American Colonial History: Slavery in South Carolina and Georgia

Who co-authored the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in 1669?

What was the majority of the population in South Carolina by 1750?

What was the original stance on slavery in the Georgia colony?

What was the consequence of killing a rebellious enslaved person in South Carolina by 1740?

What was the condition for freeing an enslaved laborer in South Carolina?

What was the background of many early settlers in Carolina?

Slavery in South Carolina and Georgia

Slavery was central to colonial life in South Carolina and Georgia, but local conditions created a distinct system in each colony.

Georgia

Founded by a philanthropic group, including James Oglethorpe, who initially banned slavery from the colony.
By 1750, slavery was legal throughout the region.

South Carolina

Founded as a slave colony, with the majority of the population consisting of enslaved Africans by 1750.
The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1669), co-authored by John Locke, explicitly legalized slavery from the beginning.
Early settlers from British Caribbean sugar islands brought brutal slave codes, allowing for the legal punishment of defiant enslaved people through beatings, branding, mutilation, and even castration.
In 1740, a new law declared that killing a rebellious enslaved person was not a crime, and the murder of an enslaved person was treated as a minor misdemeanor.
The colony banned the freeing of enslaved laborers unless the freed person left the colony.

This quiz explores the history of slavery in South Carolina and Georgia, highlighting the differences in their colonial systems and the role of slavery in their development.