1848-1851 16 of 30 States Allow Enslavement Artwork

This is a toner transfer stained with tea. I have been working with transfer printing for several years. I created 15 pieces that represent the first Flags that the US had. Each Flag is encoded to emphasise how prominent slavery was before the US Civil War. There is a label at the top right stating how many states allowed enslavement (each year, there are more and more states as the US colonized a large chunk of North America). The states with enslaved people are represented by slave collars (actually images of the collars salvers used to control people). The states there where enslaved people rebelled are represented by an Ashanti symbol for strength. In the white stripe of the Flag are printed the laws that were enacted concerning slavery.