Provision grounds

Definition

Plots of land where enslaved people in some colonies grew food for themselves and sometimes for sale. They allowed a degree of economic and cultural independence, a base for local markets, and sometimes savings used to purchase freedom. They show both resourcefulness and the limits placed on enslaved people's lives, and they are a reminder that markets, food and family life existed within a system built to deny them. Historians read the grounds alongside plantation records and narratives. See also: plantation, manumission, and the guide Resistance and Rebellion in the Atlantic World.