One of the cruelest features of slavery was the “hire” system, which was especially common in Maryland. In the context of slavery, “hire” meant that the slaveholder received cash from another enslaver in exchange for the labor of the enslaved. The enslaved laborers rarely received any compensation. Sometimes the “hire” could be for a day or two — but often, like here, for a year or for multiple years.

The woman mentioned in this document, Ann, was enslaved by George W. Gleaves. The agreement stipulates that during the year of her hire, 1815, she would be provided with meager clothing. It consisted of two petticoats and one jacket and shirt for summer, and one petticoat and jacket, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes for the winter.

Hire could be just as cruel as the sale of an enslaved person. The arrangement broke up families arbitrarily and without warning. It could place enslaved people at the mercy of strangers who cared even less about their welfare than their long-term masters did. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman were both “hired out” in this manner before their self-liberation.

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