Somerset Vocabulary

An agricultural estate usually worked by resident labor. At Somerset Place the vast majority of resident laborers were enslaved men and women.

• plantation

• artisan

Antebellum means “existing before a war”.2 Typically in the United States, the Antebellum Period refers to the period between the War of 1812 and the start of the Civil War in 1861.

• Antebellum period

• slave holder

A condition in which a human being is treated as property and is forced to work for his/her owner.

• cash crop

• enslaved

Someone who owns one or more enslaved people. An owner of slaves.

• cooper

• slaveholder

Typically a white man hired by the slaveholder to serve as general manager of daily operations.

• overseer

• cobbler

A fixed amount of a commodity supplied to a person on a regular basis. On plantations the enslaved people were typically given rations of food and clothing.

• millwright

• ration

The principle crop that was grown for profit. At Somerset Place, cash crops included, rice, corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, and lumber.

• cash crop

• field hand

Someone who specializes in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making items by hand.

• matriarch

• artisan

A person who builds wooden barrels (casks) which were used to store and transport goods and supplies.

• cooper

• cobbler

A person who makes shoes, which were typically made out of animal hide and other materials.

• cooper

• cobbler