Final answer:
The primary fear from the white population of South Carolina was the potential for slave rebellions, as exemplified following the Stono Rebellion. Economic needs overpowered these fears, leading to a significant increase in the African slave trade to South Carolina to support vital industries like indigo and rice production. Tensions around race and slavery profoundly influenced social, economic, and cultural dynamics in the antebellum South.
Step-by-step explanation:
The fear from the white population of South Carolina was primarily driven by the potential for slave rebellions. Following the Stono Rebellion of 1739, there was a temporary halt to the importation of slaves from Africa, highlighting the tensions and fears around uprisings. However, economic pressures, particularly the dependency on African skills in indigo and rice production, led to the resumption of the slave trade, with over 58,000 Africans brought to South Carolina between 1750 and 1775. This transforms South Carolina into the largest direct importer of Africans for enslavement on the North American mainland.
Throughout history, the threat of slave rebellion was omnipresent in the minds of southern slaveholders. Notable figures, such as Thomas Jefferson, expressed concerns about violence erupting between the enslaved and the white population. Additionally, the antebellum South depended heavily on slave labor for economic prosperity, specifically in cotton production, which not only provided wealth to plantation owners but also shaped cultural and societal norms around white supremacy.
The resulting hierarchy and systemic oppression were maintained and justified through various means, such as the distorted paternalism of slaveholders and the exploitation of enslaved Africans, whose resiliency led to the creation of strong kinship networks and unique cultural traditions, such as those of the Gullah-Geechee people.