Guns on the Plantation: Situating the Use of Firearms by Enslaved Persons at Kingsley Plantation, Florida
Author(s): Karen E McIlvoy
Year: 2015
Summary
Kingsley Plantation, in Duval County, Florida, is located on a tranquil island that has seen many dynamic eras in its past. Fort George Island’s largest slave owner was Zephaniah Kingsley, the slave trading Africaphile that owned the plantation in the early nineteenth century. Recent excavations of the slave quarters at Kingsley Plantation have revealed the presence of firearms of various types in every domestic context investigated. These weapons were of the most up-to-date technology available and in a variety of sizes, suggesting a purpose beyond the hunting of game animals. This paper will present the archaeological evidence of firearms at Kingsley Plantation and explore the social and political settings and circumstances that led Zephaniah Kingsley to arm his slaves.
Cite this Record
Guns on the Plantation: Situating the Use of Firearms by Enslaved Persons at Kingsley Plantation, Florida. Karen E McIlvoy. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 434025)
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Keywords
General
Guns
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Plantation
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Slavery
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
19th Century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 365