Carolina's Golden Fields: Inland Rice Cultivation in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670–1860 (Cambridge Studies on the American South) - Hardcover

Book 32 of 36: Cambridge Studies on the American South

Smith, Hayden R.

 
9781108423403: Carolina's Golden Fields: Inland Rice Cultivation in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670–1860 (Cambridge Studies on the American South)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 110842340X ISBN 13: 9781108423403
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2019

Synopsis

This book examines the environmental and technological complexity of South Carolina inland rice plantations from their inception at the turn of the seventeenth century to the brink of their institutional collapse at the eve of the Civil War. Inland rice cultivation provided a foundation for the South Carolina colonial plantation complex and enabled planters' participation in the Atlantic economy, dependence on enslaved labor, and dramatic alteration of the natural landscape. Moreover, the growing population of enslaved Africans led to a diversely-acculturated landscape unique to the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Despite this significance, Lowcountry inland rice cultivation has had an elusive history. Unlike many historical interpretations that categorize inland rice cultivation in a universal and simplistic manner, this study explains how agricultural systems varied among plantations. By focusing on planters' and slaves' alteration of the inland topography, this book emphasizes how agricultural methods met the demands of the local environment.

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About the Author

Hayden R. Smith is Adjunct Professor of History at the College of Charleston, South Carolina.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication date
2019
Language
English
ISBN 10 
110842340X
ISBN 13 
9781108423403
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
258