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Antebellum Period
In the antebellum period of the early 19th century, the
plantation system held full sway in the Albemarle and the region
was dominated by large aristocratic landowners and the
institution of black slavery. Elaborate manor residences in the
countryside and beautiful townhouses that today grace nearly
every town in the region were constructed by the wealthy few.
Some landowners, such as Bertie County's David Stone and
Washington County's Josiah Collins built and ran large elaborate
plantations and held hundreds of slaves. Since northeastern
North Carolina had no major port, most slaves were brought from
Charleston or Virginia. And although the plantation economy
wasn't as firmly entrenched in the Albemarle as it was elsewhere
in the south, African slaves were vital to the region's agrarian
economy from the days of earliest settlement. In 1860 Bertie and
Chowan Counties, slaves comprised nearly 70% of the population
and 25-50% of the population in surrounding counties.
But the majority of the population lived a difficult life of
subsistence and farming and had manual labor. The lands were
productive for crops such as tobacco, peanuts, corn, and
occasionally rice. Again, the barrier formed by the Outer Banks
prevented a major port town from developing, although Edenton,
Washington, and other towns along the rivers and sound did a
thriving "shallow draft" shipping business.
Merchants in the Albemarle instead partnered with George
Washington and other Virginians to form the Dismal Swamp Canal
Company was created in 1784. The canal was to run between the
deep water port of Hampton Roads and the Pasquotank River near
Elizabeth City, allowing merchants a safe mode of transporting
their goods out of the region. Digging began in 1793 and
progressed slowly since the canal had to be dug completely by
hand through the treacherous Great Dismal Swamp.
Most of the labor was performed by slaves hired from nearby land
owners. It took approximately 12 years to complete the 22-mile
long waterway. By 1805 flat-bottomed vessels could be admitted
into the canal, where tolls were charged to allay the continual
expense of improvements and maintenance. By 1820 the Canal was
recognized as an important part of commercial traffic between
Virginia and North Carolina. Today, it is part of the
Intercoastal Waterway.
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