American History: Slave Sale Notice

American History: Slave Sale Notice

Slave Sale notice, published in Charleston, South Carolina, 24th July 1769 (print), American School, (18th century) / Private Collection / Peter Newark American Pictures / The Bridgeman Art Library

Arriving in South Carolina in the 1780s, a group of 250 Africans were slated to be sold at Ashley Ferry (outside Charleston). This advertisement announces the upcoming sale.

Note how the advertisement addresses the health of the kidnapped people who were aboard the newly arrived ship. Buyers of slaves did not want to purchase people who were ill with small pox. The ad notes that half of the people who would soon become slaves had contracted small pox in their own countries.

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