Eliza Lucas Pinckney: Origins of Feminist Racial Tensions

Indianapolis, IN

“Eliza Lucas Pinckney: Origins of Feminist Racial Tensions” seeks to portray Eliza Lucas Pinckney in a wholistic manner as a case study which examines the origins of early cases of racial tension within American women’s rights movements. This is accomplished first by creating a profile of Eliza Lucas Pinckney as an exceptional figure situated within the patriarchal context of her time. Eliza is then situated within this context, her own writings and reports compared to and contrasted with the cultural norms of South Carolinian plantations during the eighteenth century. Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s achievements will be discussed, as well as her influence on the conditions of slavery both small scale- on her own plantation- and large scale- through the ways that her successful production of indigo shaped the running of plantations. This wholistic view of Eliza is then used as a case study for the early shaping of feminist movements in America. The success of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and the ways that she pushed back against the patriarchal culture surrounding her serves as an early example of the belief in equal rights for women in America. However, the circumstances upon which Eliza’s success was built creates a strong argument for the early perpetuation of racial inequality that is preserved throughout following feminist movements in American history. These two conclusions show the complexity of Eliza Pinckney as an advocate for the advancement of women but through the perpetuation of racial inequality.