Vice President William R. King Owned 500 Slaves

William Rufus DeVane King is probably not a commonly known figure among most Americans. That’s because King only served as Vice President of the United States for 45 days before he died from complications related to tuberculosis. Before accepting the Vice Presidency role he built a massive cotton plantation business that formed one of the largest slaveholding families in the state.

His family had more than 500 slaves under his ownership. Unlike many of the men on our list, King did not have a change of heart later in life and supported the Senate’s gag rule against debate on antislavery petitions and the abolishment of slavery.