A plantation is a large farm.
In colonial America, plantations were found mostly in the southern colonies because they had the largest tracts of rich farmland. Plantations were often built alongside rivers, as it was faster and easier to ship goods by water than by land.
The plantations needed many people to work the land, which is why plantation owners used slaves.
Some plantations operated like small towns, each with a flour mill, a blacksmith, shoemakers, carpenters, and weavers all living and working there.
