charlestonafricanamerhistory

History

Within the first year of colonization, enslaved Africans arrived in
South Carolina via the West Indies. During the next twenty years of settlement,
more than half of the colony's black population came from the Caribbean. The
African slave trade, dominated by British merchants from Liverpool and London
supplied the bulk of the slaves to South Carolina. South Carolina merchants were
more than willing to serve as local factors and make handsome profits.

Marketability and Profit...
Early in the 18th century SC whites noted differences in the Africans they
purchased. They identified certain skills, physical appearance (including tribal
scarring), personal traits, and habits with particular regions of West Africa. As
more Africans were imported, white Carolinians became even knowledgeable
about the countries whence slaves came. That made South Carolina whites
different from their peers in other colonies. In Virginia, for example, the only
concern was whether or not a slave was an African or a Negro (virginia born).
In South Carolina, as indicated in numerous letters and advertisements in the
Charleston newspapers, whites were familiar with African ethnicity. Depending
on their origin and skills determined their price.

Differences in slave origin and skills...
In West Africa there is a linguistic dividing line. Ethnic groups from the Gulf of
Guinea north to the Sahara have been delineated as Sudanese, while those from
the gulf south toward Angola are known as Bantu. There are physical differences
as well_Bantu peoples, compared to Sudanese, are described as smaller, better
proportioned, and lighter skinned, with less protruding jaw, underdeveloped calves,
and big feet. South Carolinian whites preferred individuals whom we would know
classify as Sudanese. Yet despite this preference, more Angolans, a Bantu people,
were imported than any other. The importation of more Angolans was likely due to
the market circumstances. There always seemed to be a steady supply of marketable
Africans from Congo-Angola because they were readily obtained and West Indian
planters did not care for them. By the end of the colonial period, Angolans accounted
for 40%of the Africans imported into South Carolina. There is evidence that British slave
traders did their best to obtain South Carolina preferences for Gambians. Charleston
planters seemed to perfer first the Gambians(19.5%) or Gold Coast(13.3%), then the
Windward Coast(16.3%) next to the Angolans. By the 1760's, whites were using more
specific ethnic identifications such as Mandingo, Coromantee, Kishee and Ibo.

Region	Ethnicity
Senegambia	Gambia, Mandingo, Jalonka Bambara, Fulbe, Araba
Windward Coast	Limba, Temne, Bola, Kisi
Gold Coast	Coromantee, Fantee
Bright of Benin	Ibo, Calabar
Congo-Angola	Congo, Angola, Malimbe Wollonga, Bambona, Badongo
Guinea	Unspecified

In addition to physical characteristics, white Carolinians also ascribed personality
traits and habits to particular peoples. Charlestonians, if given their choice, perferred
their slaves to be big, strong, and black.

Congo-Angola Africans were believed to be docile, good-looking, and a bit weak in comparison to others. They were also potential runaways, a reputation they had
throughout the colonial period. Counter-acting these negatives were their reputed
mechanical skills.
Ibos were thought to be sickly, melancholy, suicidal, superstitious and unattractive.
Coromantees were brave, unforgiving, hot-tempered and dangerous if aroused, but
if loyalty could be gained they became devoted servants.
Mandingos were gentle, refined and physically attractive to Europeans; however
some whites thought them to be sneaky and not to be trusted.
Popos and their neighbors were the most highly prized of all Africans imported into
South Carolina; dutiful, skilled and easy-going with a pleasant disposition and strong
work ethic.

The Obtaining of Slaves...
The process began in Africa usually within a several-hundred-mile radius of a coastal
factory or trading fort. English slave traders negotiated with native rulers and merchants
for their cargo. Once selected, the unfortunate men and women were usually branded
for identification purposes. They were then loaded onto ships in which they were
jammed into shelves with little headroom, sometimes not even enough room to sit up.
In these tight quarters they had to eat, sleep and preform bodily functions. Depending
on the vessel and the fear of insurrection, slaves might be brought up on deck for
exercise. The agony of the middle passage might last as long as six weeks. One in six
Africans died en route.

Charleston's Role...
Charleston was the most likely destination for slave ships in the North American slave
trade. Between 1700 thru 1775, 40% of the Africans imported into North America came
through Charleston. South Carolina officials required that slaves be quarantined on
Sullivan's Island in Charleston harbor. After being cleared, slaves were then auctioned
off by the merchants who had imported them. In the 18th century sales were held
onboard the slave ships or in town at places such as taverns. It was not until the 19th
ventury that the slave traders congregated in the neighborhood of Chalmers and State
streets and built slave marts.

As slave population increased_so did tensions...
Early colony slaves had more freedom, most working side by side with their owners.
After 1720 white fears grew more pronounced about what the black minority might do.
Therefore, to prevent the unthinkable, the whites resorted to intimidation. This was a
tactic used throughout the 18th century. "Frighten the two Boys till you make them
tremble," wrote Henry Laurens in 1765, "but dont Whip them."
As control of the slave population increased, so did tensions. When blacks reacted
in "insolent or mischevious" manner, whites clamped down even more. This, in turn,
led to further black resistance. The colony entered into what appeared to be a never-
ending spiral of action and reaction.

Resistances took many forms...
Overt resistances could be something as simple as leaving a barn door open so that
the livestock could escape, pretending not to understand instructions, breaking a hoe
on a rock, taking one's time or doing something other than what was intended.
More serious resistances included assaulting an overseer or owner, poisoning, arson
and murder. The colonial records include examples of all of these.
In July 1769, two slaves were burned on the green in Charleston---one for procuring
some poison and the other for administering it.
Violence was not limited to lashing out at whites. Slave mothers sometimes induced
abortions so they would not bring children into slavery. A few committed suicide.
There were more subtle forms of resistance unrecognized by whites but just as
effective.

Perseverance of African folkways...
Not only were blacks a mijority of the population, but until 1740 a majority of them
were African-born. They remained a high percentage of the black population until
the American Revolution. These black South Carolinians made way for the
perseverance of Africian folkways through the creation of a culture that was both
African and American. They preserved elements of their African heritage, modified
by the South Carolina environment and reared their children in a culture that was
African American.
The houses in which they slept, the meals they ate, the utensils they used, the
songs they sang and the stories they told---all had a West African influence even
if the materials, ingredients or subjects were of local origin.

Black South Carolinians_their own language...
Coming from more than two dozen ethnic groups and speaking forty different
languages, communication among slaves at first was difficult. There id evidence
that some planters deliberately tried to purchase individuals from different areas
so that they would not be able to communicate and therefore be less a threat.
Out of necessity, black South Carolinians were forced to develop a means of
communicating with one another. Initially their efforts produced a pidgin
English that, with its use by the next generation of native-born blacks, became
a creole language, Gullah.
Gullah is a spoken, not a written language; thus its meaning is derived from the
context of a particular conversation. Nouns and pronouns have no case; verbs
have no tense; and pronouns have no gender. The structure depends entirely
upon word order. There is more to Gullah than just language structure. Linguistic
studies have shown that most Gullah vowels are similar to those in Yoruba, a
language spoken in Nigeria.
Although Gullah is a spoken language, there have been efforts to preserve it in
writing. The most notable effort is that of the American Bible Society, which has
translated the Gospel of Luke into comtemporary Gullah.
Some white slave owners learned Gullah and became bilingual, but many simply
paid no attention to "slave talk." That meant that black South Carolinians could
freely communicate with one another, sometimes voicing uncomplimentary
opinions of a white within earshot.
======
Gullah Heritage
The Gullah Creole Language

End of Slavery...
April 09, 1865---Rebirth of a peoples dreams_Lee surrendered to Grant, the Civil
War had ended. Between February and June 1865 most black Carolinians learned
of their freedom. Although many took off at the first news of freedom,(generally those
blacks who came into closest contract with their white owners--domestics, artisans, or
hands on small plantations--were the first to desert. Thousands went to Charleston, 10%
immigrated to Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana where wages were higher. A handful abandoned the United States and settled in Liberia.
Many planters were forced to have to offer wages to try to get some to remain and
help in the fields. One noted---Patience Johnson, a Laurens District house servant,
declined her owner;'s offer of wages:
"I must go, if I stay here I'll never know I am free."
For some their departure only lasted for a few months. Economic necessity forced
some back to the doorsteps of their former owners, so to did the attachment to the
land. Black Carolinians had a sense of place as strong as whites'. By the spring of
1866 the majority of former slaves were either on the plantation where they had
previously labored or somwhere in the neighborhood.

Root of Slavery in South Carolina_Conclusion...
Money, of course, was the root of slavery in South Carolina. Fear may have
been present from time to time, but if whites were so afraid of the black
majority, why did they keep importing thousands of Africans? The answer is
that greed was a more powerful stimulant than fear!

This page was last revised on 7/29/99