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Henry Highland Garnet
Henry Highland Garnet was born a slave in Maryland, the son of an African chief who had been taken in chains to America. In 1842, having earlier obtained his freedom along with his parents, he was ordained to the ministry. He went on to serve as pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church in New York City.
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The Declaration of Independence
This is the final draft of the Declaration of Independence signed by John Hancock and fifty-five others.
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Washington in Uniform
This 1780 engraving by French engraver Noel Le Mire depicts General George Washington in full uniform by a tent holding the Declaration of Independence with a personal slave as his attendant. The engraving is based upon a 1776 painting by Charles Willson Peale.
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Thomas Jefferson
Here is Thomas Jefferson as he looked in 1786 while serving as America's minister to France. The owner of some 200 slaves, divided between Monticello and his Bedford County property, he listed them in his Farm Book as members of his "family."
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The First American Slaves
This illustration from Harper's Monthly Magazine in 1901 depicts the scene at Jamestown when what are believed to be the first 20 slaves were brought to the New World and sold to colonists by Dutch traders.
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Slave Ship
This diagram from around 1788 depicts the stowage capacities of the British slave ship Brookes. By packing slaves like sardines in a can, the ship owner was able to legally transport 454 individuals this way. By pushing people up inside the legs of other slaves, captains could illegally increase their capacity by 35%.
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Slaveship Wildfire
This is a wood engraving from a daguerreotype that was originally published in the June 2, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly. The engraving shows the men and women crowded onto the deck of the Wildfire which came into Key West on April 30, 1860.
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Buying Slaves
Since slaves were considered property they could be bought and sold at will. This 1835 broadside issued by Thomas Griggs of Charlestown, South Carolina, offers the "highest price for men, women, and children" -- to be paid in cash.
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A Virginia Slave Group
Photographs of slave groups are quite rare. This one, taken in 1862 by James Gibson, shows twenty-two slaves at Follie's farm in Virginia.
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