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Theodore Kornweibel: Georgia rented hundreds of slaves

A Georgia state-owned railroad rented hundreds of slaves a year for nearly two decades, a California historian says.

Research by Theodore Kornweibel of San Diego State University surfaced Tuesday as a proposal for the state to apologize for slavery remains stalled...

Kornweibel's research follows other reports that the state bought -- and later sold -- about 190 slaves who worked on road and river projects.

Kornweibel, a professor emeritus in SDSU's Department of Africana Studies, cited dozens of documents from the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad.

The documents span the period 1847-1864, but Kornweibel said the arrangements they describe continued until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

"There's plenty of very detailed evidence of the hiring of slaves by the W & A," he said, "down to the names of specific slave owners and specific -- first name only -- slaves."
Read entire article at Savannah Morning News