Slavery, Bondage, Serf & Servitude Compiled by: Paul M. Kankula NN8NN (non-copyrighted)

09 Jan 2015

Slavery:

• System based on enslaved labor:  A system based on using the enforced labor of other people.

• Condition of being an enslaved laborer:  The condition of being forced to work for somebody else in past times.

• Hard work:  Very hard work, especially for low pay and under bad conditions.

• State of being dominated:  A state of being completely dominated by another.

• Slavery in the United States was governed by an extensive body of law developed from the 1660s to the 1860s. Every slave state had its own slave code and body of court decisions. All slave codes made slavery a permanent condition, inherited through the mother, and defined slaves as property, usually in the same terms as those applied to real estate. Slaves, being property, could not own property or be a party to a contract. Since marriage is a form of a contract, no slave marriage had any legal standing. All codes also had sections regulating free blacks, who were still subject to controls on their movements and employment and were often required to leave the state after emancipation (1866).

Bondage:

• Slavery:  The condition of being enslaved or a serf.

• Control by something:  The condition of being controlled by something that limits freedom.

Serf:

• A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights.

• A person in bondage or servitude.

Servitude:

• A state of subjection to an owner or master.

• Lack of personal freedom, as to act as one chooses.

• Forced labor imposed as a punishment for crime: penal servitude in labor camps.

African-Americans/Blacks/Negroes:

• On 15-Sep-1793, at request of up country Presbytery, Dr. Reese wrote a description of the people whom he served and of the state of society. It is a valuable contribution to the history of those primitive days.  The people are in what might be called the middle station of life. None are very rich, few are extremely poor.  There are few slaves among them and these are treated with great kindness and humanity. They enjoy all that liberty which is compatible with their situation, and are exempted from that rigorous bondage to which unhappy countrymen in the lower parts of the state are subjected.  These are all circumstances favorable to virtue and religion and give ground to hope that these will flourish long here, when they shall have been in a great measure banished from those parts of the country where slavery, luxury and wealth have taken possession. (Remember, that this was written in 1793.)

• Black Ivory: A History of British Slavery

• Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians

• Chronology on the History of Slavery 1619 to 1789

• Chronology on the History of Slavery 1830 to Present

• Conflict of Abolition and Slavery

• Consequences of Slavery in Two American Centuries

• Crusade for Freedom in America

• Cyndi's List - African-American

• Folk History of Slavery

• History of American Slavery and Enfranchisemen

• SCIway - History of African-American Cemeteries

• SCIway - Preservation of African-American Cemeteries

• SCIway - Slave Burials in SC

• Slave Heritage Resource Center

• Slave Life and Culture in the Old South

• Slavery: History and Historians

• Slavery and Abolition, 1831-1841

• Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619-1860

• Terms of Labor: Slavery, Serfdom, and Free Labor

• Twentieth-Century Slave Narratives

• Underground Railroad - Special Resource Study

Euro-Americans/Whites/Caucasians:

• The Forgotten Slaves--Whites in Servitude

• White Slavery

Native-Americans/Redskins/Indians:

• Cyndi's List - Native-American

• Overview of Redskin/White Land Dispute

Doing research in the GoldenCorner (Anderson-Oconee-Pickens) counties of South Carolina  might be time consuming for you, because of how these counties were formed.  Based on your time-period, you might need to research all (3) counties.  As a result, you'll find that many of the webpage links on the left side of this page will represent all (3) counties.

 - Prior to ~1783, no lawful White settlements were above present southern Anderson County border.

- In 1789 Pendleton County was formed as part of the 96 Judicial District from Indian Country.
- In 1795 Pendleton County was placed in the Washington Judicial District.
- In 1799, Pendleton County was named Pendleton District by the State legislature and Washington Judicial District was discontinued.
- In 1826/27, Pendleton District was divided into the Anderson & Pickens Districts.
- In 1868 the state legislature decided to change all districts to counties. 

- Oconee County (est. 1868) represents part of old Pickens County & added Indian Land.
- Pickens County (est. 1825) represents part of old Pickens District.
- Anderson County (est. 1826) represents the old Anderson District.
- In 1986, Pickens County annexed Oconee County land that included Clemson University and land extending SE to Anderson County.

African American Selected Resources for Anderson, Oconee & Pickens Counties - H49, by Dr. W.J. Megginson

African American Life in SC's Upper Piedmont, 1780-1900 - H-50, by Dr. W.J. Megginson

General Robert Andrews Plantation Slaves - H-52

S.C. Plantations

V.P. John C. Calhoun Plantation Slaves - H-53

Kim Wilson at [email protected] will do free genealogy for Anderson County African-Americans.

ENSLAVED LABOR PLANTATION OWNERS:

(With more than 10 Males or Females prior to 1866)   

ENSLAVED LABOR PLANTATION OWNERS:

(With more than 10 Males or Females prior to 1866)   

Historical Interpretations by Anne Sheriff:  ( Under Construction )  Black History in Pickens County Parts I & II

ENSLAVED LABOR PLANTATION OWNERS:

(With more than 10 Males or Females prior to 1866)