An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War w/ Robert K.D. Colby

The Road to Now

Benjamin Sawyer

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The American Civil War and the end of slavery in the US may seem like one and the same from our modern perspective, but for those living through the conflict, the abolition of human bondage was anything but certain. Even into the last days of the war, slave traders in Confederate-held cities continued to auction off human beings, realizing handsome profits as they imposed violence and family separation on their subjects.

In his new book, An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South, Robert K.D. Colby brings together a wide variety of sources to offer up a never-before seen look into the slave trade during the American Civil War. In this episode, he joins Ben and guest co-host Tim Talbott to explain how the slave trade evolved, why slave traders remained confident in the future of slavery even during the Civil War, and how the combined trauma of slavery and war impacted enslaved Americans long after their freedom had been secured.

Robert K.D. Colby is Assistant Professor of History at Ole Miss who specializes in the Civil War and the history of slavery. His newest book, An Unholy Traffic was published by Oxford University Press in April 2024 and is available in both print and audiobook.

Tim Talbott is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust in Fredericksburg, Virginia and founding member and President of the Battle of New Market Heights Memorial and Education Association. Tim holds a MA in Public History from Appalachian State University, where Ben had the great fortune to study alongside him.

Relevant Links:

· The Smithsonian Digital Volunteers Transcription Center website

· RTN Episode 270: Women & American Slavery w/ Stephanie E. Jones Rogers

· RTN Episode 117: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism w/ Edward Baptist

This is a rebroadcast of RTN #308, which originally aired on June 17, 2024. Edited by Ben Sawyer.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the road to now.
0:09.0	Friends, you're listening to the show right now, and we are so grateful for that.
0:13.3	Here you are again listening to me, say my name, the name of the show like you don't know.
0:17.8	It's obvious because it's right there on your podcast player, right?
0:23.8	Okay, so if you wouldn't mind giving us five stars or a like, whatever it is on your format, if you guys could
0:30.6	just help spread the word, that goes a long way. And that's how we're starting out the show
0:34.7	today. Yes, I was just thinking we haven't done any pan any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, and a lot. And, uh, why? Because we have good shows, because we have good guests. Case in point today's show. Robert K.D. Colby discussing his book in unholy traffic, Slave Trading, and the Civil War South.
0:54.7	We recorded this last summer.
0:56.6	Bob was out, but I had the honor of recording this with my good friend and civil war expert
1:01.3	Tim Talbot.
1:02.7	Seemed like last week, we got a great response to our conversation with Anderson
1:07.4	Carmen and Andrew Fialca on their graphic novel in the Civil War.
1:10.9	We're doing a re-ed this week, and I thought, let's keep it rolling with that theme.
1:14.8	It's a great episode, like so many in our back catalog.
1:18.2	But for those of you guys who love three airs, alas, we're going to be back with new episodes next week.
1:24.5	After that, after that, our lineup's great.
1:28.3	We'll be back next week with Jake Tapper talking about his new book, Race Against Terror,
1:32.5	chasing an al-Qaeda killer at the dawn of the Forever War.
1:35.9	Book is epic.
1:36.8	It's a history that reads like a crime novel.
1:40.7	Later on, coming up, Kim Burns, is coming back on the show.
1:45.3	We're excited about that as American Revolution documentary is coming out soon. Jeffrey Rosen from the Constitution Center.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin Sawyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamin Sawyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.