An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South

Review

"In beautiful and moving prose, An Unholy Traffic uncovers a new story centered on the persistence of the slave trade during the Civil War. Never believing that their cornerstone institution might be imperiled, both individual enslavers and the Confederate state continued to buy and sell the flesh of men and women up to and sometimes after the moment of defeat. This is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand both the grip slaveholding held on Confederacy and vice versa." -- Caroline E. Janney, Author of Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee's Army after Appomattox"Robert Colby's sparkling new history of Confederate slave trading during the Civil War shows us just how far some American enslavers would go to perpetuate their so-called right to hold property in people. It reveals, too, the central role of the Confederate state in enabling these wartime dealers in human flesh, as well as the undaunted courage of those they traded to try to free themselves any way they could. This is the book we've been waiting for!" -- Richard Bell, Author of Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home"With great precision and detail, Colby presents an excellent history of slavery and prices during the Civil War. He does a fine job balancing the perspectives of the enslaved against the backdrop of those who sought to profit off of them. This book is a gem." -- Daina Ramey Berry, University of California, Santa Barbara"Brilliantly examines the last years of the slave trade....Colby demonstrates that the end of slavery and the slave trade was not inevitably between 1861 and 1865....An Unholy Traffic is an important book that excavates an unfamiliar, but critically important, story and in doing so places the internal slave trade at the heart, as a 'cornerstone,' of the Confederacy." -- Kevin M. Levin, A Civil War Monitor Best Book of the Year"Colby's exhaustively researched and lucid book fills that void and provides fresh detail on and interpretation of the meaning of the domestic exchange of enslaved persons in the Confederate state. The author pays special attention to the importance of slave trading and slavery to Confederate nationalism. The ongoing domestic slave trade labor signified white Southerners' confidence in their cause and the active support of the state in preserving and expanding slaveholding." -- Choice"Colby's skill as a historian is complimented by his talent as a storyteller. Using primary sources and data to explore the heartbreaking stories of the enslaved and the institution of slavery itself in the war years, Colby paints a picture that not many historians have delved into. For those interested in the study of American slavery, An Unholy Trafficis a book that should be among the essentials on your reading list." -- Jack Fryar, Carolina Chronicles"An Unholy TraFic has much to teach all scholars of slavery, American economic history, the US South, and the American Civil War." -- Evan Turiano, American Historical Review"Deeply researched and written clearly, An Unholy Traffic transforms our understanding of slavery and the Civil War. The book belongs on both bookshelves and syllabi." -- Alice Baumgarner, Journal of African American History"With engrossing prose, rich research, and sharp arguments, An Unholy Traffic marks an essential, important intervention in the history of slavery and the American Civil War, casting new light on the peculiar institution, the history of capitalism, and the relationship between enslavers and the state." -- Maria Montalvo, Journal of the Civil War Era

About the Author

Robert K.D. Colby is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Mississippi. His research on the domestic slave trade has won multiple awards, including the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians.