This dissertation examines the changing concepts and experiences of slavery and freedom in South Carolina from its founding in 1670 through 1747, a period during which the legal status of ;;slave;; became solidified in law. During the course of South Carolina;;s first eight decades of settlement, the legal statuses of ;;slave;; and ;;free;; evolved as the colony;;s slaveholders responded to both local and imperial contexts. Slaves and slaveholders engaged in a slow process of defining and refining the contours of both slavery and freedom in law. The dissertation explores how this evolution occurred by focusing on three topics: constant conflict that afflicted the colony, free white colonists;; reliance on the loyalty of slaves, and South Carolina;;s law and legal system.
Through its use of social and legal history, as well as close reading, the dissertation shows that South Carolina;;s legal and military contexts gave unplanned meaning to slaves;; activities, and that this had the effect of permitting slaves to shape slavery and freedom;;s development in practice and in law. In various ways, the actions of slaves forced slaveholders to delineate what they considered appropriate life and work conditions, as well as forms of justice, for both slaves and free people. As such, slavery as an institution helped give form to freedom. Drawing on legal records, newspapers, pamphlets, and records of the colonial elite, the dissertation argues that slaves;; actions--nonviolent as well as violent-- served as a driving force behind the legal trajectory of slavery and freedom in South Carolina. These processes and contexts change our understanding of colonial America. They reveal that slaves influenced the legal regulation of slavery and that slavery and the enslaved population played a critical role in defining freedom, a central tenet of American democracy. Contrary to modern assumptions about freedom and even the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, this dissertation shows how slavery actually constrained freedom.
