Carolina sold more Indians out than it brought Africans in (Charles Town, 1670–1715)

SUMMARYCarolina sold more Indians out than it brought Africans in (Charles Town, 1670–1715) [Connections: Carolinas, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDHistorian Alan Gallay estimated that 24,000 to 51,000 captive Indians were exported from South Carolina in that period, "more than the number of African slaves imported into South Carolina during that same period" (Wikipedia, summarizing Gallay). The H-Net/Common-place review by Joseph Hall quotes Gallay that colonists exported "24,000-51,000 Indians at prices comparable to African slaves." Destinations included Barbados and other Caribbean islands

PATTERNIn its first 45 years, Carolina's slave economy was an Indian-captive export business before it was an African-import business

LENS (WW9)The first "slaves" shipped out of Charles Town were the land's own people

OPENThis is a scholarly estimate (a range), not a count. The receiving-colony records (Barbados and other island registers) need deep research to trace where these people ended up and what they were later called

SOURCEIndian slave trade between Barbados and South Carolina (Wikipedia); Joseph Hall, "The Great Indian Slave Caper," Common-place. Primary scholarship: Alan Gallay, The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670–1717 (Yale University Press, 2002).