Sotterley's Economy

Sotterley's Economy. . , James Bowles could look with pride over the 2,000 acres he had acquired by 1703. With frontage on navigable water from which to import and export goods, he had all the makings of an independent, sustainable and very comfortable life., Sotterley's port was a busy one, with Sotterley Creek, the Patuxent river and the Chesapeake Bay providing access to trading routes for exporting tobacco and importing clothing, books, spices, textiles , and people. James Bowles imported enslaved Africans who arrived directly at Sotterley's port. The Plater and Briscoe families primarily used the domestic slave to meet their labor needs, supplemented by tenant farmers. , ,br> Colonial governors tried to organize colonists into towns, but plantation owners balked. They preferred to operate their personal economies independently, and to govern their large estates themselves. They long resisted the regulation they eventually had to accept when towns and villages were formed., The Revolutionary War and the War of 18 12 caused tremendous hardship, but the Civil War-changed Sotterley's economic model permanently. Prices for key crops such as tobacco and wheat fell. Tenant farmers who could not pay their rent were forced to leave Sotterley. The Union Army recruited slaves and freedmen alike; reducing Southern Maryland plantations' labor pools. Some white residents from Maryland, including Sotterley, crossed the Potomac to join Confederate forces., In 1864, Maryland outlawed slavery. Emeline and Walter Briscoe, Sotterley's owners, could no longer compel their former slaves to provide free labor or even to remain on the plantation, or return to it at war's end. Though some former slaves stayed on as employees, the plantation system effectively collapsed, taking the Briscoes' fortunes with it., In the post-war years, the Briscoes turned to tenant farmers to cultivate the land and raise livestock. This economic model remained in use until Herbert Satterlee purchased Sotterley in 1910 and hired farm manager in 1910 and hired farm manager Charles Knott. Knott ran the farm for the next 50 years, employing workers and agricultural practices that helped fulfill Satterlee's vision of a beautiful riverfront farm estate. , ,br> [Sidebar:] , Tobacco was the key crop in colonial Maryland. It was a coveted commodity in Europe, so much so that it was used as currency in the colonies. When the British burned colonists' tobacco crops during the Revolutionary War and the War of 18 12, they were essentially torching the colonists' banks., Tobacco was an extremely labor-intensive crop to grow. Enslaved laborers planted and harvested tobacco and other crops , wheat, corn and cotton , and raised the animals needed to support and feed the owners and Sotterley's large work force., [Captions:] , These were the most important crops grown at Sotterley. , Tobacco . Wheat . Corn . Cotton, Wheat , It was imported by the Europeans.