I'm doing research for a historical fiction novel where one of the settings is a plantation in Virginia in the 1720s (near Hampton). There are so many books, movies, etc that include colonial plantations but I'm having a difficult time finding primary sources exclusively on plantations. The closest ones I can find are things like documents on tobacco prices in New Jersey or London, but nothing about the plantations themselves. Any suggestions as to where I can look?
Primary sources? Your time period of plantation Virginia, circa 1720 immediately brings William Byrd II of Westover to mind. Member of one of the prominent families of Virginia ( like the Carters and Lees) Byrd was a lawyer, politician, surveyor and planter. His secret diary ( written in shorthand) is one of the better-known primary texts. It's been reprinted ( three volumes, 1709-12, London 1717-21, and 1739-41). The first diary is the one most people read- there are some extracts here .
A collection of his jottings was published in 2001; The Commonplace Book of William Byrd II. It shows a man considerably more complex than the impression created by his diaries, which are somewhat brief and businesslike. He had one of the best libraries in the Colonies, read several languages, had great personal success and was yet not happy and contented.
Note: when he says he gets up and "dances his dance", it means doing calisthenics.