(11) 1859 Extensive Sale of Choice Slaves, New Orleans, Girardey, C.E.

This flyer shows how slaves were dehumanized during this era, being treated as property instead of people. They were bought, traded, and sold the same way we sell cattle and cars today. Slaves were valued and appraised at every stage of their lives, from before birth until after death. Their worth was determined solely by their use to slaveholders, and their value was assessed in a way that quantified their work. This unthinkable and cruel practice, where slaves live their entire life in service to a master, was once commonplace, and we cannot let that fact be forgotten.