History Through…

…Primary Sources: Register of Slave Sales

Although the first African captives apparently arrived in British North America in 1619, large scale imports from Africa began in the early eighteenth century. Between 1716 and 1740, slave traders brought approximately 85,000 African captives into the colonies, with about half taken to Virginia. A second wave of imports took place between 1751 and 1775, when about 115,000 slaves were brought into the colonies, two-thirds of whom arrived in South Carolina. In the 1780s and 1790s, Spanish planters brought some 25,000 slaves into Louisiana. At the very beginning of the nineteenth century, prior to enactment in 1808 of a ban on the African slave trade, another 40,000 slaves were imported into Charleston, South Carolina. An unknown number of slaves arrived in the colonies after the African slave trade was banned.

Some slave sale advertisements reveal the disregard with which slave family ties were respected. An 1859 Savannah, Georgia ad states “slaves will be sold separate, or in lots, as best suits the purchaser.” This same ad allow us to explore naming patterns as well as the correlation between slaves age, gender, health, skills, and prices. 

No.	Name	Age	Remarks	Price ($)
1	Lunesta	37	Prime Rice Planter	1270.00
2	Violent	16	Housework & Nursemaid	900.00
3	Lizzie	30	Rice, unsound	300.00
4	Minda	27	Cotton, Prime woman	1200.00
5	Adam	28	Cotton, Prime young man	1100.00
6	Abel	41	Rice Hand, Eyesight Poor	675.00
7	Tanney	22	Prime cotton Hand	950.00
8	Flementina	39	Good cook, stiff knee	400.00
9	Lanney	34	prime cotton hand	1000.00
10	Sally	10	Handy in Kitchen	675.00
11	Maccabey	35	Prime Man, Fair Carpenter	980.00
12	Dorcas Judy	25	Seamstress, Hand in the House	800.00
13	Happy	60	Blacksmith	575.00
14	Mowden	15	Prime Cotton Boy	700.00
15	Bills	21	Handy with Mules	900.00
16	Theopolis	39	Rice Hand, gets Fits	575.00
17	Coolidge	29	Rice Hand and Blacksmith	1275.00
18	Bessie	69	Infirm, Sews	250.00
19	Infant	1	Strong Likely Boy	400.00
20	Samson	41	Prime Man, Good with Stock	975.00
21	Callie May	27	Prime Woman, Rice	1000.00
22	Honey	14	Prime girl, Hearing poor	850.00
23	Angelina	16	Prime girl, House or Field	1000.00
24	Virgil	21	Prime Field Hand	1100.00
25	Tom	40	Rice Hand, Lame Leg	750.00
26	Noble	11	Handy Boy	900.00
27	Judge Lesh	55	Prime Blacksmith	800.00
28	Booster	43	Fair Mason, Unsound	600.00
29	Big Kate	37	Housekeepr and Nurse	950.00
30	Melie Ann	19	Housework, Smart yellow girl	1250.00
31	Deacon	26	Prime Rice Hand	1000.00
32	Coming	19	Prime Cotton Hand	1000.00
33	Mabel	47	Prime Cotton Hand	800.00
34	Uncle Tim	60	Fair Hand with Mules	600.00
35	Abe	27	Prime Cotton Hand	1000.00
36	Tennes	29	Prime Rice Hand and Coachman	1250.00

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Sight and Sound

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A Slave Auction

This illustration, from a London newspaper in 1856, depicts an enslaved woman being auctioned off before a crowd of men.