Natchez slave market
| Company type | Slave market |
|---|---|
| Industry | Slave trade |
| Founded | 1833 |
| Defunct | 1863 |
| Headquarters | Natchez , United States |
Area served | Natchez, Mississippi and surrounding region |
The Natchez slave market served as a prominent center for slave trading in Natchez, Mississippi, functioning chiefly between 1833 and 1863 at the Forks of the Road site approximately one mile from the city center. Located at the intersection of Liberty Road and Washington Road (now known as D'Evereux Drive and St. Catherine Street), this market was unique in that enslaved people were sold on a first-come, first-served basis rather than through traditional auctions or lot sales. At its height, Forks of the Road ranked as the second-largest slave market in the United States after New Orleans, acting as a significant commercial hub within the regional slave trade network. The concentration of slave trading establishments in this area earned it the derogatory nickname Niggerville from around 1836 until 1860.
History
The origins of the Forks of the Road slave market trace back to the 18th century; early slave transactions near Natchez, Mississippi, primarily took place at riverboat landings during the 1780s. The development of the Natchez Trace route from Nashville in the 1790s shifted these activities inland to Forks of the Road, situated along this route on the northeastern edge of town. Throughout the Mississippi Territory period, slave markets were active in Natchez, Bruinsburg, and Selsertown. Following the War of 1812, Natchez along with Algiers, Louisiana emerged as some of the most vigorous slave markets in the South. By the late 1810s, sales were commonly held near St. Catherine's Toll Bridge over St. Catherine's Creek.
An observer in 1817 recorded seeing "fourteen flatboats loaded with Negroes for sale."William Wells Brown recounted a warehouse located at the boat landing used for temporarily holding enslaved individuals before transferring them to holding pens closer to town; he also referenced sales conducted at Rodney, previously known as Petit Gulf.
In 1833, amid concerns over a cholera outbreak, traders collectively decided to move slave sales beyond Natchez city limits. Prior to this relocation, auctions occurred at various places throughout town including boat landings and steps of Mansion House. This change was prompted by public outrage after reports surfaced that trader Isaac Franklin had disposed of cholera victims’ bodies near residential areas. That year, thirty-two out-of-town slave merchants conducting business in Natchez reported taxable revenue.
Novelist J. H. Ingraham, who visited in 1834, noted a steady demand fueled by health crises and expanding cotton cultivation supplied by markets in Kentucky and Virginia. He estimated that annually more than 4,000 enslaved people passed through this "crossroads" marketplace. Historian Frederic Bancroft described it as a cluster of rudimentary wooden structures located about a mile outside Natchez where several hundred slaves were displayed for sale each year—numbers comparable to that of the local white population.
William T. Martin, a lawyer-turned-politician and Confederate general from the area, recalled witnessing between 600 and 800 slaves present simultaneously during winter months when multiple large traders operated with hundreds of enslaved individuals each. These traders constructed three expansive three-story buildings capable of housing several hundred slaves.
The Forks of the Road market is mentioned in Harriet Beecher Stowe's A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (1853), which emphasizes the frequent family separations inherent in the domestic slave trade and challenges assertions that such separations were infrequent.
In 1863, U.S. Army forces demolished the market and repurposed its lumber to build barracks for themselves and for self-emancipated individuals referred to as "contraband." In 2021, this location was incorporated into the Natchez National Historical Park.
Historical records also indicate that traders operated within Natchez Under the Hill, a notorious port district infamous for its debauchery and lawlessness. An account from an 1822 visitor described it as "the most infamous place I ever saw—where villany... triumphs in open day."
Traders
Prominent individuals engaged in trading activities at Natchez comprised:
- Robert B. Brashear
- Benjamin Eaton
- R. H. Elam
- Isaac Franklin associated with Franklin and Armfield Office and Isaac Franklin Plantation
- Griffin & Pullum
- Hitchens & Colco (uncertain)
- John D. James, Thomas G. James, and David D. James (siblings)
- John O'Ferrall – in 1857, he disclosed that his slave holding facility produced approximately annually from rental earnings
- Woodroof & Hundley
- Matthews, Branton & Co.
- John T. Hatcher
- Rowan & Harris
- John P. Phillips
See also
- Slave markets and slave jails in the United States
- Natchez Trace and Natchez Trace Parkway
- Hamburg, South Carolina slave market
- New Orleans slave market
- Richmond, Virginia slave market
- Nashville, Tennessee slave market
- Andrew Jackson and the slave trade in the United States
Sources
Further reading
- Special History Study April 1993 by Ronald L. F. Davis, Ph.D The Black Experience in Natchez 1720-1880 NATCHEZ National Historical Park
- Barnett, Jim and Burkett, H. Clark, “The Forks of the Road Slave Market at Natchez,” The Journal of Mississippi History, Vol. LXIII, Fall 2001, No. 3, 169-187.
- History of slavery in Mississippi
- Buildings and structures in Natchez, Mississippi
- Natchez National Historical Park
- Slave jails in the United States
- 1863 disestablishments in the United States
- Franklin & Armfield
- 1833 establishments in the United States
- Buildings and structures demolished in 1863
- History of Natchez, Mississippi
- West Florida
- History of Mississippi
- Slave markets in the United States