Interpreting The Constructs For Enslaved Worker Housing In Virginia

Summary

Scholars from the fields of archaeology, architectural history, and history have established common categories and cultural conditions for the building types used to house enslaved African Americans in Virginia between the 17th century and the American Civil War.  This paper examines architectural, political, and social constructs deemed critical to understanding both the diversity and the patterning of Virginia slave housing.  Recent research regarding surviving slave buildings, together with documentary evidence from census and fire insurance records, allow insight into owners' attitudes and purposes for these buildings and their placement on rural and urban landscapes.  The cabins and quarters still standing today largely reflect the contextual factors for antebellum period slavery.  Analyses of slave household composition for the mid-19th century offer a framework for interpreting how African Americans experienced a racist and oppressive built environment, while fostering places for family, community, and culture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of Workers’ Housing   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 239