What happened to slaves that didn't get sold in the US?

Answer 1

Unsold slaves were often kept, since they were considered possessions just like the number of cows, horses, and acres a "master" owned. Few if any were killed--after all, you don't kill a possession when that possession still has a useful value to you. Slaves deemed to have no useful value, say on a plantation, were sometimes "given" to a son or daughter who just got married as their slave, or to another relative. If I remember my history lessons, unwanted slaves who did not get sold at auction were also sometimes taken in groups to a new area where they could be sold. Some slave owners also freed slaves, especially if the slave became old or ill. Times were very different when Columbus came to America and colonists followed. Slave ownership was not new with America, but rapid colonization and need for manpower drove the values and beliefs of many European settlers, especially ones with money or public standing. The same system can develop in any country where one group believes themselves to have a right to dominate another group, who are viewed as inferior.