The First Slave Auction at New Amsterdam in 1655

Title: The First Slave Auction at New Amsterdam in 1655
Subject: Slavery; New York (State)--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Description: This image depicts what painter Howard Pyle imagined a slave auction to have looked like in New Amsterdam. He adds a momentous wait to the image by calling it the "First" Slave Auction at New Amsterdam. The first slave auction happened in New Amsterdam in 1655 but slaves had been brought to the settlement ever since 1626 to augment its laborforce. What do you think Pyle is trying to say about slavery in New Amsterdam from the faces he chooses to reveal?
Creator: Pyle, Howard
Date: 1895
Source: Howard Pyle, “The First Slave Auction at New Amsterdam in 1655, 1895;
available at Wikimedia Commons, Sarin/Granger Collection, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam#/media/File:First_Slave_Auction_1655_Howard_Pyle.jpg
Rights: Public Domain
Type: engraving
Format: .JPEG
Language: English
Coverage: Colonization, Settlement, and Communities (1607–1763)