Eventually slavery became rooted in the South’s huge cotton and sugar plantations. These same people produced the built environment: the main house for the plantation owner, the slave cabins, barns, and other structures of the complex. This dye was important in the textile trade before the invention of synthetic dyes. It was confusing to absorb so many slaves’ experiences from various plantations; people relate more easily to individual stories and a sense of place. Indigo Point Plantation - Charleston Charleston County South Carolina SC The cove at L'Anse à la Barque has some well-preserved remains of this industry: a succession of solid-built tanks, which were used in the indigo production process. It was not until 1878 that an artificial form of blue dye was created which could replace natural indigo. This tank, which can no longer be seen, was examined when archaeological surveys were carried out in 2006, before being covered over again to preserve it. Indigo Plantations of the East Coast Guadeloupe, France To the East of Marie-Galante, on the driest part of the island, lies a vast coastal plain known as "Les Galets." In general, a slave plantation was an agricultural and livestock estate that was large enough to contain the house of the master or slave owner and the residences of the slaves. Expansion in the New World colonies enabled Europeans to develop production of a tropical plant, known as the indigo plant, from which a blue dye called indigo was produced. The liquid was then vigorously oxygenized by manual stirring to trigger the physico-chemical reaction which forms indigo particles. Indigo production was an extremely labor-intensive, multi-day process that could only be profitable when done on a large scale with slave labor, which limited it to plantations. Indigo was a non-edible plant that was grown on the slave plantations in the Colonial period. In 1861, nearly all of Hilton Head Island was covered by plantations worked by slaves, according to maps from The Heritage Library and Beaufort County historians. Jim Cummings, the owner of Whitney Plantation, has spent millions on the museum’s artifacts and restoration to give visitors a true sense of life in the antebellum South. Labor on British Plantations in Florida During 20 years of British occupation, Florida plantations exported significant quantities of indigo, citrus, sugar and naval stores. The first enslaved Africans in Louisiana were six people captured by the French army during the War of Spanish Succession in 1710. ... On Hilton Head, Indigo … Go forward to next section. On the slave plantation, slaves were used to harvest cash crops and complete other related agricultural work. Magnolia Plantation is one of the most visited plantations near Charleston. Archaeological surveys that were carried out and a comparison of the indigo production at L'Anse à la Barque with that recorded on Grande-Terre and Marie-Galante would appear to show that it was built from the seventeenth century onward. Work on the plantations was hard, and the smells produced during fermentation were extremely nauseating. Resistance to Slavery. Middle Passage. Indigo is a brilliant blue dye produced from a plant of the same name. Indigo significantly impacted the world in the start of production of indigo in the America's by Eliza Lucas Pinckney, who started the trade of indigo through the slave trade route. The tour is absolutely fascinating and an incredible insight into the history of Louisiana. The crop could be grown on land not suited for rice and tended by slaves, so planters and farmers already committed to plantation agriculture did … Abolition of Slavery. Transatlantic Slave Trade. L'Anse à la Barque was the location chosen to build these installations for a number of reasons: the windward coast has a relatively dry climate, well suited to indigo plant growth, and the stream which flows in the nearby ravine provides an unlimited supply of fresh water, essential for the production process. The slavery system in the United States was a national system that touched the very core of its economic and political life. Return to … In 1861, nearly all of Hilton Head Island was covered by plantations worked by slaves, according to maps from The Heritage Library and Beaufort County historians. Houses were built on both sides of the water using materials brought back and forth, but these plantations also grew items like cotton, indigo, and sugarcane to be sold elsewhere. This material, dated 1779 to 1791, is an excellent source of information about the French colony in the decade leading up to the revolt by black slaves in 1791. Though most … Today the site of Guana River State Park. The complex included everything from the main residence down to the pens for livestock.Southern plantations were generally self-sufficient settlements that relied on the forced labor of enslaved … By 1860 there were 332,000 enslaved workers in Louisiana. Slavery first came to Louisiana in 1706, when 20 Native Americans of the Chitimacha people were captured by the French in one of the frequent battles between the early colonists and the native peoples. The mixture was then left to dry, before being sent to Europe on merchant ships. Unlike other plantations, Whitney Plantation doesn’t sugarcoat the lives of enslaved Africans who worked the former indigo and sugar farm. Indigo is a brilliant blue dye produced from a plant of the same name. Return to … They were built using a number of unique architectural styles. Cecilton was the fourth East Florida estate developed by Egmont’s slaves, says the website. The earliest iconographic representations of working slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are largely centred on the production of indigo. The larger tank was known as the soaking tank, in which the harvested indigo plants were immersed, and has a slightly sloping bottom. Enslaved Africans carried the knowledge of indigo cultivation to the United States, and in the 1700s, the profits from indigo outpaced those of sugar and cotton. In the 17th and 18th centuries, black slaves worked mainly on the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations of the southern coast. More than a third of enslaved children died before their first birthday, mostly due to malaria and malnutrition. © 2021 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation | About. According to records, it was just one of several plantations Duncan owned. Egmont’s slaves later created Cecilton Plantation at what was known then as Cowford. Despite being freed in 1865, former slaves who worked for wages still had to buy food from the plantation shop: they were still trapped. It was built in 1823 for Stephen Duncan, the wealthiest cotton planter in the antebellum south. Enslaved women worked in the indigo fields growing and maintaining the crop. By embracing the consoling beauty of indigo and acknowledging the full breadth of its local history, we remember the enslaved people with blue-stained hands whose lives and labors contributed to the success of this community. Rice was a widespread and important British crop which played a crucial role in the establishment of slavery along the coastal southeast, including Northeast Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia. Cultivating indigo fields was the main task for the plantation's workforce, which was initially made up of enlisted workers; however, these were soon to be replaced by enslaved laborers. Eliza reminds me of Rosalie Stier Calvert. 6 thoughts on “ Life on an Indigo Plantation ” Cathy Richmond October 12, 2011 at 7:37 pm. The value of the plantation came from its land and the slaves who toiled on it to produce crops for sale. They harvested things like rice, cotton, tobacco, and indigo. Rice. To the East of Marie-Galante, on the driest part of the island, lies a vast coastal plain known as "Les Galets." Slaves worked in the fields, they plowed, planted, and chopped cotton, and took care of the plantation (Life for Enslaved Men and Woman). The plain of Les Galets has the ideal geomorphological conditions for this production: relatively dry conditions which suit indigo plant growth and water in abundance in the limestone subsoil, essential for the production process. The slave Route—Traces of Memory network organized by the French army during the War of Spanish Succession 1710. Cheap for the masters on tobacco, rice and indigo plantations prized source blue. 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