One of the more interesting plantations in this area is the Kingsley Plantation, where we stopped today, one which gives you some different views of slavery. A white slave trader, Zephaniah Kingsley, who became a plantation owner, his African wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, who began as his slave, was freed in 1811, lived with him and often managed his plantation and, after being freed, bought and owned her own plantation and slaves. Mix in his 3 other wives and their children, other white relatives who lived on the plantation with their families and all the slaves who worked the plantation and you have an interesting way of life.
Zephaniah Kingsley was against the restrictive 2-class society of southern life and believed in the 3 class system of the Spanish: slaves who occupied the bottom tier, freed blacks in the middle and whites who were the top class. He advocated this system but went unheard as more and more restrictive laws were put into place in southern society in 1821 when the US acquired Florida. Eventually, disgusted with prejudice and intolerance, he and some of his family moved to Haiti, the only free black republic in the hemisphere. When Kingsley died in 1843, Anna moved back to this area to live with her daughters.
Interesting family and interesting problems moving between the two levels of society. This site has developed a nationally recognized program of interpretation. We took the hand sets which tell about the plantation, has quotations from many of those who lived here and presents lots of different views from many different people. Very interesting and, if you come here, get the handsets. They really enliven your experience and knowledge.
We visited the house which was not open at this time.
Then to Anna’s apartment where she managed the plantation and slaves. Here also was the kitchen. Next to this we saw 1/4 acre, the size of the plot which Kingsley used for his ‘task’ system. It’s difficult to see here but Gary is at one corner of the 1/4 acre and I’m at another corner. He’s pointing at another stake which marked a third corner. 1/4 acre is plenty big when you have to hoe it all or plant it all or harvest it all.
Each slave was assigned a task like the ones on this plaque near the 1/4 acre. When they were done with this task, they could do what they wanted, like plant their own garden or learn their own trade. Great system - rush through your task, get done early and then your time is your own. Hey, I like this idea. Oh oh, wait a minute, I see a problem. If you finish early, next time, you’ll get assigned a much larger task. Think that would happen? You betcha.
Then we walked over to the slave homes, situated in a semi-circle which resembled the siting of homes in Africa. In these 32 homes were 80+ enslaved men, women and children. The home were made out of what is called ‘tabby’ a mixture of cooked oyster shells, sand and water mixed together to make a ‘cement.’ Small, with two rooms and a fireplace. The larger homes on the ends were for the ‘drivers’ who managed the tasks on the plantation.
Close your eyes as you stand in one of the homes and imagine the sounds of a slave family as they go about their daily tasks, as assigned to them by someone else. Were slave families broken up and sold separately? Absolutely. This plantation had a very interesting story and might have been a more ‘enlightened’ plantation where slaves could buy their own freedom but they were still slaves.
Interesting plantation which can give you a whole new perspective on some aspects of slavery.
On the way home we saw these two nuclear power plant stacks. We haven’t seen something like this since we left New England in the mid 1980’s. Next to a beautiful wetlands area.
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