Eliza Lucas Pinckney 1722–1793
Eliza Lucas Pinckney was born in Antigua in the West Indies in 1722. She became
the first planter to cultivate indigo in the North American colonies. As a child, Eliza
was sent to England to attend school. While there, the school stressed subjects
such as French and music that were geared toward women. The subject she
enjoyed and excelled in the most, however, was botany. While still young, her
family left the West Indies and settled in Charleston, South Carolina. After arriving
there, her mother passed away. In 1738, Eliza’s father, a British military officer,
had to return to the Caribbean. At the age of 16, she was forced to become a
parent to her siblings and to run the three plantations her father owned. During
this time, the textile industry was beginning to flourish. Eliza realized color dyes
were a much-needed commodity. She began cultivating strains of indigo, which
was known to produce a blue dye. By the mid 1740s, the amount of indigo being
exported from South Carolina grew from 5,000 pounds to 130,000 pounds in only
two years. Indigo grew to be second only to rice as a cash crop. Eliza began
dabbling in other crops, such as figs, hemp, flax, and silk. In 1744, at 22, she
married politician Charles Pinckney and remained active in running her
plantations. Eliza and her husband had four children, two of whom were
prominent during the American Revolution. During the Revolutionary War, the
British army destroyed the family’s plantations, leaving her family in financial ruin.
Eliza died in 1793. President George Washington served as one of her pallbearers.
Eliza Lucas Pinckney 1722–1793 Discussion Questions:
1. Why was Eliza forced to raise her siblings and to run three plantations?
2. Why did she begin cultivating indigo?
3. What crops, other than indigo, did Eliza cultivate?
4. What put Eliza, her family, and their plantations in financial ruin?
SC History Need to Know Facts
8-1.2 & 8-1.3
1. The Spanish search for gold and then tried to or did establish
settlements in which areas of North America (U.S. today)?
2. Which crop would finally make Jamestown a sustainable, therefore
successful colony?
3. Why was the House of Burgesses established in 1619?
4. Which colonial region had the greatest diversity of people and
religion in British North America?
5. Describe the provisions that the Fundamental Constitutions of
Carolina had in order to establish a social class system in Carolina