James Chesnut, List of Negroes Purchased, 1815
Document Description:
This 1815 list of African American children purchased as slaves by James Chesnut, politician and plantation owner from Camden, South Carolina, documents the commercial value of children born into slavery in the antebellum South. Family separations were routine, as members of slave families could be bought and sold from one area of the country to another at any time, including children. The significance of African American slave children to the southern economic system is illustrated by their numbers; between 1820 and 1860 more than two-fifths of those enslaved were younger than fifteen, and one-third were less than ten years old (Marie Jenkins Schwartz, 2000) Born in Bondage, p5).
Citation:
List of Negroes Purchased for James Chesnut, Esq. James Chesnut Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Transcription:
James Chesnut Papers, List of Negroes purchased for James Chesnut Esquire, 1815
Correlating Social Studies Academic Standards and Literacy Elements:
Standard 3-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the events that led to the Civil War, the course of the War and Reconstruction, and South Carolina's role in these events.
Indicator 3-4.1 Compare the conditions of daily life for various classes of people in South Carolina, including the elite, the middle class, the lower class, the independent farmers, and the free and the enslaved African Americans.
Indicator 3-4.2 Summarize the institution of slavery prior to the Civil War, including reference to conditions in South Carolina, the invention of the cotton gin, subsequent expansion of slavery and the economic dependency on slavery.
Social Studies Literacy Elements:
A. Distinguish between past, present, and future time.
K. Use texts, photographs, and documents to observe and interpret social studies trends and relationships.
L. Interpret calendars, time lines, maps, charts, tables, graphs, flow charts, diagrams, photographs, paintings, cartoons, architectural drawings, documents, letters, censuses, and other artifacts.
Lessons Using this Document