Slavery in South Carolina during the colonial period was a delicate system that consisted of constant waves of tension, brutality, suppression and instability. After the high fluctuations of Africans into the Carolinas, whites, teetered on unstable ground knowing that there was a constant, unpredictable risk of revolts.
At the beginning of the colonial period the use for slaves was limited. This was due to the fact that no financially awarding crop had been developed. However, conditions for the slaves changed abruptly in 1690 when planters developed the cash crop of rice. The manual labor needed to harvest this crop seemed to be innumerable, thus, planters need for slaves capable of extreme manual labor spiked. The extreme influx of slaves into the Carolinas (mainly through Charles town and Sullivan) caused for a change of proportions of blacks to whites. Some estimate that there might have been 8 slaves to every white person. The transportation of this many persons in such a short time made the process unbearable. The Africans were shoved on a cargoes with not enough room to even stand, little to no food, and a public bucket for a bathroom, if they even got that. Many slaves did not survive the journey, and it was even said that sharks followed the boats in order to feast on the deceased slaves that were continuously tossed over
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Upon arriving the slaves were put to work on a plantation. Whites who understood how outnumbered they were, depended heavily on the law of the land as well as their neighbors who usually made up a large body of citizens that aided in controlling the slaves. This of course did not stop all revolts, and many masters would find their barns burned down after they were being especially cruel. Thus, the relationship between the masters and the slaves became a unique one. In order to keep from losing control, a certain level of autonomy had to be given to the slaves. A form of this came in the role of the driver(a slave elevated to a position of power), who served as a middle ground for other slaves and the masters. This in turn led to the slaves playing a huge role in running the plantations. However, this is not to say the African Americans were happy with their condition. The constant buzz of uprising and acts of violence was constant and strain for whites who struggled to maintain full control.
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