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

• Primary Source: James Evan's Seasons on a Farm
• Primary Source: Henry William Harrington Jr.'s Diary
• Primary Source: Diary of a Farm Wife
• Primary Source: The Duties of a Young Woman
• Primary Source: Southern Cooking and Housekeeping Book, 1824
• Primary Source: Thomas Bowie's diary
• Primary Source: Court Days
• Primary Source: A Bilious Fever
• Bright Leaf Tobacco
• Primary Source: Frederick Law Olmstead on Naval Stores in Antebellum North Carolina
• Primary Source: Stagville Plantation Expenses Records
• Primary Source: Cameron Family Plantation Property Records
• Primary Source: Stagville Plantation Expansion Records
• Antebellum Homes and Plantations