A plantation is a large agricultural estate or farm, typically dedicated to the cultivation of a single cash crop on a large scale. Plantations have been established in various parts of the world throughout history, including the Americas, Asia, and Africa. In the context of the United States, plantations are most commonly associated with the antebellum South, where they played a central role in the region's economy and society -- as well as in its politics, due to the sectional strife over [[slavery]]. Southern plantations in the United States were primarily established for the production of labor-intensive cash crops, such as tobacco, cotton, sugar, and rice. These crops were the mainstay of the Southern economy and were in high demand in both domestic and international markets. ## Southern inequality Plantations were characterized by a hierarchical social structure, with the plantation owner, or planter, at the top. The planter was responsible for overseeing the management and operation of the estate, including crop cultivation, sales, and labor organization. Planters often maintained a lavish lifestyle, living in stately homes and enjoying high social standing. The labor force on plantations consisted of enslaved Africans and their descendants, who were forcibly brought to the Americas as part of the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved people were considered property, and their labor was exploited to generate wealth for the plantation owners. They were subjected to harsh living and working conditions, with long hours, backbreaking labor, and inadequate food and shelter. Enslaved people were also subjected to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and had little to no legal rights. Plantation life was highly regimented, with work routines determined by the crop cycle and the demands of the estate. Enslaved people lived in small, cramped quarters, known as slave quarters, which were often located close to the fields in which they worked. Family and community connections among the enslaved were important for support and resistance against the oppressive conditions they faced. The plantation system began to decline in the United States following the [[Civil War]] and the abolition of [[slavery]] in 1865. Sharecropping and tenant farming emerged as alternative systems of agricultural labor in the South, but these arrangements often perpetuated economic exploitation and racial inequality. The legacy of the plantation system and the oligarchy it produced continues to influence race relations, social structures, and economic patterns in the United States today.