Description

While not an exact image of the Mall, this abolitionist print shows the role of the federal city in the interstate slave trade in the early 1800s. Slaves worked, lived, were held captive, and sold within sight of the Capitol building. In this print, the dome of the Capitol is visible above the head of a woman who, with her children, is being forced onto a slave ship, possibly sold to the deep south where working conditions were often very harsh, even deadly.

Date

1830

Coverage

1830-1859

Source

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. View original.