11. A Slave Auction
BY EDWARD ALBERT POLLARD (1858)
I ATTENDED a slave auction here the other day. The negroes were called up in succession on the steps of the court-house, where the crier stood. Naturally
most of them appeared anxious as the bidding was going on, turning their eyes from one bidder to the other; while the scene would be
occasionally enlivened by some jest in depreciation of the negro on the stand, which would be received with especial merriment by his
fellow negroes, who awaited their turn, and looked on from a large wagon in which they were placed. As I came up, a second-rate
plantation hand of the name Of Noah, but whom the crier persisted in calling "Noey,"was being offered. Noey,
[_]
The sale of slaves was a part of the system, and many painful
scenes occurred at slave auctions.
on mounting the steps, had assumed a most drooping aspect, hanging his head and affecting the feebleness of old age. He had probably
hoped to have avoided a sale by a dodge, which is very common in such cases. But the first bid, a thousand dollars, startled him, and
he looked eagerly to the quarter whence it proceeded. "Never mind who he is, he has got the money. Now, gentlemen, just go on; who
will say fifty? "And so the crier proceeds with his monotonous calling. "I aint worth all that, mass'r; I ain much 'count no how,"cries
Noey energetically to the first bidder. "Yes, you are, Noey-ah, $1,011, thank you, sir,"replies the crier. The gentleman who makes this
bid is recognized by Noey as 11 Mass'r John,"one of the heirs. $1,011, rejoins the first bidder, and Noey throws a glance of infinite
disdain at him for his presumption in bidding against his master.
As the bidders call over each other, Noey becomes more excited. "Drive on, Mass'r John,"he exclaims, laughing with excitement.
The bidding is very slow. Mass'r John evidently hesitates at the last call, $ 1085, as too large a price for the slave, though anxious to
bid the poor fellow in ; but Noey is shouting to him, amid the incitements of the crowd, to "Drive on "; and, after a pause, he says in
a firm tone, eleven hundred dollars. The crier calls out the round numbers with a decided emphasis. He looks at the first bidder, who
is evidently making up his mind whether to go higher, while Noey is regarding him, too, with a look of the keenest suspense. The
man shakes his head at last, the hammer falls, and Noey, with an exulting whoop, dashes down the steps to his master.
