Overview
Drawn from major repositories throughout the South, these primary documents are rich resources for scholars. They open new directions for research on plantations as economic and social systems, values and culture among the southern elite, slavery and emancipation, women's roles, life among the yeoman class, marketing of staple crops, national politics, southern politics, the Civil War, and myriad other aspects of the antebellum period. Because the plantation was a commercial enterprise, record keeping was essential. Many planters kept journals, crop books, overseers' journals, and account books in remarkable detail. Family members often kept personal diaries and corresponded extensively with friends and relatives near and far. Papers of families and individuals from the South Carolina low country are included in Series B, with a concentration of materials from St. John's Parish of the Charleston District. Also included are several outstanding plantation diaries including that of a low country minister, the Reverend Alexander Glennie.