Children in the Slave Trade
Slave Coffle, Central Africa, 1861 [Image]
Annotation
This image shows children and adults making their way from the African interior to the coast in a slave coffle. While some may think that children were given special treatment because of their age, and some may have, this image suggests that this was not always the case. Teachers should caution students that this is also an image commissioned by abolitionists, who often used children to make a point. This does not mean that children did not travel in coffles as is pictured here, but abolitionists used images like these to gain support for their cause.
Source
Livingstone, David, and Charles Livingstone. Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864. London, 1865, facing, 356. Reprinted New York, 1866, facing, 376. In Handler, Jerome S., and Michael L. Tuite, Jr. "Advertisement for Sale of Newly Arrived Africans, Charleston, July 24, 1769." The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record, http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=3&categoryName=Capture%20of%20Slaves%20and%20Coffles%20in%20Africa&theRecord=7&recordCount=41. Annotated by Colleen A. Vasconcellos.
How to Cite This Source
Colleen A. Vasconcellos, "Children in the Slave Trade," in Children and Youth in History, Item #141, https://cyh.rrchnm.org/items/show/141 (accessed August 10, 2021).
- Introduction
- Primary Sources
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Kidnapping [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Slave Ship [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Middle Passage [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Slave Auction [Excerpt]
- The Dolben's Act of 1788 [Government Document]
- Request: Playden Onely to the Royal African Company, 1721 [Official Document]
- Advertisement for Sale of Newly Arrived Africans, Charleston, July 24, 1769 [Advertisement]
- Captured Africans Liberated from a Slaving Vessel, East Africa, 1884 [Image]
- Slave Coffle, Central Africa, 1861 [Image]
- A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture A Native of Africa, but Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America Related by Himself [Excerpt]
- Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery: Slave Coffle [Excerpt]
- Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery: Middle Passage [Excerpt]
- Children in the Slave Trade [Table]
- Teaching
- Resources
