Gold-Coast Slaves for Sale: Ship Commerce Cargo 200

Horrifying historical advertisement announcing the sale of "Gold-Coast SLAVES FOR SALE" directly from Africa, advertising "A CARGO of upwards of 200 prime SLAVES" aboard the Ship Commerce, Captain Thomas Morton, arriving from the Gold Coast on Tuesday the 16th. Posted by slave traders Fisher & Edwards, this chilling notice documents the transatlantic slave trade at its height, when African people were kidnapped from the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) and transported across the Atlantic in the horrific Middle Passage. The use of the word "cargo" and "prime" reduces 200 human beings to merchandise evaluated by their market value. The casual announcement—as if advertising any other commercial shipment—reveals how normalized human trafficking had become in colonial America. These 200 people had survived the brutal Middle Passage, packed into the ship's hold in inhumane conditions, with many dying during the voyage. Those who survived faced sale and a lifetime of bondage in the Americas. A devastating document of the transatlantic slave trade and the Gold Coast's role in the African diaspora, available in three sizes with your choice of black or silver aluminum frame.