3. The artisans stood next on the social ladder
In the late 18th century, the structure of the larger Virginia plantations began to change. Where most slaves had previously resided in communal, multi-family buildings, or dormitories for single men, individual houses emerged. They were generally crude, one-room cabins. The artisans and house workers generally occupied the slave quarters nearest to the main house or near their work areas, Field hands’ quarters began to be located near the area of the plantations in which their occupants worked. Larger plantations, such as Jefferson’s 5,000 acres (nearly eight square miles) Monticello was divided into four separate farms, each with its own overseer. George Washington’s Mount Vernon consisted of five farms. Thus, slave quarters were scattered across the plantations, rather than concentrated in a single area, as is often depicted. Many were far from the main house and the eyes of their owners.
The artisans, those who worked in naileries, gristmills, carpenter shops, breweries, distilleries, cooperages, and other such facilities, resided near their place of work. Many of the plantation owners, including Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and the Lees, offered financial incentives to their enslaved workers in order to boost production. It is a commonly held myth that slaves in Virginia had no money. Excavations of slave quarters at Monticello, Appomattox, Mount Vernon, and other sites throughout Virginia have unearthed coins in several forms, including British shillings, Spanish dollars, and later United States specie. Jefferson, as he did nearly all things, meticulously recorded the monies paid out to artisans at Monticello, especially those who made nails at his nailery. In the mornings he had weighed the iron nail rods assigned to each worker. The following day he weighed the nails produced, and those who proved most productive received what he termed a gratuity.