8 October 1698
Carolina promotes imported white servants to reinforce plantation control
Charlestown and the southwestern part of proprietary Carolina
Alarmed by the growth of its enslaved Black population, Carolina funded imports of white male servants and assigned them by lottery to plantation owners in proportion to the enslaved Black men over sixteen they held: one servant for six men. Qualifying servants already held could satisfy the requirement. The import payment scheme excluded Irish servants.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The law was an import-and-allotment scheme with age, contract and lottery conditions, not an unconditional permanent staffing ratio. Constables faced penalties for failing to supply plantation lists, and owners owed payment and upkeep charges. It was initially limited to three years plus the next Assembly session and repealed in March 1700/01. The repeal’s claim that its purpose had been accomplished is an official assertion, not measured compliance data.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 3; supplied pp. 39–58 and bibliography pp. 690–691, edition/year unidentified
- Thomas Cooper, ed., Statutes at Large of South Carolina, vol. 2 (1837), act 167, pp. 153–156, especially I, III–V and VIII; scan checked ↗
- Cooper, vol. 2, act 179, pp. 165–166: repeal, dated 1 March 1700/01 ↗