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Primary Source Sets
Cotton Gin and the Expansion of Slavery
A broadside advertising an auction of forty-four enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, 1859-1860.

A broadside advertising an auction of forty-four enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, 1859-1860.

The slave auction described in this broadside was for enslaved people from St. Johns Berkeley in South Carolina, and it was held at the slave mart on Chalmers Street in Charleston by brokers P.J. Porcher and Baya. The second page of the broadside lists the names and ages of the men, women, and children for sale. For some, it also notes previous experiences, skills, and health conditions.

Citation Information
Excerpt from “P.J. Porcher and Baya slave sale broadside,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/59ebc95aef68957c9d2e886e57b81855.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of South Carolina Historical Society via South Carolina Digital Library.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 10 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Cotton Gin and the Expansion of Slavery

Previous ItemNext Item
A photograph of a cotton plant in bloom.
A reproduction of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin model, patented in 1794.
A contract between Eli Whitney and the State of Tennessee for use of the cotton gin, 1807.
A petition by Eli Whitney to the US Congress requesting renewal of his cotton gin patent, 1812.
An excerpt from an 1898 book about cotton that details the invention of the saw gin and the ginning and baling processes.
An 1868 advertisement from the Albany Cotton Gin Manufacturing Company for the Star Cotton Gin and Condenser.
A map of US cotton production in 1880 with charts showing figures for the import and export of cotton from 1821 to 1880.
A map of the agricultural regions of the United States, showing changes in cotton production between 1839 and 1924.
A map showing the distribution of the population of enslaved people in the United States, 1861.
A broadside advertising an auction of forty-four enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, 1859-1860.
An illustration of enslaved people laboring on a cotton plantation, 1859.
A photograph of African American women and children in a cotton field, 1860s.
A stereo card depicting African American women and children picking cotton in a field.
A stereo card of an African American worker beside a cotton gin.
A Harper’s Weekly illustration of enslaved people operating an early cotton gin, 1869.

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