Site of General Intelligence Office
Site where the business of slavery once took place.
While nothing remains to indicate what once transpired here, we pinpoint this location to memorialize the victims of enslavement in America.
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Intelligence offices were similar to employment agencies, acting as brokers between employees and employers collecting a fee from each. They also acted as brokers for enslavers who didn’t want to handle the transactions of selling people themselves. This custom of distancing oneself from the sale of a human being became more popular as the slave trade expanded through the 19th century. The General Intelligence Office operated here at Gay and Market (now Baltimore) Streets.
