Women's Active Role in the New Orleans Slave Market Revealed by Research

Research on the New Orleans slave market revealed that women were involved in 30% of all transactions and nearly 40% of those involving female slaves. The study showed that even married women were buyers and sellers of slaves, not just single or widowed women. Historian Stephanie Jones Rogers conducted research that quantitatively supported the historical accounts of women's participation in the slave market. Foreign visitors to the United States documented the active role of women in the slave markets, with one British abolitionist observer noting how white women would attend auctions without shame, actively participating in purchasing and owning enslaved individuals. Women were not passive bystanders but co-conspirators in the slave market, viewing it as a means to achieve economic freedom.