Slavery & the Enslaved in the USA

Located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, the Belle Grove Plantation was established by the Hite family, who had arrived in North America from Germany. The plantation house was built in the 1790s; the wider plantation then relied on a workforce of nearly 300 enslaved people. In 1851 the plantation passed from Hite family ownership and in 1864 it was caught up in the Battle of Cedar Creek. The house now forms part of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park, with much of the former plantation still used for agricultural purposes.

Belle Meade Plantation was established by John Harding in the early 19th century. Here he erected a Federal Style brick plantation house, later replaced with a Greek Revival building by his son William in 1853. As well as laboring on the construction of these houses, enslaved people worked in the fields, with dedicated tours now offered on this aspect of the plantation’s history. The late 19th century saw Belle Meade become known for its involvement in horse breeding. As well as being open as a heritage attraction, Belle Meade Plantation is also active as a winery.

The plantation at Boone Hall was established in 1681 by an Englishman, John Boone. In 1743 an avenue of oak trees was planted here that today makes for an impressive sight. The surviving ‘Big House’ dates from 1936, completed in the Colonial Revival style. Boone Hall also devotes attention to its former enslaved residents, preserving several late 18th or early 19th-century brick slave cabins and hosting live presentations exploring the life and culture of the Gullah people, an African American group found in Lowcountry parts of the southern states.

Built in the middle of the 18th century, the Palladian-style Drayton Hall was the creation of John Drayton Senior. It passed down the Drayton family for many generations, surviving both the American Revolutionary War and then the Civil War. Today, many of the interior furnishings and artworks reflect the changing fashions and tastes of successive residents of the property. Since the 1970s, the Hall has been open to visitors as a historic attraction. Meanwhile, archaeologists have unearthed more about the enslaved and freed African Americans who resided within the surrounding plantation.

One of the best-preserved plantations in Louisiana, the Evergreen Plantation still has not only its ‘Big House’ but also an orate privy, stables, a kitchen, and 22 slave cabins. The plantation house was first built in 1790 although transformed into a Greek Revival structure in 1832, subsequently undergoing considerable renovation in the 1940s. Today, Evergreen remains in private ownership and is actively used for the production of sugarcane. Its management takes particular interest in researching the lives of those who lived here, including many of its enslaved residents.

A giant in African American history, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery but escaped and became one of the most prominent abolitionists of the 19th century. This historic site in Anacostia preserves Cedar Hill, the house where Douglass lived for the last two decades of his life. The house is now decorated as it would when Douglass lived there, with period features and furnishings throughout each room. Access is by guided tour only.

On the National Registry of Historic Places since 1988, these cabins were formerly home to enslaved laborers who worked in the cotton fields of Hamilton Plantation, itself established in 1793 by James Hamilton. The cabins were built from tabby, a substance created from lime and crushed oyster shells. Since the 1930s, the cabins have been in the stewardship of the Cassina Garden Club, which has overseen their renovation and utilised them as the club headquarters. Open on select days, the slave cabins are staffed by docents knowledgeable about the site.

Built between 1730 and 1750, this Georgian-style ‘Big House’ was at the centre of a plantation whose wealth stemmed from the cultivation of rice. At its height, over 300 enslaved people lived at Hampton, and today the exposed foundations of the plantation slave dwellings can be seen. Displays also devote attention to the freed African Americans who subsequently lived in the Santee Delta region in the decades after emancipation. Much of the plantation is now given over to pine forest and operates as a state park; the house is open by guided tour.

The ‘Moses of her people’, Harriet Tubman’s life and accomplishments are explored through this historical park. The park looks at her time as a conductor on the Underground Railroad and those that surrounded her. Her family home and church make up the bulk of this park, as well as a home for elderly former slaves which she founded and spent the last days of her life.

Surrounded by areas of rice cultivation, the ‘Big House’ at Hopsewee Plantation was built in the 1730s. It was here that Thomas Lynch Jr. was born in 1749, the ‘Founding Father’ who went on to sign the Declaration of Independence on behalf of South Carolina. Hopswee was also home to many enslaved people, and an insight into their lives can be gained at the two surviving slave buildings. Events at the plantation give visitors the chance to learn sweetgrass basket weaving and learn more about the culture of the Gullah Geechee people.