Amanda America Dickson

Amanda America Dickson (November 20, 1849 – June 11, 1893) was a mulatto socialite in Georgia. Born into slavery, she was the child of David Dickson, a white plantation owner, and Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, one of his slaves. When he was 40 years old, David Dickson raped Julia Dickson when she was 12 years old and she gave birth to Amanda America Dickson at 13 years old. Raised by Elizabeth Sholars Dickson, her white grandmother and owner, Amanda America enjoyed a life of privilege away from the harsh realities of slavery. She became one of the wealthiest African American women during the nineteenth century after her father's death in 1885, upon which time she inherited the majority of his estate, which included 17,000 acres of land in Hancock County and Washington County in Georgia.

At the time of her birth, her father, David Dickson, was one of the eight wealthiest planters in Hancock County, Georgia. After she was weaned, she was taken from her mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, and maternal grandmother, Rose Dickson, to be raised in the household of her white grandmother and owner, Elizabeth Sholars Dickson.

Throughout her childhood, her father became wealthier and more famous, renowned for his innovative and successful farming techniques. David Dickson proved that farmers could profit from slave labor without having to resort to violence to keep them in submission. By 1861, he was known as the "Prince of Georgia Farmers," having contributed perhaps more than any other farmer in Georgia at that time to the prosperity of the region. Amanda America benefited greatly from the favorable socioeconomic status and relationships her father acquired, enabling her to live a life of privilege as a mulatto child.

Amanda's father showered his child with love and affection. Julia Frances Lewis Dickson became his housekeeper and maintained a sexual relationship with him for years. Evidence suggests that David Dickson took charge of her education. In her white grandmother's household, Amanda learned to read, write, and play the piano, unlike what was permitted for her enslaved maternal relatives. Amanda also learned rules of social etiquette appropriate for the social standing of her father's side of the family. She learned to dress in a modest, elegant fashion and how to present herself as a "lady". Amanda also learned from her father how to conduct business transactions responsibly and how to maintain and protect her finances after marriage.

In 1864, Amanda's white grandmother, Elizabeth Sholars Dickson, died. Amanda and her grandmother Elizabeth had shared a particularly close relationship, with Amanda spending a large amount of her quality time in her grandmother's room. Yet, despite this special relationship, Amanda remained her white grandmother's slave until Elizabeth's death. Beginning in 1801, it had been illegal for a slaveholder to free slaves in Georgia. Therefore, Elizabeth and David Dickson had no means to manumit Amanda and keep her with them in Georgia until the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, was ratified on December 6, 1865. At the age of twenty-seven, Amanda America chose to leave the security of her home at her father's plantation in Hancock County, Georgia to attend the normal school of Atlanta University from 1876 to 1878.

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