Justene Hill Edwards

Well, I mean, I think it is important to note that when we talk about the history of slavery, especially if we talk about the experiences of the enslaved, the experience of an enslaved person in colonial South Carolina, let's say Charleston, or the outskirts of Charleston, was actually slightly different than the experience of an enslaved person in

Virginia, for example.

And so the experience of an enslaved person working on a tobacco plantation was actually not the same as an enslaved person on a rice plantation.

And so in South Carolina, the enslaved worked by what was called the task system.

And this was a system by which enslaved communities would work and do a specific amount of work each day based on the time of year.

So

The structure of rice cultivation was pretty systemic in that certain times of year require certain types of labor in terms of irrigation, in terms of harvesting.

And so once an enslaved person or community finished a particular work task during the day, they would essentially have the rest of the day on their own.

And in

South Carolina and in the Lowcountry, the enslaved really didn't work side by side with whites for an overseer or an enslaver.

They were really working independently on their own.

And so what this meant is that some historians might say that they had more, quote unquote, autonomy over

freedom, for lack of a better word.

I tend to not use that word.

But it meant that all of these other aspects of slave life could develop and evolve.

This is what I talk about in my first book, Free Market.

And so there was a robust and a vibrant slaves economy that developed in tandem with the task system.

And so it meant that travelers who would go to Charleston, for example,

would be surprised that the enslaved would be in marketplaces selling goods.

They'd have to haggle with enslaved women to buy goods.