To understand the American Revolution in South Carolina, we must also understand the experiences of enslaved and free Black South Carolinians. One of those stories is slave manumission, when an enslaved person was legally freed by the person who claimed ownership of them. Manumission did not end slavery or guarantee equality. Still, it offers an important way to examine how freedom was understood and constrained during the Revolutionary era.
Historian Dr. Larry D. Watson, a professor of history at South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina and a recognized scholar of African American and early American history, prepared research on this topic for the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission (SC250). His work shows that slavery in South Carolina was firmly established from the colony’s earliest years. Within that system, manumission was usually a personal decision made by enslavers and often received little public attention before the Revolution. Enslaved people were freed for many reasons, including long years of service, acts considered beneficial to the colony, self purchase, or family ties rooted in interracial relationships. His full study, The Impact of the American Revolution on Slave Manumissions in South Carolina, 1760 to 1800, is available through SC250.
“These are the stories we need to tell,” Dr. Watson says. His research began decades ago when he was a graduate student working on his dissertation. Notes he took at that time stayed with him and later became the foundation for more comprehensive research. Several years ago, Dr. Watson served on an advisory group for SC250, where he met the late Charles Baxley, the first chairman of the SC250 Commission. During those conversations, Dr. Watson raised slave manumissions as a topic that deserved deeper attention. Those discussions encouraged him to return to the research and expand it as part of a broader effort to tell a more complete story of the Revolutionary era.
For Dr. Watson, this work is closely tied to education. “We have not taught it,” he explains. “We need to teach it more, so young people know that the American Revolution set the stage for much of what we do today.”
These private acts of manumission led to a small but growing population of free Black South Carolinians. As that population grew, so did concern among white lawmakers. Grand juries and legislators increasingly focused on free Black people living among the enslaved population, especially in the Lowcountry, where enslaved people made up a majority of residents. Over time, laws were passed that limited where emancipated people could live, how long they could remain in the colony, and how their freedom had to be recorded.
Dr. Watson’s research shows that the American Revolution marked a turning point. Although slavery remained firmly in place, manumissions increased during and after the War for Independence. Between 1783 and 1800, at least 742 enslaved people were manumitted in South Carolina. Many were granted immediate freedom, while others were promised freedom through wills. Some enslavers continued long-standing practices of rewarding service. Others were influenced by Revolutionary-era language about liberty and natural rights, even though those ideas were applied unevenly.
Manumission records also show what freedom actually looked like. Many emancipated people faced delayed freedom or conditions tied to age, years of service, or expectations of good character and self-sufficiency. Some were given land, money, tools, or education to help them survive after gaining their freedom. Others entered freedom with very little support. As Dr. Watson notes, free Black South Carolinians lived in a difficult position. They were legally free, but denied many rights, heavily taxed, and closely monitored.
Reflecting on what his research has revealed, Dr. Watson notes, “South Carolina was a state divided. I find that more and more people are seeing the Revolutionary War and its importance in a different light.” He describes the work as both revealing and affirming. “It is eye-opening for me,” he says, “and yet a confirmation of things I had ideas about, but was not certain about.”
By 1800, growing concern over the free Black population led the South Carolina legislature to place tighter controls on manumission, making emancipation more difficult and more closely regulated. The period of expanding opportunity narrowed, even as the legacy of earlier manumissions continued to shape Black communities, especially in and around Charleston.
Through SC250, South Carolina is committed to examining the Revolutionary era in its full complexity, including the realities of slavery, freedom, and race. Manumission history reminds us that freedom during this period was never simple. It was conditional, limited, and often fragile. Yet these records preserve the names and lives of people who pursued freedom within a system designed to deny it. During Black History Month and beyond, these stories ask us to look more closely at the Revolution and the people whose lives were shaped by it.
Learn more
Read The Impact of the American Revolution on Slave Manumissions in South Carolina, 1760 to 1800 by Dr. Larry D. Watson.
Explore SC250 lesson plans for grades 4 and 8 based on this research.
Continuing the conversation
Dr. Watson will be a featured speaker at the 5th Annual African American History Education Conference, hosted by the Beaufort County School District, February 12 to 14, 2026. The conference, titled Untold Stories of Jim Capers: Local Hero Whose Bravery Changed History, brings together educators, historians, and community members to explore history through learning, dialogue, and performance. Register here.