The South End Plantation located on Ossabaw Island, Georgia operated as a cotton plantation
under George Jones Kollock from 1849-1861. During this time, the land was continually modified for Kollock’s agricultural pursuits, all of which occurred through assigned tasks to enslaved individuals. Movement of enslaved individuals on U.S coastal plantations was in large part regulated by scheduled time through the type, location, and scale of tasks assigned each day. Yet, the tasks and their resulting movement provided opportunities for enslaved people to negotiate the power structures and social relationships of plantation life. To understand enslaved movement within this specific context, it is necessary to first identify what cultural features existed on the South End including the primary plantation core, and surrounding agricultural spaces. Identifying the location and extent of cultural features is essential to comprehend how enslaved people experienced, used, and understood the landscape.
To do this, a variety of datasets, LiDAR, historic maps, and historical documents, are blended together so that the landscape of the South End plantation can be reconstructed. These are then interwoven into a brief social network analysis that will demonstrate the degree of latitude and movement amongst the enslaved population. Even though much of their movement was scheduled, enslaved individuals found opportunity to create spaces and exchanges during and outside of tasks. This created layers of negotiation under the scope of power and authority in plantation life. Mobility found in the South End landscape, a place dominated by plantation operations was a product of the tasks themselves with movement both facilitated and constrained by those tasks. The varying degree and visibility of tasks provided ways in which enslaved individuals navigated power and authority within and beyond the South End plantation boundaries.