Branding a human being was a powerful symbol of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Along with the collar, chain and whip, branding remains a potent emblem of the centuries-long trauma experienced by millions of Africans taken from that continent.
This project represents direct engagement with evidence of branding to produce a traditional monograph, an edited volume and a visual, searchable database permitting both scholars and the general public to understand the extent of this injustice. Despite the wealth of visual evidence of branding, insufficient effort has been made to produce a complete catalogue of the people and corporations who owned the brands throughout the European nations and slave societies of the Americas. Such connections would offer concrete evidence of companies, families and individuals whose personal marks were branded onto other humans as proof of ownership.
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Violence in Iron and Silver
Showing 49 - 64 of
Sex: G
Age: 10
Scarification, Unspecified Scars
Sex: G
Age: 1
Breastfeeding Infant
Sex: M
Age: 26
Tattoo
Sex: M
Age: 15
Unspecified Scars
Sex: B
Age: 8
Burned
Sex: B
Age: 9
Unspecified Scars
Sex: B
Age: 8
Scarification
Sex: G
Age: 4
Unspecified Scars, Black Marks
Sex: G
Age: 7
Dented
Sex: G
Age: 11
Tattoo
Sex: G
Age: 13
Tattoo
Sex: Man
Age: 25
Unspecified Scars
Sex: Boy
Age: 8
Tattoo
Sex: Man
Age: 16
Tattoo
Sex: M
Age: 15
Tattoo
Sex: Girl
Age: 12
Scarification