Slave Auction And The Ownership Of Slaves In The 1800s

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Slave Auctions and the ownership of slaves in the U.S. did not help the making of America because it went against everything written in the Bill of Rights. Slaves didn’t have the freedoms that were granted in the Bill of Rights. Specifically, the Tenth Amendment is corruptly broken with slavery. States in the north prohibited slavery, but in the south, the slaves were not given any rights of the Bill of Rights by their state.

I. The Auctions
The process of slave auctions was an unconstitutional system that happened everyday in the south during the 1800s.
a.Preparation
In preparation for the auction, slaves were put in stables and treated like animals. If they had wounds or scars they would be covered in tar or hot oils to make them look fresher. Up to a week before an auction, buyers would inspect the slaves. This means forcing them to lift their arms up, open their mouths, run back and forth and make them get into different poses. If anyone had an injury or a wound, their price would go down substantially A man in the prime of his life was worth $1,600. That was equivalent to approximately $35,200 in today’s dollars. If the slave has a rupture, that lowers his price to $300. Solomon Northrup, a former slave once said, “He would make us hold our hands up over our heads, walk us briskly back and forth, while customers would feel our hands, arms and bodies.” …show more content…

Slaves are brought up onto the block with a starting price. It depends on how old, what they are good at, and other things. The auctioneer tells the slave’s specialties and then starting at the starting price bidders try to out bid each other and the highest bidder gets the

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