The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.

The “Great Slave Auction” occurred in 1859 at the Ten Broeck Race Course near Savannah, Georgia. This infamous event is often cited as the largest single sale of enslaved people in United States history.

The auction took place over two days, starting on March 2nd, 1859, and was orchestrated by Pierce M. Butler, a wealthy plantation owner who had fallen into financial ruin. Butler inherited a significant number of enslaved individuals but found himself heavily indebted due to mismanagement and lavish spending.

To settle his debts, Butler decided to liquidate his assets, which included the human beings he held as slaves. The sale attracted buyers from across the South, as well as from other parts of the United States. The enslaved individuals up for sale were paraded before potential buyers, who assessed their physical attributes, skills, and health. Families were often separated, and the auction was marked by scenes of heartbreak and despair as people were torn from their loved ones.

The auction was a stark reminder of the dehumanizing cruelty of slavery and the commodification of human lives. It also highlighted the economic foundation upon which slavery rested in the antebellum South. The event drew condemnation from abolitionists and others opposed to the institution of slavery, further fueling the tensions that would eventually lead to the American Civil War.

While the Great Slave Auction is one of the most notorious examples of the buying and selling of enslaved people in the United States, it is just one among countless similar auctions that took place throughout the country during the era of American slavery.