Description:

Detail of poster against the slave trade, produced by Abolitionists who campainged for the end of slavery (c. 1860).

The poster shows a kneeling figure of a slave in chains, with the words: Am I Not a Man and a Brother? Our Country Men in Chains, with verse by J G Whittier.

The poster may have come from an abolitionist Broadside (a propaganda Broadsheet against the slave trade).

The figure on this poster is the image of a kneeling black slave used by anti-slavery campaigners, or Abolitionists, as their logo. The kneeling slave is asking for help from his white brothers. This image was widely used to raise support and awareness for the campaign, it appears on many items, from pamphlets through to china plates.

The enslaved Africans were not as passive in their role as this symbol suggests, their continual fight against slavery was the main contributing factor to its abolition.

Contributed by John Judkyn Memorial.

Date: c. 1860

Copyright: The American Museum in Britain, Bath

Object ID:65.217(detail)