If old walls could talk
Researcher sheds light on life of Drayton Hall slaves
Researcher sheds light on life of Drayton Hall slaves
The Post and Courier
The inner stairwell at Drayton Hall helped keep the slaves running the home out of site even though slaves greatly outnumbered whites on the plantation. College of Charleston professor Bernard Powers presented his research Thursday, on African Americans' role in the history of the plantation.
On the Web
To find out about Drayton Hall's history, research and preservation, go to draytonhall.org.
The spiral service stairwell in the center of the main house at Drayton Hall symbolizes the relationship between the black and white residents in the plantation's early days, the director of the African-American studies at the College of Charleston says.
Slaves were the majority at Drayton Hall in the late 1700s and early 1800s and essential to the plantation's operation, Bernard Powers said. But like the stairway, they were hidden from view in the main house.
Powers, who is researching slave experiences on the plantation, presented some of his early findings to the public Thursday at Drayton Hall on S.C. Highway 61.
Through his research, Powers said he hopes to dispel misconceptions about the lives of slaves at Drayton Hall.
He's scouring the diary of plantation owner Charles Drayton, who kept a detailed record of life there from 1784 until his death in 1820. Drayton, born in 1743, was the son of John Drayton, who originally built Drayton Hall.
Powers said Charles Drayton's diary is mostly about planting and transportation between the Draytons' many South Carolina and Georgia plantations. But through his accounts about the daily operation of the plantation, it's possible to glean information about what life was like for people enslaved there.
A common misconception, Powers said, is that "a plantation was like a concentration camp, very regimented." But enslaved people had more free time than most people think.
They had a life and culture of their own, he said. "It's not true that enslaved people were nothing more than extensions of the people who owned them," he said.
Slaves who lived and worked at Drayton Hall during the plantation's early years weren't always under the watchful eye of an overseer, he said.
Powers, whose research is funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said that so far, he's been most surprised to learn that the Drayton slaves were very mobile. The family owned a network of plantations and slaves were often moved from one of the family's properties to another when labor needs changed, he said.
He also said that many slaves worked on the family's boats, so they frequently left the plantation. "They wouldn't always run when they got to the boundary of the plantation," he said.
Slaves more often used more passive methods of resistance, Powers said, such as not showing up for work or sabotaging property or agricultural projects.
Another misconception, he said, is that slave owners attempted immediately to convert slaves to Christianity. There was, in fact, no large-scale conversion effort until about 1820, Powers said.
That's because early on, some slave owners thought, "conversion might require emancipation," he said.
Eventually, many slaves did become Christian, he said, but they still had African traditions. "It was an African brand of Christianity," he said.
Kristine Morris, spokeswoman for Drayton Hall, said Powers' research would likely be folded into the plantation's tours and education programs.
Powers said his current phase of research looks at the lives of slaves through about 1820. But he plans to continue the work, he said. "I'd like to take the story up to the great migration in the early 20th Century," he said.
"We can use Drayton Hall as the jumping off point to understand the larger slave experience," Powers said.
Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
BillytheKid (anonymous) says...
I bet it wasn't as "good" as you are painting it. To run away, you have to have someplace to run to.
October 26, 2007 at 1:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mggoose2000 (anonymous) says...
With the recent articles in the P&C about the plight of blacks in the lowcountry, you'd get the impression that the only people that have a history or situation worth reporting are blacks.
We've got a war going on across the big pond and young men and women are dying and coming home broken. Some are doing their jobs under extreme conditions while fighting to keep the threat of terrorism from our doorsteps. All the while, the P&C can find nothing better to put on the front page than articles like this. This isn't news, it's trivia!
Get with it P&C. Let's hear about the world and the people that are working to preserve our way of life. If you want to report about such things as this, put them where they belong; they are not front page issues!
October 26, 2007 at 6:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gococks1985 (anonymous) says...
We have a war going on?? I'm sure that people are also getting tired of hearing about all the negativity as well. I for one thought this article to be very interesting and educating. Did it deserve to be on the front page? That is not our decision, but I will say that anytime we can be educated and learn something new, then I'd say go for it. Some people have nothing better to do than to gripe over everything. It appears that their lives are not complete until they get every bit of complaining out for all to see/hear.
Come on people, get a life and just read the article and enjoy it. Who gives a rat's behind where in the paper it was placed? I for one do not want to see about the young men and women suffering and losing their lives EVERYDAY. I know it's happening and they are defending my freedoms to be able to make this post and the one that you posted. I feel very strongly about our soldiers and this war, but as a veteran, I don't care to have it splattered over the front pages every single day for my children to see it. I am glad they saw this article and wanted to read it.
Stepping down off my soapbox for now. I hope all of you have a wonderful day.
October 26, 2007 at 7:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blondjes (anonymous) says...
even though true historians already new this, slavery wasn't as brutal and violent as the movies make it, every culture has had been slaves or owned them since the beginning of time
October 26, 2007 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Two_Sheds (anonymous) says...
From a STRICTLY ECONOMICAL standpoint, abusing one's slaves just didn't make sense. A good, healthy slave would cost the equivalent of thousands--if not tens of thousands--of dollars. Why pay so much for a slave only to abuse or kill him/her? It just doesn't make sense. Who would throw that kind of money away?
I will admit that my family owned slaves, but they were treated so well that when freed, most chose to stay on the family's land. We have records of it.
Now.....before I have people like deacinNYC rain down their usual rhetoric upon me, realize that I am NOT---I repeat, NOT---endorsing or condoning slavery. I am simply offering a viewpoint which is not normally considered.
October 26, 2007 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
devster (anonymous) says...
Not to mention that most of the African slaves purchased were already slaves in their homeland, or prisoners of war. African tribes made a bunch of money selling their captives to the Europeans and Americans!
It was culturally acceptable at the time, which of course doesn't mean it was right.
October 26, 2007 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Brant (anonymous) says...
I thought the article was very informative. I also believe that we've gotten used to thinking of slavery in terms of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and other such depictions. Kinda narrow, ya know? I'll agree that some owners did mistreat their slaves and yes, any slave worth his or her salt would want freedom more than anything else. Also,like Two_Sheds, I am NOT condoning slavery, okay, people? However, for every owner who treated his slaves like crap, there were ones that were remarkably enlightened and treated their slaves with respect as human beings. This may not have been widespread, but I'm sure that not every slave on every plantation was whipped or starved or used as a piece of sexual property. It sounds to me like the Draytons fell into that catagory.
October 26, 2007 at 9:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
underdog (anonymous) says...
Why would we need this paper to report on the war? If you want that news, read the NY Times or the Washington Post. I imagine that the P&C's Mideast Bureau is woefully understaffed to provide for in-depth reporting...
October 26, 2007 at 9:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mlm (anonymous) says...
This is the Southern American version, more specifically Charleston's variation, of "Upstairs Downstairs". I'll bet the main staircase at Drayton Hall was used by the servants when the owners and overseers weren't around, which was most of the time. Furthermore, because of class differences, I doubt if many overseers would have spent much time upstairs in the big house anyway.
What wasn't mentioned was that after 1820, the Great Reform movement in the UK and the US gave rise to many different social reform movements from the "Great Awakening" seen among religious denominations to the Abolitionist Movement. This eventually saw progress toward universal public education, temperance and even the formation of self-improvement groups such as the YMCA. The irony is that Charleston's slave based society hosted examples of all of these reform minded ideas. In spite of the obvious intellectual contradictions, the religious conversion of slaves was the South's slant on embracing the Great Reform movement while trying to explain away the logic of Abolition at the same time. Therein rest an example of the tensions that existed between two interdependent worlds defined as Upstairs Downstairs.
The most interesting observation is that this assimilation of both enslaved and free Africans into a largely European culture was not a one-way street. Charleston is one of the few places in the US where the threads that flowed in both directions can be more clearly traced. The exchange is still occurring.
October 26, 2007 at 9:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
besttm (anonymous) says...
I found the article very enlightening and would like to know more about the researchers findings. Having grown up in the South (my family came to Charleston in 1801 before heading west) and having done research for papers in college, very few southern whites owned slaves although it is easier for the vast majority of people to believe the dribble espoused by Hollywood. I for one am more interested in the facts and research that is being done to expose the past and enlighten rather than taking "Gone With the Wind" as fact.
Good, bad, and/or ugly, I always find history interesting for there is so much that we can learn including not repeating it.
While slavery was not invented by the southern white male, we as Charlestonians, South Carolinians, Southerners, and Americans have all benefited from the morally flawed cultures that allwed slavery to flourish.
October 26, 2007 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCdeacinNYC (anonymous) says...
haha...thanks for reference Two_Sheds...i'm glad my responses are feared even when I am not aroudn...
unfortunately I am too swamped at work to give a significant comment/argument/disagreement...
I'm sure you know what I would say to all of this though.
Have a good weekend everyone!! :)
October 26, 2007 at 11:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Two_Sheds (anonymous) says...
Come on, Early, don't stir the pot. Things will escalate, and then they'll end up erasing and banning all comments like they did with the "expulsion rate" article. : )
October 26, 2007 at 11:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sjmehlhose (anonymous) says...
Slavery was not exclusively a black/white thing. There were some black plantation owners who owned their own slaves. History is very important because it sheds light on who we are. Also, it has been said (and rightly so) that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We can even see correlations between the Civil war and the war in the middle east. In 1863-4, Democrats in the north wanted to have a negotiated peace with the south (including allowing slavery to continue). That is just what the Democrats today want to do in the middle east. Instead of winning the war, they want to negotiate with the terrorists. Both would be deplorable mistakes.
October 26, 2007 at 12:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCdeacinNYC (anonymous) says...
Oh really now Early, Let's play nice. Is it really accurate to say I think Im right because I'm black I don't think I've ever insinuated that. All I've ever done is state my opinion, based on FACTS, and laid it bare. Respect it or not. It's mine.
And to say I am the most racist blogger, hmmm I don't recall ever using phrases such as "you blacks", "you white people" "the blacks", "animals", "monkeys", et cetera. I think you just have some anger issues related to race you need to control, and stop targeting me.
Like I said have nice weekend everyone, I don't want to even get started on this thing, before I receive another message about someone's hurt feelings.
Carry on with your dialogue and refrain from personal attacks. Thanks!
October 26, 2007 at 12:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Test2007 (anonymous) says...
Everyone already knows about the Africans selling Africans point that is highlighted often by Southerners, but slaves in Africa were not whipped or killed based on racial superiority. There is no comparison between the two. Also, most of the conflicts in Africa started AFTER European colonization (Rwanda, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc) and had nothing to do with slavery. We only know the Africa we read about now but the Africa back then before colonization was very different. I don't agree that slavery was a "blessing" in disguise About 80 million or so died during the trip over here. I also disagree with people who are saying that it wasn't as brutal or violent as people say. Who are you to say that? Patting yourselves on the back because some people were nice to their slaves or records "show" they were "nice" to their slaves doesn't excuse the fact that they owned an actual person. This goes for the slave owners in Africa as well.
No I am not saying you all are condoning slavery. No one condones slavery, but you are trying to sugar coat it. Even if they weren't all "whipped", people were sexually assaulted, families were destroyed and a whole culture lost. Babies were ripped from the arms of their mothers and fathers. Mothers and fathers were separated. No one condones slavery but trying to water it down doesn't help matters.
Cannonfodder - The whole lightskin vs darkskin argument did start with slavery and is still prevalent today in many cultures. The caste system in India. Asian people have issues with it too. Hispanics discriminate by light vs dark skin. Even caucasian people have it. Darker (olive complexion) vs fair skin/fair hair. A good movie to watch (or book to read) is "Feast of All Saints" by Anne Rice. It actually takes place in New Orleans. The relationships (master/slave etc) weren't that much different than elsewhere in the South but with an exception. Check it out. It's fiction but pretty accurate. A little disturbing as well. Not for kids.
PS Early, can you even post without the childish ravings and immature name calling. Good God. Get a life. You always post on boards that have to do with Black people. I never see you on any posts having to do with anything else which makes me think that you only go on posts where you can spout off your opinions about blacks/or anything having to do with them. As for the most racist blogger? I think you probably fit that bill. I have seen some of the crap that you've come up with and when someone disagrees you start with the childish name calling and ranting. Grow up.
October 26, 2007 at 12:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
besttm (anonymous) says...
The blog has certainly shifted from the merits of the article.
Slavery has gone on since the history of recorded time and still continues today-although in apparently more acceptable forms. From Genesis to Darfur. Unofrtunately there will always be someone somewhere subjugating someone and it doesn't matter what name you stick on it.
I don't think anyone here is trying to white wash the past. However, I do think that it is difficult to assume that everyone associated with a class, race, or social status experienced the same things or were treated the same. No two people ever have the exact same life experiences.
What the professor is trying to do is to shed some light on ONE Charleston family and their connections/associations/way-of-life in a by-gone era and his efforts should be applauded. His research will only enhance our local and national history.
October 26, 2007 at 1:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mggoose2000 (anonymous) says...
I am amazed that the majority of you that have commented want to read about such a worn out subject and yet you call the "war" or any reporting thereof as tired and old news. Our fellow United States citizens are dying at an alarming rate defending your right to express your ideas and thoughts on this blog, yet you don't want to honor them with articles that may give you insight into their daily lives and some of the unselfish acts of heroism that they are responsible for. You should all be ashamed of yourselves; I'll be ashamed for you!
October 26, 2007 at 1:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Stoped reading @ 11:00 and could not finish at that time, but:
Lots of good comments in this forum and I agree with most of what has be said. I believe that slavery was bad for the developement of the south. Take for example boat building (small craft), when I look at the diversity of small craft that were built in the northeast before the civil war and compare it to what was produced here it is like day and night - craftsmen in the north took the European traditions and adapted them to their needs - around Charleston most of what was produced were dugout rowboats and flat bottom skifts, - in the north east, where workmen were free to think/do for themselves, refinement flourished with craft such as the the NY whitehall and I think that this also translated to large water craft developement. When the war came along, the south had to contract construction of major war ships, such as the Alabama, to yards in England/Scotland. The south had virtually no industry and depended on foreign materials of war - a free working/business class, both white and black could have made things different and perhaps changed the course of history. Perhaps preventing the civil war from happening.
October 26, 2007 at 1:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Test2007 (anonymous) says...
Early, I'll go back to Africa when you go to hell. Not one day before. Ok, I've stooped to your level once for today.
MOVING ON, mggoose we aren't saying that the war is not important. It is. Sometimes we need a change in topic. I am sorry that you think slavery talk is worn out and trivia esp when sexual slavery is still occurring all over the world even today. Little kids/women are being bought and sold by perverts to perverts and some just for servitude. Kind of like what we are talking about today. It is still relevant. Besides I am sure if you look deep enough there is an article about the war somewhere on here. I am sure you didn't have to come on this board to wag a finger at us.
This article is pretty interesting. One of the few I've seen in a while on P&C.
October 26, 2007 at 2:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Looks like I spoke too soon about good comments.
October 26, 2007 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
My_50Cents_Worth (anonymous) says...
I found the comments with regard to slavery, as well as the article very thought-provoking and even though I didn't agree with everything that was said, it was good to see that a civil and respectful discussion...for the most part...could be had about a topic that is very much a sensitive/hurtful topic for many.
On another note, MMgoose2000, while I personally don't think that slavery is a worn out topic, I agree with you and would like to see more stories about our men and women fighting for our great country. I'm, not sure your stance, but I am particularly interested in local heroes and heroines assigned to SC military installations. Although they may not be the "sons and daughters of the Carolinas" per se, they represent the units that represent our great state. Charleston AFB, as well as the other local installations should be full of unclassified stories, positive: and maybe not so positive-but factual,- about local service men and women and their families. It would be nice to get an article or two about them.
Two_Shed & SCdeacinNY, I got a good laugh at from you two:It's funny when you become familiar with the user names and can anticipate what will be said.
Great discussion!!
October 26, 2007 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
Remember the article just awhile back where the guy from England came over and met with the black descendents of the Drayton slaves?
I was wondering why the P&C has not mentioned if this article is part of a series on Drayton Hall?
That was an interesting article as well as this one.
October 26, 2007 at 4:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
RTC
Read a book by a decendendant of the Ball family that owned plantations on the Cooper and it gave a lot of insite into the lives of slaves and the author followed up and found some of the decendents - was a good read. If this discussion continues thru tomorrow, will try to provide title and author.
October 26, 2007 at 5:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pinckney (anonymous) says...
It's "Slaves in the Family" and was written by Edward Ball.
October 26, 2007 at 7:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gococks1985 (anonymous) says...
Hey mggoose, there is no need to be ashamed of me in any way shape or form. I am a United States Citizen AND welcome the opportunity to LEARN something new. There were several interesting things that I learned by READING the article. Quit ya griping about things. I am a veteran and am very well aware of who is dying and why.
October 26, 2007 at 7:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
Neponset, a good many of the Ball family are doctors right here in Charleston.
I went to school with one of the Ball girls who is a descendent of this family.
I will check out that book when I get a chance. I am jumping around reading books about the military in Iraq and about serial killers and profiling. Talk about being eclectic in reading material.
Thanks, Pinckney.
October 26, 2007 at 7:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
preachlove (anonymous) says...
I read this article with interest as I am definitely interested in learing about the history of our area and of my people. There are not too many books that discuss this topic; this history is very lacking.
I too have read the book "Slaves in the Family" and have a copy on my shelf. It is nice to learn a little history about Charleston, especially a little history concerning James Island as well. A woman I knew as a little boy, a Mrs. Roper, owned a vegeteble stand and is discussed in this book. My great grandmother, who lived to be 112 years old spoke gullah and lived on the Grimball plantation. She was born a year before emancipation and remembered the first car, which they thought was a headless horse. :-)
Directly concerning slaves in the family, my father would tell me about the whisperings going on about how some blacks became lightskinned, who their fathers were and what plantation they were from. When blacks arrived from Africa, they were mainly one shade of black and that was dark-skinned. As everyone can now see, due to a lot of various "unions" on those plantations, blacks are now many different shades. Some of this is due to unions with Indians in the area as well.
A lot of the blacks on James Island were on the Grimball or Dill plantation, although they were many more smaller plantations in the area. On Sundays, they were allowed to visit relatives on some of the other plantations.
I must agree with Test2007, while some slave owners cared more for their slaves' well-being, some cared because they were considered expensive property, while others were more abusive.
Sorry to ramble, just thought I'd add a couple cents.
October 27, 2007 at 3:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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