AFRICA-AMERICA

Date1807

Publisher W. B. Walker

Publisher P. Stampa

MediumMezzotint engraving with period hand color adhered to glass with Venice Turpentine and Mastick or Turpentine Varnish. In period frame.

DimensionsFramed: 12 × 16in. Overall: 10 1/2 × 14in. (26.7 × 35.6cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1997-41

DescriptionThe lower margin reads, "Published Augt. 20, 1807, by W. B. Walker [illegible] Cow Lane, London & [illegible]"
Label TextIn many European representations, “Africa” and “America” were depicted with most of the same attributes. The alligator or crocodile was used to represent both continents, as were feather headdresses, palm trees, nudity, and antiquated weaponry, all suggestive of the British view that these continents and their inhabitants were inferior. The African figure here holds a document stating “SLAVE TRADE abolish’d 1806,” a reference to Great Britain’s abolition of the transatlantic slave trade the following year. Thomas Jefferson announced a similar ban for the United States late in 1806, but the law ending the transatlantic slave trade did not go into effect until 1808. Some believed that banning the international importation of human beings would eventually end slavery in the United States. Instead, it significantly expanded the domestic slave market.

Exhibition(s)