RICH SWAMPS AND RICE GROUNDS: THE SPECIALIZATION OF INLAND RICE CULTURE IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY, 1670-1861 by HAYDEN ROS SMITH (Under the Direction of Paul S. Sutter) ABSTRACT This study discusses the environmental and technological complexity of South Carolina inland rice plantations from their inception at the turn of the seventeenth century to their institutional collapse during the Civil War. Inland rice cultivation provided a foundation for the South Carolina colonial plantation complex and enabled planters’ participation in the Atlantic economy, dependence on enslaved labor, and dramatic alteration of the natural landscape. Also, the growing population of enslaved Africans led to a diversely acculturated landscape unique to the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Unlike many historical interpretations that categorize inland rice cultivation in a universal and simplistic manner, this study explains how agricultural systems varied among plantations. By focusing on planters’ and slaves’ alteration of the inland topography, this interpretation emphasizes how agricultural methods met the demands of the local environment. Inland cultivation began as a simple process for growing rice by taking advantage of available sites, yet enslaved laborers spent more energy refining old inland fields and creating new landscapes as the demand for the crop and the land increased. Moreover, planters had to modify a general cultivation model to fit within the diverse landscapes of the Coastal Plain. By paying detailed attention to Lowcountry topography, this study explains how the complex layering of soil and water presented people with a landscape to construct their cultural identity. This study also discusses how rice cultivators worked within these ecological boundaries to construct successful rice plantations and an important global agricultural commodity. INDEX WORDS: Rice cultivation, Slavery, Landscape, Drainage, Irrigation, South Carolina, Coastal Plain, Lowcountry, Charleston, Ashley River, Cooper River, Wando River, Edisto River, Biggin Basin, Rantowles Basin, Limerick Plantation, Cypress Grove, Back River Plantation, Charleywood Plantation, Fairlawn Plantation, Clayfield Plantation, Wythewood Plantation, Windsor Plantation, Jericho Plantation, Wantoot Plantation, Woodboo Plantation, Pooshee Plantation, Santee Canal RICH SWAMPS AND RICE GROUNDS: THE SPECIALIZATION OF INLAND RICE CULTURE IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY, 1670-1861 by HAYDEN ROS SMITH B.A., Furman University, 1995 M.A., University of Charleston, 2002 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2012 © 2012 Hayden Ros Smith All Rights Reserved RICH SWAMPS AND RICE GROUNDS: THE SPECIALIZATION OF INLAND RICE CULTURE IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY, 1670-1861 by HAYDEN ROS SMITH Major Professor: Paul S. Sutter Committee: Allan Kulikoff Shane Hamilton Benjamin Ehlers Richard Porcher Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2012 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Inspired by the often-used African proverb, I have learned that it takes a community to complete a dissertation. Without the patience, time, and effort from a large group of people, I would not have been able to complete this project. My committee members represent the finest mentors one could ask for. I am especially grateful for Paul Sutter, who guided me to transform a rough and wayward paper into a polished piece. Paul has an amazing ability to look beyond the information at hand and push his students to form a relevant narrative that includes a broad historiography beyond environmental history. Allan Kulikoff also provided helpful and thoughtful analysis in this process. He asks tough questions and expects his students to understand the larger issues at stake. When I came to Athens, a young professor had just received an assignment in the Department. Shane Hamilton became an important part of my academic carrier, inspiring me to look at the important relationships between technology, culture, and food. Ben Ehlers has also provided a thoughtful role in guiding me to understand the relevance of plantation systems to the larger Atlantic World. The staff and students in LeConte Hall gave much help and advice during my tenure. I am thankful to Laurie Kane and the staff in the Department of History. Bea Burton, Christina Davis, Jim Gigantino, Daleah Goodwin, Darren Grem, Chase Hagood, Josh Haynes, Chris Huff, Chris Lawton, Robby Lucket, Jennifer Malto, Chris Manganiello, Jason Mathorne, Keri Leigh Merritt, LaShonda Mims, Barton Myers, Kathi Nehls, Tom Okie, Tore Olsson, Lesley-Anne Reed, Zach Smith, Drew Swanson, Levi VanSant, and Burt Way have all provided serious v academic conversation and light-hearted morale support while in the Classic City. Financial help came from the UGA Dean’s Award and from Department of History Neman V. Bartley Award. I am especially grateful to Richard Porcher, who initially encouraged me to research the importance of inland rice cultivation. Without his wisdom, this project would have never seen the light of day. He has spent a lifetime surrounded by the relics of South Carolina rice culture and knows better than anyone the subtleties of this by-gone era. Through his career incorporating biology with history, Richard has become a pioneer in environmental history while humbly focusing on new endeavors. I am grateful that he took me under his wing to get me started in this project and introduced me to the expansive amount of people who shared his interest in rice and history. I am especially thankful to the kind individuals who allowed me to walk their property and take time to help me see the remnants of the inland rice culture. Thank you to Jessica Loring and Laurence Rasmussen at Old Combahee, Larry Faulkenberry and Tom Milliken at Goodwill, Ernie Wiggers and Eddie Mills at Nemours, Carter Hudgins and staff at Drayton Hall, Morgan Baird and staff at Hampton Plantation State Park. People who also shared a tremendous amount of time and knowledge are Travis Folk, Cary Mock, Jim and Esther Ferguson, and Linda Lear. Part of the excitement of conducting research was meeting a wonderful and helpful staff of public and private institutions, both in the field and in the archives. I am especially grateful to Robert Morgan at Francis Marion National Forest. He opened up the USFS archives to me, showing all the overlooked inland rice features that still existed to this day. Because of Bob and his staff’s help, most of my focus took place on USFS land. Carl Trettin and his staff at the Santee Experimental Forest also receive much appreciated salutations. Carl and Brooke James patiently put technical scientific information in layman’s terms and helped explain the broader vi understanding of hydrology as it effected inland rice planting. I am also thankful to Mark Purcell and staff at the ACE Basin Nation Wildlife Refuge and Richard Kanaski at the US Forest and Wildlife Service. Invaluable assistance in the archives is attributed to the staff at the South Carolina Historical Society, especially to Jane Aldrich, Karen Stokes, Mary Jo Fairchild, and Neil Polhemus. Nic Butler and his helpful staff in the South Carolina Room at the Charleston County Public Library helped me reference much of their collections. The staff of the South Caroliniana Library and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History provided guidance in tackling the institution’s overwhelming collections. Harriott Cheves Leland at the South Carolina Huguenot Society graciously provided transcribed information of early French settlers. The staff at the Charleston Library Society provided much help accessing their collections. John White and Lisa Randle of the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston provided much needed assistance and a platform to present some findings to the general public. Finally, Robert McIntyre at the Charleston County Register Mesne Conveyance went above and beyond in allowing me access to the office’s invaluable plat collections. Drafts of this project went through untold revisions to polish arguments and clarity. Once again, I am grateful to the committee member in providing this assistance. I am also thankful to Theodore Rosengarten, Peter Hoffer, and Lyn Smith for taking time and energy to help proof read many of these chapters. This work also was strengthened by the helpful comments from participants at the WHEATS conference and New Histories of Rice workshop. Of the latter, I am grateful to Edda Fields-Black, Peter Cocalnis, Francesca Bray, and Dagmar Schafer for inviting me to that remarkable event. vii Groups of people have watched my academic carrier grow over the decades and I would have been a lesser person academically without their guidance. I am especially grateful to Ted and Dale Rosengarten for taking me under their wing and honing my skills as an aspiring historian. Martha Zeirden and Ron Anthony of the Charleston Museum have also been invaluable guides for over fifteen years. Students of the epic Willtown dig that have been supportive over the years are Andrew Agha and Elizabeth Garrett Ryan. They have all been like family as our friendship grew from digging in heat and around mosquitoes. Support from family is how I was able to finish this project. Without their love and support, I would have not made it this far. I am grateful to Greg and Lyn Smith and Brooke and Tobias Denny for patiently encouraging me to fulfill these goals. My in-laws, Mike and Sue Presley, and the Presley family have been overly supportive of this process. During the dissertation process, I suddenly lost my mother, Mary Anne Smith. She was the most sympathetic to my dreams and aspirations, while delicately mentoring me to stop and smell the roses. So much of who I am comes from her wisdom. Finally, the person who has supported me the most in this process and who I cannot do justice for the patience and love that she gave to me over the years is my amazing wife, Katherine.