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This image shows an auction location that was used for the sale of enslaved Africans. When in use, the enslaved people would be brought from the pen and made to stand on a platform so that they could be seen by the buyers.
November 1864.
Colorized for The Colour of Time.
November 1864.
Colorized for The Colour of Time.
Buyers would inspect the enslaved people, and they would endure being poked, prodded and forced to open their mouths for the buyers. The auctioneer would decide a price to start the bidding.
It would be higher for young enslaved people and lower for older, very young or sickly enslaved people. Buyers would bid against each other, and sold to the person who bid the most money.
Original by George Barnard: https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/enslavement-to-great-migration/slave
