Another area that I think would prove very valuable is looking at the
concept of the "iron plantation".  It is, I feel, a common misconception
that the iron plantation is an industrial adaptation of the southern
agricultural plantation.  This is due to a number of factors, but
primarily that most modern archaeologists and historians can't get by
the word "plantation" and also have concluded that the slave based iron
plantation is unique to the South.  Many have also erroneously concluded
that the majority of southern ironworks can be best viewed as a
diversification of the plantation economy and were funded by the landed
gentry.  All of these premises are incorrect.

In the 16-18C "plantation" was used to denote anything from a large farm
to an entire colony.  The English established plantations all over the
globe, not just in the American South.

Likewise iron plantations, both in name and structure, were established
in all of the British North American colonies.  Ones that relied on the
use of slave labor can be found in every colony south of New England.
The establishment of an ironworks in Monmouth County NJ in the late 17C
skewed the population dynamics of that county until well into the 19C,
because it used so many African slaves.

In terms of the economics of the founding of ironworks, I can only speak
to Virginia's blast furnaces.  These were not, as has been claimed,
almost exclusively funded by the landed aristocracy (plantation
owners).  Most were funded either by iron families (English and
American) or merchants.

It is my contention that the iron plantation, rather than being an
industrial adaptation of the southern slave based agricultural
plantation should be viewed as the descendant of the Roman villa,
medieval manor, and especially the monastic grange.  The iron plantation
is found not only in the American South, but also in Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, and in England itself.  Admittedly those outside of the
American colonies did not use slave labor, but except for the labor
force they were virtually identical.  In any event the structure of the
iron plantation is the logical consequence of the economic and
geographic requirements of an iron works.  This is especially true of
blast furnaces.  When you have something that requires 5,000+ acres of
forest and 100+ workers, the end result is a small self sufficient
town.  This closely resembles a plantation.