Slave Auctions of the Domestic Slave Trade

Slave Auctions of the Domestic Slave Trade. . , During the years 1828-1840 James Jervey, Morton A.Waring, and Alonzo J. White operated a slave trading firm from this building. Part of a network of similar enterprises, the location provided easy access to other sites which supported these businesses, such as banks and insurance companies., Enslaved people were frequently auctioned nearby on the north side of the Exchange Building. That site was where beginning on February 24, 1835, Jervey, Waring, and White conducted the largest known domestic slave sale in United States history., The death of John Ball Jr., and the dissolution of his extensive plantation holdings along the upper Cooper River, led to the sale of 600 people. Newspaper advertisements described them as "A very valuable gang of Negroes" which included coopers, boatmen, and drivers, and many who were knowledgeable about rice culture., This 1835 sale is mainly distinguished by its size. Commerce in human beings, an abomination today was an essential feature of the antebellum South's economy. The leading men who engaged in human trafficking were esteemed "gentlemen of property and standing" in their communities.