Sale Ledger of Enslaved People from Robert Lumpkin to S. B. Jones, 1848-1850
Grade Level
Elementary, High, Middle
Time Period
1785-1850: Building America, 1850-1865: Civil War Period
Theme
African American History, Primary Source Analysis
Resource Type
Primary Source
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- Describe what you see in these documents. What questions do you have?
- What can these documents tell us about the slave trade in Richmond?
CONTEXT
Robert S. Lumpkin purchased a plot of land in Shockoe Bottom near Wall Street and 15th Street and operated his slave trading business there from 1844 to 1865 including a slave jail where the enslaved were held before being sold. These selections from his ledger show the sale of enslaved individuals from Lumpkin to S. B. Jones from 1848-1850. After each name are two numbers, the first number is the price the enslaved individual cost and the second number is how much he/she was sold for.
