$1200 to $1250 for Negroes: Kentucky Slave Trader 1853

Brutal historical document: an 1853 slave trader advertisement from Lexington, Kentucky, offering "$1200 to $1250 FOR NEGROES!!" The poster features a haunting silhouette of an enslaved person fleeing with a bundle, while the text coldly lists prices for human beings—"$1200 to $1250 for No. 1 young men, and $850 to $1000 for No. 1 young women." Posted by Wm. F. Talbott on July 2, 1853, this advertisement reveals the domestic slave trade that continued to tear families apart and traffic human beings across state lines even in the final decade before the Civil War. The bottom caption notes that "The New Orleans slave market, one of the busiest in the South, often sent traders to other cities for new stock," documenting the interstate commerce in human souls. A chilling reminder of slavery's commodification of people, essential for historical education, available in three sizes with your choice of black or silver aluminum frame.