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Shirley Plantation - Oldest Plantation in Virginia |
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We've been reading about how tobacco made the people of Virginia wealthy, and how they needed a lot of people to work a plantation. Since many of the settlers died, it was hard to convince people to come to America. In the end, the colonists were willing to pay people to come and work for them. Sometimes the pay was enough to entice ship's captains to kidnap people and bring them to Virginia. So, for the love of money our country and countless innocent Africans were dragged into slavery. What better way to understand how it all began than to tour an actual tobacco plantation?
While we were in Richmond we visited the oldest plantation in the country, Shirley Plantation
, established in 1613. It's located on the banks of the James River,
which afforded the owners ease of travel, and gave us a good idea of
the wealth of a plantation owner. We toured the ground floor of the
three story main home whose top two stories are still used as a primary
residence by the eleventh generation of the Hill-Carter family. The
architecture is amazing. There is a three story staircase that seems
to be completely unsupported in the main salon - very impressive, and I
suppose that was the point. We saw the kitchen, the root cellar, the
dovecote where doves were raised for squab dinners, the smokehouse and
the icehouse. It was a fascinating peak into the life of a wealthy
Virginian. We saw records of the slaves who ran the plantation, but
very little was mentioned of them on the tour. It focused mostly on
the Hill-Carter family and its history on the plantation, including the
fact that one of the daughters married Harry Lightfoot Lee and their
son, Robert E. Lee, was raised and educated in his early years on
Shirley Plantation. Lafayette stored his munitions on the property on
his way to the battle of Yorktown, and on and on. The history of this
plantation is amazing and it is worth adding to your list of stops in
Richmond. Now we understand what a plantation is.
Project:
Research how candles are made and study why lye soap
is an effective cleanser. Both of these things were made by slaves on
Shirley Plantation. Try to make your own candles or soap.
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