Because slaves were bought, sold and appraised as property, records of financial transactions and estate inventories involving them are excellent sources of information about certain aspects of their lives. From them we learn that the monetary value placed on slaves was directly connected to their capacity for labor. Slaves skilled in specialized trades, such as carpentry, were usually the highest valued. These records also graphically speak to the powerlessness of slaves to control their own destiny, as they demonstrate how they were casually sold and handed down among families as property.
