Reproduction Ankle Chains
(iron)
2007
Kings Landing Historical Settlement
Photograph by Mike Meade.
Slave traders chained newly-enslaved Africans at the ankles while on board the slave ships. These people remained shackled after their arrival in North America and their sale on colonial auction blocks. Their new slave masters removed the ankle chains only after they deemed their new purchase trustworthy. Once they had become their owner’s property, enslaved peoples were generally not chained during the day or the night unless they had misbehaved or had tried to escape.
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