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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

[Shackles used on enslaved people]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05338 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Object Date: circa 1840-1850 Pagination: 1 metal leg chain Height: 8.7 cm, Width: 35 cm Order a Copy

These shackles resemble those used during the mid-1800s. Handwrought iron, consisting of two leg shackles linked by a flat iron plate. Could have been used for enslaved people, but also might have been used in a jailhouse for criminals.

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