slaveryto
freedom
A series of pages
exploring
various aspects of slavery in Pennsylvania
Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania
Advertisement for Two Slaves
Source
Dauphin Guardian, 5 October, 1805;
page 3.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Text
Text of the advertisement in this image:
FOR SALE, Two Negro Servants; THE man, aged 30 years, a slave for life, has been brought up on a farm, and is acquainted with the tanning busines. The girl, 21 years, has 7 years to serve, and is acquainted with all kinds of house-work. For further particulars, enquire of the editors of this paper. Sept. 26, 1805.
Notes
This is an interesting advertisement which describes two seemingly valuable slaves. The man, a slave for life, is trained in two trades: farming and tanning. The woman is "acquainted with all kinds of house-work." As adults, neither would require training or close supervision as would a child. Yet it is their ages which would keep their value down. The preference in buying slaves was always for children, ideally in their early teens. The woman in this ad, born about 1784, could be kept for only seven more years, until 1812, when she must be given her freedom. The man, born in 1775 and prior to the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1780, could be kept a slave for the remainder of his life, however.