Also known as: provision grounds, jardins, slave gardens
Last updated: April 23, 2026
Provision grounds were parcels of land allocated to enslaved people on plantations where they could grow food for their own subsistence. This seemingly minor concession within the brutal plantation regime became a crucial site of economic autonomy, cultural preservation, and subtle resistance in colonial Saint-Domingue. The system created a parallel economy that both sustained slavery and ultimately helped undermine it.
grounds — economic foundation of the proto-counter-plantation during slavery.
Cases Nègres
Coffee Plantation
Plantation Daily Life
Provision Grounds
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