By Brooke Elizabeth Kenline Bachelor of Arts the Ohio State University
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CAPITALIST ENTREPRENEURS AND INDUSTRIAL SLAVERY IN THE RURAL ANTEBELLUM SOUTH by Brooke Elizabeth Kenline Bachelor of Arts The Ohio State University, 2005 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2012 Accepted by: Kenneth Kelly, Director of Thesis Terrance Weik, Reader Kimberly Simmons, Reader Lacy Ford, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by Brooke Kenline, 2012 All Rights Reserved. ii DEDICATION For my family… iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research project would not have been possible without the support of many people. Special thanks to Dr. Chris Fennell and George Calfas for introducing me to the project and for including me in the 2011 field school. My deepest gratitude is also due to Mr. Carl Steen for sharing all of his extensive knowledge on the Edgefield potteries and for his invaluable assistance in the field. I would also wish to thank Jamie Arjona and all of the 2011 field school students who endured days of battling mosquitoes, ticks, and snakes during the hot Carolina months. Many thanks are also due to Dr. Kenneth Kelly and my committee members, Dr. Terrance Weik and Dr. Kimberly Simmons, for all of their advice and direction, as well as to all of the grad students at the University of South Carolina for their continued support. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone in the Edgefield community for their kindness and hospitality. iv ABSTRACT While the alkaline glazed stoneware potteries of the Old Edgefield District of South Carolina have previously been categorized as a Southern “folk tradition”, recent research regarding the extent of production and labor organization, along with the social and cultural milieu, reveal an early example of rural antebellum industrialization enabled and made successful through the use of enslaved labor. Archaeological investigations within the domestic loci at the Reverend John Landrum site (38AK497) combined with the analysis of historical documents help to illuminate the economic and social strategies of one pottery owner whose use of enslaved labor within his own manufacturing establishment allowed him to gain the capital necessary to portray his desired social and economic position within the community. Although this analysis illuminates the actions and motivations of the “invisible hand” of slavery, further research reveals that the enslaved were not passive victims of structural oppression, but rather, were able to exercise cultural creativity and take action within their own small sites of power. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 SOUTHERN INDUSTRY AND INDUSTRIAL SLAVERY ..............................................3 2.1 EDGEFIELD POTTERIES : “FOLK TRADITION ” VS . EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION ................7 CHAPTER 3 THEORY ............................................................................................................10 3.1 TERMINOLOGY AND ETHICAL ISSUES .........................................................................16 CHAPTER 4 HISTORY ...........................................................................................................18 4.1 INFLUENCES ON THE OLD EDGEFIELD DISTRICT POTTERY INDUSTRY ..........................22 4.2 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT ..............................................................................27 CHAPTER 5 LABOR ORGANIZATION .....................................................................................34 CHAPTER 6 THE REVEREND LANDRUM SITE : HISTORY AND FIELD METHODS .......................41 6.1 HISTORY OF THE REVEREND LANDRUM SITE ...............................................................42 6.2 2011 FIELD METHODS ................................................................................................45 CHAPTER 7 LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT .............................................................51 7.1 ALKALINE GLAZED STONEWARE DISTRIBUTION .......................................................56 7.2 NAIL DISTRIBUTION ....................................................................................................60 7.3 DATING METHODS ......................................................................................................63 7.4 PATTERN ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................69 7.5 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................71 CHAPTER 8 CERAMICS: PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION ................................................72 8.1 MAKERS’ MARKS .......................................................................................................76 8.2 NON-LOCAL CERAMICS .............................................................................................81 8.3 FACE VESSELS ...........................................................................................................82 8.4 SMALL FINDS: G.U.O.O.F / I.O.O.F. ..................................................................................88 vi CHAPTER 9 ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION .................................................92 9.1 PROBATE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................92 9.2 WEALTH ACCUMULATION: CENSUS RECORDS, SLAVE SCHEDULES, AND LAND RECORDS ..................................................................................................................95 9.3 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................97 CHAPTER 10 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................100 10.1 CONCLUSION .........................................................................................................108 REFERENCES .....................................................................................................................110 APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................................120 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1. Population of the Old Edgefield District 1790-1860…………..…………….22 Table 7.1. Mean Ceramic Dating From Main House (Locus E) ........................................69 Table 7.2. Mean Ceramic Dating from Unknown Structure (Locus D). ..........................69 Table 7.3. Pattern Analysis for Main House and Unknown Structure...............................71 Table 8.1. Alkaline Glazed Vessel Forms from Domestic Loci ........................................75 Table 8.2. Non-local Ceramics Breakdown by Ware Type. ..............................................82 Table 8.3. Non-Local Ceramics Breakdown by Decoration. .............................................82 Table 9.1. Reverend John Landrum Probate Analysis..……………….…………...…….95 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1. Robert Mills’ Atlas of South Carolina.............................................................19 Figure 6.1. Robert Mills Map 1825. ..................................................................................43 Figure 6.2. Isaac Boles Map 1871 .....................................................................................43 Figure 6.3. Homestead Tract. .............................................................................................44 Figure 6.4. Shaw’s Creek Tract. ........................................................................................44 Figure 6.5. “Major Place” Tract. ........................................................................................44 Figure 6.6. Mapping from 1987 Survey (Castille, et al. 1988) ..........................................47 Figure 6.7. Cellar Depression of Main House (38AK497) ................................................47 Figure 6.8. Carved Stone surrounding Main House (38AK497). ......................................48 Figure 6.9. 2011 Sampling Strategy for 38AK497. ...........................................................50 Figure 7.1. Hypothesized enslaved labor cabins ................................................................55 Figure 7.2. Hypothesized enslaved labor cabins. ...............................................................55 Figure 7.3. Alkaline Glazed Stoneware Distribution at 38AK497……………………...59 Figure 7.4. Nail Distribution at 38AK497 .........................................................................62 Figure 7.5. Glass Dating Histogram in Locus E ...............................................................64 Figure 7.6. Glass Dating