Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina
Earth-Labor-Transportation
Enslaved people performed road work, which helped move goods from “local [markets] to foreign distant markets.”
Slaves were sometimes used by the contractors. For instance, enslaved persons aided in the construction of the Fayetteville and Western plank roads. Enslaved labor often overlapped. Those who worked on roads often worked with other enslaved blacks who cut and fell the timber for these plank roads. Road work would include clearing land, which enslaved people also used to do.
Transportation in North Carolina before the railroads and beyond using water routes was dependent on horses and wagons. Although water routes were extremely important, particularly in the colonial and early antebellum period, the most consistent method of travel remained over land when travelling to local or distant markets. Even products that travelled by water routes typically started on land routes and then entered either a landing, dock, or port.
In regard to travel and enslaved people, it is important to mention that enslaved persons also served as drivers. In mass, enslaved people did not go on long journeys but some enslaved people travelled extensively, such body servants or waiter boys, hired out enslaved people, skilled enslaved persons, trusted enslaved people that managed the plantation, enslaved waterman, postal men, and carriage or stagecoach drivers.
For instance, an Asheville slaveholder named George Bowen, in pursuit of a runaway, rejected the advice of his enslaved stagecoach driver, who thought it best not to cross the swollen Yadkin river, drowned when the carriage overturned. The horse and driver escaped.
An economy demands transportation. When it comes to the history of moving goods and raw materials, North Carolina heavily relied on enslaved labor to help increase the transportation needs of the state, be it road construction, canal, and railroads. Enslaved people doing road work and working as transporters increased the means of transport for the state of North Carolina and by their work helped to improve the economy of the state. This has a long history. More on plank roads HERE
