Featured Artifacts – 1860
In 1860, the majority of North Carolinians living in the Albemarle region were yeoman farmers who worked small 50 to 100-acre farms. Forty-eight percent of the Albemarle region’s total population consisted of black people, including both free blacks and slaves. Forty-two percent of the population of the Albemarle region were slaves. Individuals who owned twenty or more slaves were considered planters.