If 20 slaves was the threshold for a "plantation," there would have been very few of them in Virginia. The idea of a slave-number-threshold seeps back down into the colonial period by way of the antebellum cotton South and studies thereof. I went round and round about this in my master's thesis defense with a member of the committee who has studied antebellum plantations and modern neoplantations for decades. I agree with Harold Gill: the only distiction in Virginia was whether one "planted" tobacco - and thus a plantation - or whether one "farmed" corn or wheat - and thus a farm. Washington - who raised tobacco and other crops with considerably more than 20 slaves - began calling himself a farmer when he started raising large amounts of wheat. ___________________________________________ Dr. David S. Hardin Assistant Professor of Geography Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Longwood University Farmville, Virginia 23909 Phone: (434) 395-2581 e-mail: [log in to unmask] ******************** "For as Geography without History seemeth a carkasse without motion, so History without Geography wandreth as a Vagrant without a certaine habitation." John Smith, 1627 ________________________________________ From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Finkelman [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 12:42 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: definition of a planter most scholars consisder a "planatation" as a farm with 20 or more slaves; otherwise the term becomes meaningless. After call, Rhode Island was known as "Prividence Plantation" but no one thinks of the whole colony as a plantation. Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, New York 12208-3494 518-445-3386 [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 12/15/07 7:04 PM >>> In most records before about 1800 the word plantation was used in Virginia wills to mean any property which was planted. Testators with no slaves and less than 50 acres referred to their property as their plantation. Some referred to their "plantation and its crop of peas and corn," so whatever the actual definition, Virginians did not necessarily follow it. Also, it was common for the courts to order the churchwardens to bind an indigent child to become a "planter or sawyer." Early Registers of Free Negroes referred to the bearer as being a "planter." Starting about 1820 some testators referred to their property as their farm regardless of its size and how many slaves they owned, and it was common for the the courts to order the overseers of the poor to bind out an indigent child "to be a planter or farmer." Paul ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html