Exploring the Maritime Task System of Somerset Place

Abstract

Eastern North Carolina's maritime industry was dependent on the labor of free and enslaved maritime workers. These maritime laborers contributed to maritime development in a multitude of ways, from working on large seagoing vessels to preparing flatboats to carry plantation produce along canals. This thesis examines the personal characteristics, social relationships, and cognitive understandings which fabricated maritime tasks of an enslaved community belonging to the Collins family living in Edenton, in Chowan County and Somerset Place in Washington County, North Carolina from 1786 to 1864. This research analyzes the historical documents of the plantation owners and businessmen in the area to understand the motivation of task assignment within the maritime industry of northeastern North Carolina.