United States History Student Edition

C Reward Poster

To help find enslaved people who had escaped their bondage, plantation owners often offered rewards for their recapture. Such rewards were noted on posters or in advertisements in newspapers. The ads or posters usually contained detailed descriptions of the escapees. This poster is from Virginia in 1855.

PRIMARY SOURCE: POSTER

EXAMINE THE SOURCE 1. Identifying What information does the poster provide about the escapees? 2. Interpreting What does this source reveal about how slaveholders viewed enslaved people? 3. Inferring What does the poster reveal about the family life of enslaved people?

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Life in the North and the South 389