Ideologies in Tension and Moments of Change: The Slave Jail at 1315 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia

Abstract

From 1828 until its liberation at the outset of the American Civil War in 1861, the slave-jail complex built by the domestic slave-trading firm of Franklin & Armfield at 1315 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia, facilitated a fundamental transformation in American slavery. It was used to industrialize the domestic slave trade; however, it also witnessed moments of agency and power, as individuals negotiated oppressive legal, social, and economic systems. These systems were not static, and when these supporting frameworks were disrupted in moments of change, existing tensions and contradictions erupted. As the site was transformed from a slave jail to a military prison and then again as the war ended, the systems that supported slavery and white supremacy were laid bare in moments of tension before retreating to take on new forms. As the City of Alexandria transforms this site into a museum, we confront these tensions in the present.