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Great Slave Auction

March 02, 2023

The Great Slave Auction (also called the Weeping Time[1]) was an auction of enslaved Africans held at Ten Broeck Race Course, near Savannah, Georgia, United States, on March 2 and 3, 1859. Slaveholder and absentee plantation owner Pierce Mease Butler authorized the sale of approximately 436 men, women, children, and infants to be sold over the course of two days. The sale's proceeds went to satisfy Butler's significant debt, much of it from gambling. The auction was the largest single sale of slaves in U.S. history.[2]

Pierce Mease Butler and his wife, Frances Kemble Butler, c. 1855

Pierce Mease Butler

Further information: Pierce Mease Butler

The Butlers of South Carolina and Philadelphia were owners of slave plantations located on Butler Island (Butler Island Plantation) and St. Simons Island, just south of Darien, Georgia. The patriarch of the family, Major Pierce Butler, owned hundreds of slaves who labored over rice and cotton crops, thus amassing for him the family's wealth. Butler was one of the wealthiest and most powerful slave owners in the United States. Upon his death, his biggest dilemma was to which heir to leave his wealth. Estranged from his son, Major Butler left his estate to his two grandsons, Pierce Mease Butler and John A. Mease Butler.[3]

Pierce Mease Butler was devoid of business sense. He frequently engaged in risky business speculations, which resulted in financial loss in the Panic of 1857, and his elaborate spending.[4] However, his incorrigible gambling would land him in the most trouble. Butler had accrued a considerable amount of gambling debt over the years. To satisfy his financial obligations, Butler's estate was transferred to trustees. At first, the trustees sold Butler's Philadelphia mansion for $30,000; they sold other property, but the proceeds were insufficient to satisfy Butler's creditors. The only commodities of value that remained were the slaves he owned on his Georgia plantations.[5]

Auction

 
Historical marker on Butler Island

Savannah was the perfect location for the auction due to its proximity to the Butler estate and due to it being a large centre for slave trading.[6] Pierce Butler had the impending sale advertised in The Savannah Republican and The Savannah Daily Morning News by Joseph Bryan, a slave dealer in Savannah.[7] The advertisements ran daily, except on Sundays, up until the last day of the sale. The text of some of the advertisements was, "For Sale, Long Cotton and Rice Negros! A gang of 440, accustomed to the culture of rice and provisions, among them are a number of good mechanics and house servants, will be sold on the 2nd and 3rd days of March at Savannah by J. Bryan."[8] It was advertised and announced from the beginning that there would be no division of families.[9] The slaves were brought to the race track four days before the auction started, allowing buyers and inspectors to take a look at them.[10] On the first sale day, there were about 200 buyers present. Fierce rains kept many of the potential buyers away, and the auction began two hours late.[9] During the day of the sale, Joseph Bryan was in charge of feeding the slaves and keeping them in "good" condition. The slaves were kept in the horse barn stalls.[11] All family members were put in the same stall. In the stalls, they had nothing but hardwood floors to sit and eat on. The slaves were given small portions of rice and beans, and sometimes cornbread, to eat over the two days.[12] Skin colour often played a role in the price a slave would sell for, but in this sale it was not a factor since all of these slaves were the colour of their African ancestors.[13] The slaves were skilled in their crafts, e.g., shoemaking, cooperage, blacksmithing, and carpentry. Some of the slaves had been taught to use machinery.[12] The skilled slaves were sold for more and were sought by the buyers during the auction.[14]

Slaves

The slaves were brought to Savannah by steamboat and train and were housed in the stables at the racecourse.[15] They huddled together, eating and sleeping on the floor. From February 26 until March 1, the slaves were inspected by prospective buyers.[15] Anxious customers from Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana descended upon Savannah in hopes of getting good deals. It was known that the Butler plantations had slaves who were skilled in shoemaking, cooperage, blacksmithing, carpentry, and machine operation. The buyers poked, pinched, and fondled the slaves, even opening their mouths to inspect their teeth. Slaves were also examined for ruptures or defects on their bodies that might affect their productivity.[16]

Four hundred and thirty-six people were advertised in the catalog, but only 429 were sold. Those not sold were either ill or disabled. The majority of those sold were rice and cotton field workers; others were skilled coopers, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and cooks. The two-day sale netted $303,850. The highest bid for a family, a mother and her five grown children, was $6,180. Prices for an individual ranged from $250 to $1,750.[17]

Aftermath

Mortimer Thomson (who wrote under the pseudonym "Q. K. Philander Doesticks"), a popular journalist during the time, memorialized the event.[18] Initially, Thomson travelled to Savannah, infiltrating the buyers by pretending to be interested in purchasing slaves. After the sale, he wrote a long and scathing article describing the auction in the New York Tribune titled, "What Became of the Slaves on a Georgia Plantation."[19]

Tom Pate, a Vicksburg trader, bought at the sale a man, his wife, and his two sisters with the guarantee that they were not to be separated in accordance with the terms of the auction. In disregarding the agreement, Pate sold one sister to Pat Somers, a fellow trader, and the other sister to a private citizen in St. Louis. Somers, finding out later about the sales agreement in Savannah about the families not being separated, returned the girl to Pate, demanding his money be refunded. An argument ensued, resulting in Somers being shot and killed. Ten days following Somers's death, his nephew killed Pate, and he himself was killed during the confrontation. The feud continued until every man bearing the name Pate was killed.[20]

After the slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the defeat of the Confederate States, some of them returned to Butler Island in order to work for wages, and some bought land in the area.[21]

Historical markers

Two Georgia historical markers exist to highlight this event. One is at 2053 Augusta Avenue in Savannah, Georgia, erected by the city and the Georgia Historical Society in 2008.[1] The other is at Butler Plantation, erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2019.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kwesi, DeGraft-Hanson (January 1, 2010). "Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale". Southern Spaces. 2010. doi:10.18737/M76K6J. ISSN 1551-2754.
  2. ^ Bailey, Anne C. (2017). The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 3. doi:10.1017/9781108140393. ISBN 978-1-108-14039-3.
  3. ^ Berry, Steven W. (September 3, 2002). "Butler Family". New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia Press. from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Monroe, Kristopher (July 10, 2014). "The Weeping Time". The Atlantic. from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  5. ^ "The Weeping Time Occurs". The African American Registry. from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  6. ^ Bailey, Anne C. (2017). The Weeping Time: Memory and The Largest Slave Auction In American History. Cambridge University Press. p. 9.
  7. ^ Kwesi, DeGraft-Hanson (January 1, 2010). "Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale". Southern Spaces. 2010. doi:10.18737/M76K6J. ISSN 1551-2754.
  8. ^ "Founder". nationaljuneteenth. from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Slave Auction, 1850". from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  10. ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (March 9, 1859). "New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, March 09, 1859, Image 5". New-York Daily Tribune. ISSN 2158-2661. from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  11. ^ Hassan, Adeel (February 29, 2020). "The Hidden History of Slavery That Surrounds Us". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  12. ^ a b National Endowment for the Humanities (March 9, 1859). "New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, March 09, 1859, Image 5". New-York Daily Tribune. ISSN 2158-2661. from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  13. ^ Doesticks, Q. K. Philander; Butler, Pierce (1863). What became of the enslaved people on a Georgia plantation? : great auction sale of enslaved people, at Savannah, Georgia, March 2d & 3d, 1859 : a sequel to Mrs. Kemble's journal. Union League of Philadelphia. Pamphlets. Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress). from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2020. The enslaved people themselves were but very few that were even a shade removed from the original Congo blackness.
  14. ^ Bailey, Anne C. (2017). The Weeping Time: Memory And The Largest Slave Auction In American History. Cambridge University Press. p. 64.
  15. ^ a b Kwesi, DeGraft-Hanson (January 1, 2010). "Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale". Southern Spaces. 2010. doi:10.18737/M76K6J. ISSN 1551-2754.
  16. ^ "Slave Auction, 1850". from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  17. ^ Harris, Leslie M. (2013). Slavery and Freedom in Savannah. Athens: University of Georgia Press.
  18. ^ Monroe, Kristopher (July 10, 2014). "The Weeping Time". The Atlantic. from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  19. ^ "The Weeping Time Occurs". The African American Registry. from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  20. ^ Haley, James T. "Afro-American Encyclopaedia; Or, the Thoughts, Doings, and Sayings of the Race". Documenting the American South. from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  21. ^ "Ga. Hist. Soc". from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  22. ^ "GHS". from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  23. ^ "Ga. Hist. Soc". from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2019.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Great Slave Auction.
  • Largest Slave Sale in Georgia History: The Weeping Time historical marker

Coordinates: 32°05′06″N 81°07′48″W / 32.08500°N 81.13000°W / 32.08500; -81.13000

March 02, 2023
great, slave, auction, also, called, weeping, time, auction, enslaved, africans, held, broeck, race, course, near, savannah, georgia, united, states, march, 1859, slaveholder, absentee, plantation, owner, pierce, mease, butler, authorized, sale, approximately,. The Great Slave Auction also called the Weeping Time 1 was an auction of enslaved Africans held at Ten Broeck Race Course near Savannah Georgia United States on March 2 and 3 1859 Slaveholder and absentee plantation owner Pierce Mease Butler authorized the sale of approximately 436 men women children and infants to be sold over the course of two days The sale s proceeds went to satisfy Butler s significant debt much of it from gambling The auction was the largest single sale of slaves in U S history 2 Pierce Mease Butler and his wife Frances Kemble Butler c 1855 Contents 1 Pierce Mease Butler 2 Auction 2 1 Slaves 3 Aftermath 4 Historical markers 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPierce Mease Butler EditFurther information Pierce Mease Butler The Butlers of South Carolina and Philadelphia were owners of slave plantations located on Butler Island Butler Island Plantation and St Simons Island just south of Darien Georgia The patriarch of the family Major Pierce Butler owned hundreds of slaves who labored over rice and cotton crops thus amassing for him the family s wealth Butler was one of the wealthiest and most powerful slave owners in the United States Upon his death his biggest dilemma was to which heir to leave his wealth Estranged from his son Major Butler left his estate to his two grandsons Pierce Mease Butler and John A Mease Butler 3 Pierce Mease Butler was devoid of business sense He frequently engaged in risky business speculations which resulted in financial loss in the Panic of 1857 and his elaborate spending 4 However his incorrigible gambling would land him in the most trouble Butler had accrued a considerable amount of gambling debt over the years To satisfy his financial obligations Butler s estate was transferred to trustees At first the trustees sold Butler s Philadelphia mansion for 30 000 they sold other property but the proceeds were insufficient to satisfy Butler s creditors The only commodities of value that remained were the slaves he owned on his Georgia plantations 5 Auction Edit Historical marker on Butler Island Savannah was the perfect location for the auction due to its proximity to the Butler estate and due to it being a large centre for slave trading 6 Pierce Butler had the impending sale advertised in The Savannah Republican and The Savannah Daily Morning News by Joseph Bryan a slave dealer in Savannah 7 The advertisements ran daily except on Sundays up until the last day of the sale The text of some of the advertisements was For Sale Long Cotton and Rice Negros A gang of 440 accustomed to the culture of rice and provisions among them are a number of good mechanics and house servants will be sold on the 2nd and 3rd days of March at Savannah by J Bryan 8 It was advertised and announced from the beginning that there would be no division of families 9 The slaves were brought to the race track four days before the auction started allowing buyers and inspectors to take a look at them 10 On the first sale day there were about 200 buyers present Fierce rains kept many of the potential buyers away and the auction began two hours late 9 During the day of the sale Joseph Bryan was in charge of feeding the slaves and keeping them in good condition The slaves were kept in the horse barn stalls 11 All family members were put in the same stall In the stalls they had nothing but hardwood floors to sit and eat on The slaves were given small portions of rice and beans and sometimes cornbread to eat over the two days 12 Skin colour often played a role in the price a slave would sell for but in this sale it was not a factor since all of these slaves were the colour of their African ancestors 13 The slaves were skilled in their crafts e g shoemaking cooperage blacksmithing and carpentry Some of the slaves had been taught to use machinery 12 The skilled slaves were sold for more and were sought by the buyers during the auction 14 Slaves Edit The slaves were brought to Savannah by steamboat and train and were housed in the stables at the racecourse 15 They huddled together eating and sleeping on the floor From February 26 until March 1 the slaves were inspected by prospective buyers 15 Anxious customers from Virginia North and South Carolina Georgia Alabama Mississippi and Louisiana descended upon Savannah in hopes of getting good deals It was known that the Butler plantations had slaves who were skilled in shoemaking cooperage blacksmithing carpentry and machine operation The buyers poked pinched and fondled the slaves even opening their mouths to inspect their teeth Slaves were also examined for ruptures or defects on their bodies that might affect their productivity 16 Four hundred and thirty six people were advertised in the catalog but only 429 were sold Those not sold were either ill or disabled The majority of those sold were rice and cotton field workers others were skilled coopers carpenters shoemakers blacksmiths and cooks The two day sale netted 303 850 The highest bid for a family a mother and her five grown children was 6 180 Prices for an individual ranged from 250 to 1 750 17 Aftermath EditMortimer Thomson who wrote under the pseudonym Q K Philander Doesticks a popular journalist during the time memorialized the event 18 Initially Thomson travelled to Savannah infiltrating the buyers by pretending to be interested in purchasing slaves After the sale he wrote a long and scathing article describing the auction in the New York Tribune titled What Became of the Slaves on a Georgia Plantation 19 Tom Pate a Vicksburg trader bought at the sale a man his wife and his two sisters with the guarantee that they were not to be separated in accordance with the terms of the auction In disregarding the agreement Pate sold one sister to Pat Somers a fellow trader and the other sister to a private citizen in St Louis Somers finding out later about the sales agreement in Savannah about the families not being separated returned the girl to Pate demanding his money be refunded An argument ensued resulting in Somers being shot and killed Ten days following Somers s death his nephew killed Pate and he himself was killed during the confrontation The feud continued until every man bearing the name Pate was killed 20 After the slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the defeat of the Confederate States some of them returned to Butler Island in order to work for wages and some bought land in the area 21 Historical markers EditTwo Georgia historical markers exist to highlight this event One is at 2053 Augusta Avenue in Savannah Georgia erected by the city and the Georgia Historical Society in 2008 1 The other is at Butler Plantation erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2019 22 23 See also Edit1838 Jesuit slave saleReferences Edit a b Kwesi DeGraft Hanson January 1 2010 Unearthing the Weeping Time Savannah s Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale Southern Spaces 2010 doi 10 18737 M76K6J ISSN 1551 2754 Bailey Anne C 2017 The Weeping Time Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History 1 ed Cambridge University Press p 3 doi 10 1017 9781108140393 ISBN 978 1 108 14039 3 Berry Steven W September 3 2002 Butler Family New Georgia Encyclopedia University of Georgia Press Archived from the original on April 25 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Monroe Kristopher July 10 2014 The Weeping Time The Atlantic Archived from the original on March 4 2017 Retrieved March 11 2017 The Weeping Time Occurs The African American Registry Archived from the original on May 12 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Bailey Anne C 2017 The Weeping Time Memory and The Largest Slave Auction In American History Cambridge University Press p 9 Kwesi DeGraft Hanson January 1 2010 Unearthing the Weeping Time Savannah s Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale Southern Spaces 2010 doi 10 18737 M76K6J ISSN 1551 2754 Founder nationaljuneteenth Archived from the original on February 12 2020 Retrieved November 4 2019 a b Slave Auction 1850 Archived from the original on June 4 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Humanities National Endowment for the March 9 1859 New York daily tribune volume New York N Y 1842 1866 March 09 1859 Image 5 New York Daily Tribune ISSN 2158 2661 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 6 2019 Hassan Adeel February 29 2020 The Hidden History of Slavery That Surrounds Us The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on March 1 2020 Retrieved March 1 2020 a b National Endowment for the Humanities March 9 1859 New York daily tribune volume New York N Y 1842 1866 March 09 1859 Image 5 New York Daily Tribune ISSN 2158 2661 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 6 2019 Doesticks Q K Philander Butler Pierce 1863 What became of the enslaved people on a Georgia plantation great auction sale of enslaved people at Savannah Georgia March 2d amp 3d 1859 a sequel to Mrs Kemble s journal Union League of Philadelphia Pamphlets Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection Library of Congress Archived from the original on March 2 2022 Retrieved January 28 2020 The enslaved people themselves were but very few that were even a shade removed from the original Congo blackness Bailey Anne C 2017 The Weeping Time Memory And The Largest Slave Auction In American History Cambridge University Press p 64 a b Kwesi DeGraft Hanson January 1 2010 Unearthing the Weeping Time Savannah s Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale Southern Spaces 2010 doi 10 18737 M76K6J ISSN 1551 2754 Slave Auction 1850 Archived from the original on June 4 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Harris Leslie M 2013 Slavery and Freedom in Savannah Athens University of Georgia Press Monroe Kristopher July 10 2014 The Weeping Time The Atlantic Archived from the original on March 4 2017 Retrieved March 11 2017 The Weeping Time Occurs The African American Registry Archived from the original on May 12 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Haley James T Afro American Encyclopaedia Or the Thoughts Doings and Sayings of the Race Documenting the American South Archived from the original on April 20 2016 Retrieved May 12 2016 Ga Hist Soc Archived from the original on July 27 2020 Retrieved May 13 2019 GHS Archived from the original on July 27 2020 Retrieved May 13 2019 Ga Hist Soc Archived from the original on August 1 2020 Retrieved May 13 2019 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Great Slave Auction Largest Slave Sale in Georgia History The Weeping Time historical markerCoordinates 32 05 06 N 81 07 48 W 32 08500 N 81 13000 W 32 08500 81 13000 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Great Slave Auction amp oldid 1142405573, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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