Edgewater in Anne Arundel County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Java Plantation Life

The Songs of Sorrow

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

1. Java Plantation Life Marker

Inscription. By 1840 there were 84 African American slaves on the Java Plantation, a large number for the area. Almost half were children. On a typical day the slaves would rise before dawn, prepare and eat breakfast, feed the livestock, and be in the fields by sunrise. In the fields slaves might hoe, weed, clear new land, pick insects from the tobacco, or harvest the crop. Mothers took their babies into the fields with them, but young children were often left to take care of themselves. By the age of ten they were put to work.

Sunset signaled the end of work in the fields. Other chores had to be done before a slave had free time to spend with family. Music and dance helped form a distinct slave culture while maintaining ties to their African heritage.

“The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart”
Frederick Douglass

(Inscription under the image in the bottom left)
Using native materials African American slaves made banjos and drums that were similar to those they had played in Africa. They also played homemade guitars, flutes, whistles, and horns.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these

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topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1840.

Location. 38° 53.355′ N, 76° 32.929′ W. Marker is in Edgewater, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. It is on Dock Road. The marker is affixed to the outside wall of the Java Farm Tobacco Barn. It is on the grounds of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Edgewater MD 21037, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Maryland.

It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic,

in the Chesapeake Bay Region,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A different marker also named Java Plantation Life (here, next to this marker); a different marker also named Java Plantation Life (here, next

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

2. Java Plantation Life Marker

to this marker); a different marker also named Java Plantation Life (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Java Plantation Life (a few steps from this marker); Prized Property (approx. 0.2 miles away); Indians of the Chesapeake (approx. 0.3 miles away); Java History Trail (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Old South River Club (approx. 1.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Edgewater.

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

3. Java Plantation Life Marker

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

4. Java Plantation Life Marker

Noon on the Plantation image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Waud

5. Noon on the Plantation

Close-up of image on marker

6. Banjo

Using native materials African American slaves made banjos and drums that were similar to those they had played in Africa. They also played homemade guitars, flutes, whistles, and horns.Close-up of image on marker

7. Drum

Close-up of image on marker

Credits. This page was last revised on March 18, 2021. It was originally submitted on February 16, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 606 times since then and 9 times this year. Last updated on March 17, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 16, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 5, 6, 7. submitted on September 8, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.