Eliza Lucas's Journey Home to Carolina
In 1739, at age sixteen, Eliza Lucas moved with her family from her native Antigua to South Carolina. Within months of arriving, her father was recalled to his Caribbean military post and Eliza found herself solely responsible for establishing her family's status among Carolina elites and growing their business: commodities produced by slaves for a global market. Lucas's copious writings about her experiences offer a revealing window into the complexity and fluidity of gender roles in the colonial South. This is the second chapter in a biography of Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-1793).