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Understanding Slave Subsistence In The Context Of Changing Agricultural Practices: Paleoethnobotany At Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, Samantha J. Henderson

Graduate Masters Theses

During the 18th and 19th centuries, enslaved people at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest utilized provisioned, gardened, and wild plants from local environments surrounding their homes to provide for their own subsistence. The Wingo's quarter was home to a number of these enslaved individuals at the end of the 18th century. Using macrobotanical data, I describe the subsistence strategies of the people living at this quarter, showing how enslaved Africans and African Americans at Wingo's utilized different sources of food to shape their foodways. Additionally, edible and inedible botanical remains provide a picture of the local environment around Wingo's within which …