Learn about the economics and hardships of slavery in South Carolina
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In 1839, Robert Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina. As a slave, he worked in the Charleston shipyards. After learning the local harbor and surrounding waters, 23-year-old Robert...
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History of slavery in urban settings and the tags worn by slaves who were hired to work for the city or for other slave owners in cities like Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and Norfolk. Laws required...
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Sharon Murray talks about her role in teaching the Gullah culture and language at the Boone Hall Plantation. She also shares the history of the Gullah.
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Gullah communities are located where enslaved Africans once lived and worked on Sea Island plantations that were owned by American colonists. Native Americans were also part of these communities. The...
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From West Africa During the late 1600s, English settlers in the new colonies needed more workers to farm thousands of acres of land on Sea Island plantations. Although some of the workers were Native...
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Paul then leaves to check on some trucks at one of his plantations. There he visits two slaves, Tricia and John Judah, who describe for him the functional operation of the Trunk System. This was...
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Students will understand how enslaved Africans created music for their worship experience. Religious meetings in “praise houses” provided the spiritual outlet for enslaved Africans on the plantation...
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Students will understand that music and material culture became a mode of covert communication between slaves. Aunt Pearlie Sue is our guide as students uncover hidden messages in the work songs...
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Enslaved Africans sang songs as they worked to help keep the pace of the task they were doing. A leader called out a verse or yell and others responded. This is the call-and-response singing tradition...
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European slave traders brought Africans to the New World on ships as early as the 1400s. These voyages across the Atlantic Ocean are called the Middle Passage. It was a terrible experience for the...
