The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predomi
Image marketing 18th-century tobacco produced by enslaved laborers in the Colony of Virginia (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
"Entered at the Custom-House Charleston for the week of the 28th instant...From Africa—New Negroes, 371. Rum, 7 punch. Ivory, small quantity" (Charleston Daily Courier, December 30, 1805)
This postage stamp, which was created at the time of the Bicentennial, honors Salem Poor, who was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom, became a soldier, and rose to fame as a war hero during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Memorial to Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment of Black Loyalists who wore clothing inscribed with the words "Liberty to Slaves"
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regard to their labour. It is an economic phenomenon and its history resides in economic history. Slavery typically involves compulsory
Slavery in the United States
…The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States from its founding in 1776 until 1865…
Peter, a slave from Louisiana, in 1863. The scars are the result of a whipping by his overseer.
A poster for a slave auction in Georgia, U.S., 1860
13th-century slave market in Yemen
Portrait of an older woman in New Orleans with her enslaved servant girl in the mid-19th century