This week in 1859, the largest slave sale in US history took place in Savannah, Georgia. 436 men, women and children were ripped apart from their families & sold to cover the gambling debts of their owner. Most of the slaves never saw their family members again. 
The sale was so large it required 2 days to complete & brought in a total of $303,000. It is known as “The Weeping Time” by some decedents of slaves because it rained during the slave sale & it was as if the heavens were weeping for the inhumanity.
Pierce Mease Butler, the owner of the slaves who were sold, inherited his wealth from Major Pierce Butler, one of the US's largest slaveholders & a signer of the US Constitution. He was instrumental in getting the Fugitive Slave Clause included in the constitution.
Before the auction, ads appeared in papers across the south advertising the sale. At the time of the sale, the hotels and bars were all full to capacity and the city was abuzz with excitement.
A journalist described the treatment of the slaves before the sale: “Into these sheds they were huddled pell-mell, without any more attention to their comfort than was necessary to prevent their becoming ill and unsalable... On the faces of all was an expression of heavy grief."
Soon after the last slave was sold, the rain stopped & champagne bottles popped in celebration. Pierce Butler was once again wealthy & made a trip to southern Europe before returning home to Philadelphia.
Today there is an unassuming monument to mark the slave sale on a small plot in a depressed area of Savannah. This contrasts with the grandiose monuments to the Confederate dead that have prominent positions in countless Southern cities.
Read more: theatlantic.com/business/archi…
