Arming Africans in the Antebellum South: A Critical Reassessment of Firearm Usage at Kingsley Plantation (1814-1861), Fort George Island, Florida

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Recent Directions in Florida’s Historical Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The archaeological study of enslavement in the United States began in the late 1960s, with excavations by Charles Fairbanks at Kingsley Plantation and the Rayfield Plantation. In both instances, evidence of firearms was recovered, suggesting that Africans were armed. As more plantation spaces were excavated in the ensuing decades, additional evidence of these associations has mounted, but little attempt has been made to critically explore this evidence and its implications. In a reassessment of the pioneering work of Fairbanks, University of Florida researchers conducted eight summer field schools (2006 – 2013) at Kingsley Plantation, and found overwhelming evidence for the presence of firearms within all slave cabin contexts (n=6). One revealing trend was the predominance of pistols, over long guns. A review of previous work, and a synthesis of the Kingsley evidence offers key insights into the social relationships of enslaver and enslaved.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Directions in Florida’s Historical Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow