Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Unknown [Slave shackles intended for a child]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06151 Author/Creator: Unknown Place Written: s.l. Type: Object Date: circa 1800 Pagination: 1 set of shackles ; 11.6 x 4.8 cm. Order a Copy

Circa date previously estimated. Consists of two loops held together by a metal pin. Shackles were intended for a child.

This style of shackle was used during the eighteenth century, and similar looking shackles were discovered in the wreckage of the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship which sunk off the coast of Florida in 1700. The design of these shackles is consistent with those employed during the notorious "Middle Passage," the only type of shackles that can be verified as a slave shackle. All other 19th century shackles, unless accompanied by a letter of providence, could be said to be jail house or chain gang shackles.

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