Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina
Water-World of Waters
Navigation & Trade Limitations
North Carolina, unlike other colonies, was unable to maintain and sustain a strong transatlantic trade. One of the chief reasons behind this was the dangers of the North Carolina coast. Larger ships had a difficult time navigating shifting sandbars, shoals, and barrier islands. North Carolina was known for shipwrecks and ship groundings.
North Carolina’s coast was distinct from that of other colonies in other ways as well. Beyond the Barrier islands, through the 24 inlets, there are bogues and large bodies of water called sounds. The two largest are the Albermarle Sound and the Pamlico Sound. These sounds have varying depths. At some points, the sounds have great depth, capable of carrying the largest ships; at other points, the depth is very shallow, incapable of carrying anything larger than canoes. The variety of these waters increased the dangers through which vessels had to navigate to enter a North Carolina port.
North Carolina's trading network was mainly overland and was predominantly local [limited to North Carolina and neighboring states]. Nevertheless, North Carolina did have an overwater trading network that was intercolonial, including places such as New York and Charleston, and other colonized areas such as Jamaica and Barbados.
Many of the enslaved that arrived by ship did so from other colonies rather than a force migration directly from Africa. Nonetheless, because of North Carolina's navigation problems, most enslaved populations arrived from overland routes.Importing Enslaved Persons
Another reason for North Carolina’s lack of transatlantic trading was also its lack of cash crops. Early industry and crop production in North Carolina focused on tobacco and naval stores. The latter did have transatlantic significance. Even though tobacco was a major cash crop, North Carolina’s tobacco cultivation was limited, as it competed with Virginia’s tobacco cultivation, which had greater tobacco production and navigatable ports.
A colonial record noted, “This lack of a staple acceptable to England prevented her merchants from sending vessels to the colony and also made them unwilling to grant North Carolina planters the liberal credit which was necessary if they were to become heavy purchasers of negro cargoes.”
The environment of North Carolina’s coastal region determined the type of labor of enslaved people who remained in the coastal region; in some cases, the location determined the region of where enslaved people were imported, and the environment also shaped how enslaved people escaped slavery.
