Red, White, and Black Make Blue

Book about slavery and the indigo trade in South Carolina

Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life

Author| Andrea Feeser
Language| English
Subject| British American colonial history
Genre| History, non-fiction
Publisher| University of Georgia Press

Publication date

| 2013
Pages| 160
ISBN| 978-0820345536
Website| Booik page at UG Press

Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life is a book written by Andrea Feeser and published by the University of Georgia Press in 2013.[1][2]

## About

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When blue became the most popular color for textiles produced in Britain during the eighteenth century, South Carolina indigo dye, used to color most of this cloth, became a critical component in transatlantic commodity chains. In the book Red, White, and Black Make Blue, Andrea Feeser recounts the stories of individuals who contributed to making indigo an integral part of the colonial South Carolina experience, exploring the plant's relationships to land use, slave labor, textile production, use, expression, and wealth creation.[3][1]

Indigo played an important role in colonial South Carolina's economic development. The widespread popularity of blue among the upper and lower classes resulted in high demand for indigo, and the region's climate was favorable for its cultivation.[4] The availability of enslaved labor made it economically feasible to commoditize indigo. Additionally, the colonists' access to land taken from displaced or enslaved indigenous peoples significantly increased the land available for cultivation.[1][3]

## Structure

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Feeser's book is organized thematically rather than chronologically.[5] It begins by analyzing a London dyer's shop sign to explore the connections between conquest and trade that shaped British industrialization. In the second chapter, she examines a 1776 illustration by William Blake of Surinam women wearing matching skirts printed in a red and blue design. The chapter concludes by comparing blue designs in the clothing of an escaped enslaved person from Angola and a Cherokee shoulder strap, which Feeser sees as evidence of the wearers' agency in creating linkages to their past and present. Chapter three explores the various meanings of indigo, from nationalistic pride to income for planters and security for loyalists. In chapters four and five, Feeser recounts how Native American land was acquired for indigo cultivation and how enslaved Africans possessed knowledge of indigo.[6][7]

The final two chapters include case studies of individuals who expressed agency in their relationship with indigo, including a free mixed-race man who deserted an indigo plantation and an enslaved African carpenter who built wooden indigo vats. The book concludes with examining a photograph of a patchwork woolen apron, which symbolizes Feeser's search for meaning in an eighteenth-century silk dress that sparked her interest in South Carolina's colonial past.[6][7]

## Publication information

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* Feeser, A. (2013). Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life (Illustrated ed.). University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-3817-0.

## About the author

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Main article: Andrea Feeser

Andrea Feeser is professor of modern and contemporary art history, theory, and criticism, Department of Art at Clemson University.[8]

## Similar or related works

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* The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez
* Plantation Enterprise in Colonial South Carolina by S. Max Edelson
* Money, Trade, and Power: The Evolution of Colonial South Carolina's Plantation Society by Jack P. Greene
* That Most Precious Merchandise: The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves, 1260–1500
* Christian Ritual and the Creation of British Slave Societies, 1650–1780

## See also

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* Colonial history of the United States
* Province of South Carolina
* Otranto Plantation Indigo Vats

## References

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### Citations

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1. ^ a b c Reidy 2016.
2. ^ Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life, University of Georgia Press, retrieved 21 February 2023
3. ^ a b Littlefield 2014.
4. ^ Hatfield 2015.
5. ^ Salo 2016.
6. ^ a b Lakwete 2015.
7. ^ a b McDonald 2015.
8. ^ "Profile: Andrea Feeser", Clemson University, retrieved 21 February 2023

### Reviews

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* Hatfield, Megan (2015). "Reviewed work: Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life, Andrea Feeser". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 116 (1): 80–81\. JSTOR 24638538.
* Lakwete, Angela (2015). "Reviewed work: Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life". Agricultural History. 89 (2): 296. doi:10.3098/ah.2015.089.2.296.
* Littlefield, Daniel C. (2014). "Reviewed work: Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life, Andrea Feeser". The American Historical Review. 119 (5): 1683–1684\. doi:10.1093/ahr/119.5.1683. JSTOR 43698943.
* McDonald, Michelle Craig (2015). "Reviewed work: Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life, Andrea Feeser". The Business History Review. 89 (3): 590–593\. doi:10.1017/S0007680515000860. JSTOR 43897582.
* Reidy, Joseph P. (2016). "Staple Crops as Windows into the World Where Slavery and Capitalism Once Coexisted". Reviews in American History. 44 (1): 31–39\. doi:10.1353/rah.2016.0001. JSTOR 26363980. S2CID 155307939.
* Salo, Edward (2016). "Reviewed work: Red, White, & Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life, Andrea Feeser". Material Culture. 48 (1): 72–74\. JSTOR 44507776.

## Further reading

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* Coon, David L. (1976). "Eliza Lucas Pinckney and the Reintroduction of Indigo Culture in South Carolina". The Journal of Southern History. 42 (1): 61–76\. doi:10.2307/2205661. JSTOR 2205661.
* Haywood, C. Robert (1959). "Mercantilism and South Carolina Agriculture, 1700–1763". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 60 (1): 15–27\. JSTOR 27566205.
* Kumar, Prakash (2016). "Plantation Indigo and Synthetic Indigo: European Planters and the Redefinition of a Colonial Commodity". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 58 (2): 407–431\. doi:10.1017/S0010417516000128. JSTOR 43908426. S2CID 147315887.
* Nash, R. C. (2010). "South Carolina indigo, European textiles, and the British Atlantic economy in the eighteenth century". The Economic History Review. 63 (2): 362–392\. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.2009.00487.x. JSTOR 27771617. S2CID 153774171.
* Sharrer, G. Terry (1971). "The Indigo Bonanza in South Carolina, 1740-90". Technology and Culture. 12 (3): 447–455\. doi:10.2307/3102998. JSTOR 3102998.