Large plantations were self-sufficient and required many different skilled workers and craftsmen to maintain the plantation. Skilled slaves who lived at Mount Vernon included a cook, blacksmith, and miller. Listed below, you will find a list of some of the many jobs performed by slaves of George Washington at Mount Vernon during 1786-1787.

Tasks Performed by Men Tasks Performed by Women Overseer milking Carpenter weaving Blacksmith cooking dig ditches make baskets saw timber strip tobacco* kill hogs make fences* brickmaker/bricklayer make baskets plow pack fish make fences and livestock pens heap and bum trash *fill gullies hoe new ground gardner washing plant corn, pumpkin and peas carry fence rails house servant clean out stable build roads being house servant* wagoner thin trees in swamp

Use the Venn diagram below to compare and contrast jobs performed on a plantation with jobs of today. * tasks performed by both men and women ______________________________ 1 Stephen Innes, ed., Work and Labor in Early America, 178-79.