Contextualizing African American work and landscapes in the southern United States
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2018-11-02

From the most intimate details of individual households to the broadest public spaces, the study of material culture can provide new perspectives about how people lived and the work they did. An outcome of research on material goods and landscapes is that modern communities can see the contributions of their ancestors to past social and economic structures. This, in turn, can help enfranchise social groups and communities who have historically been regarded as unimportant within broad cultural or historical developments. Examples from the Southeastern United States illustrate the ways that enslaved African Americans helped create the landscapes of the region not only through their labor but also with the skills, knowledge, and experience of rice cultivation. Their influence on the landscape is still visible today. A second example shows that African Americans sought numerous ways of making their livings, even within slavery. Far from scrounging a hardscrabble existence, they were energetic and skilled operators in building an underground economy. Although much of this is known from historical sources, contextualizing various artifacts found at slave and freed people settlements provides tangible evidence of the breadth of their economic activities. Focusing on topics such as these reveals that African American contributions to Southern culture were substantial and enduring, and went far beyond coerced manual labor. These contributions entitle African Americans to participate in discussions of U.S. history as equal partners in building and shaping it.

Author: Mr. Botwick, Brad - New South Associates, Inc. (Presenting author)