Grab and go auctions

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Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769.

Grab and Go Slave Auctions were a type of slave auction in the United States were slaves were quickly sold on a first come first serve basis rather than sold via an auction format.^[1]

[edit] Description

Slave auctions were conducted to sell slaves to the person that bid the most money for them. Sometimes the bidder would buy the whole family and then at other times the bidder would split the family up, taking only the strongest, healthiest member or members. One knew when a ship was due to arrive, because slave auctions were very well advertised. Some buyers didn't want to have the slaves stand on a platform to inspect them, poke at them and bid on them because it would cause potential bidders to bid against each other rather harshly for fear of obtaining old and sickly slaves.

So that slave buyers didn't have to worry about obtaining slaves that wouldn't benefit them, the Grab and Go Auction was created. Any slave buyer that wanted to obtain slaves, would pay the trader an agreed amount of money on the auction day, which in turn they'd receive a ticket or tickets for the number of slaves they wanted to obtain. A drum roll would then be sounded when it was time for the buyers to pick their slaves. At the time that the drum sounded off, the slave pen would be opened and the buyers were able to run in and grab the slaves that they wanted. Before the sell could be made final, the buyers had to return their tickets back to the slave trader in order to leave with their slaves, thus letting the buyers give the meaning to the term Grab and Go.