THIS EVERYDAY LIFE

RICE CULTIVATION IN COLONIAL GEORGIA South Carolina was established as a colony in the mid 1600s and after depleting what natural resources it had, turned to rice production shortly thereafter. Realizing their Native American slaves and European indentured servants had little or no physical capacity or liking to the necessary physical capacity or knowledge to productively cultivate and bring to harvest rice crops, they turned to the Africans that were being brought into the colonies as slaves. The slaves offered cheap labor and the already acquired knowledge of rice production, which by the way necessitated a complex method of dikes, irrigation and ground clearing methods. These slaves also appeared impervious to the many diseases that plagued the sub-tropical climate and environment. As a matter of fact in the “middle passage” crossing they brought with them yellow fever and malaria. Two ailments the Europeans and Native Americans had little or no immunity against. Having the sickle cell anemia trait the Africans were more adaptable to withstanding the ravages of these diseases. As a consequence the slaves were a valuable commodity in the rice operation. An operation by the way necessitated the clearing of treacherous and humid swamplands and bogs, while enduring a somewhat harsh climatic environment. Being from environments and having the knowledge of the cultivation process, the slaves were a great fit in the production of rice in the colony. Georgia was established as a colony in 1733 and from the outset had “be friendly to the Indians” and no-slavery” laws, that prohibited them from even contemplating using Indians as slaves or using African slaves as their counterparts in South Carolina were doing and prospering by the way. Because of the envy generated by the prosperity of their northern neighbors and other considerations the “no slavery law” was abolished and slavery was introduced into Georgia in 1750. From its inception in Georgia, slavery was intended primarily for rice production. Summary of it all was Georgia soon became the second largest producer and importer of rice in the American colonies, trailing South Carolina by only 37%. Because of the repeal of certain laws that necessitated imported goods to be transited through England, great wealth was accrued on the part of the Georgian rice plantation owners. They were now able to directly import to foreign entities without middleman considerations. An outshoot of the importation of slaves into both the South Carolina and Georgia Coastal areas was the creation of African-American societies (Gullah in South Carolina and Geechie in Georgia) that carried more of the African heritage than any other African-American group in America. This no doubt resulted from scarce contact with Europeans. And this was due again to the plantation owners not being able to even stand the climate of the areas where the rice production took place. They often took refuge in more suitable climates and left stewardship to overseers, managers, etc., which in some case were Africans themselves. In a period when slaves in both colonies outnumbered Europeans colonist (as high as 5 to 1 in Coastal South Carolina) development of these societies is understandable.