Two main differences.
Farmers raised diverse crops for themselves and the market. A small farmer in Va. might grow corn, wheat, some small animals, and maybe hay or tobacco for the market. A planter might be less diversified, and would specialize in market crops (cotton, tobacco, sugar, rice). Many plantations bought most of their food from other sources because it was more profitable to devote all their land and labor to cash crops. Ohio exported significant amounts of pork, for example, to the South.
Planters in the antebellum South had significant numbers of slaves (at least 20 is the usually number). Many farmers had no slaves or only a few.
----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)
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www.paulfinkelman.com
--- On Wed, 7/1/09, Hannah Powell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Hannah Powell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Plantations
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 11:36 AM
My next question..... What is the difference between a PLANTER and a FARMER........
Hannah Powell
----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Kilby" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Plantations
> Paul,
>
> I concur completely and am glad you posted this. Like many of us on this list, we have all read hundreds if not thousands of wills and deeds and I find no difference between the term plantation and farm in the records from this era. Thanks to Gone With The Wind, the term *plantation* has come to be synominous with Tara.
>
> Craig Kilby
>
> On Jun 30, 2009, at 9:07 AM, Paul Heinegg wrote:
>
>> If the common usage of a term defines its meaning, then wills and deeds prior to about 1850 refer to a plantation as any tract of land which was planted. An 1806 will refers to a plantation of 19 acres, an 1807 will refers to a plantation of 15 acres, and the words farm and plantation were used interchangeably in an 1844 will.
>> One could determine the common usage by reading enough wills and deeds from the period in question.
>> Paul
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