In February 1711 he was appointed governor of the Colony, and in March 1712 arrived in Charleston to begin filling his charge, which he held until April 1716, when he returned to England.

Governor Craven at once proclaimed martial law, laid an embargo on all ships to prevent the departure of men or provisions, and at the head of 1,200 men, part of whom were people of African descent, met the Indians in a series of desperate encounters and finally drove them beyond the Savannah.

[2] In 1710 a speck of civil war appeared in Charleston, when two claimants to the office of acting governor, on the death of Tynte, the successor of Johnson, disputed for the honor.

Under his administration the colony prospered, settlements extended, and the power of a dangerous Indian confederacy against the Carolinas was effectually broken.

One in North Carolina with the Tuscaroras, and another much more distressing with the Yamasee, which were ably and successfully conducted by the governor, as shall be related in its proper place.