The Montgomery Slave Trade
THE MONTGOMERY SLAVE TRADE
Montgomery had grown into one of the most prominent slave
trading communities in Alabama by 1860. At the start of the Civil
War, the city had a larger slave population than Mobile, New
Orleans, or Natchez, Mississippi. Montgomery attracted a growing
number of major slave traders whose presence dominated the city’s
geography and economy. The Montgomery probate office granted
at least 164 licenses to slave traders operating in the city from
1848 to 1860. Stave trader’s offices were located primarily along
Commerce Street and Market Street (new Dexter Avenue). Over
time, Montgomery became the most important and conspicuous
slave trading communities in the United States. After the Alabama
legislature banned free black people from residing in the state in
1833, enslavement was the only legally authorized status for
African Americans n Montgomery.
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE 2013