Slavery at Magnolia Plantation                                   
1676 - 1865

Slavery existed at Magnolia Plantation for almost two centuries. It is a fact of historical note that African slaves, and later African-American slaves, would do the majority of the work that built the fortunes of the Drayton family.

Very little is known about the numbers of slaves that the Drayton family owned in the 18th century. Certainly they would have owned quite a few as they not only had Magnolia Plantation to maintain, but also other properties where they grew and cultivated rice.

However, from surviving records we know that in the 19th century there was an average of forty-five slaves that lived and toiled at Magnolia Plantation from the early 1800’s until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Research into the history of slavery at Magnolia Plantation is on-going and considered an important aspect of understanding the evolution of the site and its history. Putting faces and names to the thousands of enslaved individuals who toiled at Magnolia Plantation is a daunting but important task. Here is an example of some of the slave names found in the historical record from 1820.

• Driver Dick
• Carpenter Robert
• Carpenter Joe
• Carpenter Jim
• House Servant George
• House Servant Daniel
• House Servant Sam
• House Servant London
• House Servant Kent
• Grace
• Carpenter Abraham
• Vint
• Simon
• Samson
• Sandy
• Scipio
• Pompey
• July
• Joe
• January
• Tom
• Robin
• Rose
• Tinah
• Hannah
• Harriot
• Holly
• Die
• Bofa
• Binah

Note the variety in the names that range from the Biblical such as “Samson,” to the Roman historical & mythological, such as Scipio, Pompey and January. There appear to also be two African or Gullah names in “Bofa” and “Binah.” There is also the distinction at times to what their role or “profession” was in regards to their name such as “Carpenter Joe,” or “House Servant Daniel.” The field slaves usually did not have such distinctions.

The discussion of slavery is often difficult, but it is an important topic that must be talked about openly and honestly whenever plantation life is discussed. Our knowledge and perspective about history is always changing and evolving. Enslaved Africans, and later African-Americans, were able to create a powerful and unique culture despite enslavement. Both the Europeans and Africans were pioneers in carving out an existence in the New World. In many cases they worked side by side, but there were also distinct differences.

From the 17th century until the early 19th century, West Africans were transformed from merchants, craftsmen, peasant farmers, and cattle-tenders into American slaves.  They ate what they were given or could find, not what they wanted.  They dressed in the clothes that were given to them, not those they had known in the past.  The Africans had to give up their own language and learn to express themselves through other forms of communication.  They were stripped of all material possessions as their enslavers attempted to transform them from human beings with a rich history and culture into beasts of burden. But the one thing that could not be erased was their memories. 

The things they were taught as children, the cultural system they had grown up in, all of these things would remain part of their consciousness, and they would pass those memories down from generation to generation.  By doing so, they created new patterns of behavior necessary to adapt to their new environment. Melding African traditions from various regions with those of the New World created a culture and language that survive in various forms to this day. These include food (rice, related rice dishes, okra, etc.), music (Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Rock & Roll, etc.), literature, poetry, and language (Gullah). Therefore the examination of enslavement, even in a microcosm setting such as Magnolia Plantation, is important to the greater understanding of our world today.

One cannot look at the history of enslavement at Magnolia Plantation without an understanding of the importance of the Gullah language and culture. Of the approximately 400,000 Africans that were forcibly enslaved and brought into North American during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the majority were funneled through Charleston, South Carolina. These African’s were from various regions, mainly from the West Coast of Africa, where there were hundreds of dialects within each region. Even today in Nigeria, there are more than 150 languages and dialects spoken. A creolization of languages began to emerge in the Lowcountry that allowed these slaves from various regions of Africa to communicate with each other as well as with their white owners and overseers. Thus the initial “Gullah” dialect began (or “Geechee” as it is referred to along the Georgia Sea Islands). 

As more African slaves funneled their way through the port of Charleston, a constant reinforcement of the African culture continued for almost two centuries. It is believed this is why the Gullah language and culture continue to exist to this day. However, it is very unlikely that the Gullah we hear today is anything like the Gullah spoken in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Still, the Gullah language today continues to have great similarities with the dialect of Kio, which is spoken today among the people of Sierra Leone.

This language and culture almost certainly existed at Magnolia Plantation in the 18th and 19th centuries. As it was widespread in the plantations of Lowcountry South Carolina, Magnolia Plantation could be no different.

Punishments could be harsh on Lowcountry plantations as they certainly would have been at Magnolia. Disobedient slaves could be punished with everything from additional work to physical beatings. Those that continued to be a problem could be sent to the workhouse in downtown Charleston for beatings and training, or they could be sold to another plantation far away from their family.  But the true horror of enslavement was not the physical punishments, but rather the lack of free will and forced work & confinement subject to the whim of their owner. There were also contrasts in the way various slaves were treated by the different generations of Draytons, such as between artisans & house slaves versus field slaves. Contrasts in the way slaves reacted to the Draytons through time varied as well.

Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the former slaves at Magnolia Plantation would play an integral and unique role in transforming the site into one of the most beautiful tourist attractions in America.

A new project is currently underway at Magnolia Plantation that will include the restoration and preservation of a number of original 19th century slave quarters. Included will be a new interpretive center and staff that will attempt to tell the true story of slavery at Magnolia as well as the role African-Americans played in the building of Magnolia Plantation as a national tourist attraction. This new interpretive area is scheduled to be finished and ready to open to the public in the spring of 2007.