Chattel Slavery in the Appalachians of North Carolina

Chattel slavery was foundational to the early American development of the Appalachian region. For decades history has claimed the occupants of the region to be poor White settlers. This myth painted the region as isolated from the conflicts and innocent of the crimes of the nation. But, no one and no place is so isolated in history. The imagined tale is simply not true. The mountains are the current and ancestral home to several Native American tribes. Non-native settlers were also racially and culturally diverse. Among the non-native settlers included both free and enslaved African Americans. Along with permanent settlers came seasonal visitors. Many towns in western North Carolina hosted wealthy South Carolinians in the summer. These travelers retreated to the cooler region in the summers from 1700 through the 1800s. The wealth of these seasonal travelers was often built with unpaid enslaved labor. The seasonal and travel industries in Appalachia were undeniably tied to chattel slavery.

Being an enslaver and personal wealth were closely related before the Civil War. In 1860 almost 10% of western North Carolina’s population enslaved over 12,000 people. This top 10% held $18.7 million in real and personal wealth. 1,877 people in western North Carolina had 43.4% of the wealth of the region. Appalachia was closely tied to the Lower South and the rising demand for enslaved labor. When cotton became a cash crop between 1810 and 1860, the demand for labor went up as well. Traffickers used four main routes through Appalachia to traffic Black Americans further south. The eastern route ran through Burke County, the most involved county in North Carolina's slave trafficking. The route then went to Charleston and then further south to Alabama.

North Carolina enslavers mostly used local, and in-state means to traffic enslaved persons. Yet, the Appalachian region saw the rise of interstate trafficking. The national slave trade grew to meet Southern demand. Independent traffickers, kidnappers, and “bounty hunters” saw the opportunity for profit. Traffickers began moving routinely through the region. Traffickers were often seen traveling with large groups of enslaved people on foot and in chains to the Lower South. Some towns saw so many that created taxes or fees for slave trafficking. Some counties saw less trafficking than others, but every courthouse had a slave auction block.

Black Americans both enslaved and free were extremely vulnerable to predatory practices. A free Black American in jail could be sold to a trafficker into slavery. Traffickers purchased and forced children from their families. Some traffickers would raise Black children until they were old enough to sell for higher prices. Freedom seekers were often hunted down by trackers, to sell them back into captivity for a bounty. Blackbirding was when traffickers illegally kidnapped Black Americans and sold them into slavery. Blackbirding was a constant threat to Black Americans of any status, free or enslaved. Even Cherokees could fall victim to blackbirding and kidnapping by traffickers.

Today, we often associate the tasks of enslaved workers with agriculture and farming. Many slaveholders in the mountains worked in farming but it was not the only sector tied to enslaved labor. Black Appalachians made up more than two-fifths of the labor force outside of farming in North Carolina before 1860. This force numbered almost 90,000 Black Americans, 79,200 of whom were enslaved. Mining was one industry besides farming that demanded the most enslaved workers with the highest profits. Between seasons, slaveholding farmers regularly rented or leased out enslaved workers to mines. The five-year gold rush in North Carolina in 1828 was an influence on this practice. Mining was a very dangerous industry. While enslavers were profiting off the enslaved miners, the miners’ lives were at risk daily. Copper mines and public works like the railroad also profited from the work of enslaved Black workers.

Anne Mitchell Whisnant and David E. Whisnant. Black Lives and Whitened Stories: From the Lowcountry to the Mountains. Historic Resource Study. National Park Service. Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. November 2020.