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Enslavement in Pennsylvania • Dauphin County

Advertisement to sell a 33-year-old female slave

Advertisement for a thirty-three year-old woman.
Oracle of Dauphin, 4 May, 1795; page 4.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

This is another typical slave advertisement. Again we see the characteristic terms "healthy" and "stout" being used to describe the woman's physical condition. This woman has probably served most of her life on a farm and is trained in both housework, including cooking, and farm work. This, too, is typical of slave women in this region and time period.

Her age, thirty-three, identifies her as a slave for life, and again we see how the slaveholder remains anonymous by directing potential buyers to see the printer for further particulars. This woman was born in 1762.

The term "wench" is very common in describing black slave woman, especially in this time period in Pennsylvania. It is short for the Middle English word wenchel, which means "child," and is another way of diminishing the status of adult slaves.

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