Topic 1.3.3: European Impact and the Introduction of Slavery
The Introduction of African
Slaves
African Americans played a significant role in the developing economy of Carolina. The economy of South Carolina, like the economies of other southern colonies, was largely based on the plantation system. Most of the crops were labor intensive, requiring many workers to cultivate the land. In Virginia, indentured servants were used as laborers at first. However, by the time of the settlement of the Carolinas, there were fewer workers willing to accept an indentured servant contract. Initially, planters attempted to use natives as workers, however natives could easily escape into the land they knew and male natives were not accustomed to cultivating land.
Settlers from British-owned Barbados brought their slaves with them to Carolina. Additional slaves were forced through the “Middle Passage” from the west coast of Africa and sold on the auction block. These Africans brought knowledge of cultivation from their western Africa, including the knowledge of tending cattle and cultivating rice. Africans were also used to harvest naval stores and lumber from forests of the Carolinas. With the development of cash crops and the plantation system came an increase in the slave trade. Large-scale importation of African slaves began in the 1690s and thousands of African slaves came to Carolina and the South through the port of Charleston. The growing demand for rice and indigo led plantation owners to import more slaves.
African Culture Brought to North America
Slaves brought their African culture directly from West Africa, including language, dance, music, woodcarving, folk medicine and basket weaving. African rhythms could be heard in the call and response songs that slaves used to sustain their work and spirit. Drums kept the beat of the fields and communicated with slaves on other plantations until they were banned by fearful whites after the Stono Rebellion. Gullah was both a spoken language and shared culture of Africans that developed in the Sea Islands off the coasts of (South) Carolina and Georgia, where it is called Geechee. Gullah - a mixture of many spoken languages combined with newly created words - was unique to the coastal region because of this area’s limited access and the large concentration of Africans.
Slave Uprisings
As early as 1698, the Assembly began to worry that there were too many slaves in the colony, but because slaves were vital to the economic success of the colony, the Assembly did not limit the number of slaves coming into SC. This created a population imbalance - slaves outnumbered whites by large numbers in many areas. This fact raised concerns about controlling the slave population. The Stono Rebellion, a slave revolt near Charles Town, significantly increased this concern. This uprising began when a small group of slaves, who wanted to escape to St. Augustine Florida where the Spanish said they would be free, broke into a store on the Stono River and killed two settlers. Using their drums, the rebels summoned more slaves to join them. By day’s end, many settlers and slaves had been killed and the rebellion was ended.
As a result of the Stono Rebellion, slave codes, originally brought from Barbados, were strengthened. Slaves codes [the Negro Act of 1740] prohibited slaves from gathering without white supervision, learning to read and write, and carrying guns. Much of the Negro Act was devoted to controlling every aspect of a slave’s life. It created harsher punishments for disobeying the law and fined slave owners who were cruel to their slaves. What was most important to colonists was that codes established tighter control of their slaves. Even after the Stono Rebellion, the slave trade was not limited.
Freeing Slaves
South Carolina had fewer free Africans-American than many other colonies. The state legislature acknowledged the right of owners to free their slaves for good cause in the early 1700s. Some slaves were free by the last will and testament of their owners, for faithful service, or from masters freeing their slave mistresses and their children. However this occurred rarely because slaves were so valuable. Some slaves were able to purchase their freedom as the result of having some special talent or skill that allowed them to be hired out and earn money which they used to purchase their freedom. However, freed blacks were required by law to leave South Carolina within 6 months or be re-enslaved and sold at auction. Very few free blacks [4%] lived in the South. Free blacks were most likely to live in urban areas where they were able to earn a living by their craft.
African Americans played a significant role in the developing economy of Carolina. The economy of South Carolina, like the economies of other southern colonies, was largely based on the plantation system. Most of the crops were labor intensive, requiring many workers to cultivate the land. In Virginia, indentured servants were used as laborers at first. However, by the time of the settlement of the Carolinas, there were fewer workers willing to accept an indentured servant contract. Initially, planters attempted to use natives as workers, however natives could easily escape into the land they knew and male natives were not accustomed to cultivating land.
Settlers from British-owned Barbados brought their slaves with them to Carolina. Additional slaves were forced through the “Middle Passage” from the west coast of Africa and sold on the auction block. These Africans brought knowledge of cultivation from their western Africa, including the knowledge of tending cattle and cultivating rice. Africans were also used to harvest naval stores and lumber from forests of the Carolinas. With the development of cash crops and the plantation system came an increase in the slave trade. Large-scale importation of African slaves began in the 1690s and thousands of African slaves came to Carolina and the South through the port of Charleston. The growing demand for rice and indigo led plantation owners to import more slaves.
African Culture Brought to North America
Slaves brought their African culture directly from West Africa, including language, dance, music, woodcarving, folk medicine and basket weaving. African rhythms could be heard in the call and response songs that slaves used to sustain their work and spirit. Drums kept the beat of the fields and communicated with slaves on other plantations until they were banned by fearful whites after the Stono Rebellion. Gullah was both a spoken language and shared culture of Africans that developed in the Sea Islands off the coasts of (South) Carolina and Georgia, where it is called Geechee. Gullah - a mixture of many spoken languages combined with newly created words - was unique to the coastal region because of this area’s limited access and the large concentration of Africans.
Slave Uprisings
As early as 1698, the Assembly began to worry that there were too many slaves in the colony, but because slaves were vital to the economic success of the colony, the Assembly did not limit the number of slaves coming into SC. This created a population imbalance - slaves outnumbered whites by large numbers in many areas. This fact raised concerns about controlling the slave population. The Stono Rebellion, a slave revolt near Charles Town, significantly increased this concern. This uprising began when a small group of slaves, who wanted to escape to St. Augustine Florida where the Spanish said they would be free, broke into a store on the Stono River and killed two settlers. Using their drums, the rebels summoned more slaves to join them. By day’s end, many settlers and slaves had been killed and the rebellion was ended.
As a result of the Stono Rebellion, slave codes, originally brought from Barbados, were strengthened. Slaves codes [the Negro Act of 1740] prohibited slaves from gathering without white supervision, learning to read and write, and carrying guns. Much of the Negro Act was devoted to controlling every aspect of a slave’s life. It created harsher punishments for disobeying the law and fined slave owners who were cruel to their slaves. What was most important to colonists was that codes established tighter control of their slaves. Even after the Stono Rebellion, the slave trade was not limited.
Freeing Slaves
South Carolina had fewer free Africans-American than many other colonies. The state legislature acknowledged the right of owners to free their slaves for good cause in the early 1700s. Some slaves were free by the last will and testament of their owners, for faithful service, or from masters freeing their slave mistresses and their children. However this occurred rarely because slaves were so valuable. Some slaves were able to purchase their freedom as the result of having some special talent or skill that allowed them to be hired out and earn money which they used to purchase their freedom. However, freed blacks were required by law to leave South Carolina within 6 months or be re-enslaved and sold at auction. Very few free blacks [4%] lived in the South. Free blacks were most likely to live in urban areas where they were able to earn a living by their craft.
Content information was obtained from the South Carolina state standards support document for eighth grade Social Studies. This document can be located at http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/se/Instructional-Practices-and-Evaluations/documents/Grade8SupportDocument.pdf .All images were obtained from Google.com and were labeled as Free to Use or Share.