Slaves For Sale Advertisement

Table of Contents

Slaves For SaleAdvertisement
Overview
About the Artist
Document Image
Context
Explanation and Analysis of theDocument

  Your institution does not have access to this content. For questions, please ask your librarian.

Abstract

This advertisement was first included in a newspaper local to Ashley Ferry, South Carolina, on April 26, 1760. It announced that 250 enslaved Africans would arrive through the port near Charleston on the following Tuesday, May 6, 1760. There is notably no price discussed as enslaved Africans were often sold at auctions to the highest bidder. By advertising a week in advance, the firm could hope to draw more people to attend the auction and drive the price of each enslaved person higher due to demand. While the advertisement is brief, it emphasizes the care that was taken with the people being sold. It also specifically mentions that no one on the boat contracted smallpox, which allows the writer to share explicitly that all individuals are healthy.

Book contents