Most Africans' first view of America occurred on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. Charleston, the most active urban area at the time, was to Africans what Ellis Island was to most European immigrants. This area is the most important historical sight of slave trade in America and a place where African and African-American culture is most prominent. Its inaccessibility and climate allowed slaves on coastal Sea Islands to retain a great deal of their African lifestyle. On islands like St. Helena and St. John's, many former slaves created their own culture by combining African elements with American traditions. This culture is known as Gullah.

Geographically, Charleston and the Sea Islands, also known as the "low country," is very similar to the western coast of Africa: "In everything but the strictest geographic sense, the rice coast of South Carolina might be considered the northernmost of the British West Indies" (Charles Joyner, 13). Like South Carolina, Africa also produced world renown strains of rice. In fact, many African slaves already possessed invaluable experience and knowledge in rice cultivation. South Carolinian rice plantation owners knew this and would specifically request Africans from areas that exported rice. The slaves' expertise, the low country's ideal geography and climate, and the plantation owners' entrepreneurial ambition made rice the major export of Charleston's industry.

The slaves saw none of the rice profit, but the success in low country rice cultivation provided vast amounts of money for the plantation owners. Some of these houses belonged to wealthy whites who led very luxurious lives in Charleston's Battery.

Although their plantations covered the Sea Islands, most white owners lived in Charleston, because it was more comfortable. European culture, however, did not overshadow the significant African-American population in the city. One of the reasons Charleston is still rich with African-American culture stems from the large numbers of slaves and free African-Americans who moved through the city. During many points in Charleston's history African-Americans outnumbered white residents.

This density of African-American influence made Charleston and the Sea Islands an ideal place to investigate how African-Americans have retained their culture and history. The fact that most African slaves came here first, the Sea Islands' isolation from modernity, and the area's overall dedication to celebrating heritage made the low-country's history, quite literally, come alive.