Black Majority

Study Questions

1. Between 1669 and 1741, Wood identifies three periods of development in the Carolina Colony. What are those three periods, and what are their distinguishing characteristics? Consider population (size, racial balance, free and unfree labor), the products produced, trade links between the colony and other regions, and other factors you think are important.
2. Was African slavery a foregone conclusion for Carolina? How did the proprietors obtain labor, and what different sources of unfree labor were available?
3. Did living and working conditions vary for servants and slaves? If so, how? Read this 1754 account, On the Misfortune of Indentured Servants, as you consider your answer.
4. What advantages as a labor source did African slaves offer Carolina's free settlers? Consider issues of skill and disease, both in relation to the introduction of rice and the settlement of the frontier.
5. How did demography shape the Carolina colony? What was the relationship between the slave trade and the age and sex distribution of African workers in the South? What was the relationship between economic development and population change? Consider the transformation Wood describes in Chapter 5, from a frontier parish to a black rice district.

Useful Terms

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