Charleston

Charleston was the capital of American slavery. Of the estimated 400,000 Africans transported to North America and sold into bondage, 40% landed at Sullivan's Island off Charleston harbor. Gadsden's Wharf, built in 1767, extended 840 feet and could dock six slave ships simultaneously. By 1750, enslaved people outnumbered free settlers in South Carolina, and their labor generated 80% of the colony's economic output—first rice, then indigo, then cotton after 1793.

The city grew spectacularly on this foundation. By 1770 Charleston was the fourth-largest port in the colonies, the wealthiest city south of Philadelphia, and the hub of Atlantic trade for the entire Southern economy. The wealth built Georgian townhouses, cobblestone streets, and an aristocratic culture that considered itself the apex of American civilization. Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was where the Civil War began in April 1861.

Charleston apologized for its role in the slave trade in 2018—three and a half centuries after the first enslaved Africans arrived in 1670. The reckoning continues. African American heritage tourism is now 'red hot': visitors to the Old Slave Mart Museum have tripled from 30,000 to over 80,000 annually, now surpassing the colonial-era Exchange Building. Gullah Geechee foodways—Carolina Gold rice, okra, benne seeds—shape the city's culinary identity, which earned three Michelin stars by 2025.

Today Charleston's economy runs on tourism, logistics, aerospace, and IT. Boeing manufactures 787 Dreamliners here. The port handles containers alongside cruise ships. By 2026, Charleston faces the question every beautiful slave-trading city must answer: can you profit from your history while honestly telling it?