Slave Badges and the Slave-Hire System in Charleston, South Carolina, 1783-1865 by Harlan Greene

Description

The slave-hire system of Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1700s and the 1800s produced a curious object - the slave badge. The badges were intended to legislate the practice of hiring a slave from one master to another, and slaves were required by law to wear them. Slave badges have become quite collectible and have excited both scholarly and popular interest in recent years.This work documents how the slave-hire system in Charleston came about, how it worked, who was in charge of it, and show more who enforced the laws regarding slave badges. Numerous badge makers are identified, and photographs of badges, with commentary on what the data stamped on them mean, are included. The authors located income and expense statements for Charleston from 1783 to 1865, and deduced how many slaves were hired out in the city every year from 1800 on. The work also discusses forgeries of slave badges, now quite common. show less

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ShiraDest 527 reviews

My 5xs great grandmother, a dress-maker, saved enough to purchase her freedom before marrying (and losing in a tragic shooting accident) my 5xs gr. grandfather in Charleston, SC. I can not imagine the hardships they endured to have us.

In Service to Community,
12,014 Holocene Era

Mar 6, 2019

FourFreedoms 519 reviews

My 5xs great grandmother, a dress-maker, saved enough to purchase her freedom before marrying (and losing in a tragic shooting accident) my 5xs gr. grandfather in Charleston, SC. I can not imagine the hardships they endured to have us.

In Service to Community,
12,014 Holocene Era

May 17, 2019

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