Cast Iron Shackles From Middle Passage

Cast Iron Shackles From Middle Passage

18th - early 19th century ankle shackles of the type used to restrain enslaved people aboard ships during the Middle Passage crossing the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas. Shackles such as these are a grim reminder of the practices of slave trading that occurred during the Middle Passage Route. This set is 14" in length, with each ankle piece measuring 3.5". One end of the shackle has a ring, which would likely have had a chain running through connecting multiple people together.

A captive African slave's feet would have been bound in each ankle brace hammering in a ring on the end to secure the restraints in place. In the case where a slave trader could afford one, a simple early padlock would be used. Similar shackles were also used on hands, though many slaves had their hands bound in cloth and rope. There is expected minor surface pitting and oxidation from age, having a natural rich patina.

The "Middle Passage" was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic Slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as Slaves; the Slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking, and they were generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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