The Combahee River ( ) is a short blackwater river in the southern Lowcountry region of South Carolina formed at the confluence of the Salkehatchie and Little Salkehatchie rivers near the Islandton community of

Colleton County, South Carolina Colleton County is in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,604. Its county seat is Walterboro. The county is named after Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet, one of the eight Lords ...

. Part of its lower drainage basin combines with the

Ashepoo River Ashepoo River is a short blackwater river in South Carolina, United States. It rises in a confluence of swamps south of Walterboro, flows in a southeast direction and empties into Saint Helena Sound at . The entire course of the river lies withi ...

and the Edisto River to form the ACE Basin The Combahee empties into Saint Helena Sound near

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

, which in turn empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

History

The river is named for its first inhabitants, the Combahee tribe of Native Americans. Europeans occupied the area as early as the 1680s, and so the Combahee and others of the Cusabo group are also known as Settlement Indians. Land was set aside for the Yemassee people along several rivers, including the Combahee. The Yemassee War of 1715-1717 saw skirmishes in the area. On August 27, 1782, one of the last fights in the Revolutionary War took place along the Combahee River. The British made an attempt at foraging, which the Americans, headed by General Gist and Colonel John Laurens, opposed. Laurens, the son of Henry Laurens, a former president of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

, died in the action. The Combahee River bordered and supplied the water for some of the largest, most productive rice plantations prior to the Civil War. It was the site of an important military incident during that conflict, the Raid at Combahee Ferry. This was a Union raid into the interior of South Carolina, which freed over 750 slaves. Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave herself, well known for leading others hundreds of miles to safety on the Underground Railway, led this endeavor on June 2, 1863. The bridge across the Combahee on US Highway 17 is the location today.

Cultural legacy

The Combahee River Collective was a

Black feminist Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

organization, formed in 1974

Marable, Manning William Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 – April 1, 2011) was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.Grimes, William"Manning Marable, Historian and Social Critic, Dies at 60" ''The Ne ...

; Leith Mullings (eds), ''Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal'', Combahee River Collective Statement, Rowman and Littlefield, 2000, , p. 524. and named after the

Combahee River Raid The Raid on Combahee Ferry ( , also known as the Combahee River Raid) was a military operation during the American Civil War conducted on June 1 and June 2, 1863, by elements of the Union Army along the Combahee River in Beaufort and Colleton c ...

, where Harriet Tubman led 750 freed slaves to safety. The Collective was instrumental in highlighting that the white feminist movement was not addressing the particular needs of black women.Women's Realities, Women's Choices: An Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies. 2005. They are perhaps best known for developing the Combahee River Collective Statement,The full text of the Combahee River Collective Statement is availabl
here
a key document in the history of contemporary Black feminism and the development of the concepts of

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

as used among political organizers and social theorists.Hawkesworth, M. E.; Maurice Kogan. ''Encyclopedia of Government and Politics'', 2nd edn Routledge, 2004, , p. 577.Sigerman, Harriet. ''The Columbia Documentary History of American Women Since 1941'', Columbia University Press, 2003, , p. 316.

History

Cultural legacy

References

See also