The city of Charleston, SC was one of America's first major cities, settled in 1670. Originally called "Charles Town" (after King Charles II of England), Charleston was the primary station for the import and export of goods in the southern colonies.

Among the shipping operations of Charleston's harbor, the slave trade was a major factor. Despite its prominence, receiving slaves directly from Africa and the Caribbean, the prices for slaves were not given in the weekly listings of "prices current" in the different markets.

While slaves were brought into country through Charleston's docks, the majority of the slave trade in the antebellum period of the city's history took place near the Old Exchange Building on East Bay Street. The building is still called the "Old Slave Market."

Slave traders like Joseph Vesey would import incredible numbers of slaves through Charleston's docks. Vesey would singlehandedly bring 9,000 slaves to the market between 1783 and 1787.

Despite their status as slaves, the large population of Africans in the city led to Charleston often being refered to as looking like a "colored city." Several mutinies were recorded, some even occurring on the ships inside the harbor. African corpses in the water, tossed from ships after failed mutinies, became a common sight in Charleston Harbor.

To commemorate the memory of the many Africans who were brought into slavery by way of Charleston, the Toni Morrison Society's "Bench by the Road" project erected a bench on Sullivan's Island, across from Fort Moultrie. The bench serves as a place where people can sit and remember the past, and contemplate what can be learned from it.

- Steven Gray