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Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Author
Maynard, Thomas
Donor
Clark, Julie
Place
Maryland
Topic
Branding (Punishment)
Fugitive slaves
Slaves -- Emancipation
Slave trade -- Maryland
Slaveholders -- Maryland
Slavery -- United States -- Maryland
Provenance
Bill of Sale of "one Negro girl named Nancy, about three years old, from Thomas Maynard to John Stephen Hale, for the sum of 30 pounds, Frederick County, Maryland, June 13, 1796." 2002 acquisition: "Receipt for a slave named Wilson", January 19, 1863, and two carte-de-visite portraits: W.B. Mitchell, July 1880, and Pleasant A. Mitchell, undated. Gifts of Julie Clark, 2008 addendum.
Author
Maynard, Thomas
See more items in
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection
Summary
A collection of a variety of legal documents that relate to slavery and African-Americans.
Biographical / Historical
Up until the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent victory of the Union forces in the Civil War, slaves were considered chattel, property that could be bought and sold. Slaves were a commodity that could be attached for non-payment of debt, used as collateral, given as bequests in a will, and were considered assets of a deceased's estate. As such, they engendered legal battles and the need for a variety of legal documents asserting one's freedom or manumission.
Extent
1 Cubic foot (2 boxes)
Date
undated
1710-1865
Custodial History
This collection originally consisted of a single document, and was entitled, Maryland Slave Bill of Sale. In 2008, the Museum's Division of Music, Sports and Entertainment (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) transferred numerous documents, which were added to the single document entitled Maryland Slave Bill of Sale and re-named as Legal Documents Concerning Slavery, 1710-1865, undated (manumission documents, bills of sale, a deed of title, a deed of trust, estate documents, one document relating to the branding of captured runaway slaves, and other papers relating to slavery).
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0786
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Bills of sale
Deeds
Land titles
Slave bills of sale
Manuscripts
Manumission, deeds of
Citation
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection, 1710-1865, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 1 series: Series 1: Legal Documents Concerning Slavery, 1710-1865, undated
Processing Information
Processed by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., 2011; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist. Additional processing by Walter Hursey and Jakob Dopp, 2015, supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Bills of sale
Deeds
Land titles
Slave bills of sale
Manuscripts -- 18th century
Manumission, deeds of
Scope and Contents
This collection consists mainly of a wide vareity of court and legal documents such as, bills of sale, warrants, a manumission document, a certificate of free birth, and documents concerning debt, property, and legal obligations. The documents originated in four states: Alabama, the Carolina colony, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. They span the greatest portion of the era of slavery within what is now the United States. Most of the documents are from Lawrence County, Alabama and may have at one time been created or used as evidence in either an orphans court or civil court case. The documents are arranged in one series in chronological order.
Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1562709035034-1562709035039-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep87426a4aa-cb23-4756-8f7c-9b86dc7fd96a

In the Collection

  • Freedom affidavit, New York, New York

  • Right of property, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Bill of sale, Frederick County

  • Debt document, Fayette County, Alabama

  • Bill of sale, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Bill of sale, Frederick County, Maryland

  • Bill of Sale, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Assignment and declaration, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Warrants and court documents, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Warrant, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Receipt, Jefferson County, Tennessee

  • Testimony

  • Court documents, Smith County, Texas

  • Slave sale document, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Court Document, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Warrant, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Bill of Sale, Indiana

  • Bill of sale, Chattanooga, Tennessee, carte de visite photographs of W.B. Mitchell and Pleasant A. Mitchell (father of W.B. Mitchell)

  • Court documents, petition, Houston County, Texas

  • Court documents, Fannin County, Texas

  • Court order

  • Manumission document, Frederick County, Maryland

  • Suit for a runaway slave, Berkeley County, Carolina colony

  • Certificate, abolition society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Debt Document, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Writ

  • Court Documents, Bexar County, Texas

  • Certificate of free birth, Loudoun County, Virginia

  • Warrant for the arrest of "Emmanuel Hooks (coloured)" for horse stealing, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Obligation, Franklin County, Alabama

  • Legal Documents Concerning Slavery

  • Warrant, Lawrence County, Alabama

  • Bill of sale, New Orleans, Louisiana

Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection
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International media Interoperability Framework
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