The great majority of free North Carolinians, rich and poor, lived and worked on farms before the Civil War. In this chapter, we’ll examine a variety of primary sources — from letters and diaries to recipes and novels — that show what life and work were like for these people.

Section Contents

• Crops and Livestock
• Seasons on a Farm
• Diary of a Planter
• Diary of a Farm Wife
• The Duties of a Young Woman
• Southern Cooking, 1824
• Southern Honor
• Court Days
• A Bilious Fever
• Bright Leaf Tobacco
• Naval Stores in Antebellum North Carolina
• Managing a Plantation: Expenses
• Managing a Plantation: Property
• Setting up a Plantation
• Antebellum Homes and Plantations