47 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen THE INDIGO EXPERIMENT Eliza’s father sent indigo seeds from Antigua for her to experiment with at Hampton Plantation, which had become her main residence, according to historian Elizabeth Huntsinger. She explained that many Lowcountry planters had also attempted to grow the crop, valuable for its purplish-blue dye, but had yet to experience success. During the sweltering summer months when most planters traveled to escape the miserable heat, humidity and mosquitoes, the young and relentless Eliza stayed on the plantation with her slaves, working to crack the code. After persisting for four years, their hard work paid off and Eliza is remembered as the first woman to achieve success with the indigo crop. At 21, Eliza married Charles Pinckney, 45, and they had four children together, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Their first son, Charles Cotesworth, born in 1746, was a statesman and military officer who went on to be a signer of the U.S. Constitution. Their second child, George Lucas, was born in 1747, but passed away soon after. Their only daughter, Harriott, was born in 1749. The youngest son, Thomas, was born in 1750 and went on to serve as a diplomat and statesman. “Eliza managed to continue working directly with plantation operations while her family grew,” The NPS shared. “While raising their young family, Charles Pinckney contracted malaria and died in 1758. Eliza remained a widow the rest of her life, continuing to manage the plantations her husband left behind.” EXPORTS TO ENGLAND Further, “She sent a substantial export of indigo to England as proof of her efforts. In addition to economic motives, indigo production also succeeded in the Lowcountry because it fit within the existing agricultural economy. The crop could be grown on land not suited for rice and tended by enslaved people, so planters and farmers already committed to plantation agriculture did not have to reconfigure their land and labor. In 1747, 138,300 pounds of dye, worth £16,803 sterling, were exported to England. The amount and value of indigo exports increased in subsequent years, peaking in 1775 with a total of 1,122,200 pounds, valued at £242,295 sterling. England received almost all Carolina indigo exports, although by the 1760s a small percentage was being shipped to northern colonies. “By the beginning of the American Revolution, indigo made up one-third of the exports from Charleston Women in the Arts Antigua (circa 17th century).
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