Depictions of Slavery in Confederate and Southern States Currency
Original Acrylic on Canvas Paintings by

Artist Statement page 4

Propaganda images of smiling, happy workers creates a story meant to reinforce Southern convictions about the legitimacy of enslaved labor and its beneficial nature for Africans. Slave Mother and Child reflects the painful hypocrisy of an institution that routinely separated families and sold children. 

Symbols of Legitimacy on the currencies and within the slave vignettes themselves connected slavery with America’s national story, associating it with the American flag and George Washington, the Father of our Country and, as shown in George Washington and Slave at Mt. Vernon, himself a slave owner. 

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