Fertile soil for agriculture [option c]. This area had fertile land ideal for farming, which was essential for the economic motives of the settlers, including the cultivation of lucrative cash crops such as rice, indigo, and, later, tobacco. Some of the settlers came from Barbados, where an established agricultural system that utilized slave labor had already been developed. They brought with them knowledge and techniques for effective farming in the region. The Tidewater area's manageable swamps and marshlands, combined with sophisticated soil and water management techniques—such as those introduced by Africans for tidal rice cultivation—made the area suitable for large-scale agriculture. This agriculture helped the colonies, especially South Carolina, prosper and grow, as the region increasingly relied on enslaved African labor to work the plantations.