U.S. Civil War

Prices of slaves on the Eastern Shore of Maryland before the Civil War – Part 1

Rusty old shackles with padlock, key and open handcuff used for locking up prisoners or slaves between 1600 and 1800. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero, by Kate Clifford Larson provides the first adult biography of Harriet Tubman published since 1943.

I read the book after watching the new movie Harriet. I heartily recommend both the book and the movie. If you want to add another hero to the list of people you admire, check out the life story of Harriet Tubman.

There are lots of reviews of the movie and book. This post will not be a review of either the book or movie. Only direct comment I’ll make on the book is that after self-liberating from slavery, Harriet Tubman made about 13 trips back to the eastern shore of Maryland to help about 70 other slaves escape. She liberated most of her family, missing only her remarried husband and a few nieces and nephews if I recall correctly. She also gave detailed instructions to around 50 other slaves so they could escape on their own (location 154).

Instead this post will focus on one aspect of slavery covered in the book, specifically the price of slaves on the eastern shore of Maryland in the years prior to the civil war.

 

Why discuss the price of slaves?

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U.S. Civil War

Indicator of soldier’s pay late in the Civil War. Racial disparity in pay rates.

“The Old Flag Never Touched the Ground” by The National Guard is courtesy of the U.S. Government. Painting illustrates the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment as the regiment of African-American soldiers attacked Fort Wagner. Although unsuccessful, the attack proved black soldiers could fight as well as whites.

Hymns of the Republic by S. C. Gwynne cites an editorial on May 1, 1864 in the Chicago Tribune titled “Read and Blush” which criticized the wide disparity in pay between black and white soldiers.

This editorial is useful for two reasons. First, it reports the pay rates then in effect. Second it reveals the racism built into society at the time.

The monthly pay rates in April 1864, with another year remaining in the war:

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Roman Empire

Pilum – javelin used by Roman Legionnaires.

Image of pilum courtesy of Adobe Stock.

A Pilum (plural pila) was a javelin thrown by Roman Legionnaires to disrupt an enemy line moments before closing for hand-to-hand contact.

The pilum was about 6 or 6 1/2 feet long, weighing between 2 and 5 pounds (heavier early in Roman era, lighter later).  There was an iron shaft at the front which was about a quarter inch diameter and about 2 feet long. A wood pole, 4 feet long or so was attached to the metal shaft. The wood added plenty of mass to the pilum giving it good penetration capacity. A point on the base of the pilum made it usable to stack with other pila in camp or plant in the ground for an ad hoc defense from cavalry.

A hard triangular tip was designed to punch through armor. With enough force it could penetrate a shield.

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Other eras

A few indicators for King Solomon’s wealth – part 3

Bronze statuette of the Roman war in a chariot with two horses . Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Previous post took a guess at quantifying the value of King Solomon’s chariots and warhorses. Earlier post estimated the number of warhorses King Solomon owned along with the number of chariots in his kingdom.

Here is another text that allows us to make estimates of some portions of his vast wealth.

Kings text

1 Kings 10: 14-29 (emphasis added to highlight specific valuations):

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Other eras

A few indicators for King Solomon’s wealth – part 2

Solomon’s horses on Tel-Megiddo National park. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Previous post estimated the number of warhorses King Solomon owned along with citing the number of chariots in his kingdom.

Here are two of the texts used to make an estimate of some portions of his vast wealth:

Chronicles text

2 Chronicles 1:14-17 (emphasis added for attention on specific valuations):

“Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans. (NIV)

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Other eras

A few indicators for King Solomon’s wealth – part 1

Illustration of King Solomon’s temple with large basin call Brazen Sea and bronze altar. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

King Solomon, ruler from about 970 B.C. through 931 B.C., had both wealth and wisdom beyond compare.

One source (didn’t make note of it at the time and won’t bother looking for it again) suggested his wealth was in the range of $2.2 trillion dollars in current measurement. Yes, trillion, as in 1,000 billion.

His wisdom is described in 1 Kings 4:30-31:

“Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else… (NIV)

Since this blog ponders ancient finances, the next few posts will lightly touch on some indications of Solomon’s wealth. First Kings and Second Chronicles contain some indications of his wealth than can be quantified.

Number of horses and chariots

The texts contain references to the number of chariots and horses owned by King Solomon. First issue to ponder is a supposed conflict in text.

Consider the following:

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Viking Era

One usuable indicator of the value of a Viking sword. How many weapons you could buy today for that price?

Viking warrior with sword and shield standing near Drakkar on the seashore. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

What was the price of a Viking sword at the time? How about expressing a price then in some unit of measure we can grasp today? I have looked on the ol’ net but haven’t found any good guesses. Previous post discussed one indicator that I couldn’t process.

Hurstwic website describes one sword that had a reported value.   Chapter 13 of Laxdæla saga says a sword given to Höskuldur by King Hákon was worth a half mark of gold.

Hurstwic says that is equal to 16 milk cows.

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Viking Era

Can’t make sense of one indicator of price of sword during Viking Age

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

I’ve been wondering about the price of a sword during the Viking Era. Tripped across two indicators on the same day. One was useful, the following was a dead end. I’m not able to make sense of it.

Price of a sword and scabbard was set at 7 solidi according to the Lex Rubuaria codification of law, as reported by Wikipedia. This was during the reign of Charlemagne.

I previously mentioned this data point but did not take the next step of converting it into some indicator for current dollars:  Cost of weapons in Northern Europe in mid- 7th century.

Charlemagne became king of the Franks in 768 A.D. and expanded his rule until he died in 814, according to Wikipedia. That puts the price in the timeframe of late 700s or very early 800s. This is in contrast to the Lex Rubuaia having first been written in around 630.

I tried to convert that 7 solidi into something we can relate to.

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Viking Era

Overview of silver and coin usage in Viking Era

Viking silver hoard. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Short overview of the evolution of the means of exchange during Viking Era can be found in Viking Currency, an article by Dani Trynoski at Medievalists.net.

A basic economic concept to remember: part of the definition of money is a means of exchange and store of value. A silver armband, brooch, or coin can be both a store of value and means of exchange. Standard size silver coins are easier to work with on both criteria than jewelry.

A few pounds of silver is far easier to carry and use to buy stuff later than several dozen (?) furs, a dozen or two cows, or a few shiploads of grain.

Some fun highlights from the article:

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Viking Era

Recap of payments made to Viking raiders, called Danegeld.

Viking Coin Hoard. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Some day I plan to collate all the comments I’ve read on the amount of Danegeld and other money accumulated by various Viking raids.

In The Vikings, Else Roesdahl provides details on payments to Viking raiders:

France:

  • 44,250 pounds gold and silver during 9th century – from context I think this is from the Frankish rulers – doesn’t include ransom collected, food plundered, or side raids

England:

  • 991 – 10,000 pounds silver- Olaf Tryggvason.
  • 994 – 16,000 lb. – Olaf again, with Svien Forkbeard and 94 ships loaded with their buddies.

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