Plantation Architecture and Slave Communities in the South

Introduction

Plantation architecture in the South developed over centuries, reflecting not only the evolution of slave communities but also their interaction with owners, their cultural backgrounds, and their integration into the economic structure of the South. Many phases in this development, including creolization, brought forth new elements in architecture as well as in the anthropological and cultural evolution of these communities. This paper discusses Southern architecture with distinct examples from plantation houses and slave communities, with an additional perspective on creolization and its impact.

Plantation Layout and the Owner's House

A general characteristic of the plantation setting is that the plantation formed an economic entity targeting a particular sector of agriculture — tobacco, cotton, and so on. Starting from this foundation, the plantation's architecture was designed to "support the production and processing of cotton and to house those who produced it: the owner, the manager or overseer" (Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2008). With that in mind, the plantation was arranged in a particular way in terms of the main house and slave quarters.

The example of the Preuit Oaks Plantation, near Leighton in the Tennessee Valley, Alabama, is instructive. It reflects a general theoretical perception that plantation owners devoted less time and money to the main house's architecture, preferring instead to reinvest profits in land and slaves or to support the social standing of the family. The house itself in this case is notably modest in scale.

The owner's house was nonetheless the focal point of the plantation, to the extent that all slave quarters built sufficiently close to it were considered part of the household itself (Vlach, 1993). This architectural particularity is evident at Preuit Oaks, where the slave quarters were placed to the rear of the house in an informal arrangement. This type of assimilation reinforced the general perception that household slaves were more closely tied to the plantation and its owner, and that they were therefore less likely to revolt or run away than field slaves. Several outbuildings stood beyond the slave quarters, including a cotton storage house, an outdoor kitchen, and a supervisory office.

Much of the architecture in states further inland than the original colonies reflected particular characteristics. Many plantations had begun as frontier dwellings and, as a consequence, were improved versions of what was originally a log house — small and unpretentious. At the same time, many architectural elements were borrowed from the East Coast, including what became known as the "I-house" (Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2008).

The I-house was two stories high and one room deep, but this architectural form was adapted to the climate of the deep South, providing much-needed ventilation on three sides as well as a veranda that proved especially useful in summer. The Seale Plantation House on Moses Hill in Alabama is an excellent example of an I-house.

Slave Quarter Architecture Across the South

The actual slave quarters varied from state to state, but several main categories can be identified. Many quarters remained significantly rudimentary — often little more than a log cabin, sometimes with earthen floors and wooden shutters in place of glass windows. The quarters were generally located near the fields to maximize labor efficiency. Some slave quarters were occasionally built by the enslaved themselves, who sometimes incorporated subtle references to the main house in less conspicuous areas, such as the roofline.

In the states where enslaved people were held further north, such as Virginia and Maryland, architecture tended to follow English standards and style for both the owner's house and its outbuildings. The use of brick was almost a necessity given the harsher winters, although log cabins could still serve as the norm for slave quarters.

Conclusion

The architecture in slave communities reflected life on the plantation, as well as the anthropological and socioeconomic characteristics of these communities and the way they evolved over the centuries. Depending on the composition of the enslaved population and the local climate, the influence of traditional African architecture was felt to varying degrees across the southern states.

In terms of the process of creolization, the most important architectural impact is most clearly visible in Louisiana, where many traces of syncretism can be found among its various cultural traditions. Creolization appears to have functioned as a necessary common denominator among these cultures — a means of communication and a foundation for shared cultural expression.

1. Plantation Architecture in Alabama. 2011. Encyclopedia of Alabama. Available at: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1671. Last retrieved February 14, 2012.

2. Buisseret, David. 2000. Creolization in the Americas. Texas A&M University Press.

3. Edwards, Jay, and Nicolas Kariouk. 2004. A Creole Lexicon. LSU Press.

4. Vlach, John Michael. 1993. Back of the Big House. UNC Press Books.

5. Tolbert, Lisa. 1999. Constructing Townscapes. The University of North Carolina Press.

6. Hamer, Fritz. 1997. African Architectural Transference to the South Carolina Low Country, 1700–1880. University of South Carolina.