Virtual Visit - Evergreen Plantation

Images of Evergreen Plantation: Slave quarters, big house, and long drive lined with old trees

When one thinks of the Antebellum South, the southern plantation often comes to mind. A large manor house, women in frilly skirts, and hundreds of slaves working in the fields are common in these images. Films such as Gone With the Wind have perpetuated this stereotype of Southern life.

The truth is that few southerners lived on large plantations. Most white southerners were very poor, scratching out a meager existence through subsistence farming. In fact, only about 20-25% of white southern families even owned any slaves at all (even though most that did not own slaves still supported the practice). Less than 1% of southerners owned more than 100 slaves.

However, the plantation system did exist. Even though small in numbers, these families were essentially an aristocracy. They controlled much of the land, wealth, and political power in the Antebellum South. This wealth and power came at the cost of depriving millions of human beings their freedom by forcing them to work in bondage as slaves. Many of the old plantations have been restored and are open for tourists to visit to learn about life on a plantation, for both slave and free. In this virtual visit you will virtually tour and reflect on one of these restored plantations.

Click here to visit Evergreen Plantation.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.