Housing for the Enslaved in Virginia

[Audio] Housing for the Enslaved in Virginia Historic Site Assignment HIUS 390 – D08 202340 By Keith Watts Virtual Tours of a Virginia Historical Site.

[Audio] Depiction of: First Africans in Virginia Slave Ships Slave Barracks in Virginia This historical site project assignment is conducted in partial completion of the Liberty University, HIUS 390 - History of Virginia course. The topic of the presentation will be the Housing for the Enslaved in Virginia, specifically the Virtual Tour of a dwelling at Marmion in King Georg County, Virginia. The presentation elements will be discussed through the following: The history of the event. Physical site appearance. The historical issues from the site. What was learned and why the site is important..

[Audio] Located Near Plantation House Barracks Style Structure The history of the event. The first Africans to arrive in Virginia was in 1619. They lived in barracks housing and other less than permanent dwellings. Historical documents refer to 'quartering negroes on plantations' (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2023; Jett, 2019). Physical site appearance. This image is from the Virtual Tour of Virginia is of a dwelling at Marmion in King George County, Virginia. The earliest construction on the property began around 1670 and was owned by William Fitzhugh (1651 – 1701). The property features a small brick fireplace, however most of the structure is made of wood. History records that many structures had no foundations, however this dwelling seems to have a wooden floor. It is possible that the foundation may have been added later (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2023; Jett, 2019). As the enslaved population grew in Virginia, dwellings were designed to for large numbers of people in the same space, to include family units. History records that those dwellings located closest to the elite plantation houses were better built, with wooden frames and masonry Chimneys, like the dwelling example provided in this presentation (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2023; Jett, 2019)..

[Audio] The historical issues from the site. The most prominent dwellings were often separate one or two-room structures, designed to accommodate one or two-family units, however many slaves slept where they worked in areas such as the laundries', kitchens, and stables (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2023). In 1686, the French traveler Durand de Dauphine noted in describing the type of housing as "what ever the rank…they build two rooms with closets on the ground floor, and two rooms in the attic above; according to their means". Plantation or slave owners also built separate kitchens, housing for Christian slaves, one for negro slaves, and several to dry tobacco (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2023; Heinemann et al., 2019). What was learned and why the site is important. The term quarter house was used to refer to seventeenth-century quartering house for indentured servants but later came to be associated with the description of a cluster of slaves. The term also was applied to a division of a large farm or plantation, and other agricultural or industrial support buildings. This site is important to understanding the real issues surrounding the institution of slavery in Virginia, as well as the terms and treatment of slaves..

[Audio] References: Editors, of the Encyclopedia Virginia. (2023). Housing for the Enslaved in Virginia. Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/slave-housing-in-virginia/#:~:text=As%20the%20enslaved%20population%20grew,earthfast%20structures%20with%20no%20foundations. Editors, of the Encyclopedia Virginia. (2023). Virtual tour of slave dwelling at Marmion in King George County. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/marmion-2/ Heinemann, R. L., Kolp, J. G., Parent, A. S. Jr., & Shade, W. G. (2019). Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: A History of Virginia 1607-2007. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2007. Jett, C. (2019) Historic King George Plantation shares stories of enslaved. https://apnews.com/general- news-61a561c0c4764ea490ca4c4468e20fdd.