I agree it certainly depends upon the time and place in question. Frankly, I tend to consider the terms "plantation" and "planter" as identical with "farm" and "farmer." I work mostly with 1700s era records in Virginia. These terms are most commonly found in deeds and wills. The use of these terms seem to have nothing to do with manor houses, acreage or any number of slaves working on them. One subtle use of the term is that it often--not always-- denotes that there was at least a dwelling house on the tract of land in question. 

So, I suppose I will have to take a contra position by "most historians" that the term means a minimum of 20 slaves for the antebellum period. My experience with many, many, records denotes nothing of the sort.

Craig Kilby

On Dec 19, 2012, at 12:19 PM, Bill Crews wrote:

> Hening's Statutes seems to define a "plantation" as any sized parcel on land which has some attempt at agriculture made upon it. For instance, http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol07-24.htm
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Paul Finkelman <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] 
> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] A Virginia Plantation means?
> 
> Most historians use 20 slaves as the minimum number of slaves for a plantation for the antebellum period.

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html