American Agriculture History Minute: Plantation Agriculture Begins

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

Plantation agriculture began in the 1600s and 1700s. Developed in Virginia, first of all, and then spreading to Maryland where tobacco was grown. Then and eventually, South Carolina and beyond.

Cotton became a major plantation crop after 1800 in a region that arced from North Carolina through Texas, where the climate allowed for cotton cultivation.

Apart from the tobacco and rice plantations, the great majority of farms produced food for the family, some used for trade and then for taxes.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.