The Business of Human Bondage: 1848 Letter Detailing the Shipment and Sale of Enslaved Boys from Virginia to Mississippi

[Slavery] Slave Sale Letter Detailing the Shipment, Insurance, and Sale of Enslaved Boys from Virginia to Mississippi. Also includes discussino on the interrelation on the price of cotton and the value of slaves. EGGLESTON, J.E. Autograph Letter Signed to "Messrs. Buckannon Carrol & Co.," New Orleans. Richmond, Virginia, 24 November 1848. One and one-quarter pages on a bifolium, 6 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches. Address panel on terminal leaf with postmark and "Paid 10" postage stamp. Written in dark brown ink in a clear, legible cursive hand.

A stark document of the domestic slave trade, this letter details the planned shipment of four enslaved boys (truncated) from Virginia to Mississippi via New Orleans. Writing from Richmond, J.E. Eggleston instructs the New Orleans firm Buchanan, Carroll & Co. to take charge of the enslaved boys upon arrival and to arrange for their further transport by steamboat to Holmes County, Mississippi. "A friend of mine will ship in a few days four Negro Boys to New Orleans to the care of your house," he directs. "Please take charge of them & ship them on the first safe Boat to Chula [Tchula], Holms [Holmes] County Mississippi to the care of Stansbuary & Williams... Should steam boats be running the Yelo Bush, ship them to Winter & Powell Troy." His instructions are clear: the enslaved individuals are to be forwarded to their final destination as swiftly as possible, subject to prevailing steamboat operations.

Eggleston provides financial directives, treating the enslaved boys as mere assets within a commercial transaction. "State in the bill of Laden [lading] the amount to be paid for the passage of the Negroes," he writes, ensuring that the costs associated with their forced migration are documented. "You will pay the expences [expenses] on them while in the city & charge the amount to J.E. & W.C. Eggleston. I shall pay there [their] passage to New Orleans and have them insured." The mention of insurance highlights the brutal commodification of human beings, whose financial worth to their enslavers justified the purchase of policies protecting against their loss during transit. Eggleston then references shifting market conditions, explaining that the fluctuating price of cotton has impacted his decision to acquire further enslaved laborers. "Owing to the low pricse [price] of cotton I determined to purchis [purchase] no more negroes at preasant [present]. Thay [They] are selling too high for the prospect of the price of cotton." This passage underscores the direct correlation between the value of enslaved people and the speculative nature of the cotton economy, in which fluctuations in crop prices dictated the demand for human chattel. Light creasing and toning, with minor ink bleed-through. Folded for mailing, with postmarks and address panel intact. Very good condition overall. An unsettling firsthand record of the forced migration of enslaved individuals, providing insight into the economic calculations underpinning the domestic slave trade, as well as its geography and logistics. (Inventory #: 21524)