298 Percy Wells Bidwell 



brought down the rivers from the middle parts of the state; and also 

 imported from, some of these United States."^ 



Lambert, writing a few years later, said in describing plantation 

 life in this state: "Everything is made subservient to the culti- 

 vation of cotton and rice. . . . With hundreds of slaves about 

 them, and cattle of various kinds, they are often without butter, 

 cheese and even milk, for many weeks. "^ In 1809 Ramsay, the his- 

 torian, in speaking of the increase in the cultivation of cotton and 

 rice since 1795, said: "These two staples have so monopolized the 

 agricultural force of the state that for several years past other articles 

 of export and even provisions have been greatly neglected. In their 

 great eagerness to get money the planters have brought themselves 

 into a state of dependence on their neighbors for many of the neces- 

 saries of life, formerly raised at home."^ 



The plantation system, however, had not been extended over a 

 very large part of the lowland region in 1810. There were still many 

 small planters and farmers who, while devoting most of their atten- 

 tion to the staple products, raised sufficient grain and meat for their 

 own consumption and that of the few negroes whom they employed. 

 It becomes important, therefore, to delimit as closely as possible the 

 area of large scale, specialized agriculture; for only in this way can 

 the extent of the market for food-stufifs be determined. This may be 

 best accomplished by an examination of the relative numbers of 

 blacks and whites in the seacoast counties of South Carolina and 

 Georgia. The plantation system in its full development meant the 

 presence of large numbers of slaves with relatively few white masters 

 and overseers. Such a system, therefore, could hardly be the rule 

 in districts where the whites were equal or numerically superior to the 

 blacks. Yet such was the case in all but four districts in South 

 Carolina, and in all but five in Georgia.^ These nine districts formed 



' Drayton, View, p. 113. 



2 Lambert, Travels, II. 148. Lambert's travels were made in 1806-1808. 



^ Ramsay, David. History of South Carolina. 3 vols. Charleston. 1809. II. 

 214. 



^ In South Carolina: 



Districts Total Inhabitants Slaves 



Charleston 57,480 41,945 



Colleton 24,903 20,471 



Beaufort 20,428 16,031 



Georgetown 22,938 16,568 



125,749 95,015 



