African influence in South Carolina
• AFRICAN INFLUENCE IN SOUTH CAROLINA
• Most of the crops were LABOR INTENSIVE
requiring many workers to cultivate the land
• The problem with INDENTURED SERVANTS fewer were willing to agree to the contract
• Carolina planters attempted to use INDIANS as
slaves.
Problem with Indian slavery:
EASY FOR THEM TO ESCAPE
• MALES WERE NOT USED TO CULTIVATING
THE LAND
Carolina settlers from BARBADOS brought African
slaves with them
Other slaves were brought from Africa through the
MIDDLE PASSAGE by way of the WEST INDIES and
sold at auction in Charleston
Africns brought the knowledge of TENDING CATTLE
and RICE CULTIVATION
Rice and Indigo
The rice grown in SC was called “Carolina Gold”
Rice could only be grown 12-16 miles from the ocean. Only there could the rising
rivers flood the fields with fresh water.
Floodgates called “trunks” were used to flood and drain the fields during high and
low tide
Slaves used sickles to
harvest the rice
The rice was carried to the threshing floor on flat boats
Flailing sticks were used to
thresh, or remove the rice
heads
from the stalk
Mortars and pestles were used to
pound the rice.
This removed the hull from the rice.
Fanner baskets were
used to “fan” the rice
into the air. This
allowed the wind to
blow away the hulls.
The rice kernel fell
back into the basket.
• Africans also helped harvest NAVAL
STORES and lumber which was used in a
growing trade between BARBADOS and
BRITAIN.
• With the development of CASH CROPS
and PLANTATIONS came an increase in
the SLAVE TRADE
• The growing demand for RICE and
INDIGO led plantation owners to import
more slaves
• Slaves brought their culture directly from
WEST AFRICA including LANGUAGE,
DANCE, MUSIC, WOODCARVING, FOLK
MEDICINE and BASKET-WEAVING
.
DRUMS kept the beat of African rhythms
and were used to communicate with
slaves on other plantations until fearful
whites banned them. YAMS became a
staple of the southern diet.
• GULLAH was the shared language and
culture of Africans that developed on the
Sea Islands of SC. It was unique to the
coastal region because of its ISOLATION
from other cultures and the LARGE
CONCENTRATION of Africans.
• Colonial SC leaders worried about the
POPULATION IMBALANCE that occurred
because so many slaves were brought into
South Carolina but did not want to limit the
number of slaves because they were vital
to the economy of the colony.
• The STONO REBELLION , a slave
rebellion near Charleston, occurred in
1739 when slaves murdered settlers and
tried to escape to ST. AUGUSTINE,
Florida where the Spanish had offered
them freedom.
• As a result of the Stono Rebellion the NEGRO
ACT OF 1740 , a new, strict slave code was
passed. This law prohibited slaves from
LEARNING TO READ, CARRYING A GUN,and
gathering without WHITE SUPERVISION
• The new law created harsher punishments for
DISOBEYING THE LAW and FINED slave
owners who were cruel to their slaves.
• The SLAVE TRADE was still not limited after the
rebellion.
• South Carolina had fewer FREE AfricanAmericans than many colonies.
• Slave owners were permitted to free, or
MANUMIT their slaves for GOOD CAUSE
• Some slaves were freed in their master’s
WILL, or because of FAITHFUL SERVICE
or from masters freeing their
MISTRESSES and their children.
• Some slaves could BUY their freedom if
they had been permitted to be hired out so
they could earn money
• Free blacks in South Carolina were
required to LEAVE the state within 6
months or BE SOLD BACK INTO
SLAVERY
• The few free blacks in the south mostly
lived in URBAN AREAS where they
worked at some skilled craft they were
trained in.