Wealth and Slavery in Carolina
Britain Develops A Colonial
Policy
• Charles II began trading with colonies because Britain was in financial
trouble.
• Mercantilism’s goal was to import more goods than those that were
exported.
• Navigations Act of 1660 required all goods from the colonies to be
shipped only in English ships with English crews.
• Act of Navigation and Trade stated that all goods sold in America by
other nations had to be sent to England first.
• A third Act of Navigation and Trade was passed to require governors
to enforce the trading laws.
Native American Slavery in
Carolina
• Joseph West became governor of Carolina after the death of Sir John
Yeamans.
• He supported the Native American Slave Trade.
• The Proprietors had invested a lot of money into the colony, but had
not received a lot in return.
• His dream of making money through staple crops never panned out.
• Because he did nothing to stop the buying and selling of Native
American slaves, the proprietors removed him from office.
Expanding Trade with the
Indians
• Colonists had traded with the Indians since their
arrival.
• Under the rule of Governor Joseph Blake, Charles
Town merchants traded with Indians as far a way
as the Mississippi River.
• The colony began to prosper due to trading with
the Indians.
Rice
• Rice became Carolina’s staple crop or money crop.
• It was given to Carolina as a gift for their hospitality by Captain John
Thurber.
• Rice became known as “Carolina Gold.”
• The profit of trading rice rose above that of trading with the Indians.
• Slaves were used to grow rice because of their knowledge of this trade.
• They built sluiceways (floodgates) to flood the rice fields at certain
times of the year.
• Rice was grown the “African” way until 1787 when Jonathan Lucas
invented a rice mill driven by waterpower instead of humans.
Indigo
• Rice could only be grown along the coast. Indigo could
grow anywhere in warm Carolina climate.
• The dye from the Indigo plant brought a high price in
Europe.
• The problems with indigo was the frost often killed the
plant and making the dye was extremely difficult.
• Eliza Lucas Pinckney developed a better means of
producing dye.
• She shared her concept with planters across the colony.
• Because of this, merchants in Carolina became richer at a
faster pace.
African Slavery
• Rice and indigo required large labor forces, however there
was a labor shortage in Carolina.
• Indentured servants and Native Americans did not provide
enough labor force.
• Governor William Sayle brought a family of Africans to
Carolina.
• Governor John Yeamans and Governor Joseph Morton
brought enslaved people from Barbados.
The Slave Trade
• Companies in Europe bought slaves in West Africa and shipped them
to America.
• Lord Ashley Cooper was a major stockholder in the Royal African
Company.
• Slaves were brought to America through the Middle Passage.
• They were chained in narrow quarters and brought on deck for
exercise in small groups once a day.
• Many died from diseases or committed suicide.
• Slaves brought to Carolina were unloaded on Sullivan’s Island where
they were inspected for diseases.
• They were then auctioned off in Charles Town.
African-Americans in Carolina
• Because there were so many different languages,
Africans created a common language known as
Gullah.
• Gullah is still spoken in the low country.
• Africans brought many of their customs to
America such as their rich heritage of music and
dancing, wood carving and folk medicine.
• Many slaves were converted to Christians.
The Stono Rebellion
• The Stono Rebellion was led by a slave name Jemmy.
• The slaves met near the Stono River near Charles Town and robbed
Hutchinson’s Store and killed the storekeepers.
• As they moved towards Beaufort, they urged other slaves to join them.
• They grew to about 60. The slaves killed any whites they met along
the way and burned houses.
• They were surprised by a group of armed planters and killed.
• The Negro Act of 1740 was passed that prohibited slaves from
traveling without a written pass. They could not raise food or earn
money. They could not meet in groups without a white person being
present. They could not learn to read or write.