The awkward questions about slavery from US tourists

"Slavery was not that bad - it's probably the number one thing we hear," says plantation tour guide Olivia Williams.

"To my face, people have said: Well, they had a place to sleep. They had meals, they had vegetables."

Williams, 26, is among the guides criticised in reviews of McLeod Plantation that recently caused a stir online. Many were stunned that white visitors to plantations would push back against hearing the slave side of the story.

While McLeod has far more positive reviews than negative ones, the discord struck at the heart of a debate unfolding across historic sites in cities like Charleston.

For decades, tourists have been drawn to Charleston and its plantations for the idyllic southern charm, a deliberate throwback to a Gone With the Wind era.

But the industry is slowly changing as some believe tourists should face the truths of slavery instead of the rose-coloured narrative peddled for so long - even if it makes them uneasy.

Entering McLeod through its small visitors' centre, there are already signs that this will be a different kind of tour. A board at the front asks: Do you think plantation owners like the McLeod family experienced these tumultuous times differently than the Dawsons, the Forrests, and other African American families who lived here?

Our tour begins on the driveway, which sets exactly the kind of scene you would expect on a plantation visit.

Grey gravel encircles a pristine, sprawling lawn, lined with old trees dripping with Spanish moss that dapples the sunlight. At the heart of the property sits an elegant white home, the very picture of southern splendour.

This image may be what draws many of McLeod's visitors, but it is not what these interpreters of history want you to focus on.

On her tour, Williams does not directly address the controversial, if atypical, reviews. But she does offer a warning with her welcome.

"We do things a little bit differently than they do at other plantations in Charleston, because we do focus our perspective on the enslaved people," she tells our group.

"What we're going to talk about today is hard," she continues. "You may feel uncomfortable. You may feel upset, sad or angry, and that is perfectly fine. If you'd like to walk away, I won't get offended."

No one walks away on our tour, but there is shock. There is discomfort.

Many say they never knew that plantation owners forced marriages between "strong" slaves to add to their "stock"; never heard that pregnant enslaved women were whipped lying down (to protect that investment); never learned that a lifetime of labour began as early as age four.

"It's gut-wrenching," says Michaela, a young woman from New York. "It sounds like a puppy mill and yet a million times worse. The idea alone of ignoring the horrific part of the story, it makes me sick."

"I cried," she adds. "And I'm happy that I'm sad now because it needs to happen that way … you're responsible to know what happened."