1655

(03) 1655 The First Slave Auction in New Amsterdam is Held, painted by Howard Pyle, 1917

In New York, the enslavement of African people began as part of the Dutch slave trade, which supplied slaves for the Dutch colonies in the Americas. The first slave auction was held in New Amsterdam in 1655. New Amsterdam would later become New York City, but at the time, it was a Dutch settlement that sat on the strategic southern tip of Manattan Island. New Amsterdam saw a sudden influx of African slave labor in 1655, after the first slave auction. Around this time, almost three thousand African slaves were being shipped across the Atlantic by the Dutch yearly. The English would later seize New Amsterdam and rename it New York. However, the Africans would remain in the colony. Artist Howard Pyle would paint the depicted image in 1917, which portrays the historical and appalling event.

Curator

Lawrence E. Walker Foundation

Location

Sankofa African American

3D Museum

Artist

Howard Pyle

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Roger Munroe
Author: Roger Munroe