9. In Richmond, Dickens observed the workings of a tobacco processing plant and a plantation
In 1842, cotton was just beginning to surpass tobacco as the major crop of the deep south, though in Virginia tobacco still ruled. Dickens was able to tour a tobacco processing plant. “I saw in this place the whole process of picking, rolling, pressing, drying, packing in casks, and branding”, he wrote, noting that all of the workers in the “manufactory” were slaves. When the workers were released for their dinner Dickens “said several times that I should like to see them at their meal; but as the gentleman to whom I mentioned this desire appeared to be suddenly taken rather deaf, I did not pursue the request”.
Dickens visited a plantation outside Richmond the following day, and was welcomed by the owner at the main house. He then was escorted to the slave quarters, and viewed the slaves, though he was not allowed to enter any of the buildings in which they dwelt. After the brief visit to Richmond, Dickens returned to Washington by reversing his route and from there went on to Baltimore, then one of the busiest harbors and ports in the United States. He took up residence in Barnum’s Hotel, which he described as the best such establishment he encountered anywhere in the United States, not the least because it offered sufficient water for bathing.