Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 The Affinities and Disparities within: Community and Status of the African American Slave Population at Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Amy C. Kowal Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE AFFINITIES AND DISPARITIES WITHIN: COMMUNITY AND STATUS OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE POPULATION AT CHARLES PINCKNEY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA By AMY C. KOWAL A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Amy C. Kowal All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Amy C. Kowal defended on December 14, 2006. ____________________________ Glen H. Doran Professor Directing Dissertation ____________________________ Dennis Moore Outside Committee Member ____________________________ Joseph Hellweg Committee Member ____________________________ Bennie C. Keel Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________________ Dean Falk, Chair, Department of Anthropology _____________________________________________ Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii This dissertation is dedicated to Bill Kowal for all his love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the significant influence and exemplar of several people. My advisor through both my masters and doctorate education is Glen H. Doran. His advice and encouragement throughout my graduate education has been invaluable. I am thankful for his offers of assistance and collaboration on his projects. His intellectual and emotional support is much appreciated. I wish to thank Bennie C. Keel whose support, time, and knowledge greatly assisted me with this dissertation. He serves as an exemplary role model, counselor, teacher, and colleague. I am grateful for his continuing guidance and assistance in my career. I am indebted to Dennis Moore as one of my mentors. His teaching of slave narratives proved an inspiration to my outlook and approach of slavery and archaeology. I cherish his enthusiasm and attitude. I attempt to model myself after him with similar passion. I also wish to thank Joseph Hellweg for serving as a committee member and for his comments on the dissertation. I am appreciative of the late J. Kathryn Josserand for her professional and personal guidance and encouragement over the years and wish she could have provided her opinion and comments on the manuscript. I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Southeast Archeological Center for their support and advice. This research was supported through my employment with the Center. I am thankful for the support of the Department of Anthropology, Florida State University as well. My parents, Ronald and the late Caroline Sobierajski, I am ever so thankful to them for instilling in me the independence and confidence that made this achievement possible. They bestowed the values and spirit in me I find indispensable in my life. There are no words to properly thank my husband, Bill Kowal, for his vital support of my professional career and personal fulfillment. I am forever grateful that he is there for me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... ix Abstract ................................................................................................................................. xi INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1. SNEE FARM: ITS SETTING AND HISTORY .............................................................. 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11 Natural Setting ....................................................................................................... 11 The Colonial Era .................................................................................................... 13 The Pinckney Era ................................................................................................... 14 The Post-Pinckney Era ........................................................................................... 20 2. SLAVE NARRATIVES AS A SITE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AUTONOMY ........ 23 Slave Narratives and Cultural Patterns .................................................................. 23 Slave Naming Practices ......................................................................................... 24 The Slave Family ................................................................................................... 27 Marriage in the Slave Community ......................................................................... 28 The Slave Community of Snee Farm ..................................................................... 32 Summary ................................................................................................................ 35 3. THE COMMUNITY PHENOMENON ............................................................................ 37 The Slave Community and Identity ....................................................................... 37 The Ethnic Group and Identity ............................................................................... 38 Community and Agency ........................................................................................ 40 Consumption Theory and the Community.............................................................. 46 4. A MODEL OF SLAVE LIFE ........................................................................................... 50 Self-Identification .................................................................................................. 51 The Task System .................................................................................................... 53 History of African American Studies ..................................................................... 55 Model of Slave Life ............................................................................................... 66 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 68 5. THE SNEE FARM COMMUNITY ................................................................................. 72 The Slaves of Snee Farm ........................................................................................ 73 Archaeological History of Snee Farm..................................................................... 75 Ceramic Studies ..................................................................................................... 99 v The Community and Neighboring Sites .................................................................110 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................113 APPENDIX A........................................................................................................................119 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................162 REFERENCES .....................................................................................................................173 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ................................................................................................184 vi LIST OF TABLES 1. Individual slaves and their families from Charles Pinckney II’s 1787 estate ................... 34 2. Individual slaves named in Charles Pinckney III’s 1818 will .......................................... 34 3. Names used by the Pinckney Family ................................................................................ 35 4. Community and consumption methodology ..................................................................... 48 5. Model of a slave community methodology ...................................................................... 69 6. Slave occupations from 1787 estate and 1818 will............................................................ 74 7. Snee Farm structures and their mean ceramic dates ......................................................... 82 8. Area B, Structure 1 artifacts............................................................................................... 85 9. Area B, Structure 2 artifacts............................................................................................... 86 10. Area B, Structure 3 artifacts............................................................................................. 87 11. Area B, Structure 4 artifacts............................................................................................. 89 12. Structure 16 mean ceramic dates .................................................................................... 91 13. Structure 14 mean ceramic dates ...................................................................................