World of Toil and Strife: Community Transformation in Backcountry South Carolina, 1750-1805

206 Pages·2007·14.294 MB·English

by  Peter N. Moore

4
w
ORLD OF
and
Toil strife
Community Transformation in
untry South Carolina, 1750-1805
M785wo
Peter Moore
N.
World
of
Toil and strife
Community Transformation in
BackcountrySouth Carolina, 1750-1805
Peter N. Moore
""'Sing the community oftheWaxhaws
as his proving ground, Peter N. Moore
challenges the notion that the Carolina
upcountrywas a static, undeveloped backwater
until entrepreneurial cotton planters entered the
region after 1800. Moore looks through the lens
—
ofa single community a predominately Scots-
Irish settlement in the lower Catawba Riverval-
leyin present-day Fairfield, Lancaster,York, and
—
Chester counties to document the social, eco-
nomic, and cultural characteristics ofa locale
thatwas dynamicbefore planters set their sights
on piedmont South Carolina.
Moore shows that social tensions within the
Waxhaw communitydrove its transformation,
rather than the land-grabbing speculators and
aggressive planters. He identifies the forces for
change as immigration patterns, neighborhood
rivalries, population growth, and developing
markets for slaves andwheat. By 1800 theWax-
haws bore little resemblance to the backcountry
communityofthe late colonial period. Moore
complicates the broader picture ofthe trans-
formation ofthe southern interior. He also
contributes to the debate over the rural transi-
tion to capitalism and engages the literature
ofthe evangelical Great Revival to demonstrate
the influence ofrevivals, familial loyalties, and
doctrinal differences on the region's religious
culture. Telling a more inclusive storythan
manystudies ofthe late-colonial piedmont,
WorldofToilandStrifepoints to the importance
ofIndian-white conflicts in shaping both the
World of Toil and Strife

World
of Toil
and
strife
Community Transformation in
Backcountry South Carolina, 1750-1805
peter Moore
N.
Ml
The UniversityofSouth Carolina Press
——
©2007PeterN.Moore
PublishedbytheUniversityofSouthCarolinaPress
Columbia,SouthCarolina29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Moore,PeterN., 1961—
Worldoftoilandstrife:communitytransformationinbackcountrySouthCarolina,
1750-1805/PeterN.Moore,
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-1-57003-666-8 (cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-10: 1-57003-666-7 (cloth:alk.paper)
1.Waxhaws (N.C.andS.C.)—History—18thcentury. 2.Waxhaws (N.C.andS.C.)—Social
— — —
conditions 18thcentury. 3.Waxhaws(N.C.andS.C.) Churchhistory 18thcentury.
— — —
4.Scots-Irish Waxhaws(N.C.andS.C.) History 18thcentury. 5.Presbyterians
— — —
Waxhaws (N.C.andS.C.) History 18thcentury. 6.PresbyterianChurch Waxhaws
— — — —
(N.C.andS.C.) History 18thcentury. 7.CatawbaIndians History 18thcentury.
— — —
8.CatawbaIndians Socialconditions 18thcentury. 9.Revivals UnitedStates
—
History 19thcentury. I.Title.
F277.W39M662007
975.675502—dc22 2006032561
.
ThisbookwasprintedonGlatfelterNaturesNatural,arecycledpaperwith50percent
postconsumerwastecontent.
ToMom andDad

1
Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction:William Richardson'sWorld 1
Prologue:The LowerCatawbaValley, 1540-1750 1
Chapter i Communities,Colonists,andConflict 18
Chapter 2 The Boundaries ofCommunity 32
Chapter3 Toil and Strife 44
Chapter4 Home Front 60
Chapter5 BeyondCompetency: The Riseofthe SlaveholdingClass,
1785-1800 76
Chapter 6 NewLight 90
Epilogue 106
Appendix 1: Population 111
Appendix2: Kinship andMigrationNetworks 115
Appendix 3: Marriages andChurchAffiliation, 1745-1808 119
Appendix4: Church Membership andAdherence, 1801 123
Notes 125
Bibliography 151
Index 169
AbouttheAuthor 177