Short Reaction Papers Essay Sample

I concur with the thesis of this article that Negroes played a pioneering role in the colonial South Carolina. In the period of American Revolution, black slaves were known as “pioneers” because the significant duty they took to support the army (Wood 95). They could perform duties such as driving oxen, squaring cypress log, herding cattle, among others that were very crucial in the success of the battle. Secondly, they played an important role in the growth of South Carolina colony around 1720s. They participated in the successful introduction of rice and provided the necessary skills even in the labor sector. In the early eighteenth century, the Negroes, together with Indians and Europeans worked hand-in-hand to hunt wild animals that posed a serious danger to their livestock (Wood 97).
Unlike the preceding generations, the Negroes were part and parcel of the South Carolina population, and in fact they were the dominant race. They shared many things together with other races that were living in South Carolina. For example, the existence of external threats from Spaniards, Indian and later French, forced all the south Carolinas to be united in order to fight the external enemy together (Wood 96). The ordinance of 1693 allowed them to participate in the liquor trade just like other races that were living in South Carolina. They also participated in the assembly elections in 1701, which drew opposition from some people. Economic pressure from widespread debt, rising inflation, among others also created some equality among all the south Carolinas in those years. It until 1740 when the Negro Act was enacted that restricted the rights of Negroes and allowed for their mistreatment (Negro Act 1).

Work cited

Wood, Peter. Black majority: Negroes in colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the stono rebellion. New York: WW.Norton & company, 1996. Print.
“Negro act of 1740.” PBS online. Web. Mar 17, 2015.