Slave collar with bells

This collar with bells would have been used to deter enslaved men and women from attempting to escape to freedom. It was often used on those who had already made at least one unsuccessful escape attempt.

Runaway slave advertisements were a regular feature in New Orleans newspapers. Though the penalties for escape could be horrific — whipping, branding, maiming, and the forced donning of heavy iron collars — enslaved people risked punishment and sometimes separation from their families in hopes of escaping bondage. Strict laws limiting their activities — including prohibitions on learning to read, write, or swim — made escape difficult.

The presence of roving patrols and the sheer physical distance between enslavement and freedom doomed many escape attempts. One lesser-known escape route was across the Southern border into Mexico. It is estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 formally enslaved people including many from Texas escaped into Mexico. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 escaped crossing into Northern states and Canada.

Runaway ads make clear that one force which drove an enslaved person to run involved the prospect of being sold. Those who learned of an impending sale away from their families and loved ones would attempt to absent themselves before the sale. Similarly, individuals recently sold — whether five or five hundred miles away from their former home — often escaped in an effort to return to loved ones.

This object was on display in the traveling exhibition, Purchased Lives: The American Slave Trade from 1808 to 1865, produced by The Historic New Orleans Collection.