e of the Saxon churls of the time of the
Plantagenets. The planter's ownership over the persons of his dependents
was, however, much more absolute than was that of the Norman lord, for
on the manors the serfs could not be sold off the land, a restriction
that did not apply in Virginia either to black slaves or indentured
servants. On the manor, furthermore, the serf had his own bits of
ground, for which he paid rent in kind, money or service, and the
holdings passed from father to son; on the plantation the slave worked
under an overseer on his master's crops only and had nothing that he
could call his own--not even his wife or children. In the matter of the
organization of industries there was a closer resemblance. The planter
generally raised the staple articles of food for his family and slaves,
as did the lord, and a large proportion of the other articles used or
consumed were manufactured on the place. A son of George Mason,
Washington's close friend and neighbor, has left us the following
description of industry at Gunston Hall:

"My father had among his slaves carpenters, coopers, sawyers,
blacksmiths, tanners, curriers, shoemakers, spinners, weavers, and
knitters, and even a distiller. His woods furnished timber and plank for
the carpenters and coopers, and charcoal for the blacksmith; his cattle
killed for his own consumption and for sale, supplied skins for the
tanners, curriers, and shoemakers; and his sheep gave wool and his
fields produced cotton and flax for the weavers and spinners, and his
own orchards fruit for the distillers. His carpenters and sawyers built
and kept in repair all the dwelling-houses, barns, stables, ploughs,
harrows, gates, etc., on the plantations, and the outhouses of the
house. His coopers made the hogsheads the tobacco was prized in, and
the tight casks to hold the cider and other liquors. The tanners and
curriers, with the proper vats, etc., tanned and dressed the skins as
well for upper as for lower leather to the full amount of the
consumption of the estate, and the shoemakers made them into shoes for
the negroes. A professed shoemaker was hired for three or four months in
the year to come and make up the shoes for the white part of the family.
The blacksmiths did all the iron work required by the establishment, as
making and repairing ploughs, harrows, teeth, chains, bolts, etc. The
spinners, weavers, and knitters made all the coarse cloths and stockings
used by the negroes, a