A slave pen or slave jail was used to temporarily hold enslaved people until they were sold. Then, they were held after they were sold until transportation was arranged. There were also slave-depots which were located along routes from the slave market to their ultimate destination.

Background

Slave pens were used for decades before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. They held people until they were sold at slave markets. The Smithsonian Magazine states that " ese were sites of brutal treatment and unbearable sorrow, as callous and avaricious slave traders tore apart families, separating husbands from wives, and children from their parents." Slave pens were important in the business of breeding African Americans for sale which occurred steadily in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. There was a "forced, continual mating of slaves for the purpose of bearing children", mating the best breeders with the strongest and biggest black "bucks". When tobacco was no longer profitable to farm, planters began growing other crops that did not require as many workers, also adding to the pool of enslaved people for slave traders.

Slave trade

Arrival

Sale of Estates Pictures and Slaves in the Rotunda New Orleans

Slave traders traveled to plantations to buy enslaved people to bring to market. Slaveowners also brought their workers to market. Blacks were then held in slave pens that were located near the slave markets.

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

was the largest center of slave trading.

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

was the second.

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

was the largest center for receiving African slaves. In 1808, however, there was a law enacted that banned the import of West Indian and African slaves.

Pen

Enslaved people were placed in pens to await being sold, and they could become quite crowded on the day of each sale. In New Orleans, most sales were made between September and May. Buyers visited the slave pen and inspected enslaved people prior to the sale. Lumpkin's jail, the largest in the state of Virginia, was a particularly inhumane place that resulted in people dying of starvation, illness, or beating. They were so cramped that they were sometimes on top of one another. There were no toilet facilities.

Departure

People were held until their means of transportation was arranged. They were transported in groups by boat, walked to their new enslavers, or a combination of the two. They were moved in groups in a

coffle A coffle was a group of enslaved people chained together and marched from one place to another by owners or slave traders. History In the Antebellum South, slave traders such as Franklin and Armfield arbitraged slave prices by purchasing slaves a ...

. This meant that people were chained together with iron rings around their necks which were fastened with wooden or iron bars. Men on horseback herds the groups, or

s, to their destination. They used dogs, guns and whips. Railroads brought a new, simpler means of travel that did not rely on the use of coffles. In some cases, slave traders, like

Franklin & Armfield The Franklin and Armfield Office, which houses the Freedom House Museum, is a historic commercial building in Alexandria, Virginia ( until 1846, the District of Columbia). Built c. 1810–20, it was first used as a private residence before bein ...

, had a network of slave-depots that were located along their routes.

Civil War

During the

, slave pens were used by the

Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

to imprison Confederate soldiers. For instance, slave pens were used in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. In

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

, the Forks of the Road slave market was used by the Union soldiers to offer blacks protection and freedom. In 2021 the site was made the

Natchez National Historical Park Natchez National Historical Park commemorates the history of Natchez, Mississippi, and is managed by the National Park Service. The park consists of four separate sites: Fort Rosalie is the site of a former fortification from the 18th century, ...

. Old slave pens were used for places of worship. In Lexington, Kentucky, Lewis Robard's slave jail was used as a Congregational church by African Americans. A black seminary, now

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Richm ...

, was established in Lumpkin's jail. Known as the "devil's half acre", a founder of the seminary James B. Simmons said that it would now be "God's half acre". They were also used for schools, which is ironic since enslaved people were not allowed to receive training to read and write. When a white person saw that the former

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

slave market was going to be used for education and mobilization of African Americans, they said:

References

External links

A slave pen journey

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the Center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure fr ...

, Cincinnati
One-Time Slave Pen Now a Museum About the Horrors of Slavery
YouTube video
Slave pen
Alexandria, Virginia - Library of Congress * Pre-emancipation African-American history