South Carolina Slave Labor
The Stono Rebellion was able to alter race relations in South Carolina in a number of subtle ways. It resulted in a confluence of newly adopted laws and interracial relations among those supporting the state government, Native Americans, and even some slaves. The primary effect that this rebellion had on race relations was that it was able to formalize the nature of the relations among the different races previously named by establishing a precedent for future behavior.
The basis of the precedent established by these rebellions was essentially one of bribery. This fact is quite clear when one considers the effect that this rebellion had on the Native Americans involved. Several Native Americans helped to quell the rebellion by fighting against the revolting slaves. They were then rewarded by the government with weapons and clothes, which likely had a great amount of value at that time. Therefore, there was a precedent established that Native Americans who assist the South Carolina government in its endeavors -- such as in suppressing slave revolts -- will be rewarded, which William Bull...
That precedent would convince other Native Americans to do the same, and encourage their subservience to the state's
authority.
There was a similar precedent established that helped to formalize the nature of African and African-American slaves who sided with the government and its slave masters. There were multiple such slaves who actually fought to stop the actions of the rebellious slaves. The former were similarly rewarded with a variety of clothes and
money (Commons). Interestingly enough, these slaves were not given weapons, nor were the Native Americans given money. This fact simply proves the amount of subservience in the relationships between the races that the government was trying to create in giving out its rewards. The precedent established for slaves who helped their masters was that they would receive preferential treatment for remaining servile. The rewards helped to formalize this fact and create a situation in which obedient slaves would want to become even more obedient.
The third way in which this rebellion helped to formalize interracial relationships in South Carolina involved slaves who attempted to rebel. The government made it quite clear that these slaves would be killed. In fact, there are several laws that it passed to emphasize this fact. The most notorious of these is the slave codes. These codes made established the fact that virtually anything…
