South Carolinians of African American ancestry have played a vital role in shaping the state's history and culture. This article examines South Carolina's history with an emphasis on the lives, status, and contributions of African Americans.
Emancipated African Americans in South Carolina, photographed at the Port Royal Experiment by Timothy H. O'Sullivan
Early History and the Institution of Slavery
Enslaved Africans first arrived in the area that would become South Carolina in 1526 as part of a Spanish expedition from the Caribbean. In 1670, when the British Empire colonized the region, the Lords Proprietor established the Province of Carolina and created a plantation-style economy that increasingly relied on enslaved labor.
Unlike her more northern colonies, South Carolina's introduction to slavery was based largely on a preexisting enslavement system from the Caribbean in the late seventeenth century. Many of the colony's first white settlers immigrated from Barbados. By 1700, South Carolina's system of slavery resulted in the development of the rice and indigo cash crop industry. Contrary to popular understanding, cotton was not a big factor until the early 1800s. By 1708, the enslaved African population in South Carolina exceeded the number of free whites.
By the eighteenth century, most of the slave trade in South Carolina was under the control of the Royal African Company, established by the British monarchy to facilitate trading in west Africa. Charleston, South Carolina, named Charles Town in colonial times, was a major global port for trading goods and slaves. More than half of the slaves that came to British North America passed through Charles Town.
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By 1770, more than 3,000 African slaves were imported to the city annually. When slaves arrived in the city, they were often inspected and auctioned at the local market. Potential buyers inspected male slaves for characteristics of strength. If a male slave appeared weak, old, or frail, he sold for a lower price than a young, brawny male. Slaves with bruising and scaring from whippings were auctioned more cheaply because buyers were uneasy about purchasing a slave they believed to be rebellious. Women were inspected for characteristics of beauty and child reproduction. Both male and female slaves were inspected for diseases, typically being stripped of their clothing. Some potential buyers even forced open the mouths of slaves to view their teeth, another method of inspecting for disease.
Slave auctions also served as a form of entertainment for many white residents in Charles Town. Even people that had no intentions of bidding on a slave watched as African men and women were sold by the auctioneer. In some instances, auctioneers provided wine, drink and other forms of refreshments for slave buyers. As the slave practice grew, the prices of slaves rose.
Resistance and Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion was the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies, resulting in the deaths of 40-50 Africans and 23 colonists. The revolt was led by a slave named Jemmy in 1739, who gathered 22 slaves near the Stono River in Charleston.
They marched chanting "Liberty," and recruited more slaves along the way. The group killed two storekeepers to gather weapons and ammunition. The slaves' goal was to march to Spanish Florida, a well-known refuge for escapees. Lieutenant Governor William Bull warned slave owners that a rebellion was forming; the slave owners gathered militia to suppress the uprising.
In response to the Stono Rebellion, the South Carolina legislature passed more laws limiting the rights of African Americans and more-strictly regulating the institution of slavery. One such law was the Negro Act of 1740, which restricted slave assembly, education, and movement in addition to requiring legislative approval for each act of manumission. The act established penalties for slave owners who were too lenient in punishing their slaves.
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Denmark Vesey was born into slavery in St. Thomas, a colony of Denmark. Vesey's owner settled in Charleston after the Revolutionary War. Vesey won $1,500 prize in a city lottery; he used $600 to purchase his freedom. After gaining his freedom, Vesey socialized with many slaves and became increasingly set on helping them escape slavery. In 1821, Vesey and a few slaves began to conspire to plan a revolt. In order for the revolt to be successful, Vesey had to recruit others and strengthen his army, which was not complicated because he was a lay preacher.
Vesey inspired slaves by connecting their potential freedom to the biblical story of the Exodus. He planned the insurrection to take place on Bastille Day, July 14, 1822. Vesey held numerous secret meetings and eventually gained the support of both slaves and free blacks throughout the city and countryside who were willing to fight for their freedom. Vesey planned to make a coordinated attack on the Charleston arsenal. After seizing weapons, Vesey intended to commandeer ships from the harbor and sail to Haiti, which had recently led a successful slave revolution.
Two slaves loyal to their masters, George Wilson and Joe LaRoche, opposed Vesey's planned revolution; they reported the scheme to officials. Wilson and LaRoche's testimonies confirmed an earlier report from another slave named Peter Prioleau. Based on the slaves' warning, the city launched a search for conspirators. The Mayor James Hamilton organized a citizens' militia, putting the city on alert. White militias and groups of armed men patrolled the streets daily for several weeks until many slaves were arrested, including Vesey. Over the course of five weeks, the city court ordered the arrest of 131 black men, charging them with conspiracy. In total, the courts convicted 67 men of conspiracy and hanged 35, including Vesey, in July 1822. A total of 31 men were deported, 27 reviewed and acquitted, and 38 questioned and released.
While a failed revolution, Vesey's conspiracy resulted in stricter slave laws and regulations against blacks to be enacted throughout the country.
African Americans in the Revolutionary War
Politicians were divided on how African Americans who fought for the American cause should be rewarded. Two delegates to the Continental Congress, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Lynch, sought to bar free African Americans from enlisting in the militia, while other statesmen, such as Henry Laurens, favored exchanging military service for freedom. Under Lauren's proposal, the Continental Congress would provide slave owners $1,000 for each able-bodied slave under 35 years-old provided for military service, though this proposal was rejected. Another proposal from Thomas Sumter stated that any man who joined the militia for ten months would be gifted one free slave, though this proposal was also rejected.
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Ultimately, slaves who served as Patriots were returned into slavery following the war's conclusion. African Americans who served in the Continental Army were mostly laborers or cooks, and very few fought in combat situations. Slaves did not typically serve non-voluntarily; most were commanded by their slave owners to serve in their stead, and any slave who refused to serve after being instructed, risked a penalty of death.
Some South Carolina African Americans fought for the British as Loyalists. Dunmore's Proclamation declared that any slave who ran away from his master and joined the royal forces would be granted his freedom. This promise was never carried out since the British lost the war. As many as 25,000 slaves, along with other British Loyalists, escaped South Carolina following the conclusion of the war.
The Cotton Boom and Expansion of Slavery
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. Anticipating the enforcement of this law, Charleston traders acquired approximately 70,000 Africans between 1804 and 1807. For most of the nineteenth century, slaves in South Carolina were born into slavery, not carried from Africa.
Prior to the 1800s, South Carolina's slave-based economy dealt mostly in the harvesting of tobacco, rice, and indigo. In 1800, the Santee Canal connected the Santee and Cooper rivers, making it possible to transport goods directly from Columbia, South Carolina to Charleston by water. The creation of the Santee Canal, coupled with the invention of the cotton gin, transformed the cotton-production business into part of the global economy. The upcountry of South Carolina had fertile land that supported the growing of short-staple cotton, and many planters ruined the fertility of the land, often unknowingly, by planting season after season of cotton. But the slave-driven cotton industry catapulted South Carolina as one of the wealthiest locations on Earth by the mid-nineteenth century.
By 1860, the slave population of South Carolina was just over 402,000, and the free black population was just over 10,000. At the same time, there were approximately 291,000 whites in the state, accounting for about 30% of the population. Compared to other states, South Carolina had a very large population of slaves, which had nearly quadrupled in the 70 years between 1790 and 1860. Much of this growth can be attributed to the rise of the cotton industry. Slavery soon spread throughout all of South Carolina instead of having a concentration along the coast as it had since the 1600s.
Life Under Slavery
In Antebellum South Carolina, slave-owning society was divided into three tiers: the Yeomen class, which on average owned 1-5 slaves; the Middling class, which on average owned 5-20 slaves; and the Planter class, which on average owned over 20 slaves. While some slaves worked on huge planter-class plantations, some slaves worked on small farms. Life as a slave varied drastically from owner to owner.
Typically, there were three types of slave labor structures in South Carolina: (1) the gang system, which was the most common and required slaves to work from sun up to sundown. This system was most commonly used on cotton plantations and was the most brutal; (2) the task system, which required slaves to complete a certain task by the end of the workday.
Slaves were often prohibited from gathering, practicing religion, learning to read or write, and owning weapons, though much of these restrictions were decided by the slave owner. Slaves were forbidden to leave the owner's property unless they were accompanied by a white person or had permission. Slave homes are to be searched every two weeks for weapons or stolen goods. Whites that hit, harmed, or otherwise punished slaves were generally protected in South Carolina.
Rules and regulations passed under the Negro Act of 1740 carried both into South Carolina law and custom. For example, if a white man were to kill a slave, he would be subject to a misdemeanor and fined. In reverse, if a black man were to kill a white man, he would be executed. Slaves that attempted to run away from their masters were subject to various types of punishments ranging from whipping, the most common, to death. Some slaves were branded with a hot iron or had part of their bodies marked. Some slave owners took a knife to a slave's ear or nose and disfigured it in a way that distinguished the slaves as runaways. Some slaves were tortured by having salt, vinegar, or pepper seeds fleshed into their wounds. Some rebellious slaves were sold away from their families.
Female slaves, especially aged 14â25, were exposed to the risk of being raped by a white man. Owners of female slaves could freely and legally use them as sexual objects. Furthermore, females of breeding age were often kept pregnant, as slavery status was inherited through the mother and following the bans on importing new slaves from Africa, it was the most abundant source of new slaves.
Culture and Resistance
Slaves in South Carolina exercised culture through cuisine, music, dance, hair, language, and religion. African Americans in the coastal regions of South Carolina, commonly referred to as the "Gullah," are known for preserving more of their African heritage than any other community in the United States.
David Drake, an enslaved man from Edgefield, South Carolina, became famous for his pottery creations. Historians estimate that Drake produced over 40,000 pieces throughout his lifetime. While Drake was living, his pottery was worth about fifty cents apiece, though some pieces in the twenty-first century have sold for as high as $50,000. Drake often inscribed poetry or messages onto his pottery. Many of these inscriptions verged on sedition and rebellion since it was generally prohibited for slaves to read or write. In one inscription, Drake wrote "I wonder where is all my relations / Friendship to allâand every nation." Drake was likely attempting to subtly criticize the institution of slavery.
Free Blacks in South Carolina
The free black population of South Carolina never exceeded 2% of the overall population. The developing economies of Northern and upper-South states facilitated abolition while the heavy investment in King Cotton in South Carolina only strengthened the institution of slavery. By 1860, the free black population of South Carolina remained at 2% while Maryland's was nearly 49%. It was uncommon for slaves to be freed in the state since manumission was generally illegal. In 1850, for instance, only two slaves gained their freedom.
Of the small percentage of free blacks in South Carolina, 79% of those were mulattos or people of mixed race. Most free blacks lived in the countryside as small farmers, but a small percentage worked as artisans, tenant farmers, or acquired their own land. Other free blacks held slaves for their labor. Daria Thomas, a planter in Union District in the 1860s, used many of his 21 slaves on his cotton farm. Likewise, William Ellison used 63 slaves on his plantation and in his cotton gin manufacturing business in Sumter.
Most freed blacks, however, struggled because of legal disabilities. Since 98% of the state's population was enslaved, free blacks consistently had to prove that they were free. In the early 1800s, freed blacks were still tried in slave courts, and often faced an all-white jury.
Reconstruction and Jim Crow
Until slavery's abolition, the free black population of South Carolina never exceeded 2%. Beginning during the Reconstruction Era, African Americans were elected to political offices in large numbers, leading to South Carolina's first majority-black government. Toward the end of the 1870s however, the Democratic Party regained power and passed laws aimed at disenfranchising African Americans, including the denial of the right to vote. Between the 1870s and 1960s, African Americans and whites lived segregated lives; people of color and whites were not allowed to attend the same schools or share public facilities. African Americans were treated as second-class citizens leading to the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Senator since Reconstruction, Tim Scott, was elected.
Civil Rights Movement
Historic Sites and Cultural Preservation
Learn the names, places, and stories of those whose legacies have shaped our community. Since its establishment in 1786, Columbia has included a population of free Blacks, enslaved Africans, and African Americans whose labor, skills, and vision have been integral in the cityâs physical, spiritual, and social evolution. Over the course of four centuries, Columbiaâs black community transformed itself from that of a predominately enslaved population to a society whose members overcame the restrictions of Jim Crow and charted the course of the Civil Rights era.
Explore our online tours of neighborhoods and districts central to Columbiaâs African American history. Tours can be done on your computer or turn it into a walking tour using your mobile device.
Lower Waverly boasts diverse architectural styles and is protected as an architectural conservation district by the City of Columbia. Waverly is listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places and is protected as an architectural conservation district by the City of Columbia.
The Center for African American History, Art and Culture is housed in the historic Immanuel Institute, located on the corner of York Street and Richland Avenue. Reverend W.R. Coles, an African American Presbyterian missionary, moved to Aiken in 1881 and established a church and school for freed enslaved people. The Institute began as a small six room house on Newberry Street. As the student population grew, he built the Immanuel Institute in 1889. Over the years, the building has housed a variety of education and cultural schools. Among them were Coles Academy, Coles Normal and Industrial School, Immanuel Institute, Jackson School, Andrew Roberts Institute, and St. Gerard Catholic School.
The restorative process began at the Immanuel Institute in 2004. A group of community leaders recognized the value of preserving this historic landmark and the potential to use it to capture the rich history of Aikenâs African American Community. The Immanuel Institute is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Penn Center on historic St. Helena Island will host their 41st annual Heritage Days Celebration. This homecoming celebration honors the Gullah/Geechee cultural legacy of historic St.
The former Bull Swamp Colored School in Orangeburg has been restored and rededicated, thanks to a three-phase preservation project led by Bull Swamp Baptist Church. At 95, alumna Julia Carson joined the celebration, witnessing her childhood school honored and preserved for future generations.
Honoring Attorney James E. Commissioner Charmaine Clowney attended a historic University of SC Law School ceremony celebrating the unveiling of a portrait of James E. Bowers, J.D. Attorney Bowers was UofSC Law Schoolâs first full-time African American professor from 1973 to 1976. He received his undergraduate degree from UofSC and graduated from Harvard Universityâs Law School.
Learn the stories of South Carolinaâs African American heritage through the Commissionâs Historical Markers projects.
Table: Population Data of South Carolina in 1860
| Group | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Slaves | 402,000 | ~55% |
| Free Blacks | 10,000 | ~2% |
| Whites | 291,000 | ~30% |
