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August 17, 2025 9:09 am
A moving visit to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and the nearby Freedom Monument Sculpture Park there on the banks of the Alabama River, prompts a Massachusetts woman to reflect on the history of slavery in the United States and the phrase sold down the river. Although today sold down the river may simply mean “betrayed,” the phrase first appears with reference to selling those who were enslaved and sending them down the Mississippi River to labor under even harsher conditions than farther north. The terrorizing threat of being sold down the river is referenced in such books as Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This is part of a complete episode.