{"exhibit":{"title":"Were slaves bought and sold on the Mall?","description":"
Slave pens dotted the area around the National Mall the early 1800s. The slave trade was a profitable and booming business in Washington and highly visible near the US Capitol and White House. Slavery's presence in the capital of a nation established on the ideal that \"all men are created equal\" angered anti-slavery advocates and reassured slavery supporters. After decades of controversy, the Compromise of 1850 abolished the slave trade in Washington. In 1862, the District of Columbia Emancipation Act freed all enslaved people in Washington, ending what abolitionists termed \"the national shame.\"<\/p>","credits":"","featured":0,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"mall-slavery","added":"2013-03-27 09:44:59","modified":"2014-11-06 13:30:54","owner_id":3,"use_summary_page":1,"cover_image_file_id":null,"id":20},"item":{"item_type_id":6,"collection_id":null,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2013-03-01 10:36:29","modified":"2015-10-28 12:57:04","owner_id":3,"id":230}}