Silver or scarcity: the material culture of early nineteenth century Fairfax County, Virginia

Date
1989
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
In 1815 the Virginia General Assembly passed an unusual personal property tax law. For the first time Virginia taxed a wide range of luxury household furnishings including mahogany furniture, silver, cut glass, time pieces, and mirrors. Rather than only increase the rates on items already taxed (such as land, slaves, carriages, horses, and taverns), the legislators decided to expand the list, perhaps to reach other segments of the population. The criteria they used included an object's material, size, and ornamentation. The 1815 tax list allows for the study of the ownership of these diverse taxable items across a broad base because all households were included in the tax records, even if they had no taxable property. ☐ This study focused on Fairfax County, Virginia, which was settled in the late seventeenth century. It is located adjacent to the port of Alexandria on the Potomac River. Residents of the region were concerned over how to slow the tide of westward migration of ambitious, young people seeking greater opportunities for advancement. The portrait of the county that emerged from the tax records depicted a community with some opportunity for upward mobility in wealth, but with little chance that outsiders could move into the ranks of the landholder elite. Individuals who owned slaves frequently increased their slaveholdings over the course of a lifetime. It was difficult, however, to enter the ranks of landholders; the largest estates had remained in the same families' hands for over half a century. ☐ Over one-half of all households owned slaves, while only one-third owned their own land. The most widely-owned taxable item was livestock; horses and cattle were held in over three-quarters of all households. The ownership of these agricultural means of production was far greater than the ownership of household luxuries. Only one in four households had the most commonly held taxable furnishing, a chest of drawers. Far more limited was the ownership of true luxuries such as silver (2.4%) or mahogany furniture (17%). The homes that housed these furnishings were powerful displays of economic and social stature in a community in which many independent farmers made do with pine chests and pewter teapots. ☐ The property tax list revealed that many Virginians led a far less luxurious life than has typically been associated with the ante-bellum Tidewater South. Variations in social class reflected not simply the quantity of possessions held, but very real differences in the quality of life and opportunity for advancement.
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