Tax Ledger of White Enslavers

Item

Type
Ledger (account book)
Title
Tax Ledger of White Enslavers
Rationale
Evidence of the extended practice of enslaving people in Delaware in the early nineteenth century.
Description
This tax ledger book estimated the value of property in order to levy taxes. In early-19th-century Delaware, enslaved people were lumped together as household "property" along with livestock, land, and material possessions.

The assessment of taxable property for Mason Abbott records the following entry: "1 Negro man, aged 30 $150." This human "property" appears before entries for livestock.
Date
ca. 1815
1800s
Place
Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware
Subject
Slave labor
Slave records
Slaveholders
Extent
112 pages
Physical dimensions: 12.75"H x 7.75"W.
Digital dimensions: 1468.17px.H. x 925px. W
Medium
Paper, ink
Publisher
Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Rights
The copyright and related rights status of this item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available (noted above in Publisher and Identifier) for more information.