Group of severely emaciated boys from East Africa in lower hull of ship Daphne, after they have been freed. Nov. 1, 1868
.
Aboard the Daphne,
after they have been
freed.
Nov. 1, 1868.
British ships
monitored the coasts
to prevent the illegal
slave trade.
Slave pen, Alexandria, VA.
Auction &
Negro Sales,
Whitehall
Street,
Washington,
D.C.
These dwellings,
located on Florida's St
Georges Island in the
Gulf of Mexico, are
typical plantation
slave quarters.
Flogging a Slave
Fastened to the
Ground
1850
These are examples of
bits used today to keep
horses in line.
Similar devices were used
on slaves who were
considered insubordinate.
The bit rendered the slave
unable to speak or even
swallow, causing a great
deal of discomfort and
difficulty breathing.
“The importance of being voiceless is perhaps one of the
most dehumanizing aspects of slavery. The wildness in
the eyes, even when the bit is removed shows how part of
their humanity is stripped away…They [the bits] stopped
you from talking, little by little that should destroy you.”
-Toni Morrison, BBC Interview
When persons
being held as
slaves were
accused by their
masters of
insubordination, or
of eating more
than their
allotment of food,
they might expect
to be fitted with an
iron muzzle.