Remembering “The Weeping Time”: A Dark Chapter in American History
In March 1859, one of the darkest chapters in American history unfolded at the Ten Broeck Race Course outside Savannah, Georgia. Over two rain-soaked days, Pierce M. Butler, a plantation owner facing financial ruin, orchestrated the largest recorded sale of enslaved individuals in the United States. Known today as “The Weeping Time,” this event saw 436 men, women, and children sold to settle Butler’s debts, forever severing families and communities who had labored on his Sea Island plantations.
The sale, meticulously planned and widely advertised in Southern newspapers, drew buyers from across the region. Held in the grandstand of the racecourse, the auction was a grim spectacle. The enslaved were housed in makeshift stalls for a week before the sale, subjected to invasive inspections by prospective buyers. Accounts from the time describe how individuals were examined like livestock—buyers checked teeth, tested physical agility, and assessed women for their reproductive potential. The rain that poured throughout the event mingled with the tears of those being sold, giving rise to the name “The Weeping Time.”
Pierce Butler’s financial troubles stemmed from years of extravagant spending. Along with his brother John Butler, he had inherited substantial wealth, including vast plantations worked by enslaved laborers who cultivated rice and cotton. Despite this fortune—equivalent to approximately $20 million today—the brothers squandered their assets on gambling and lavish indulgences. By 1859, Pierce Butler faced bankruptcy and turned to his “property”—human beings—to recover his losses.
The auction was not only a personal tragedy for those sold but also a stark reminder of the economic underpinnings of slavery. Enslaved individuals represented immense capital for Southern plantation owners, and the trade was deeply intertwined with banking and commerce. Historian Stan Deaton notes that Savannah’s Johnson Square, now surrounded by banks, was once a hub for slave brokerages that financed such transactions. The sale of Butler’s slaves alone generated $303,850—equivalent to nearly $8.4 million today. The emotional toll of the auction cannot be overstated. Families were torn apart as individuals were sold to different plantations across the South. In one case, a mother and her 15-day-old infant were sold together, but extended families and communities that had formed on Butler’s plantations were irreparably shattered. The fate of those sold remains largely unknown, their lives and stories lost to history.
Despite its historical significance, “The Weeping Time” has been largely forgotten in public memory. The event is commemorated only by a small steel marker erected in 2007 by the Georgia Historical Society and the city of Savannah. This marker is located not at the actual site of the sale—now occupied by a lumber company near an elementary school—but in a small park a quarter-mile away. Visitors to Savannah’s bustling tourist district are unlikely to encounter any mention of this tragic event. Efforts to preserve and honor this history have been led by individuals like Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, an Atlanta landscape architect and scholar who has spent over a decade researching the sale. Through painstaking archival work, DeGraft-Hanson identified the location of the Ten Broeck Race Course and superimposed its dimensions onto modern maps of West Savannah. Yet today, there are no visible traces of the racetrack or grandstand where this atrocity occurred.
DeGraft-Hanson and other historians argue for greater recognition of sites like these, comparing their significance to places like Auschwitz that bear witness to human suffering. “These places should be sacred to all of us,” DeGraft-Hanson asserts. Yet in Savannah and across much of the South, the legacy of slavery often remains overshadowed by narratives that glorify the Confederacy. The story of “The Weeping Time” is not just about one man’s financial ruin or one community’s suffering—it is emblematic of the broader dehumanization inherent in slavery. Enslaved individuals were treated as commodities, their lives subject to the economic whims of their owners. As Emory University historian Leslie Harris explains, “The connection between slaves and masters was an economic one.” This brutal reality underscores the need for an honest reckoning with America’s past.
While efforts to locate descendants of those sold during “The Weeping Time” continue, the task is daunting given the lack of records and the dispersal of individuals across the South. What is clear is that Pierce Butler profited handsomely from their sale, reportedly celebrating his windfall with champagne provided by Joseph Bryan, the slave broker who arranged the auction. As debates over how to remember the South’s history persist, “The Weeping Time” stands as a sobering reminder of slavery’s human cost. It is a history that demands acknowledgment—not just through markers or plaques but through a collective commitment to preserving and teaching these stories. Only then can we begin to honor those whose lives were irrevocably altered by events like these and ensure that their suffering is not forgotten.