SOUTH CAROLINA We the undersigned loyal citizens of the Stat

Sale 2377 - Lot 103

Price Realized: $ 625

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

GET RID OF THE TROUBLE MAKER SOUTH CAROLINA. "We the undersigned loyal citizens of the State of South Carolina, do most respectfully ask that Anthony, formerly a slave and the property of D. H. Spencer [?] be removed to some distant part of the county." Manuscript petition, signed by six former plantation owners. Folio leaf, written on one side and docketed on the reverse. Chesterfield District, 1 August, 1868

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A most unusual request by a group of plantation owners to have a trouble-making ex-slave named Anthony removed from the area. "The said Anthony was for a number of years back a notorious 'runaway,' and has ever been remarkable for his indolence and impertinence. More recently however, he has instructed his fellow laborers that the 'Contract-System' of the U.S. Government is a mere 'Yankee trick' intended to mislead and entrap them into slavery. And has advised them to desist from affixing their signatures 'to any such papers.' And so successfully has he convinced them of the supposed dangers of such a course and of the iniquities of the system that only 4 signatures can be obtained to the contracts designed for three plantations. Anthony is an influential negro." The petition goes on and is signed by six men, two of them Spencers, probably brothers. Anthony perceptively saw through the system of share-cropping and indenture which exploited former slaves.