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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

A person who forges tools and other supplies out of iron or steel. A blacksmith works with iron and steel by heating the metals and hammering them into useful shapes like nails, door latches, locks, axes, ploughs, and rakes.

A person who works with wood, typically carving/repairing wooden objects or constructing buildings.

A person who specializes in maintaining the machinery used in saw and gristmills.

A person who works in the fields, either planting, weeding, harvesting, tilling, or clearing ditches.

an area of the plantation set aside for the plantation owner and his family. The Owner’s Compound was an exclusive space, where only specific people were allowed to gain entrance.

A woman who is the head of her family, holding power and influence over the younger generations. In the enslaved community, older women like Suckey Davis were matriarchs in their families and in the community as well. Suckey Davis’s value to her community would have increased as she aged, but on the slave market her monetary value decreased to $0 by the time she was listed as 67 years old.

A structure built to restrain a person. A device for publicly punishing individuals consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the feet or feet and hands can be locked.9 The person who was locked in the stocks was typically left there for hours.

A large waterproof receptacle that collects and stores rainwater for household and personal use.