Charleston, South Carolina "slave badge,” dated 1824. This example was issued for a "servant," someone who typically would do domestic work inside a home. The front is struck "CHARLESTON / 1824 / SERVANT / N. 153."

Condition as shown, with corrosion to both obverse and reverse. It features typical clipped corners and a punched hole, now open to the top edge.

A slave badge from a period of rising racial tensions and measures of control in Charleston. In 1822, free Black craftsman and preacher Denmark Vesey was convicted of plotting to overthrow the white population of Charleston. They responded with curfews for Black people, prohibited Black people from assembling, and they abolished the education of slaves. 

The 1820s also saw the beginnings of secession in South Carolina, with many wishing to operate as an independent state with trade laws favorable to their own best interest. The conflict would simmer over in the Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833. 

Slavery was a foundational element of life in South Carolina from its colonial establishment. In was stated in the 1669 Fundamental Constitutions, that "Every freeman of Carolina, shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slave". By 1776, the Lowcountry was one of the wealthiest regions in the world, thanks to enslavement. Nine of America's wealthiest ten people lived in Charleston, where the population was over 70% enslaved Black people. 

Charleston slave badges are sobering visual evidence of a system for hiring out enslaved men and women that was unique to that city between 1800-1865. During this period, the local government mandated that enslaved people wear or otherwise display badges like this when they were hired out by their enslavers (note the small hole at the top center of this example). The city issued the badges in return for a fee paid by slaveholders. The objects were then inscribed with an occupation, year of issue, and registration number. When worn, the badge gave its wearer some freedom of movement around Charleston. That said, the wages earned by a hired-out slave typically belonged to their owners.

Few objects are as profoundly impactful as a Charleston slave badge. This example, without any doubt, was worn by an enslaved person while they were hired out to work- likely for the financial benefit of their enslaver.

[African American History, Black Americana, Frederick Douglass, Abolition, Emancipation, Slavery, Slave, Abolitionist, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Union, Confederate]

Condition as shown.