Slave+Auctions


 * __Slave Auctions__**

Slave auctions are undoubtably one of the worst things about slavery. The slave up for auction would be brought up to the platform and shown out to all the bidders. Their age, name, and cotton picking ability would be called out, as well as how many children they had bred or sired. Slaves could fetch anywhere between $200-$2500. Mulatto slaves got the highest bids. Elderly slaves got the lowest. Slave auctions were a recreational activity for some. Southern women and children showed up just to look at the slaves and see who got the highest and lowest bids of the day. Abolitionists occasionally would come to auctions, buy a slave, and set him/her free. Other times slaves would hire a southern white to pose as a slave owner and buy a certain slave to set free. However, both the slaves and buyers would be punished by the law if the master objected to the sale. In //Send One Angel Down//, the man who bought Eliza set her free. In some cases, abolitionists would buy slaves at slave auctions with the sole purpose to set them free. Sometimes, slaves even bought their own freedom if they had enough money.

[|Click here for ways in which slaves got their freedom.]