Phosphate was first discovered around 1867 in the Ashley River. Companies soon began to mine it to produce fertilizers which were in high demand in the agricultural world. This was at a time when more than half of everyone in America was in farming, making the demand for phosphates critical. Helping the city recover from the Civil War, it initiated jobs, drew investment, and linked Charleston to global agricultural markets by becoming a major export. Due to the mining, the landscape of the Ashley River was left with environmental damage, making the city more unprotected from erosion and flooding. Lamentably, this industry depended solely on unjust and cruel African American labor, and it sadly reinforced racial and economic inequalities. There was a much bigger factor in Charleston’s demise as a supplier of fertilizer/phosphates. Come to class on Tuesday for an explanation. By the early 1900s, phosphate deposits were becoming drained, and we competed with Florida’s dominant supply, leaving us to return to our economic troubles. Additionally, due to our heavy reliance on intensive African American labor, we did not adopt more efficient mining methods like our competing suppliers. Phosphate, which can still be found in some Charlestonian riverbanks, is a wonderful symbol of our ability to adapt and persevere through economic problems.