Georgia Historical Society

Hopeton, Model Plantation of the Antebellum South Author(s): James M. Clifton Reviewed work(s): Source: The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Winter, 1982), pp. 429-449 Published by: Georgia Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40580967 . Accessed: 12/12/2012 13:10

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Georgia Historical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Georgia Historical Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hopeton,Model Plantation of the AntebellumSouth

By JamesM. Clifton

1833, J. D. Legare, renownededitor of the SouthernAgri- culturist,wrote in his journal followinga visit to Hopeton Plantationon the Altamaha River in Glynn County,Georgia:

We hesitatenot to sayHopeton is decidedlythe best plantation we have evervisited, and we doubtwhether it can be equalled in the SouthernStates; and whenwe considerthe extent of thecrops, the varietyof thesame, and thenumber of operativeswho have to be directedand managed,it willnot be presumptiveto saythat it may fairlychallenge comparison with any establishmentof the United States,for the systematic arrangement of thewhole, the regularity and precisionwith which each and all of theoperations are carried out,and the perfectand dailyaccountability established in every department.1

Too, Hopeton is probablythe finestexample among antebellum southern plantationsof crop diversification,with three major - staples sea island cotton,sugar, and rice- being producedsimul- taneouslyand some yearshaving approximately the same acreage devoted to each. Finally, the surviving Hopeton records are amazinglycomplete for virtually the entireantebellum era, thus providingfor an in-depthanalysis of crop production,operational procedures,slave managementpractices, and the plantation's profitability. Hopeton was establishedin 1805 by John Couper and James Hamilton,who had come to Savannah togetherfrom Scotland in the fall of 1755 as teenageboys and subsequentlyremained close in both personal and business ties. The original two thousand acres were soon expanded to forty-fivehundred. The 637 slaves,

ij. D. Legare, "Account of an Agricultural Excursion Made into the South of Georgia in the Winter of 1832; by the Editor," Southern Agriculturistand Register of Rural Affairs6 (June-August1833), 359.

Mr. Clifton is professorof historyat SoutheasternCommunity College, Whiteville, North Carolina.

The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. LXVI, No. 4, Winter 1982

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 430 GeorgiaHistorical Quarterly manyof direct African extraction, were purchased to preparethe fields,first for sea islandcotton, then sugar, and finallyrice as the principalcrops of theplantation.2 Records for Hopeton are very scantyuntil 1818, when James Hamilton Couper, John Couper's twenty-threeyear old son and Hamilton'snamesake, became manager followinghis graduationfrom Yale; henceforth,there are completecrop reports to 1841and financialrecords to the1850s.3 The partnershipof JohnCouper and JamesHamilton ended in 1826.Over the years Couper fell victim to suchvicissitudes as theburden of heavy borrowing (both to establishand sustainthe plantation)at 8 percentcompound interest, losses of profitsfrom theEmbargo and Non-IntercourseActs before the War of 1812, and theloss of sixty prime slaves valued at fifteenthousand dollars at thehands of the British during the war, replaced only through moreborrowed capital. Finally, the loss of twocomplete cotton crops,first in 1824to a hurricaneand thenin 1825to caterpillars, in conjunctionwith declining prices of cotton,slaves, and land, convincedhim to sell his portionof theplantation and slavesto Hamilton.Hamilton, in turn,sold one-halfinterest in Hopeton along with381 slavesto JamesHamilton Couper for$137,000 to be paid overa periodof fifteenyears at 6 percentinterest. Couperwas to receivehalf the profits of the plantationand two thousanddollars per annum as manager.4James Hamilton died in 1829,but Coupercontinued to manageon thesame basis for the Hamiltonestate until 1841, when, to freehimself from debt, he turnedback his interest in theplantation to theestate. From 1841 to 1850,Couper, no longerentitled to halfof Hopeton'sprofits, 2John Couper Papers, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia; List of Slaves Belonging to James Hamilton and John Couper, January, 1806, Francis Porteus Corbin Papers, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Memories of Charles Spalding Wylly, Mackay-Stiles Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, N.C.; James C. Bonner, The Georgia Story (Oklahoma City, 1961) , 164-69; George M. White, Historical Collections of Georgia (New York, 1855) , 469. 3The James Hamilton Couper Plantation Records (1818-1854) in the Southern Historical Collection consist of four volumes. The firsttwo volumes are detailed plantation accounts; volume three gives a complete summary of the crops at Hopeton from 1818 to 1841; and volume four, entitled "Agricultural Notes," is a compilation of the observations of Couper as to the production and processing of the various crops. 4John Couper to James Couper, 24 May 1828, John Couper Papers, Southern Historical Collection; List of Slaves Belonging to James Hamilton Couper, 1826, Corbin Papers; Couper Plantation Records.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 431 receiveda salaryof five thousand dollars as manager,and for1851 and 1852 (at whichtime the financial records cease), six thousand dollars.6Francis Porteus Corbin, who had marriedHamilton's onlychild and heiressof the plantation,joined Couper as co- managerof the plantation in 1856.From then until the Civil War Couperco-managed Hopeton on a half-interestpartnership with Corbin.6When James Hamilton Couper became manager in 1818, Hopeton'splanted acreage was 544 acres; by 1841, 957 acres; and by 1857,1,025 acres.7 The originalslave population of 637 in 1806 had decreasedby themid- 1840s to about 500 whereit remained forthe rest of the antebellum period.8 A quicksurvey of Hopeton'scrop records from 1818 to 1841 (see Figures1 and 2) indicatesthat Hopeton was initiallya sea Figure One Hopeton AgriculturalTrends Profile 800 Cotton p - Sugar ^ 700 Rice Í V^ «50°- '; ' / 400- V g<30°- y^. yyf - h^^y ' 200 / :* ' -; 100- / ' /^*'****"". ^ 1 j ' i V'''" o 1 i i i i i i n'"ì" i i i V i i i i i iXi-j - i- i 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 YEAR

SOURCE: Couper Plantation Records

öCouper Plantation Records; Charles Spalding Wylly, typescript concerning James Hamilton Couper's entry into planting, Mackay-StilesPapers. eCorbin Papers. 7Couper Plantation Records; James Hamilton Couper to Francis Porteus Corbin, 6 March 1857, Corbin Papers. 8List of Slaves Belonging to James Hamilton and John Couper, January, 1806, Corbin Papers; Charles Lyell, Second Visit to North America, 2 vols. (New York, 1849) , 1: 261-62; Manuscript Census Returns, Schedule II, Glynn County, Georgia, 1850 and 1860.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 432 Georgia Historical Quarterly

2 "03 £J OONOO00 Ng

"53 *^* oot^oo o o 8 PS5 ç* 5 rfj Q © Q «O C* tR C4MQ

w M V ÍO£JrHX>OOi-HOQOOOt^OOí*-« P •« tí) iQO) Nt H g pq ^h" p-í^« ^ ofÎNeî

i <• C4i-iiC500»O M< Cvfl>»r> iOC^XOTttÍ>Ô^00©>O?í có u ^ *° o 00 d § S 2 »q«O oo-^l oo 0A^^c^fiq^î-.oow j „ S« b î> is t> w h « © h Tjî oo o flo i> ^* ö 00<0«0O 'S ÔOiS^SÔ^ÔOíOOOCvfr-ÔOtOOO^ il 13 I S S g S S 2 S io S 5 S §1 ä g{1

^ .H HOHH^eOOi^^OOiflN Ü J 5 S riiOiHtONMOOtOeOFHQOQO I

"** "d ftß W W O O O5 îfi ìfì di 00 0)CT>»-*0 tû (O ^ OJ T*< O JS oo o Sí S S S 5; S » g S ^3 cUoo S nS5wS§ "g wis »ij;« o» c^ oo q oo * ^ ^H cr q q ooot^cî-t«-i g »So irrrs00^*"*0^^ ^ «-• NwoN côTt^ôo^cví o I I M ^«5 0)<ÛÔ>0 (O

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hopeton, Model Plantation 433 island cotton plantation (all 544 planted acres in 1818 were in that crop). Then from 1826 to 1828 rice became the principal crop,only to give way to sugar from1830 to 1832. Rice regained the ascendancyin 1833 for the remainder of the antebellum period.By 1838,rice had become the onlycommercial staple, with cottondiscontinued entirely and only 40 acres planted in sugar cane, principallyfor molasses as provisions.The 1841 crop report shows714 acres planted in rice;9by 1857, rice covered 810 acres out of a total of 1,025 acres planted at Hopeton. The only other staple still to be planted, sugar cane, had been reduced to just 25 acres.10 Hopeton's crop recordbook shows a definitepattern of con- versionfrom sea islandcotton to sugarto rice.Such a patternprob- ably resultedfrom both pragmaticexperimentation and a con- sciousconversion as a resultof long-rangeplanning. James Hamil- ton Couper earlyrealized that if he preparedhis fieldsso thatany of the threecrops could be grownseparately or in rotation,he could easilyshift from one to the otherin accordancewith which was thenmost profitable. Preparing the tidal swamplandsto grow sea island cottonor sugar required the constructionof a massive dam or levee to keep the tidal flowsoff the fields.Floodgates were installedin the levee to admit and removetidal watersas needed forthe irrigationof the crop. However,the fieldswould need to undergoadditional improvementsto growrice. The land in the individualfields had to be leveled to insurea uniformwater level duringthe variousfloodings of the growingseason. Also, a more expansive systemof canals and cross-ditcheswas needed to ex- pedite the severalflows. As a result,the progresstoward rice did not reallybegin in earnestuntil the profitabilityof cotton and sugarhad largelypassed.11 Two importantfacilities at Hopeton were the plantationcanal and a portablerailroad. The canal, threemiles long, fifteenfeet wide, and four and one-halffeet deep, meanderedin snake-like fashionfrom the Altamaha past the sugar and rice mills,the cotton »Couper Plantation Records. lojames Hamilton Couper to Francis Porteus Corbin, 6 March 1857, Corbin Papers. iiCouper Plantation Records; Robert F. W. Allston, "Rice," De Bow's Review 4 (December 1847) , 506-11; Legare, "Account of AgriculturalExcursion," 362-65.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 434 Georgia Historical Quarterly

gin,and HopetonHouse itselfand on throughthe fields back to theriver. The canalserved as boththe main irrigation and trans- portationfacility for the plantation.Massive floodgateswere locatedat bothends of thecanal, the one at the entrancebeing seventy-fivefeet long and twelvefeet wide with four pairs of gates, and theone on theother end, thirty-five feet long and elevenfeet widewith two pairs of gates. Flatboats, or "flats"as theywere com- monlycalled, up to forty-fivefeet long and elevenfeet wide could easilynegotiate the entrance gates and thecanal. These flatswere usedas theprincipal conveyances on theplantation, especially in transportingthe crop to themill or ginand also in deliveringthe finishedproduct to marketand bringingsupplies back to theplantation.The railroad,one of theearliest of itskind to be builton a plantation,had movable wooden rails and served mainly to transportthe sugar cane and riceto thecanal for delivery to themill.12 While sea islandcotton was apparentlythe onlystaple produced at Hopetonbefore 1821, no recordsexist of its planted acreageuntil 1818. In thatyear James Hamilton Couper planted 5441/6acres and produced147,543 pounds of seed cotton, or 147^4 bales.The nextyear saw the largest crop ever at Hopeton,261,383 pounds,from 566 acres.The peak plantedacreage came in 1822, 6141/4acres, with a cropof 257,849pounds. In 1825,the last year in whichcotton was the principal crop, 516 acres were planted, but becauseof destructionby caterpillars,a very small crop of only 91,498pounds was realized.13 Sea islandcotton was developedin the Bahamasby a group of Georgiaplanters who movedthere following the American Revolution.It was introducedinto Georgia in 1786and quickly becamea cropof major importance along the immediate seacoast. The plantsrequired a salineatmosphere and a certaintemperature whichexisted only along the SouthAtlantic coast from George- town,South Carolina, to the St. Mary'sRiver in Georgia.Sea islandcotton thrived best in theislands along the coastline (hence itsname), but it couldbe grownwith commercial success fifteen

i2Legare, "Account of AgriculturalExcursion," 362-65; J. Carlyle Sitterson,Sugar Country: The Cane Sugar Industry in the South, 1753-1950 (Lexington, Kentucky, 1953) , 135. isCouper Plantation Records.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 435 to thirtymiles inland.14 It had a muchlonger and moredelicate fiberthan upland short-staple cotton, was used primarily for making the finecambric and laces of the wealthyas opposedto the multitudinoususes of themore plebeian short-fiber, and brought pricesdouble thatof the short-staplevariety. However, its bulk yieldwas onlyabout halfthat of short-staplecotton, and it was much more difficultto pick because the bolls did not always open fullyand it maturedso irregularlythat sometimes ten to twelvepickings were required as comparedto onlythree of short- staple.Too, theslave was expected to pickonly about fifty pounds of sea islandcotton per dayas comparedto 200 or morepounds of the short-staple.Finally, the seed of the long-staplecotton couldbe extractedmuch more easily from the fiber; consequently, devicesto gin this varietywere developedsooner than Eli Whitney'smore famous saw gin (withiron combs called saws in additionto rollers),which gave birthto the major upland industry.The ginused by Couper at Hopetonwas called Eve's Horse Gin, afterJoseph Eve who inventedthe devicein the Bahamas in the1780s. It couldbe drivenby wind, water, or horsepower,or attachedto a ricemill, sawmill, or gristmill, and ginnedabout twohundred pounds per day.15 The rapiddownfall of sea islandcotton at Hopetonand largely alongthe entire South Atlantic coast was not causedby compe- titionfrom the booming upland industry but rathera sharpde- clinein pricesin 1825,which produced a severecotton depression

i4John Couper, "On the Origin of Sea Island Cotton," Southern Agriculturist 4 (May 1831) , 242-45; Thomas Spalding, "Cotton- Its Introduction and Progress of its Culture in the United States," Southern Agriculturist8 (January 1835) , 45-46; Spalding, "On the Introduction of Sea Island Cotton into Georgia," Southern Agri- culturist 4 (March 1831) , 133-34; United States Department of Agriculture,"The Sea Island Cotton of the South, Its History, Characteristics,Cultivation, Etc.," De Bow's Review,After the War Series3 (January1867) , 84; Lewis C. Gray,History of Agriculturein the SouthernUnited States to I860, 2 vols. (Washington,1933), 2: 731, 733. i5Robert F. W. Allston, "Sea Coast Crops of the South," De Bow's Review 16 (June 1854) , 597; William Henry Capers, "On the Culture of Sea Island Cotton," Southern Agriculturist8 (August 1835) , 401-12; Savannah Georgia Gazette, 21 April 1796; Spalding, "Cotton," 42-43; E. Merton Coulter, Thomas Spalding of Sapelo (Baton Rouge, 1940) , 63-64,72-73, 161-62; Gray,History of Agriculture,2: 702-3, 731; Basil Hall, Travels in North America, 1827-1828,3 vols. (Edinburgh, 1829) , 3: 220; Ulrich B. Phillips, American Negro Slavery (New York, 1918) , 154; Phillips, Life and Labor in the Old South (Boston, 1929), 91.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 436 Georgia Historical Quarterly lastinguntil 1837.The immediateresponse at Hopetonwas to cut thecotton acreage almost in halfin 1826,to only286]4 acres. With no relieffrom falling prices, Hopeton's cotton acreage continuedto declineuntil the crop was discontinuedentirely in 1838.At thesame time, a sugarcraze swept through the Georgia coast,with a numberof plantersshifting to thatcrop to combat the cottondepression. And while after1821 Couper steadily shiftedHopeton's fields more and moretoward rice, which im- mediately(1826-1828) replaced cotton as theprincipal crop, he too by 1830joined his fellowGeorgians in a majorexperimentation withsugar as Hopeton'sprincipal crop for the next three years.16 In 1825,Couper experimented initially with sugar, cultivating a small crop of 5y2 acres formolasses for home consumption. The nexttwo years brought crops only a littlelarger. However, by 1828,Couper seems to have been convincedthat sugar could be producedprofitably. In thatyear he planted48y4 acres, producing 5,411pounds of sugarand 650 gallonsof molasses.Apparently pleasedwith the successof the 1828 crop,Couper committed a sizableportion of Hopetonto sugarcane for the next several years.In 1829,202i/2 acres were planted; in 1830,303; in 1831, 376i/2;in 1832,336; and in 1833,311 acres.However, by 1834 Couperhad shiftedHopeton primarily to rice; in thatyear only 1651/2 acres were planted in sugar,with succeeding years to have even less plantedacreage. By 1838,Couper committed only 40 acresto sugarcane. After 1839 sugar cane was grownat Hopeton onlyto providemolasses as provisionsfor the slave force. Couper'sexperimentation with sugar was farfrom successful. Forthe period in whichsugar was a majorcrop at Hopeton,1829- 1839,the averageyield per acre was only374 pounds,with the highest,in 1835,just 718 pounds.17 This comparesvery poorly with the successof otherGeorgia planters. Collectively, a score of plantersin theAltamaha area averaged961 poundsper acre for the ten yearsfrom 1815 to 1824.18And from1820 to 1840,the leCouper Plantation Records; Spalding, "Cotton," 40-41; James C. Bonner, A History of Georgia Agriculture,1732-1860 (Athens, 1964) , 56-57, 73, 83-84; Gray, History of Agriculture,2: 697-98, 738. "Couper Plantation Records. i8Roswell King, Jr.,"On the Management of the Butler Estate and the Cultiva- tion of Sugar Cane/' Southern Agriculturist1 (December 1828) , 527; J. D. Legare, "On our Southern AgriculturalConcerns," Southern Agriculturist1 (October 1828) ,

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hopeton, Model Plantation 437 averageyield for Georgia planters was 850 poundsof sugar and 45 gallonsof molassesper acre.19 The poorperformance of sugarat Hopetonseems surprising in thelight of Couper'selaborate efforts to produceit. Especially was thistrue in theconstruction of millingfacilities. In preparation forthe constructionof a sugarmill, Couper corresponded withsugar makers in Louisiana,the West Indies, and Europe,and studiedmany drawings of different kinds of mills. Finally, by 1829, he haddecided on a plansimilar to othersugar works in Louisiana and theWest Indies and beganconstructing the mill, which was completedin 1830at a costof $21,984.67. The millhousewas quite large:240 feetlong, 39 feetwide, and 26 feethigh.20 The steam engineto powerthe sugar processing machinery was a Boltonand Wattproduct from Liverpool, England, of fifteen horsepower and could powerthe rice threshingand poundingmills when not grindingsugar.21 Hopeton's sugar mill was the onlyone on the SouthAtlantic coast to havethree furnaces and twosets of kettles ofsix kettles each. The moretypical Georgia sugar mill had only one furnaceand oneset of kettles, with only four kettles to theset. Even in Louisiana,the principalsugar producing area in the UnitedStates, a millof the proportions of that of Hopetonwould havebeen unusual. Also, Hopeton had a portablerailroad to transportthe sugar cane fromthe field to themill. And in whatmay havebeen the first such use in theUnited States, Hopeton's sugar millhad movablerails to transportthe granulated sugar from the coolingroom into the curing room for drainage.22 Overall, the expendituresfor the mill and machinery in thefirst six years of sugar productionat Hopetonamounted to |22,443.82.2S Americantariff policies largely brought the coup de graceto sugarproduction at Hopetonand elsewherealong the Georgia 448: Sitterson,Sugar Country,32. i»D. G. Purse and W. C. Stubbs, Cultivation of Sugar Cane . . . Part First. Sugar Cane: A Treatise of Its History, Botany and Agriculture . . . Part Second. Sugar Cane: Its History in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, 1767-1900 . . . Recollections of Hopeton Plantation. . . .; 2 vols. (Savannah, 1901) , 2: 6. ™Ibid., 3-4, 24-25. 2ijames Hamilton Couper, "Account of, and Directions for Erecting a Sugar Establishment,"Southern Agriculturist 4 (May 1831), 227; Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 267. 22Couper, "Directions for Erecting a Sugar Establishment," 226-27; Sitterson, Sugar Country. 141-43. 23Couper Plantation Records.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 438 GeorgiaHistorical Quarterly

coast.The 1832 tariffreduced the protectionon American-pro- ducedsugar from three cents to twoand one-halfcents per pound. Then theCompromise Tariff of 1833began a graduatedprocess of furtherreductions over the next several years. This, added to theunsuitability of thesoil and climateof theGeorgia coast for sugarproduction, spelled doom forthe Georgiaplanters.24 The reactionat Hopetonto the1833 tariff was immediate. Whereas the 1833planted acreage for sugar was 311 acres, that of 1834was only 165^4acres, with succeeding years seeing much smaller acreages planted.The stagewas finally set to make rice the only commercial stapleproduced at Hopeton.25 Rice plantinghad been big businessin SouthCarolina since thecolonial era but had developed a comparablestatus in Georgia onlyin theantebellum period. This cameabout in largedegree becauseof themigration of a numberof SouthCarolina planters intothe swamplands along the Georgia rivers.26 By themid- 1830s alongthe Georgia coast sea islandcotton was in a severedepression. Also,the sugar craze had largelyrun its course,thus paving the wayfor rice to enterits "goldenage," which lasted to the Civil War. Couperearly realized the practicalityof rice forHopeton and bythe mid- 1820s was making major preparation for the shift of the fieldsfrom sea islandcotton to rice. The sharpdrop in cottonprices in 1825accelerated this process. In preparationfor hisshift to riceculture, Couper went to Hollandin 1825to study thesystem of watercontrol there, which he appliedupon return tohis irrigation system at Hopeton.Hopeton's sophisticated system of levees,canals, drainage ditches, and floodgateswas laterde- scribedby Couper'sfather as "perhapsthe only thing of itskind in America."27In his SecondVisit to NorthAmerica, Sir Charles Lyell, presidentof the BritishRoyal GeologicalSociety, who visitedfellow society member Couper at Hopeton in January,

24Sitterson,Sugar Country,170-72, 175-77. 2ßCouper Plantation Records. 26For a detailed account of the evolution of the rice industryin South Carolina and Georgia, see James M. Clifton, "The Rice Industry in Colonial America," Agricultural History, 55 (July 1981) , 266-83; and Clifton, ed., Life and Labor on Argyle Island: Letters and Documents of a Savannah River Rice Plantation, 1833- 1867 (Savannah, 1978) , xvi-xvii. 27Alfred W. Jones, "Altama: Then and Now/' a privately published pamphlet of twenty-onepages (Sea Island, Georgia, n. d.) , 3.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 439

1846,described two "carpenters putting up sluicesand a lockin a canal of a kindunknown in thispart of the world/'Lyell also mentionedfloodgates being constructedat Hopeton based on Couper'sobservations in Holland.28 By the antebellumperiod South Carolina rice planterswere forcedto adoptinnovative methods of planting to compensatefor decliningyields from soils largelydeteriorated because of con- tinuouscropping for many decades. However, the lands at Hope- tonwere new enoughto allow Couperto followthe traditional methodof "dry culture,"or coveredplanting.29 Couper and ThomasSpalding of Sapelo Island, perhaps the two most scientific and skilledfarmers in Georgia,did engagein a measureof in- novationwith extensive crop rotations, planting rice alternately witheither cotton or sugarcane, or withsuch provision crops as oatsand peas.This rotationproduced much better rice crops and keptunder control a troublesomepest for the rice planters, volun- teerrice.30 Also, Couper was very careful to erectat Hopetonthe finestfacilities available for both threshing and polishingthe rice. The firstrice was planted at Hopetonin 1821.The thirty-five acresplanted then were not sizablyincreased until 1826,when Couperplanted 338 acres.The followingtwo years351 14 and 3311/4acres were planted. In 1829there was an almostequal dis- tributionof acresplanted in each of the threestaples: 246i4 in cotton,2021/2 in sugar,and 234i/4in rice.Sugar was theprincipal cropat Hopetonfrom 1830 to 1832.In 1833rice became the main staplewith 368i/£ acres planted and wouldcontinue as theleading cropfor the remainder of the period covered in theHopeton crop reportsto 1841,when 714 acreswere planted in rice. Rice provedto be muchmore successfulat Hopeton than 28Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 267. 29See Clifton,ed., Life and Labor, xxii-xxiii, for a detailed discussion of the in- novative methods of open planting and "water culture" used extensivelyin South Carolina, especially in the Georgetownarea. Charles Manigault of Charleston, with two plantations on the Savannah, was using open planting entirelyon approximately 650 acres by the mid-1850s (Clifton,ed., Life and Labor, passim). Apparently,he was about the only Georgia planter to use this method. No Georgia rice planter seems to have used water culture,which kept the fieldsflooded most of the growingseason and involved much less cultivation than either dry culture or open planting, consequently, a sizable saving in labor. 30Legare, "Account of Agricultural Excursion," 413-14; Gray, History of Agri- culture, 2: 729.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 440 Georgia Historical Quarterly

eithersea islandcotton or sugar.For thefourteen years for which productionfigures are given,1827-1840, the average yield for all fieldswas 53.3 bushels per acre. The maximumyield came in 1839 with60.4 bushelsper acre and the minimumin 1830with 49.8 bushels.The recordsshow, however, that over the years some fields produced60, 70, and evenas manyas 85 bushelsper acre.31 When comparedto an averageof 45 bushelsper acre in Georgiaand only about40 in SouthCarolina, Hopeton's production was very good indeed.32 The exactrice acreageat Hopetonafter 1841 is difficultto determine.The censusesof 1850 and 1860 reportedonly the acreagesof improved land and the1849 and 1859crop productions withno indicationas tohow many acres had actually been planted. The onlysurviving bit ofinformation as to riceacreage at Hope- tonfor this twenty-year period is a letterfrom Couper to Francis P. Corbin,co-manager of theplantation, in March,1857, stating thathe (Couper)intended to plant810 acresof ricethat year at Hopeton.33A reasonablysafe assumption would be thatfrom 700 to 800 acresof rice were planted annually at Hopetonfor the last twentyyears of the antebellum period. Only one otherrice plantation in the entireSouth had moreplanted rice acreage,that of GovernorWilliam Aiken of South Carolina on JehosseeIsland at themouth of theEdisto River, which had 1,500acres of riceland, of which1,000 acres were normally planted in rice,with the re- maining500 acresrotated with provisions.34The averagerice plantationhad onlyabout 300 acresplanted in rice,with few ex- ceeding400 plantedacres and veryfew, 500 acres. Hopetonwith a workforce of about five hundred provided an excellentlaboratory for slave management. It wasin thisarea that the plantationwas mostrenowned. Travelers, especially from Europe,constantly visited Hopeton to observeslavery first-hand and generallywent away very much impressed with the humanity and skillwith which James Hamilton Couper managed his slaves. aiCouper Plantation Records. 32AlbertVirgil House, "Labor Management Problems on Georgia Rice Planta- tions, 1840-1860,"Agricultural History 28 (October 1954), 149-50. 33Manuscript Census Returns, Schedule IV, Glynn County, Georgia, 1850 and 1860; James Hamilton Couper to Francis Porteus Corbin, 6 March 1857, Corbin Papers. ^American Agriculturist9 (June 1850), 187-88.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HopETON,Model Plantation 441

Mrs.Basil Hall, who visitedHopeton in March,1828, with her husband,Captain Basil Hall of theBritish Royal Navy and their daughter,wrote to a friendconcerning Couper: "It doesyou good to meetsuch a man,not to reconcileyou to slaveryon principle, butto show how much the evil which appears to be irremediableat presentmay be softenedby propermanagement."35 Sir Charles Lyellin 1846described Couper as a benevolentslaveowner and discernedat Hopeton an hereditaryregard and attachment betweenmaster and slave.36 Fredrika Bremer characterized Couper in 1849 as a "disciplinarian,with great practical tact, and also somebenevolence in thetreatment of the Negroes."37 No one was moreimpressed by Couper'sskill in slavemanagement than Miss AmeliaMurray, lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria,who visited Hopetonin 1855and afterviewing the various establishments on theplantation became so committedto a defenseof slavery that she horrifiedBritish public opinion and was dismissedfrom office.38 In a letterto a friendin March,1856, in whichhe denouncedthe dismissalof Miss Murray,Couper characterized her recentbook on slaveryas the best portrayalof the systemthat had ever "emanatedfrom Northern or Europeanmind."39 Couper was especiallycareful to obtain the mostqualified overseersto supervisethe operations at Hopetonand overseeslave management.Overseers on theRice Coastwere generally superior to thoseon plantationselsewhere in theSouth, were paid higher wages,and enjoyedlonger tenures.40 Those at Hopetonhad to be experiencednot only in riceculture but also in thatof sea island cottonand sugaras well. Too, the supervisionof fivehundred slavesrequired an overseerof superior qualities. While the tenure ofoverseers at Hopetonfor the years for which there are records,

ssUna Pope-Hennessy,ed., The AristocraticJourney, Being the Lettersof Mrs, Basil Hall WrittenDuring a FourteenMonth's Sojourn in America,1827-1828 (New York,1831), 231-32. 36Lyell,Second Visit,1: 261-63. 37FredrikaBremer, The Homes of the New World: Impressionsof America, translatedby MaryHowitt, 2 vols. (New York,1853), 2: 489. 38AmeliaMurray, Letters from the UnitedStates, Cuba, and Canada (New York, 1856),226-29. s»James Hamilton Couper to a friend,March 1856,in InterstateSugar Cane GrowersAssociation Report, 1908," 65, Mackay-Stiles Papers. •*<>WilliamK. Scarborough,The Overseer:Plantation Management in the Old South (Baton Rouge, 1966),29, 39.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 442 Georgia Historical Quarterly

1827-1854,was onlyabout average, 3.3 yearsas comparedto 3.6 for the Rice Kingdomas a whole, three overseers- Daniel McDonald,Thomas Oden, and BaillieForrester - were employed for termsof eight,seven, and six yearsrespectively and were consideredsuperb in bothoperating the plantation and managing the slaves.41Couper paid his overseerswell, an averageof $765 per yearfor the twenty-eightyear period,with a high of one thousanddollars and a lowof two hundred dollars. No information remainsas to howmuch he paid hisoverseers at Hopetonfor the yearsbeyond 1854 when salaries increased appreciably. However, the survivingrecords show that Couper was payinghis overseer at HamiltonPlantation on St. Simon'sIsland $1,500 a yearby the late 1850s.42Since Hamilton was smallerthan Hopeton, it seems reasonableto concludethat the overseer at Hopetonat thesame timewould have made as muchor possiblymore. The onlyre- cordedsalary on a riceplantation higher than this was at William Aiken'sJehossee Island plantation, where the overseerwas paid $2,000annually.43 Couperseems to have been evenmore successful in securing suitabledrivers at Hopeton.This was highlyimportant, for the driverhad the mostimmediate control over the slaves,both in directingthe daily tasksof labor on the plantationand in supervisingthe decorum of the slavesin the quarters.From the fewsurviving records on drivers,it seemsthat Hopeton operated withless than the traditional number of driversfor a plantation of itssize, probably indicative of the abilityof thedrivers there tomanage large numbers of slaves. For example, the original slave forceof 637 had onlyfour drivers, an averageof one foreach 159 slaves,which was aboutthree times the number generally super- visedby drivers.44 Also, Old Tom (orAfrican Tom), theson of an Africanprince, who servedHopeton as head driverfor the last 4iCouper Plantation Records* Scarborough, Overseer, 39. 42Couper Plantation Records. In addition to half-interestin Hopeton, Couper owned outright three other plantations- Barrett's Island on the Altamaha and Hamilton and Cannon's Point on St. Simon's Island. On these four plantations there were by 1860 2,600 acres of riceland and 1,142 slaves ("Rice Planter," typescript concerningCouper as rice planter, Mackay-StilesPapers, n. p., n. d.). ^American Agriculturist,9 (Tune 1850), 188. 44For an extensive treatmentof the rice driver,see James M. Clifton,"The Rice Driver: His Role in Slave Management," South Carolina Historical Magazine 82 (October 1981), 331-53.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hopeton,Model Plantation 443 twentyyears of the antebellumperiod, was unquestionablyone of thefinest drivers anywhere in theRice Kingdomand provided at Hopetonperhaps as sophisticateda level of slavemanagement as existedon anyrice plantation in theSouth.45 Most of the labor performedat Hopeton,as was generally trueon rice and sugarplantations, was underthe tasksystem. Underthis format, each laborer (be he or shea full,three quarter, half,or quarterhand, such designationsbeing based on what portionof a fulltask each could do) wasassigned a certainportion of land to get overduring the day accordingto whatwas then beingdone - planting,hoeing, harvesting, etc. These taskswere commonlydesigned to be accomplishedby the "meanest full hand in ninehours;"46 however, Sir Charles Lyell observed that Couper wasso benevolentin hisprescribed tasks that the Hopeton slaves, "whendisposed to exertthemselves, could finishthe day'stask in fivehours."47 This gavethe slaves considerable leisure time in the afternoonto workin theirgardens, look aftertheir poultry and livestock,or go huntingor fishing.Also, Couper allowed slavesto cultivatetheir own crops on a portionof theplantation, and to sell themat marketprices. Doubtless the opportunityto have muchof the afternoonfor theseindividual purposes en- couragedmost slaves to workdiligently to finishtheir tasks early. Too, itno doubtimproved the rapport between master and slave.48 In addition,Hopeton slaves were givena numberof holidays duringthe year- a fullweek at Christmas,Easter Monday, and the day beforeand afterthe harvestperiod. Only duringthe harvestof sugar cane was the task routine broken, with the slaves sometimesworking as muchas sixteenhours a day,for if the cane wasnot harvested quickly when ripe, it couldeasily be lost.The slavesat Hopetonapparently accepted this requirement, for in thewords of Couper: "During that period the hands are cheerful, and at itstermination they have improved in generalappearance.

«Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 266-67; Frances Leigh Butler, Ten Years on a Georgia Plantation Since the War (London, 1883), 56. 46ArneyR. Childs, ed., Rice Planter and Sportsman: The Recollections of J. Motte Alston, 1821-1909 (Columbia, 1953), 47. 47Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 263, 265 (quotation). 48Couper Plantation Records; Hall, Travels, 3: 224-25; Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 263, 265, 268.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 444 Georgia Historical Quarterly

At no period of the year is thereso littlesickness, or disposition to avoid work."49 Couper was verybenevolent in the area of slave disciplineat Hopeton. Especiallywas this true with respectto whipping,the standardmode of punishmenton antebellumplantations. Couper set verylow limitsas to the numberof lashes thatcould be given forordinary infractions. The regulardrivers could give no more than six lashes; the head driver,twelve; and the overseer,twenty- four lashes.60Neighboring planter Pierce Butler followed the morecommon rule of allowingthe driverstwelve lashes; the head driver,thirty-six; and the overseer,fifty.51 Lyell observedthat the discipline at Hopeton was lenient but firmand the lash was seldomused.52 Couper reasonedthat such incentivesas shortwork- days and the opportunityto make some moneyfor themselvesin theirfree time would produce much betterdiscipline among the slavesthan frequentuse of the lash. With respectto food,clothing, and shelter,the slavesat Hope- ton faredvery well. Lyell remarkedthat "their weekly rations are more than theycan eat and theyeither return part of it to the overseerwho makes them an allowance for it at the end of the week,or theykeep it to feed theirfowls."53 Fredrika Bremer also commentedthat "the slaves were well fed."54The plantation recordsdo not indicatethe exact quantityof rations,but theydo show the typesand varietiesof food distributedat Hopeton. In additionto the basicsof cornmealand pork,the slaveswere given rice, beef, mutton,and molasses. They could also supplement their diet from their gardens,from poultryand livestock,and fromhunting and fishing.Most of the slaves' clothingwas made on the plantation by the seamstresses;for example, in 1828, $1,023.25was spentfor cloth. Shoes and blanketswere purchased ready-made.Hopeton 's purchasesof shoes in 1828 amounted to $321.89 and blanketsin the same year,to $612.12. Male slavesre-

**lbid.; Legare, "Account of Agricultural Excursion," 527, 529 (quotation). ßOLegare,"Account of Agricultural Excursion," 576; Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 265- 266. siPhillips, American Negro Slavery, 271; Kenneth M. Stampp, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South (New York, 1956), 175. 52Lyell,Second Visit, 1: 265. szibid., 264-65. 64Bremer,Homes of the New World, 2: 491.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 445 ceivedtwo cotton shirts and trousersfor the summer season and twowoolen outfits for the winter. Women were given four dresses duringthe year. Shoes were distributed to all slavestwice yearly; blankets,every two to threeyears. Clothing for children was a one-piececotton garment similar to a nightshirt.55The slave quartersat Hopetonwere characterized by Lyell as "neat and comfortablecottages."56 They werelocated north of the planta- tionmansion in twolong columns along a live oak-lined"street." Each cabin was a single-familyunit witha hall, fireplace,two sleepingrooms, and a loftfor the children.In the backyardthe slaveshad theirgardens and kepttheir poultry and livestock.The cabinswere originally wood, but lateradditions were of tabby57 construction,which, in additionto beingneater in appearance, weredoubtless more comfortable to theinhabitants.58 Couperprovided excellent medical services for the slavesat Hopeton.Kenneth Stampp observed in his PeculiarInstitution thatin thehospital at Hopeton,"ailing slaves received the best medicalattention the South could provide."59 The hospitalbuild- ing was a largerectangular structure of tabbyconstruction and servedas bothhospital for the sickand nurseryfor the infants. The hospitalportion of the buildingwas eightyby twenty-four feetin size, and containedfour wards, an entranceroom, an examiningroom, a medicineroom, a kitchenand a bathingroom. Two wardswere for men; a third,for sick women; and a fourth, for"lying-in-women." A head nursewith attendants supervised the operationof the hospital.Couper, as was commonon antebellumplantations, contracted with local physiciansto attendto the medicalneeds of the slaves.The nurseryin the remaining portionof the buildingaccommodated all childrenup to age twelveduring the day. The entirebuilding was steam-heated and wellventilated.60

ßsCouper Plantation Records. 56Lyell,Second Visit, 1: 264-65. 57Tabby was an outer wall covering unique to coastal areas, consisting of a mixture of crushed oystershells and sand in lime solution. ssCouper Plantation Records; Hall, Travels, 3: 224; Legare, "Account of Agri- cultural Excursion," 167; Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 263-64. 59Stampp,Peculiar Institution, 313. *<>Ibid.;Legare, "Account of AgriculturalExcursion," 573-74; Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 262-64.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 446 Georgia Historical Quarterly

Finally,the financialrecords at Hopetonprovide the basis foran excellentcase study of the profitability ofa first-classplanta- tion formost of the antebellumperiod. Couper kept elaborate recordsof all phasesof plantationoperations including detailed financialinformation concerning receipts and expendituresfor theyears from 1827 to 1852.From these records one can establish yearby year the cost value of the investment in theplantation, the grossand net sales,expenditures, and net profit.Couper owned theplantation in partnershipwith James Hamilton from 1826 to 1829,and withthe Hamiltonestate to 1840.During this period he sharedboth expenses and profitswith Hamilton or theestate; he also receivedan annualsalary of twothousand dollars as manager.In 1841,Couper, to freehimself from debt, turned back his interestin theplantation to theestate and consequentlyreceived a muchlarger annual salary as manager,five thousand dollars for theyears 1841-1850, and six thousanddollars for 1851 and 1852. For our purposeswe shall presenta detailedanalysis in both tabularand writtenform of thetwo periods. Table 1 showsa widerange of profitabilityfrom a low of .8 percentin 1830to a highof 11.9percent in 1837.The low profits of the firstseveral years may be chargedprincipally to Couper's

Table 1

Year Capital Gross Net Expenses Profit Rate of Sales Sales Profit

1827 $274,000.00 ns $ 4,367.19 $12,239.56 $ 7,872.37* 1828 294,895.22 ns 15,043.50 6,924.93 8,118.57 2.7% 1829 298,014.40 ns 11,707.08 9,021.95 2,685.13 .9 1830 298,014.40 ns 15,235.55 12,730.26 2305.29 .8 1831 298,046.40 ns 22,482.34 16,949.10 5,533.24 1.85 1832 300,126.65 ns 17,030.23 10,910.86 6,119.37 2 1833 302,617.07 ns 22,016.37 10,937.07 11,079.30 3.6 1834 302,617.07 ns 20,609.24 9,918.72 10,690.52 3.5 1835 302,617.07 ns 26,897.48 11,857.64 15,039.84 4.9 1836 302,617.07 ns 31,977.27 8,452.16 23,525.11 7.7 1837 302,617.07 ns 45,970.72 9,868.87 36,101.85 11.9 1838 302,617.07 ns 35,889.13 12,939.44 22,949.69 7.2 1839 302,617.07 $38,484.06 36,199.90 10,022.71 26,177.19 8 1840 302,617.07 26,476.34 24,228.01 11,276.11 12,951.90 4.2

SOURCE: Couper Plantation Records •Deficit

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 447 unsuccessfulexperimentation with sugar. For the years 1829-1834, he spent$22,443.82 for a sugarmill and othermachinery and diverteda sizablepart of thelabor force from other crops, with onlyminimal returns from his sugarcrops. Couper's venture in sugarculture was certainlynot foolhardy,for sugar planters in Louisianain thosesame years were making considerable fortunes and even a numberof Georgiaplanters were fairlysuccessful. However,the sugarexperiment seems to have been chieflyre- sponsiblefor the low profitsin thefirst few years. With the shift fromsugar to riceas the principalcrop at Hopetonafter 1834, therate of profit increased considerably. Also, Couper was able to hire out a numberof slaves to the contractorsbuilding the BrunswickCanal forthe years 1837-1839, which largely explains thehigh profits for those years. For thelabor of these slaves he re- ceivedin 1837,$19,208.51; in 1838,$15,010.75; and in 1839, $7,250.49.61 A decidedfactor in theprofitability at Hopeton would be the personaland householdexpenses of Couperand his family.No recordsof these expenses remain, but a reasonableguess seems to be thatthe amountmay have been substantial.As partof his compensationfor the management of theplantation, Couper had the use of houseservants, horses, carriage and boats,as well as producefor his table. This wouldhave constituted a considerable itemaccording to the descriptionof Sir CharlesLyell in 1846, whenconditions were probablythe same as between1827 and 1840.Lyell found at Hopetona three-storiedmansion with twenty- fourrooms and the finestfurnishings, a libraryof over five thousandbooks containing "Audubon's Birds, Michaud's Forest Trees,and othercostly works on naturalhistory/1 and a lifestyle comparableto that of an Englishcountry gentleman.62 These werereal profitsand mustbe considered,even if a figurefor themcannot be determined. Anotheritem that does not showin Hopeton's profitability was the increasingvaluation of the plantation.When Couper turnedback his half-interestin the plantationto the Hamilton estateon 1 January1841, three commissioners were appointed

«Couper Plantation Records. «2Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 260-61.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 448 Georgia Historical Quarterly by the SuperiorCourt of GlynnCounty to determinethe value of theplantation. These commissionersestimated the value to be $381,425,which would representan increaseover originalcost and additionalinvestment of $78,807.93, or a gainin valuationof 26 percentor about 2 percentannually for the fourteenyears from1827 to 1840.However, Couper and thetrustees of the estate decidedthis estimate was too high and madethe actual transfer of titleat a bookvalue of $342,481.88, or an increasein valueof only $39,864.81,a gainof 13 percentor about 1 percentannually.63 After1841 Couper received a salaryas managerof five thousand dollarsfor ten years,and six thousanddollars for the last two yearsconsidered here. A morethan doubling of his salaryfrom theearlier period would certainly reduce the rate of profitability forthe lateryears. The same arrangementseems to have con- tinued with respectto householdexpenses and must be re- memberedin connectionwith the actual profit figures. And, the 1840swere probably the worst decade economically of theentire antebellumera forsouthern planters. Nevertheless, as Table 2 shows,Hopeton's profits were not much less for these years than in theearlier period.64 The changein capitalfigures from year to yearcame largely

Table 2

Year Capital Gross Net Expenses Profit Rate of Sales Sales Profit

1841 $342,481.88 $30,470.58 $27,974.83 $16,821.98 $11,152.85 3.2% 1842 344,681.88 18,905.86 17,232.27 15,752.97 1,479.30 .43 1843 344,681.88 23,392.47 20,770.26 13,240.05 7,530.21 2.2 1844 344,181.88 30,411.03 27,699.58 17,259.71 10,439.87 3 1845 344,181.88 26,370.14 24,436.28 13,120.11 11,316.17 3.3 1846 344,181.88 41,161.97 37,602.85 13,685.68 23,917.17 6.9 1847 343,617.56 29,893.75 27,335.05 14,914.55 12,420.50 3.6 1848 343,61756 30,807.12 27,810.52 16,397.00 11,41352 3.3 1849 340,017.56 36,988.17 33,280.75 15,341.87 17,938.88 5.3 1850 342,017.56 35,795.48 32,571.73 16,583.30 15,988.43 4.7 1851 349,474.60 29,587.54 26,603.62 17,627.43 8,976.19 2.6 1852 349,474.60 39,761.40 35,268.04 17,938.93 17,329.11 5

SOURCE: Couper Plantation Records

«sCouper Plantation Records. Mlbid.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HoPETON,Model Plantation 449 throughthe purchasesand sales of land and slaves.Over the twenty-sixyear period, land worth$8,789.58 was purchasedand land worth$2,057.56, sold. Seven slaves were bought and twenty sold. The Hopeton slave recordhas not been located; consequently,the number of slaves at anygiven time is difficultto determine.Sir CharlesLyell said therewere five hundred slaves on theplantation in 1846.65If the381 slavessold to Couperin 1826 byJames Hamilton were the full work force at thattime, then the numberof slaves at Hopetonhad increased by 1 19 during the years consideredhere, certainly a major factor in theplantation's profitability.In thefinal analysis, one should remember that antebellum southernplanters regarded planting as morea wayof lifethan a matterof profitand loss. So long as theycould maintaintheir accustomedstyle of living,they were not thatmuch concerned aboutthe actual rate of profit. Hopeton was trulya model plantationin the antebellum South.Probably no otherplantation saw a comparabledegree of productionin threemajor commercial staples. Nor was anyother plantationperhaps as renownedfor its benevolentand humane slave managementpractices. Hopeton's proprietor,James HamiltonCouper, was one of the mostskilled and scientific farmersof his day.His graciousand courtlymanner of livingat Hopetonbecame the envy of planters near and afar.To Hopeton's door cameconstant travelers, especially from Europe, providing in theirwritings the kind of recognitionenjoyed by probably no otherplantation in the Old South.

65Lyell, Second Visit, 1: 261-62.

This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions