He was so smooth he managed to impress even a New England abolitionist who visited Alexandria in the 1830s. The women they bought and sold were "fancy maids," a term signifying youth, beauty and potential for sexual exploitation - by buyers or the traders themselves. He eventually became a major planter and one of the medium property owners, and one of the wealthiest property owners in the state. Then he remembers why he wanted to write the book. Armfield may have been less extroverted, but he, too, drew accolades for his social graces. "Those kinds of stubborn myths - they need demolition.". He was born into two powerful slave-trading families in Rhode Island, the DeWolfs and the Potters. Few, if any, American high school or college students ever learn about the duo. Between the 1820s and 1830s, the two men reigned as the "undisputed tycoons" of the domestic slave trade, as Smithsonian Magazine put it. Illegal slave trading. It worked like this: Relying on a network of headhunters spread across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, Armfield would round up enslaved people, holding them in an open-air pen behind the house in Alexandria - or sometimes in its crowded, filthy basement - until he'd amassed a sufficient number: usually between 100 and 200. Then, he'd send the group on an arduous 1,000-mile march to slave markets in Natchez or New Orleans - or he'd stuff them into one of the company's three massive ships to make the same journey by water. Source: Getty Images. Franklin and Armfield quit the business around 1837. The two most ruthless domestic slave traders in America had a secret language for their business. About sharing. From the beginning, they divvied the work according to each man's strength: Armfield, based in Virginia, managed the "buying side of things" and arranged transportation, Rothman said. Franklin, meanwhile, stayed mostly in Natchez, Mississippi, and was responsible for selling their human cargo to plantations in the Deep South. He suspects the abuse, which had no financial purpose, stemmed from a desire for raw power: "They did it because they could, and they felt like it.". At the peak of their business, the two men were moving roughly 1,000 people a year, historians said. It was all he did for the rest of his professional life, right up until he retired. Several factors set the pair apart, Rothman explained: For one thing, their timing was impeccable. During the last ten years, a number of them—Edward Baptist, Steven Deyle, Robert Gudmestad, Walter Johnson, Joshua Rothman, Calvin … Carl Icahn Net worth: $23.5 Billion. Franklin developed a taste for the business and, after taking a brief break to fight in the War of 1812, dedicated himself to slave trading full-time. So, "floundering about" in the wake of the sex scandal, Armfield decided he would "just dabble in the slave trade," according to Rothman. Armfield has at least one direct black descendant, Rodney Williams, who wrote about his heritage - which he said he discovered through DNA testing - in an essay included in "Slavery's Descendants," published in May. All rights reserved. He died of old age in 1871. Occupation. By STF Specialist on September 30, 2014. Where does Mali’s treasures originate from? In 1772 she visited the Thirteen Colonies as a free black woman for both tourism and to trade. Franklin and Armfield, who headquartered their slave trading business in a townhouse that still stands in Alexandria, Virginia, sold more enslaved people, separated more families and made more money from the trade than almost anyone else in America. He is loath to spend yet another day probing the dark activities and darker minds of Franklin and Armfield. Rhode Island alone was responsible for half of all U.S. slave voyages. Franklin and Armfield, who headquartered their slave trading business in a townhouse that still stands in Alexandria, Va., sold more enslaved people, separated more families and … Their good reputations persisted after retirement. The Washington Post Sunday Sep 15, 2019 at 6:00 AM Sep 15, 2019 at 6:11 PM. Few profited more than the two Virginia slave traders. Neither Franklin nor Armfield earned recrimination from their peers during their lifetimes - and neither man felt the slightest remorse, according to their papers. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Bill Lipschutz. Born. Print. Their success was immense: The duo amassed a fortune worth several billions in today's dollars and retired as two of the nation's wealthiest men, according to Joshua Rothman, a professor of history at the University of Alabama who is writing a book on Franklin and Armfield. History, too, has largely "let them off scot-free," Schermerhorn said. When Franklin and Armfield retired, they passed easily into elite white society, achieving respectable dotage without a murmur. History. Franklin, meanwhile, stayed mostly in Natchez, Mississippi, and was responsible for selling their human cargo to plantations in the Deep South. Slave trading was a "game." Between the 1820s and 1830s, the two men reigned as the "undisputed tycoons" of the domestic slave trade, as Smithsonian Magazine put it. Slave trading was a "game." 1. George Soros Net Worth: $19.2 Billion. He whiled away his final years managing his estates and spending time with his three children and wife, Adelicia Hayes, whom records indicate he adored. "In surviving correspondence, they actually brag about raping enslaved people who they've been processing through the firm," said Calvin Schermerhorn, a professor of history at Arizona State University. Their success was immense: The duo amassed a fortune worth several billions in today's dollars and retired as two of the nation's wealthiest men, according to Joshua Rothman, a professor of history at the University of Alabama who is writing a book on Franklin and Armfield. Several factors set the pair apart, Rothman explained: For one thing, their timing was impeccable. Armfield has at least one direct black descendant, Rodney Williams, who wrote about his heritage - which he said he discovered through DNA testing - in an essay included in "Slavery's Descendants," published in May. In 1982, he earned an MBA in finance from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management. He whiled away his final years managing his estates and spending time with his three children and wife, Adelicia Hayes, whom records indicate he adored. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007. Tweet; Pin It; These traders have certainly done very well for themselves. As the country marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Americans are being forced to confront the brutality of slavery and of the people who profited from it. "This seemed to be as much a part of Franklin and Armfield's culture of business as, say, going to the bar after a successful court case might be the culture of a successful law firm's business.". That meant feeding their captives large amounts of corn pone and pork to "fatten them up," dying gray hair black "so they looked younger," and - if an enslaved person's skin was scarred with whip marks - smearing wax into the wounds "so they looked healthier," according to McInnis. They were once America’s cruelest, richest slave traders. Yet today, almost no one knows their names. He became interested in Franklin and Armfield after perceiving a relative paucity of books or articles about the duo - what he called "a gaping hole in all of the literature on the slave trade.". Armfield, meanwhile, purchased an old hotel in the Tennessee mountains and converted it to a luxury summer getaway for the wealthy. At the time, John Armfield was lacking in purpose: Shiftless and footloose, he had recently been chased away from a county in North Carolina for fathering a child out of wedlock, Rothman said. Armfield's marriage never yielded any children, and Franklin's children with Hayes all died without producing offspring, according to Rothman, so the two men have no direct white descendants living today. His path to the slave trade was less clear-cut than Franklin's. Franklin and Armfield, who headquartered their slave trading business in a townhouse that still stands in Alexandria, Virginia, sold more enslaved people, separated more families and made more money from the trade than almost anyone else in America. So, "floundering about" in the wake of the sex scandal, Armfield decided he would "just dabble in the slave trade," according to Rothman. All rights reserved. At the time, John Armfield was lacking in purpose: Shiftless and footloose, he had recently been chased away from a county in North Carolina for fathering a child out of wedlock, Rothman said. His path to the slave trade was less clear-cut than Franklin's. Trading on financial markets attracts people not only through it’s interesting mode of operation and profiting, but also as an opportunity to become a successful and famous person. "This seemed to be as much a part of Franklin and Armfield's culture of business as, say, going to the bar after a successful court case might be the culture of a successful law firm's business.". "The whole thing was so evil," McInnis said. Steve is one of the richest forex traders in the world. The two men launched the slave trading firm Franklin & Armfield and moved into the Alexandria townhouse - today a museum - in 1828. Slave Traders and Plantation Wealth. "They're the ones who turned the business of selling humans from one part of the U.S. to another ... into a very modern, organized business - no longer just one trader who might move a few people from one plantation to another," said Maurie D. McInnis, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies the cultural history of slavery. The men, Isaac Franklin and John Armfield, were daring "pirates" or "one-eyed men," a euphemism for their penises. Franklin went to the theater with other rich whites and threw dinner parties, earning a reputation as a "gregarious" host with "the best liquors," Rothman said. "They are each other's closest friends and that's rooted in their working relationship," Rothman said. Franklin sold the enslaved woman and her baby right after his wedding. Yet today, almost no one knows their names. Franklin worked with a few partners over the years but connected with his longest-lasting collaborator - the man who became his closest friend, confidant and nephew by marriage - in the early 1820s. Armfield had no wish to continue without his longtime partner. Franklin sold the enslaved woman and her baby right after his wedding. "It never occurs to them to think slavery might be bad: Slavery is what made their society work, it made them rich, it was a given that that was what black people were for," Rothman said. "I think America continues to be uncomfortable talking about the original sin of slavery," McInnis said. He was so smooth he managed to impress even a New England abolitionist who visited Alexandria in the 1830s. "Part of the reason they're successful is they work well together: Each understands the other's strengths, they trust and respect each other.". "The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870." They placed ads in local newspapers seeking enslaved people almost every single day they remained in business. Who are they ? Slave trading was a "game." That was possible largely because of the traders' willingness to be unusually cruel and heartless - even for a business built around the sale of human beings - as they committed atrocities they appeared to relish. One of the most persistent misconceptions about slavery in the United States is that the white upper class refused to associate with slave traders on principle, Rothman said - a myth the case of Franklin and Armfield disproves. Home > Interesting Topics > 20 Richest Traders in The World and Their Net Worth. The wealthiest man in the world by today’s measure was the African King Mansa Musa I. America's cruelest, richest slave traders: Why does no one know their names? It was all he did for the rest of his professional life, right up until he retired. One of the most persistent misconceptions about slavery in the United States is that the white upper class refused to associate with slave traders on principle, Rothman said - a myth the case of Franklin and Armfield disproves. He was born in 1789 to a wealthy planter family in Tennessee that owned "a significant number" of enslaved people, according to Rothman. He always excelled at mathematics. Born in 1797 to lapsed Quakers who farmed several hundred acres in North Carolina and owned a small number of enslaved people, Armfield spent his early adulthood pursuing a variety of unsuccessful ventures, including a small mercantile shop - which he was forced to abandon after his affair. They placed ads in local newspapers seeking enslaved people almost every single day they remained in business. Franklin and Armfield, who headquartered their slave trading business in a townhouse that still stands in Alexandria, Va., sold more enslaved people, separated more families and made more money from the trade than almost anyone else in America. Here is their story: The two most ruthless domestic slave traders in America had a secret language for their business. After 1780. Kehinde, Michael. Franklin and Armfield each fathered at least one child with an enslaved woman, Rothman said. The Confederate States of America (1861-1865) started with an agrarian-based economy that relied heavily on slave-worked plantations for the production of cotton for export to Europe and to the northern US.If classed as an independent nation, the area of the Confederate States would have ranked as the fourth-richest country of the world in 1860. "Those kinds of stubborn myths - they need demolition.". William Ellison Jr., born April Ellison, was a U.S. cotton gin maker and blacksmith in South Carolina, and former African-American slave who achieved considerable success as a slaveowner before the American Civil War. Here is their story: The two most ruthless domestic slave traders in America had a secret language for their business. The women they bought and sold were "fancy maids," a term signifying youth, beauty and potential for sexual exploitation - by buyers or the traders themselves. Ellison owned a 900-acre cotton plantation, $58,000 worth of estate, and 37 slaves (according to an 1850 census). "His brothers never got back into the slave trade, but Isaac really decides this is going to be his game: He's good at it, he likes it, he can make money at it, he sticks with it," Rothman said. When visitors came to the Alexandria townhouse, he always opened the door for them, made elegant small talk and offered them something "nice" to drink, McInnis said. The Washington Post Sunday Sep 15, 2019 at 12:01 AM Sep 15, 2019 at 3:11 PM. In 1834, the two men became family when Armfield married Franklin's niece. "There's no indication anywhere in the record that they felt guilty over what they did. "They're the ones who turned the business of selling humans from one part of the U.S. to another ... into a very modern, organized business - no longer just one trader who might move a few people from one plantation to another," said Maurie D. McInnis, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies the cultural history of slavery. © Gannett Co., Inc. 2021. Through it all, both regularly raped the women they bought and sold and joked about it in letters, a shared habit that deepened their friendship. Between 1640 and 1807, it is estimated that Britain transported 3.1 million Africans (of whom 2.7 million arrived) to the British colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America and to other countries. Read More… 2. While enslaved people waited in Franklin and Armfield's "holding pen" in Alexandria, the two men most likely adopted classic techniques employed by slave traders to enhance enslaved people's salability, McInnis said. In his late teens, right around the time the United States passed a law barring the transatlantic slave trade, Franklin and his older brothers grew interested in the domestic version: They began transporting small numbers of enslaved people between Virginia and the Deep South. Few, if any, American high school or college students ever learn about the duo. "And this is one of its most horrific chapters.". Jacob Rader Marcus, a historian and Reform rabbi, wrote in his four-volume history of Americans Jews that over 75 percent of Jewish families in Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Savannah, Georgia, owned slaves, and nearly 40 percent of Jewish households across the country did. Franklin and Armfield, who headquartered their slave trading business in a townhouse that still stands in Alexandria, Virginia, sold more enslaved people, separated more families and made more money from the trade than almost anyone else in America. Fenda Lawrence (1742 - d. after 1780), was an African slave trader who operated in the Saloum town of Kaur. Their location was also prime, perched so they could collect enslaved people from plantations across Virginia and Maryland and sending them on forced marches - in groups of several hundred known as "coffles" - or on tightly packed ships along the Atlantic Coast to the Deep South. For example, members of the Brown family of Providence, some of whom were prominent in the slave trade, gave substantial gifts to Rhode … It's been six years since Rothman began his research, crisscrossing the country to scour old documents such as property transactions in Louisiana, court cases in Mississippi, ship manifests in Alexandria. He was born in 1789 to a wealthy planter family in Tennessee that owned "a significant number" of enslaved people, according to Rothman. She was 18 at the time and just over five feet tall. The abolitionist, knowing full well Armfield's profession, nonetheless wrote: He is "a man of fine personal appearance, and of engaging and graceful manners.". Some of the richest (stock) traders in the world are: George Soros – $8.3 billion Carl Icahn – $17 billion Ray Dalio – $18.5 billion Paul Tudor Jones II – $5.1 billion Ed Seykota – $4.2 billion They got into the domestic slave trade just as the cotton economy - and American demand for enslaved labor - exploded, and quit right before the United States sank into the financial panic of 1837. Franklin died in 1846 of intestinal issues. Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. Saloum. They got into the domestic slave trade just as the cotton economy - and American demand for enslaved labor - exploded, and quit right before the United States sank into the financial panic of 1837. Jewish Political Studies Review 29.3/4 (2018): 40–42. In 1862, William Ellison was one of the largest slave owners in South Carolina as well as one of the wealthiest. When he was 26 years old, he was freed by his master and began building his … Gakunzi, David. "People are still talking about how the slave trade was marginal, slave traders were these ostracized dirtbags, and slaveholders only bought and sold people when they had to," Rothman said. In the following article, you’ll discover who the richest forex traders in the world are – the ones who overcame failures and became role models. Born in 1797 to lapsed Quakers who farmed several hundred acres in North Carolina and owned a small number of enslaved people, Armfield spent his early adulthood pursuing a variety of unsuccessful ventures, including a small mercantile shop - which he was forced to abandon after his affair. From the beginning, they divvied the work according to each man's strength: Armfield, based in Virginia, managed the "buying side of things" and arranged transportation, Rothman said. The women they bought and … Their location was also prime, perched so they could collect enslaved people from plantations across Virginia and Maryland and sending them on forced marches - in groups of several hundred known as "coffles" - or on tightly packed ships along the Atlantic Coast to the Deep South. Died. Franklin divided his retirement between a large mansion he built in Tennessee and several Louisiana plantations he acquired over the course of his career. When Franklin wed a rich socialite in 1839, he had been "raping the same enslaved woman" for about five years and had fathered a child with her, Rothman said. "The whole thing was so evil," McInnis said. (Armfield's hotel, which still stands, is used to host events including Methodist retreats.) James DeWolf and his family may have been the biggest slave traders in U.S. history, but there were many others involved. (Armfield's hotel, which still stands, is used to host events including Methodist retreats.) Though unsure what he wanted to do, Armfield was clear on what he didn't: He loathed farming. "It never occurs to them to think slavery might be bad: Slavery is what made their society work, it made them rich, it was a given that that was what black people were for," Rothman said. It was the Stuarts who introduced the Irish to the slave trade. 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