YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

KIDNAPPING BEN JOHNSON BECAME A SLAVE HIMSELF.
See page 54.

THE AMERICAN
SLAVE-TRADE AN ACCOUNT OF
ITS ORIGIN, GROWTH
AND SUPPRESSION

BY
JOHN R. SPEARS

illustrated by
WALTER APPLETON CLARK

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1900

Copyright, 1900, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Cb75'.30s

TBow omecTOfiv
PRINTING AND QOOKBINOINfl COWrANY

(Co
ALL WHO SINCERELY
STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND AND OBEY
THE DIVINE COMMAND
THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF

PREFACE
This history of the American slave-trade grew out
of a study of the history of the American navy. The /
navy was in a way connected with the slave-trade,
but the subject was so large that only the briefest
mention of what the navy did on the slave coast
could be made in "The History of Our Navy." The
discovery that our naval ships, in forces ranging from
a single schooner to a frigate squadron, had cruised
on the coast of Africa at intervals during a period
of nearly forty years for the proclaimed purpose
of suppressing the slave-trade without accomplish
ing so much as a restriction of it, determined me
to give the subject a separate consideration. What
I have gathered I have set down here as well as
I could. As it seems to me, the facts form the most remark
able story known to the history of commercial enter
prises. Consider, for instance, the origin of the
trade. It was established because of the sincere pity
of a tender-hearted and most praiseworthy priest for ^
an outraged people. 'No other trade ever had such
an exalted origin, and yet the cruelties and horrors of
it far surpass those described in any other branch
of history. The soldiers who have looted cities, the
vii

viii PREFACE
pirates who have made passengers and sailors walk
the plank, and the religious zealots who have burned
their opponents at the stake, were more merciful than
the slave-traders.
Further than that, no trade ever paid such large
returns on the investments. More remarkable still,
the trade at one time made some who followed it
heroes, but at last degraded all who were connected
with it beyond the power of words to describe.
But now that I have written out the facts, I am
bound to say, here in advance, and to repeat further
on, that the intrinsic evil in the slave-trade was not
found in the slaughter of the helpless during the
raids in Africa, or the horrors of the middle passage,
or the brutality of planters who deliberately worked
their slaves to death as a matter of business policy ;
nor was it in all of these combined. I cannot say all
that is in my thought, but it is a fact that the slave
trade and the plantations might have been carried on
profitably without any cruelty whatever to the slave.
It is a matter of knowledge among people now living
that many planters promoted the physical comforts
and added to the mental pleasures of their slaves,
while here and there a ship was found to make the
middle passage without losing a life. The horrors of
the trade that cried aloud to heaven for more than
three hundred years were merely the grosser natural
outgrowths of the root evil in it.
Nor is that all. If we look at the story with judi
cial mind (and it is necessary, though difficult, to do
so) we shall find that the ills brought upon the domi-

PREFACE ix
nant race by the slave-trade and slavery are more to
be deplored than those inflicted upon the manifestly
oppressed negro.
At first thought it may seem a story to make an
American ashamed of his country. Certainly the
power of the slave-ship owner in national politics
before the civil war was something that makes us mar
vel now. From the enactment of the law that made
the slave-trade piracy until Abraham Lincoln became
President the policy of pretence that prevailed in
connection with the slave-trade was infinitely dis
graceful to the nation. But when all the facts are
fairly considered, it is found that we were steadily
developing, under adverse circumstances, a love of
exact Justice. We washed away our shame, at last,
with unstinted blood, and then a time came when our
people took up arms to give liberty even to an alien
race. The history of the slaver days is worth con
sideration if only that it may be contrasted with the
history of the end of the Nineteenth Century.
This book has been written almost wholly from
public documents, biographies, stories of travellers,
and other sources of original information. I am under
especial obligations to the work of Professor Du Bois
on the suppression of the slave-trade for its full lists
of references, and to Mr. A. S. Clark, without whose
knowledge of the book trade I should have been
unable to complete my collection of authorities.
J. R. S.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS
L
The Unnamed Dutch Slaver of l|l9 — First Slaver Fitted Out in American
Waters and the First American-built Slaver — When Human Beings were
Frequently a Part of a Ship's General Cargo — How a Good Priest,
through a Love of Humanity, Promoted the Traffic — Days when Chris
tian Missionaries Found Profit in the Trade, and It Hurt the Conscience
of No One Engaged in It — Kings and Nobles as Slave-traders — A Slaver
Contract that was Considered a Magnificent Triumph of Diplomacy —
The Yankee Slavers' Successful Stroke for Free' Trade and Sailors' Rights
— Extent of the Early Traffic  Page i

CHAPTER 11
OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS
David Lindsay as a Typical American Slaver of the Eighteenth Century —
With a Rotten Ship that Showed Daylight Through Her Seams "Al
Round Her Bow Under Deck " He Reached the Slave-coast, Gathered
His Cargo in Spite of Fevers, Deaths in the Crew, and Competition,
and Finally Landed at Barbadoes with "All in Helth and Fatt" — An As
trologer's Chart for a Slaver's Voyage — Tales of the Slaver Vikings
of Liverpool — Debt of Early American Commerce to the Slave-trade
— John Paul Jones a Slaver,  Page 2 1
CHAPTER 111
WHEN VOYAGES WENT AWRY
Tales of Trouble When Lying on the Slave-coast— " We are Ready to
Devour One Another, for Our Case is Desprit"— A Second Mate's
Unlucky Trip in a Long Boat— Sickness in the Hold as Well as Among
xi

xii CONTENTS
the Crew — Cocoanuts and Oranges could not Serve in Place of Water
— Story of the Mutiny on the Slaver Perfect — Risks the Underwriters
Assumed— The Proportion of Disastrous Voyages, .... Page }i

CHAPTER IV
THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT
There were Tiny Ships in the Trade— One Vessel had a Capacity of 5,000
Gallons of Molasses Only, and even Open Row-boats were used in the
Nineteenth Century — Dimensions of a Slaver's Timbers — The Famous
Venits, a Forerunner of the Yankee Clippers — Steamers that were in the
Trade— The Blubber Kettles of Whalers used for Boiling Rice and Yams
— Rum, Guns, and Coin were the Favorite Articles of Traffic, but Silks,
Laces, Parasols and Other Goods for the Use of Women of Education
and Delicate Tastes were Wanted — A Naval Officer's Estimate for a
Slaver's Outfit,  Page ^6
CHAPTER V
ON THE SLAVE-COAST
Physical Features of Land and Sea— Peculiarities of the Aborigines and some
Characteristics that were not Peculiar to Them — Gathering Slaves for
•the Market— A Trade that Degenerated from a System of Fair Barter
into the Most Atrocious Forms of Piracy Conceivable — Utter Degra
dation of White Traders— The Slaughter at Calabar— Prices Paid for
Slaves— The Barracoons of Pedro Blanco and Da Souza— When Negroes
Voluntarily Sold Themselves,  Page 44

CHAPTER VI
THE MIDDLE PASSAGE
Stowing Slaves for the Voyage from Africa to a Market— The Galleries—
" Compelled to Lie " Spoon-fashion " to Save Deck Space— A Plan by
which the 'Tween Decks Space was Packed Full— Effects of the Ship's
Rolling on the Manacled Cargo— Living Slaves Jettisoned to Make a
Claim on the Underwriters— Horrors of " The Blood-Stained Gloria "—
Blinded Crews of the Rodeur and the ieaw- Suicide Among the Tortured
Slaves— Pitiful Tale of a Weanling's Death— Punishing Mutiny on the
American Slaver Kentucky—Shv& Ships Named for Two of Our
P''^"'«"ts,  p^g^^g

CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER VII
THE SLAVERS' PROFIT
Nine Hundred Pounds on One Voyage of the Newport Slaver Sanderson, a
Vessel that was Offered for Sale at £ASO with No Buyers — One Voyage
of the Liverpool Slaver Enterprise that Paid ;^24,430— Details of Ex
penses and Receipts on a Voyage of the Ninety-ton Schooner La For-
tuna — A Baltimore Schooner's Profit of $100,000 — When the Venus
Cleared $200,000— Sums Paid to Captains and Crews— Slave Transpor
tation Compared with Modern Passenger Traffic, .... Page 82
CHAPTER VIII
SLAVER LEGISLATION IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
The Colonies often Levied Taxes on Imported Slaves, and these Duties were
in Rare Cases Prohibitive, but this Legislation was always Based on
Commercial Considerations Only, or else a Fear of Negro Insurrections
— Great Britain Never Forced the Slave-trade on them Against Their
Virtuous Protest — Georgia's Interesting Slave History, . . . Page 90
CHAPTER IX
THE EARLY WORK FOR EXTIRPATION
The Words and Deeds of the _Fa5;atics--J]hejQuato2 — Slaves that were
Freed by Baptism— Granville Sharp as a Liberator— A Fanatic's Politi
cal Creed Plainly Stated— Widespread Influence of the Somerset Case
when the Right Prevailed in England— A Policy that would not Square
Well with a Practical Business Sense of Things— The American Declara
tion of Independence and the Black Men,  Page 98
CHAPTER X
THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED
British Abolitionists and Their Work— After a Crusade of only Twenty
Years, They Outlawed a Trade that, from a Business Point of View, had
been the most Profitable in the United Kingdom— The Slave-trade and
the American Constitution— Inauguration of the System of Compro
mises that Led to the Civil War— Slave-trade Legislation of the States
—The Act of March 2, 1807,  Pc^ge 106

xiv CONTENTS
CHAPTER XI
TALES OF THE EARLIER SMUGGLERS
A Slaver's Ferry Between Havana and the Florida Ports — Amelia Island as
a Smugglers' Headquarters— The Barataria Pirates and the Smuggling
Trade— Extent of the Illegal Traffic— A Georgia Governor who Left
His Post to Become a Slave Smuggler,  Page 122
CHAPTER XII
SLAVERS DECLARED PIRATES
Fines and Imprisonment with Rewards for Informers were not Sufficient
to Stop Slave Smuggling— Workings of the Prohibitive Legislation
Illustrated by the Doings of the Knife-inventor Bowie and the Pirate
Lafitte — Slaves Sold by the Pound — Influences that Led to the
Piracy Act  Page i2y

CHAPTER XIII
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION FOR SUPPRESSING THE TRADE
Work of British Diplomacy among the Continental Powers — When Spain
agreed to Abolish the Slave-trade for a Money Consideration and
Failed to Fulfil Her Contract— A Free Offer of " Sailors' Rights " which
We Refused to Accept— A Shameful Record in American Slaver Legisla
tion — The Ashburton Treaty  Page 134
CHAPTER XIV
TALES OF THE OUTLAWED TRADE
How the Laws were Interpreted— Slavers that would Make a Fierce Fight-
Famous American Privateers that Became Slavers— Whole Cargoes of
Slaves Thrown to the Sharks to Avoid the Confiscation of Vessels-
Tales of the Rapido, the Regulo, and Hemans's Brillante—k Cargo of
Slaves Bound to Anchor and Chain and Thrown Overboard— A Slaver
Who Coolly Murdered His Sweetheart and Child— A Trade that was
Lucrative in Proportion to Its Heinousness  Page iao

Contents xv
CHAPTER XV
THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE
Story of the Half-hearted, Wholly Futile Work of Blockading the African
Coast— Reward of an Officer Who Earnestly Strove to Stop the Trade
— An Interesting Period in the Career of Commodore M. C. Perry —
American and British Squadrons Compared — The Sham Work of the
Buchanan Administration,  Page 148
CHAPTER XVI
FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE
England Led the Way by Establishing a Colony at Sierra Leone to Provide
a Home for Negroes Carried from the United States during the Revolu
tionary War — The Enterprise Saved by the Sturdy Maroons — Origin
of the American Society for Colonizing Free People of Color — Life of
the Colonists at Cape Mesurado — The Nation of Liberia Organized —
An Ape of Philanthropy,  Page 160
CHAPTER XVII
TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS
Colored Men from New York Prison Sent to New Orleans and Sold— Steal
ing Slaves in New Jersey for the Southwest Market — Coastwise Slavers
that Lost their Human Cargoes in British Islands — Madison Washing
ton a Negro Worthy of his Name — Joshua R. Giddings and the Coast
wise Trade-.-Extent of the Coastwise Traffic  Page iji
CHAPTER XVIII
STORY OF THE AMISTAD
A Cuban Coastwise Slaver that may have been Used to Smuggle Slaves Into
the United States— On the Way from Havana to Puerto Principe the
Slaves Overpowered the Crew, and Started Back to Africa, but were
Beguiled to Long Island— Judicially Decided that Slaves Unlawfully Held
have a Right to Take Human Life in a Stroke for Liberty, . Page 184

xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIX
LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS
Notable Slave-ships that Plied between the African Coast and the Unidet
States just before the Civil War — When the IVanderer Carried the Flag
of the New York Yacht Club to the Congo — Troubles of a Smuggler as
described in his Letter-book — A Movement for Legally Reopening the
Slave-trade — Dream of a Slave Empire,  Page 194
CHAPTER XX
WHEN THE END CAME
Buchanan's Administration and the Slave-trade— When the Sham Efforts to
Suppress Came to an End — Story of Captain Gordon of the Erie, the
First Slaver Pirate to be Executed in the United States, . . Page 21}
PACK
APPENDIX A  225
APPENDIX B,  229

ILLUSTRATIONS
Kidnapping Ben Johnson Became a Slave Himself . . Frontispiece FACING PAGE
Bringing One that was Bound and Gagged  24
After a Raid  48
A Wild Dash for Life was Made  64
Every Soul on Board was Blind  72
He Applied the Lash not only to Make Them Eat but to Make
Them Sing  96
It was a Malaria or Death-mist that 1 Saw Rising . . . 128
She Walked to the Ship's Side and Dropped the Body into the Sea . 144
Then He Cast Loose the Anchor . . . . . 1S6
They were Seen to Throw Slaves Overboard Shackled Together . 172
The Slaves on the Ship had Mutinied .... .192
The Human Cargo was Under the Charge of the Old Rice-field
Negroes  216

CHAPTER I
THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS
The Unnamed Dutch Slaver of iftlQ— First Slaver Fitted Out in
American Waters and the First American-built Slaver-
When Human Beings were Frequently a Part of a Ship's
General Cargo — How a Good Priest, through a Love of
Humanity, Promoted the Traffic — Days when Christian
Missionaries Found Profit in the Trade, and It Hurt the
Conscience of No One Engaged in It— Kings and Nobles
as Slave-Traders — A Slaver Contract that was Consid
ered a Magnificent Triumph of Diplomacy — The Yankee
Slavers' Successful Stroke for Free Trade and Sailors'
Rights — Extent of the Early Traffic.
On a hot day late in the month of August, 1619,
while the people of the little British settlement called
Jamestown, in what is now the State of Virginia, were
busily engaged in the work of establishing homes on
the borders of the great American wilderness, an
alarm was raised that a ship was coming with the tide
up from the sea. Only one more startling cry than
that could have been heard — a warning that hostile
Indians were coming ; but in those days, when the
fighting between nations nominally at peace might
cost more lives than were lost in our war with Spain,
the approach of an unknown ship, to a settlement as
weak as Jamestown, was a most serious matter. It
was the more serious for the reason that Spain, in
1

2 THE AMERICAJN iSLiAVE-TKADE
those days, laid claim to all of North America, and
was threatening to come to the Chesapeake Bay and
lay waste the settlement there as an encroachment
upon her rights.
The stranger was a queer-looking craft, if we may
judge her by modern standards, for she was, as all
ships then were, short and thick — bluff-bowed and
round at the stern — while she towered so high out of
water at each end that the term "forecastle," which
was then and is now applied to any structure at the
bow of a ship, was a word of obvious significance.
There was literally a castle on her bow, and another,
called a poop, on her stern. Her sails, too, of which
she carried, doubtless, two on the fore and the main
masts, and one on the mizzen, were like great bags
bellying out before the wind. When compared with
the flat canvas of a modern ship it is easy to see that one
would have difficulty in securing a crew for such a ship
in these days. But more interesting than the form of
either hull or sail was the row of black-muzzled cannon
that projected through the bulwarks on each side ; and
altogether it is not mere fancy to say that the alarm of
such a ship approaching Jamestown carried tremors
of fear to the breasts of the weak, and added throbs to
the hearts of the strong as they hurried to get their
Aveapons and go down to the river bank to receive
her. But as the stranger drew near, the trained eyes of
the colonists saw many signs to allay their fears. She
was flying the Dutch flag, for one thing, and the Dutch
were then the leading traders of the world. Moreover,
it was apparent that her cannon were neither manned
nor cast loose for action ; the attitudes and the work

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 3
of her crew told convincingly that trade, and not war,
was wanted, and, seeing this, the ready muskets of the
colonists were laid aside that a friendly welcome might
be extended.
Then came the ship to the shore, where her lines
were made fast to the near-by trees, and her captain
walked over a gang-plank to greet the colonists under
the wide-spread, thick-leaved branches, and tell them
that he had brought merchandise to exchange for the
products of the settlement.
Few more interesting ships than this are known to
the history of America. The Mayflower only, of all
the ships that followed Columbus, may be compared to
her, and that by way of contrast, because the New
England ship came with men who sought a form of
liberty, while the Dutchman came to introduce a kind
of slavery. Among the articles of merchandise that
the Dutch captain had to offer the colonists were,
twenty human beings, negroes brought from the coast
of Africa, and his ship was probably the first slave-
trader to visit what is now the coast of the United
States. From a sailor's point of view also the story of this
slaver is remarkable ; in fact, it is one of the most
singular stories known to the history of commerce.
Thus, we know that she hailed from Flushing, and the
number of slaves that she brought. There is no doubt
about her shape and rig. We are well enough as
sured as to where she landed, and we are even justified
in saying how she was secured to the river's bank.
There is an old record containing the names of some of
the slaves she landed. ^. But her name and the name ot
her commander have been lost beyond recovery. She

4 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
appears above our horizon like a strange sail at sea,
showing unmistakably from our present point of
view that something is wrong with her ; we pass her
close enough at hand to see on her decks men and
women in distress whom we are wholly unable to re
lieve, and then she fades away in the mists astern, and
is lost forever.
We are indebted to John Rolfe, the man that mar
ried the Indian maiden Pocahontas (and so became the
most famous squaw-man in history), for the greater
part of what we know about the first slave-trader to
visit our shores. Rolfe was in Jamestown when the
Dutchman came to Virginia waters, and it is his record
that says : "a dutch man of warre that sold us twenty
Negars" came to Jamestown late in August, 1619.
In other accounts this ship is called a Dutch trader,
instead of a "man of warre," while others still call her
a privateer. Taking all the statements together, the
truth appears to be that she was built as a cargo car
rier, and yet was armed, and had a license permitting
her to prey on the commerce of the enemies of Holland.
Her chief business was as a trader, but incidentally she
was a lawful privateer. At what point in Africa, or
how, she obtained the negroes is not known.
The story of how she happened to carry her slaves
to Virginia is of especial interest here because it in
cludes that of the first ship fitted in United States ter
ritory for the slave trade.
In the year 1619 "the rapacious and unscrupulous "
Captain Samuel Argall was ruler of the colony of Vir
ginia. Argall was able, energetic, adroit, and con
scienceless. He was what ward politicians would call
a "heeler" of the Earl of Warwick, a man at once

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 5
rich and unscrupulous. Among the Earl's possessions
was the ship Treasurer, and Argall owned a share of
her. During the year 1619 the Treasurer came to Virginia,
armed as a privateer, and bearing a commission from
the Duke of Savoy permitting her to cruise against the
Spaniards. Presumably intending such a cruise, she
cleared out for the West Indies, where, as her log-book
shows, she fell in with a Dutch letter of marque and
told him that slaves were wanted in Virginia.
It is fair to presume that the Dutchman at once
headed away for the Chesapeake, because John Pory,
secretary of the Virginia colony, in a letter to Sir
Dudley Carleton, dated September 13, 1619, mentions
" the man-of-war of Flushing," and says : " The oc
casion of this ship's coming hither was an accidental
consortship in the West Indies with the Treasurer^
He adds that the Dutchman wanted to buy provis
ions, "of which the master pleaded that his vessel
was in dire need."
It is a matter of record that the Treasurer also
brought negro slaves to Virginia, and a woman called
Angela was sold to a Mr. Bennett. A record of her
may be found in the census record of Virginia made
in 1625, according to Hotten's "Original List of Emi
grants, etc."
It is possible that the Treasurer returned ahead of
the Dutchman ; but, because the Dutchman was in
need of food, and because John Rolfe speaks of the
Dutchman's slaves only, it is fair to infer that the
Dutchman came first.
The records tell why the Treasurer landed but one
slave. Says the "Declaration" of the Virginia Coun-

g THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
cil, made in 1623 : "Finding Captain Argall, the set-
ter-of-her-out, departed thence, she withdrew herself
instantly from the new Grovernor's power, and went to
the Somer Islands, then discharged her booty, which
were a certain number of negroes, all of which, even
those that belonged as shares unto the mariners
(whereof they have not long since complained in
court), were taken and placed on the said Earl's
lands, as belonging to his lordship, and so continue."
It is perhaps worth mentioning that it has been
asserted that the slaves ascribed to the Dutchman
really came from the Treasurer, and that the letters
and other Virginia documents relating to the matter
were deliberately false, because the Virginians feared
the Spanish would come to avenge the raids which
the Treasurer had made in the West Indies. But a
careful reading of all the available matter on the sub
ject shows no real foundation for the assertion.
As to the Treasured s career, a word more must be
told, because, as has been said, she was the first slaver
fitted out in America. She had visited the coast occa
sionally as a trader between England and the colonies
since 1613, but had not been in the slave-trade until
1619. In this voyage to the West Indies she was
"manned with the ablest men in the colony" (see
" Declaration" of 1623), but on reaching Bermuda she
was declared to be unseaworthy. Her arms were taken
out of her and she was broken up. The robbing of her
crew was a natural incident of the trade, and in after
years common enough.
One more question as to the first slave-carrying
ships in the American trade remains to be considered
—a question that has been raised in connection with

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 7
the Spanish settlement of Florida, and with the Norse
discoveries on the New England coast. If it be ad
mitted that Eric the Red landed on the New England
coast, then it is probable that he carried a woman
slave ashore with him. That the Spaniards had negro
slaves in their settlement in Florida is not now dis
puted. Peter Menendez, who held a commission of
the King of Spain for a settlement in Florida, landed
at St. Augustine on September 8, 1565. He undoubt
edly had negro slaves in his party. If anyone wishes
to make an exhaustive study of the matter of the
landing of the first slaves in America, he can find
nearly all the references to authorities needed in the
Magazine of American History for November, 1891 ;
but the question of interest to the present history is
not when the first slaves were brought within the
present limits of the United States, but when the first
slave-ship came here in the prosecution of its traffic in
human beings. Certainly neither the Viking nor the
Spaniard came as a slave-merchant.
The first American-built slaver of which there is
definite record was the ship Desire, a vessel of 120
tons, built at Marblehead, in 1636. It does not appear
that she was in the trade to Africa, but Winthrop's
Journal has the following under the date of February
26, 1638 :
"Mr. Pierce in the Salem ship, the Desire, returned
from the West Indies after seven months. He had
been at Providence, and brought some cotton and to
bacco and negroes, etc., from thence, and salt from
Tortugas." To this is added a remark worth consid
ering : "Dry fish and strong liquors are the only com
modities for those parts."

8 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Meantime another slave-ship had come to Virginia
— the Fortune, Captain Grey, of London. While on
the coast of Africa she had fallen in with an Angola
ship loaded with slaves, and had captured her. The
slaves were carried to Virginia and exchanged for
eighty-five hogsheads and five butts of tobacco,
which were sold in London. This was in 1630.
That the Dutch introduced African slaves as soon as
they obtained a foothold in America need not be said
to those who are familiar with the history of New
York. They tried, at first, after the custom of the
times, to enslave the aboriginal inhabitants, but the
task was found so harassing and unprofitable that
they soon sought supplies of blacks from Africa.
In fact enslaving red men led to such trouble that a
wall was built across the lower end of Manhattan
Island, where Wall street is now found, to keep red
lovers of liberty from driving the Dutch slave-catchers
over the Battery beach into the bay.
The first formal mention of negro slaves in the
Dutch Manhattan documents is iound in the thirtieth
clause of the Charter of Liberties and Exemptions of
1629. It says: "The company will use their en
deavors to supply the colonists with as many blacks as
they conveniently can." The New Project of Liberties
and Exemptions of a later date says " the Incorpo
rated West India Company shall allot to each Patroon
twelve Black men and women out of the prizes in
which Negroes shall be found." Unquestionably
the first slave-ships in the trade to Manhattan Island
were privateers, as the first slaver in Virginia was,
or they were men-of-war.
Just when the first slaver reached New York is no-

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 9
where stated, but we can prove that it was within a
few years after the first blacks were landed in Vir
ginia. In 1644 Director-General Kieft gave liberty to
a number of slaves who had "served the company
eighteen or nineteen years." That is to say they had
been taken into the company's service in 1625 or
1626. Of the introduction of negro slaves at other points
along the coast nothing need be said here. It was
in those earliest years a very small trade. There were
no ships engaged in carrying slaves exclusively on the
high seas, so far as the record shows, until about 1630,
when the Fortune captured the Angola slaver. The
slaves were merely a part of the " general cargo " of
that day. In 1647 the Dutch on Manhattan Island
wrote of "the slave-trade, that hath lain so long dor
mant, to the great damage of the company." In 1635
the whole number of slaves imported into Virginia
was but twenty-six. In 1642 only seven were imported,
and in 1649 only seventeen. There is no record of the
total importations, but it is certain that the traffic in
all the colonies combined amounted to only a few
liundred previous to 1650 — certainly fewer in num
ber than would have made a single cargo in later
years. Trivial as were these transactions from a commercial
point of view, the facts are all of importance here, not
only because they belonged to the beginning of the
trade, but because they are helpful to an understanding
of the light in which the colonists saw the trade. Did
the colonists think, as they bargained for the blacks,
that there was the beginning of a "fatal traffic" that
was "imposed upon them from without "—did they

10

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

" lay aside scruples against " a traffic in human beings
before they exchanged their products for the "twenty
Negars" ?
The student who looks to see why this Virginia
colony was established may see, first of all, in " The
True and Sincere Declaration," published in 1609,
what the colonists said was their chief object. It
reads: "To preach and baptize into the Christian
Religion, and, by the propagation of the Gospell, to re
cover out of the armes of the Devill, a number of poore
and miserable soules wrapt up unto death in almost in
vincible ignorance ; to endeavour the fulfilling and ac
complishment of the number of the elect which shall
be gathered out of all corners of the earth and to add
our myte to the Treasury of Heaven."
They believed that was their chief object, but we
have another view of their habits of thought.
In a letter written by Captain John Smith in 1614
we find the following regarding the sport of fishing in
the waters of the colony :
"And is it not pretty sport to pull up twopence,
sixpence, and twelvepence, as fast as you can haul
and veer a line?"
One may search the entire literature of that day
without finding another sentence so significant of the
spirit of the age as well as of the colonists — the spirit
that measured even its sport in fishing by counting
the market value of each fish taken. In all sincerity
they would proclaim that missionary work was the
first object in making the settlement ; they did truly
wish to add their "myte" to the number of "the
elect," but with their missionary purposes there was
found a proclaimed and unrepressed determination

THE TRADE IN THE EARIilEST DAYS H
to make money. They had religious instructors who
turned from a contemplation of the gold-paved streets
of their heavenly home to talk of pay streaks in the
mines of their wilderness home beyond the sea.
And when they had arrived, they laid out a town site,
boomer fashion, after which there was "no talk, no
hope, no work but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold,
loadegold." But, alas, the dirt did not pan out. They sent a
cargo of glittering stuff home in the first Supply, but
it was worthless, so they turned to "pitch, tar, and
soap ashes" ; also to sassafras, with such vigor that
even the "gentlemen " of the colony went to work with
axes and thereby blistered their soft hands until they
swore wicked oaths "at every other stroke" of their
axes. For this they were publicly punished, so that
they were led to hold their tongues, commonly, what
ever their thoughts might be.
But "pitch, tar, and soap ashes" also failed to
make them rich, or even comfortable, and the colony
was at the point of absolute extinction wlen John
Rolfe, the squaw man, introduced the cultivation of to
bacco in 1612. With tobacco came, at last, prosperity,
but only at a terrible price. To grow the crop required
the severest kind of toil, and, what was worse, the work
had to be done under conditions that proved deadly to
the colonists of every class.
With these facts held in mind let us recall the
further fact that the greater part of the chopping and
digging was done by "apprentices"— a real "working
class"— a class of men (afterward women were in
cluded) who were brought from their homes in Eng
land under contract to serve for a stated number of

J2 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
years, and were sold to the Virginia planters. The
whole colonial labor system was based on the appren
tice system, and it is a well-known fact that many
men of education and ability came to the colonies
as "apprentices," and were sold out as merchandise
was. Even that law of Massachusetts in 1641 so often
quoted to prove that the colonists there were opposed
to human slavery proves, in fact, that voluntary
slavery was common. It says: "There shall neve*-
be any bond slavery amongst us, unles it be LawfuU
captives, taken in just wars, [or such] as [shall] will
ingly sell themselves.''^
Holding in mind these facts, consider next the
climate of the tobacco-growing region. The extinction
of the colony was at one time threatened. Every
immigrant had to endure the " seasoning" fever, and
the percentage of deaths was frightful.
In this condition of affairs came a trader who offered
to exchange twenty black laborers (who would need
no "seasoning") for the products of the land which
the colonists had in abundance.
Were men who had never obtained a laborer save by
purchase, and men who themselves had voluntarily
submitted to being bought and sold, to have their
consciences afflicted at the thought of buying these
strangers ? Such an idea could not enter their heads.
The fact is that the English Missionary Society that,
in the seventeenth century, supplied all English- Amer
ican colonies with pious pabulum, owned a plantation
in Barbadoes and worked it with slaves, while the
great Quaker Fox, after a visit to the West Indies,
had nothing to say about the principle involved in the

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 13
traffic, although he was careful to denounce the cruel
treatment of slaves.
One more question in connection with this introduc
tion of negro slaves must be considered briefly. Did
it pay ? Let the facts answer. The planters in the
tobacco, rice, cotton, and sugar regions not only in
creased in number from year to year, but they built
finer houses, bought finer clothes and books, and lived
in more expensive fashion from generation to genera
tion. Thus we read : ' ' Everything is by God' s blessing
in a good condition ; and in consequence of the em
ployment of the negroes, which were from time to time
introduced from Angola into Brazil, in planting grain,
flour is produced in such quantity that what always
used to cost eight or ten guilders still continues to be
sold at the rate of six stivers." * Such quotations
may be multiplied almost indefinitely. In Georgia,
the one colony where no slaves were allowed, in early
days, the planters became so eager for them that their
regular toast when drinking together was "Here's
for the one thing needful ! "
In short, to sum up the facts, slaves were introduced
into United States territory in answer to a demand
for labor. They were purchased by men who were ac
customed to the purchase and sale of laborers, and no
one's conscience was in any way hurt by the transac
tion. It was a good business proposition for that day,
and for two centuries, at least, thereafter.
As for the early West India traffic, for which but
brief space can be allowed, it appears that as early as
1503 negroes were carried to Hayti and put at work
* See Vol. I., 167, New York Colonial Documents.

14 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
on the plantations there. Herrera writes of these ne
groes that they "prospered so much in the colony that
it was the opinion that unless a negro should happen
to be hung he would never die, for as yet none had
been known to perish from infirmity. " Here was the
very inception of the American trade. When the
Spaniards tried enslaving the aborigines of the island,
the unfortunate red men withered like green corn
under the hot winds of the unirrigated American
desert. Bartholomew de las Casas, filled with pity for
the dying Indian race, rose up in its defence. Good
people have since been moved to apologize for and ex
plain what this Dominican did, but his acts need no
apology from any man. To save the race unfit for
^1 labor there, the Dominican proposed substituting ne
groes who were both physically and mentally capable
of enduring even the work of digging gold in the tor
rid zone under the devil-hearted Spaniards of that day.
Having the true state of affairs placed before him by
the humane Dominican, " in the year 1510 the King of
Spain ordered fifty slaves to be sent to Hispaniola to
work in the gold mines." So says Herrera. That
was the beginning of the systematic importation of
Africans into the Spanish West Indies. On the whole,
the Spanish-American slave-trade was, at its inception,
in the interest of humanity, shocking as that asser
tion may seem at first glance.
That the trade begun in 1510 did not reach our
shores until 1619 is readily explained by the fact that
our shores were not permanently settled by the whites
until nearly a century after that first slave cargo was
sent out.
Of the Spanish slave-trade in that first century we

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 15
know little, nor are the facts necessary to the interest
or the principles of this history, but we must not omit
to record that Sir John Hawkins, the famous British-"
navigator, made the first Anglo-Saxon venture in the
trade in 1562. In his first voyage he descended on the
coast of Africa, where he took, partly in trade and
partly by violence, a cargo of slaves, of whom he
sold three hundred in the West Indies, at a great
profit. When Queen Elizabeth heard this story on his re
turn to England, she declared that " it would be de
testable and call down the vengeance of heaven upon
the undertakers" if any more negroes were taken by
violence ; but this opinion did not prevent Hawkins
repeating the operation, nor did it keep Elizabeth from
knighting him for his success.
Of the trade in the seventeenth century we know "
more because our^ ancestors the English then entered
it, and some of the documents relating to it have been
preserved. The cultivation of sugar-cane, which was
undertaken with success in Barbadoes in 1641, gave
the first impulse to the slave-trade in the British West
Indies, and in 1662, when the " company of Royal Ad
ventures Trading to Africa" was chartered by Charles
II., the company bound itself to land three thousand
negro slaves per year in the British West India
islands. The Queen dowager and he who was to be James
II. both held stock in this company. This company
built some forts on the African coast, as good points
for buying slaves, but in 1672 sold out to a new com
pany for £34,000. It had lost a large sum of money.
And it is worth noting that this loss was due to the

16 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
success of interloping owners of single ships who un
derstood the trade and knew the slave-coast and the
West India market. Good people have supposed that
a special interference of Divine providence ruined the
company.
'¦¦^ The new company was called the Royal Assiento.
It had bought out the old one, used guns on the out
side traders, but the private traders, " especially the
American merchants," made such persistent appeals
that Parliament was obliged to come to their relief.
The company wanted to maintain a monopoly intact,
and the English private trader wanted the monop
oly abolished. The keen Yankees suggested that " it
would be a great benefit to the Kingdom to secure the
trade by maintaining Forts and Castles there, with an
equal duty upon all Goods exported." This com
promise was adopted. Parliament declared that the
slave-trade was "highly Beneficial and Advantageous
to this Kingdom, and to the Plantations and Colonies
thereunto belonging," and then enacted that private
ships should be free to enter the trade on the payment
of ten per cent, duty on English goods exported to
Africa. The tax money was used to maintain forts on
the African coast.
Those who are familiar with American naval history
will find especial interest in the above account for the
reason that it was the first Yankee conflict for " Free
Trade and Sailors' Rights."
Then the British on both sides of the Atlantic reached
out for the trade to the Spanish colonies, which Spain
in those days farmed out to other countries. This
was obtained by what is known as the Assiento Treaty
of March 13, 1713.

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS 17
Only the Royal company was named in the agree
ment, but all British traders were to participate in the
trade. It was contracted on the part of the Spanish
that they would take at least 4,800 negroes a year for
thirty years, and that the company might sell as
many more as it could for twenty-five years at any
Spanish-American port except three. In return for
this the company paid 200,000 crowns spot cash,
a duty of 334 crowns on each slave landed, and a
quarter of its profits each to the Spanish and the
British kings.
This contract is found in Article 16 of the Treaty
of Utrecht, which was signed on April 11, 1713.
Although England obtained by this treaty the
Hudson Bay Territory, Acadia, Newfoundland, and
Gibraltar, this slave-trade article "was regarded as
one of the greatest triumphs of the pacification of
1713." At the time of this treaty London and Bristol werev^
the slave-ship ports of England, and Newport was the
chief one in America. Liverpool entered the slave
trade previous to 1730, with ' ' a single barque of thirty
tons." The vessel had half the capacity of one of the sailing
lighters common to New York Harbor. An Erie Canal
boat carries two hundred and forty tons. But the
little bark was profitable, and the trade grew after
1731 until in 1752 Liverpool had eighty-seven vessels
in the trade, Bristol one hundred and fifty-seven, and
London one hundred and thirty -five. The Liverpool
merchants built such sharp and swift ships for the
trade that a special wet dock, that would keep them
afloat during ebb tide while in that port, had to

18 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
be built for them. The present great dock system
of Liverpool originated in the needs of the slave-
traders. In those days the ship-chandlers of Liverpool made
special displays in their windows of such things as
handcuffs, leg-shackles, iron collars, short and long
chains, and furnaces and copper kettles designed for
slavers' use. The newspapers were full of advertise
ments of slaves and slaver goods. " The young bloods
of the town deemed it fine amusement to circulate
handbills in which negro girls were offered for sale."
An artist of wide repute — Stothard — painted "The
voyage of the Bable Venus from Angola to the West
Indies." The Merchants' Exchange, or Town Hall,
as it was called, was ornamented in a way that
was strikingly appropriate, for "between the capi
tals runs an entablature or fillet, on which are
placed in base-relief the busts of blackamoors and
elephants, with the teeth of the latter, with sucli-
like emblematical figures representing the African
trade and commerce." The merchants of Liverpool
needed no Ruskin to suggest "pendant purses" for
decorating a frieze, or " pillars broad at the base,
for the sticking of bills," when they were building
a market-place. In America the New England colonies took the lead
in the slave-trade. Barefooted boys waded through
the snow to find berths in the forecastles of the colony
ships, and, hard as sailor life was then, they found
more comforts afloat than on the farms they left be
hind. And once afloat the Yankee boy worked his
way aft as readily as he climbed the ratlines when
ordered to reef topsails.

THE TRADE IN THE EARLIEST DAYS

19

" At the very birth of foreign commerce from New
England ports," says one writer,* " the African slave
trade became a regular business." The Desire, as
already mentioned, was a slaver. "The ships which
took cargoes of staves and fish to Madeira and the
Canaries were accustomed to touch on the coast of
Guinea to trade for negroes, who were carried generally
to Barbadoes, or the other English islands of the West
Indies." The Massachusetts statute of 1705, which is curiously
enough often quoted as showing that the people there
were opposed to the slave-trade, was carefully worded
to promote the trade. It did, indeed, lay a tax of four
pounds on each negro imported, but "a drawback was
allowed upon exportation." "The harbors of New
England were thus offered as a free exchange-mart for
slavers." In Rhode Island "Governor Cranston, as early as
1708, reported that between 1698 and 1708 one hun
dred and three vessels were built in that State, all of
which were trading to the West Indies and the South
ern colonies. They took out lumber and brought back
molasses" in the direct trade, but "in most cases
made a slave voyage in between.' '
According to the "Reminiscences of Samuel Hop-\
kins," Rhode Island had one hundred and fifty vessels
in the African slave-trade in 1770. Hopkins wrote in
that year saying : " Rhode Island has been more
deeply interested in the slave-trade, and has enslaved
more Africans than any other colony in New Eng
land." In 1787 he wrote again: "This trade in human
* History of Slavery in Massachusetts, by Geo. H. Moore.

go THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
species has been the first wheel of commerce in New
port, on which every other movement in business has
depended. That town has been buUt up, and flour
ished in times past" on the slave-trade, "and by it
[the inhabitants] have gotten most of their wealth
and riches."

CHAPTER II
OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS
David Lindsay as a Typical American Slaver of the Eighteenth
Century — With a Rotten Ship that Showed Daylight
Through Her Seams " Al Round Her Bow Under Deck "
He Reached the Slave Coast, Gathered His Cargo in Spite
of Fevers, Deaths in the Crew, and Competition, and Finally
Landed at Barbadoes with " All in Helth and Fatt " — An
Astrologer's Chart for a Slaver's Voyage — Tales of the
Slaver Vikings of Liverpool — Debt of Early American
Commerce to the Slave Trade — John Paul Jones a Slaver.
Details of the characters of the men and of the
ships that were engaged in the American slave-trade
during the eighteenth century are lamentably hard to
find in these days, but fortunately such as remain to
us are sufficiently graphic and significant.
For a type of the Yankee slavers of the day we may
very well choose Captain David Lindsay, who haUed ¦
from Newport, R. I., in the middle of the eighteenth
century, when that town was one of the liveliest of
American ports. His story has been preserved in a
considerable number of letters and documents that
were printed in the American Historical Record some
years ago.
The earliest mention of Captain Lindsay's existence
is found in a letter that comes literally from the sea —
a letter that is dated " June ye 18 1740 at Sea Latt. 8°
21

22 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
30' N. Long. 39° 30' W." It was written by one George
Scott, himself a slaver captain, and it contains a vari
ety of matters of interest to the slave-trade in addition
to the references to Captain Lindsay. It reads as
follows :
" Gentlemen : — Meeting with this opportunity I was very
glad to acquaint you of our miserable voyage. We left
Anamaboe ye 8th of May, with most of our people and slaves
sick. We have lost 29 slaves. Our purchase was 129. My
negro Bonner is ded ; the slaves we have left is now all re
covered. We have five that sweU'd and how it will be with
them I can't tell. We have one-third of dry cargo left, and
two hhds. rum. If I had staid there for it and sold I beheve
I should have lost all our slaves. I think to proceed to
Antigo and fit ye sloop and take ye other trial on the coast.
It will not do to give up for one bad bout. If I go directly
back I'll sell ye rum for gold, if I gitt but twenty pence for it
before I'll by slaves. The slaves that died, I beheve there was
one above twenty-two years old and none under fourteen. I
have sent by Captain Lindsay sixteen ounces of gold, which
is all. I wrote you by Capt. Kinnecutt, who sail'd ye 10th
April. I have repented a hundred times ye bying of them
dry goods. Had we laid out two thousand pbimd in rum
bread and flour, it would [have] purchased more in value than
all our dry goods. I have paid a good part of the wages.
My serviss to all friends, pray excuse all blunders, for I am
now aboard Capt. Lindsay and in haste to gitt aboard."
Observing, by the way, that Captain Scott was de
termined to " fit ye sloop and take ye other trial on the
coast" — that he was a man of pluck himself — the ref
erences to Lindsay mean much to a sailor.
Scott was more than a month out from the African
coast and yet had covered but thirty degrees of west
longitude. Then along comes a vessel, commanded by

OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS 23
Captain Lindsay, that is also bound west, and imme
diately Captain Scott not only writes a letter to the
owners of his ship, which he gives to Lindsay to
carry, but he also entrusts all the gold-dust he had
obtained to the same hand.
Manifestly Lindsay must have had a fast ship, and
he was a man known to make quicker voyages, at
least, than Scott. What is of equal importance,
Lindsay must have had a reputation as an honest
man. Our introduction to Lindsay, though it comes
from an unknown slaver and out of the sea, is decid
edly in his favor.
The next reference to Lindsay in these documents
is in 1752, when he was in command of the brigantine
Sanderson, belonging to William Johnson, of New
port, R. I. The register of the vessel has been pre
served, and reads in part :
"The Brigantine Sanderson, whereof David Lindsay is at
present master, being a square stern'd vessel of the burthen
of about forty tons, was built at Portsmouth, in the colony
aforesaid, in the year Seventeen Hundred and Forty-five, and
that this deponent at present is sole owner thereof, and that
no Foreigner, directly or indirectly, hath any share or part
or interest therein." William Johnson.
Not only was she small — there are few, if any, of
the Hudson River brick schooners that will not carry
more cargo — she was a cheaply built vessel, as appears
from another document which shows that during the
year she was built she was offered for sale for £450,
when the cost of building a first-class ship varied from
£24 to £27 per ton register.
Finding no sale for her she was kept going, and in
the year 1752, with Lindsay in command, she went to

24r THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
the West Indies for molasses, whence Lindsay wrote
home that she was " tite as yett." She was probably
still "tite" on her return to Newport, for she was at
once loaded for Africa, where she arrived in due time,
and it is then that we learn what kind of pluck Lind
say had. In a letter dated "Anamaboe 28th Feby
1753" he says:
" Gentlemen : — This third of mine to you and now I am to
Lett you know my proceed'gs sense my last, Dated 3d Jany,
& I have Gott 13 or 14 hhds of rum yet Left abord, and God
noes when I shall Gett clear of it. Ye traid is so duU it is
actually a noof to make a man creasey. My cheefe mate after
making four or five Trips in the boat was taken sick & Ke-
mains very bad yett : then I sent Mr. Taylor & he Gott not
well & three more of my men has been sick. James Dixon is
not well now and wors than yt have wore out my small cable
also oakam & have been oblige to buy one heare, for I thought
the concequance of yr Intrust on bord this vesiel was Two
great to Rusk without a cable to trust, therefore I begg you
not Blaim me in so doeing. I should be glad I cood come
Rite home with my slaves, for my vesiel will not last to pro
ceed farr. We can see daylight al round her bow under deck.
However I hope She will carry me safe home once more. I
need not inlarge. Heare lyes Captains hamlet, James Jepson,
Carpenter, Butler & Lindsay. Gardner is dun. firginson is'
Gon to Leward. All these is Rum Ships, butler is in a brig^
with 150 hhds from Barbadoes, belongs to Cape Coast Castl^
I've sent a Small boye to my wife. I conclude with my best
Endeavors for Intrust. Gentlemen, your faithful Servant at
com'md " David Lindsay.^IJ
" N. B. on the whole, I never had so much Trouble in all|
my voiges. I shall rite to barbadoes in a few days."
Mr. Taylor was the second officer. Both first and
second were in their bunks, and three of the men in

BRINGING ONE THAT WAS BOUND AND GAGGED. See page 52.

OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS 25
the forecastle were sick. Terribly short-handed, with
slaves in the hold likely to rise up and strike for free
dom in case they learned this fact, and with the prob
ability that others of the crew would take the fever.
Captain Lindsay found himself in a serious strait, but,
worse than all that, " he could see daylight al round
her bow under deck."
And yet Captain Lindsay came up from that fear
some look at the open seams of his vessel and went on
loading her for the long voyage across the Atlantic.
If we will but look at the case in the light of that
day the courage, the fortitude, of the stout-hearted
old skipper was inspiring. Nor shall we fail to observe
his thoughtfulness for the wife that would hear of the
condition of the rotten ship with quaking fears.
So it is with a feeling of relief, and with increased
admiration for his pluck, that we find a letter which
shows that he reached Barbadoes safely after a most
perilous voyage ; our admiration is all the greater
because the perils are described so simply. The letter
is as follows : " Bakbadobs, June 17th, N. S. 1753.
" Gentle'n : — These are to acqt of my arivel heare ye Day
before yesterday in 10 weeks from Anamaboe. I met on my
passage 22 days of very squally winds & continued Rains, so
that it beat my sails alto pieces, soe that I was oblige Several
Days to have sails onbent to mend them. The vesiel, Likwise
is all open Round her bows under deck. For these Reasons
am oblige to enter my vesiel heare and have valued myself on
Mr. Elias Meriveal, who is to despatch me in three or four
weeks' Time. My slaves is not landed yet : they are 56 in
number for owners, all in helth & fatt. I lost one small gall.
I've got 40 oz gould dust & eight or nine hundred weight
Maligabar pepper for owners.

gg THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
"Not to Inlarge, shall rite in a day or 2. We are all weU
on bord. Mr. Sanford died the 3d day of March, & one John
Wood who went in ye boat with him, died ye 3d of April, at
sea. I left Capt. Hamblet at Cape Coast, sick. His slaves
had rose & they lost the best of what they had. Heare is no
slaves at market now."
The reader who knows the sea will fully appreciate
the condition of that tiny ship during those "22 days
of very squally winds "—the tiny ship that was "open
all Round her bows under deck." For she was short-
handed through deaths and sickness, and yet her
pumps had to be kept going during all that time,
while several days were spent in repairing sails that
the winds had blown to pieces.
Nor does this letter tell us of fortitude alone, for it
is a significant fact that Lindsay " lost one small gall"
only, while all the rest were landed "in helth &fatt."
They had been cared for in kindly fashion. The facts
seems to show that Lindsay was superior to the average
slaver of his day. It was then a lawful trade, and we
have testimony that it was "very genteel." More
important still, it was a trade that, more than all
others, taxed the trading ability, the patience, the skill
as a seaman and the fortitude of the men engaged in
it ; also, it was, when successfully carried on, the most
profitable branch of commerce. Naturally the most
capable men of the sea were called to this trade. In
short, Lindsay was a type of the race of Yankee
slaver captains.
With all these facts in mind it is amusing to turn
to one other characteristic of this hard-headed old
slaver. Before starting on this eventful voyage he
must needs consult an astrologer, or conjurer, as the

OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS 27
seers of the time were often called, to learn the day
and hour when the ship must sail in order to have all

7 tZfj^f- ^^'j/

the kindly influences of the heavenly bodies in her
favor. Fortunately the chart which he obtained has
been preserved, and we know from it that "¦D.lt.''

28

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

sailed "for Guinea at 11.32 o'clock on Aug. 22d,
1752." Of the English captains engaged in the American
trade there was Captain " Billy" Boates, also called
" William Boates, Esq., whose extensive transactions
in the commercial world rendered him a most useful
member of society," to quote an obituary notice of
the man from a Liverpool paper. Captain Boates was
a waif. His mother or her friends cast him adrift in
a Liverpool harbor boat a few hours after his birth. He
was picked up, reared in an orphan asylum, appren
ticed to a ship master, and then began a career that
showed the kind of stock from which he sprang.
From the forecastle to the after-cabin required but
three steps easily taken. From the cabin to the count
ing house was a step longer than the three preceding
taken together ; but he made the leap.
In the Knight he sailed from Anamaboe on Janu-
uary 6, 1758, with three hundred and ninety-eight
negroes, of whom, after a voyage that lasted less than
six weeks, he landed three hundred and sixty at
Jamaica. That was a voyage worth recording for its
speed alone ; but off the Leeward Islands the Knight
fell in with a French privateer that carried " twelve
carriage guns and full of men, which attempted to
board him several times."
The odds against Captain "Billy" were tremen
dous, but what he lacked in men and arms he made
up by his magnificent pluck. The privateersmen
swarmed to his deck, "but never a Dago that got
over the rail lived to return."
More famous still as a fighter was Captain Hugh
Crow, the one-eyed slaver of Liverpool, " one of the

OLD-TIME SLAVER CAPTAINS AND THEIR SHIPS 29
bravest, shrewdest, quaintest and most humorous old
sea-dogs that ever breathed" ; but he was of a later
date than Lindsay or Boates, being, in fact, captain of
the last lawful Liverpool slaver. One would like to
tell his whole story, but space can be spared only to
say that when in the slaver Mary he was attacked at
night by two sloops-of-war, each of which was of far
superior force. Captain Hugh supposed they were
Frenchmen, and, calling his men to quarters, for six
hours fought off the determined attacks of both men-
o'-war. And then when daylight came he found they
were British sloops at that. They had supposed that
he was French. All things considered, that was the
most splendid battle known to the history of "peace
ful commerce."
Indeed as the most important branch of British com
merce — the commerce of the new England as well as
the old England — the slave-trade became the chief
nursery of British seamen. The instincts inherited
from viking ancestors were fostered and encouraged
there. It must be frankly admitted that not only did
the boasted prosperity of both English and American
over-sea commerce have its foundation in the slave-
trade, .but also that the magnificent qualities of the
Anglo-Saxon naval seamen of the eighteenth century
were nourished in the tiny traders, " of an average of
seventy-five tons burthen" from Liverpool, of an
average of forty tons from Newport and Boston, that
went forth to face the unavoidable hurricanes of the
tropical seas and to meet, yardarm to yardarm, the
war-ships, privateers, arid pirates that were ever on the
lookout for such rich prizes as the slavers. The fact
is the seamen who manned our ships in the War of the

30 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Revolution, and by their pluck and skill captured the
munitions of war that enabled Washington to win at
last, were trained on the decks of slavers. And John
Paul Jones, one of the " true sea-kings, whose claim
to the title lies in the qualities of the head as well as
of the heart," came through the forecastle of the
slaver King George to hoist the first American naval
ensign above the quarter-deck of the first American
flag-ship.

CHAPTER III
WHEN VOYAGES WENT AWRY
Tales of Trouble When Lying on the Slave Coast—" We are
Ready to Devour One Another, for Our Case is Desprit " —
A Second Mate's Unlucky Trip in a Long Boat— Sickness
in the Hold as Well as Among the Crew— Cocoanuts and
Oranges Could Not Serve in Place of Water— Story of the
Mutiny on the Slaver Perfect— Risks the Underwriters As
sumed — The Proportion of Disastrous Voyages.
"Anamaboe, October 27th, 1736.
" Sir : After my Respects to you, these may Inform how it
is with me at pres'nt. I bless God I In joy my health very
well as yett, but am Uke to have a long and trublesum voy
age of it, for there never was so much Rum on the Coast at
one time before. Nor ye like of ye french ships was never
seen before, for ye whole Coast is fuU of them, for my part
I can give no guess when I shall get away, for I purchest but
27 slaves since I have been here, for slaves is very scarce : we
have had nineteen sails of us at one time in ye Rhoad, so that
those ships that used to carry pryme slaves off is now forsed
to take any that comes : here is 7 sails of us Rum men that we
are ready to devour one another, for our Case is Desprit. Sir,
I beg that you will exist my famely in what they shall want,
for I no not when I shall get home to them myself. I have
had the misfortin to Bury my chefe mate on ye 21st of Sept.
and one man more, and Lost the negro man Prymus and
Adam over board on my pasedge, one three weeks after
another : that makes me now very weke handed for out of
what it left thair is two that is good for nothing. Capt.
31'

32 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Hamond has bin heare six months and has but 60 slaves on
bord. My hearty servis to your spouse and famely. I am
y'rs to com'd " John Gbiffen."
Before describing fully the evils inflicted on the
slave cargoes it seems but an act of justice to give
here some of the ills endured by the old-time slavers.
We must consider the condition of the conscientious
slaver captain when there were ' ' 7 sails of us Rum
men" in one port anxious to buy slaves — the slaver
captain whose "Case is Desprit" — with such degree
of sympathy as we can summon for his benefit, if we
are to see the trade as it was. Captain Grrtffen was
one of the Newport slavers. Very likely he was in
the trade when Captain Lindsay was making fame
and wealth ; certainly everyone who knows the sea,
and how the time drags while waiting for a cargo in
an unhealthy, unattractive port, far from home, will
sympathize with Captain Hammond, who had been on
the slave-coast for six months and had less than haU
a cargo in his hold.
Another letter from the captain, George Scott, al
ready quoted in connection with Captain Lindsay
will show still more clearly how troubles came upon
the slavers. The letter related to the voyage pre
viously mentioned, and it runs as follows :
" Anamaboe, April ye 9th 1740
"Brother Daniel, this I hope will find you in good health
as I am at present. I have not been very well for five weeks
past, which is made our voyage very backward, and am now
very well recovered, Blessed be God. We have now five
people sick and bonner so bad he will not recover. I am
heartily tired of ye voyage, everything runs so cross that I
undertake to make a voyage. I being not very well, kept my

WHEN VOYAGES WENT AWRY 33
cheif mate aboard and sent ye second mate in ye Long boat
to Leward a trading. He had not been gone above four days
before he hired a canoue, sends her up with his gold taken to
me for goods, without any orders from me. i sent ye canoue
immediately back without goods : going down they overset
the canoue, the blacks came off from ye shore and took them
up, put them in irons : the blacks where ye [long] boat lay
detained ye mate ashore, in which time a man slave he had
bought, got out ye boat with two ounces of gold and has got
clean off. I was obliged to go down with ye sloop and pay
thirty-two pound in ye best of goods before they would let ye
mate come off. Upon the hole I've lost nigh three hundred
pounds with that trip, in money, by the mate's folly. I am
sure he will never be able to make satisfaction.
" I bought some slaves and Goods from a Dutchman for
gold, which I thought to sell to ye french, [but] in a little
time after [that] my slaves was all taken with the flucks, so
that I could not sell them ; lost three with it and have three
more very bad : ye rest all well and good slaves. We have
now aboard one hundred and no gold. I think to purchase
about twenty & go off ye coast : ye time of year don't doe to
tarry much longer. Everything of provisions is very dear and
scarce : it costs for water Tenn shilling for one day. I think
to stay in this place but fourteen days more. We shall go to
Shama and water our vessel and sail off ye coast with what I
can purchase, which I believe will be 120 slaves cargo. We
shall have left about two hundred pound sterg. in goods,
which wont sell here to any profitt. Every man slave that we
pay all Goods for here, costs twelve pound sterg. prime. I
hope I shall be in Barbadoes, ye latter end of June, but have
not concluded whither we shall go to Jamaica or Virginia ;
our slaves is mostly large. 60 men and men boys, 20 women,
the rest boys and girls, but three under four foot high. Pray
excuse all blunders and bad writing, for I have not time to
coppy, the sloop being under sail."
One of the earliest of the voyages that went awry,
of which a record has been preserved, was that of the
3

34 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Dutch West India Company's ship >Si(. John, the log
of which is given in O'Callagan's "Voyages of the
Slavers." The troubles here were due to the parsi
mony of the owners — rather the directors of the com
pany — who fitted the ship out with rotten food and
water casks that leaked. To take the place of water
they took on 5,000 cocoanuts and 5,000 oranges, but
the slaves died as cattle on the desert do, and at last,
to complete the misery of all, the ship was stranded in
a gale, and then looted by pirates.
Another cause of loss to the slavers was in the mu
tiny, so-called, of the slaves. Although the negro was
never for a moment to be compared with the North
American Indian as a fighter, he did sometimes, even
as a slave, rise against his oppressor. While the slaver
Perfect, Captain Potter, was at Mana, on January 12,
1759, with nearly one hundred slaves on board, the
captain sent the mate, the second mate, and the boat
swain away for slaves that had been paid for. This
expedition took more than half the Perfect s crew
away from her ; and while they were gone, the slaves
in some way got clear of their manacles and swarmed
up on deck. They killed the captain, the surgeon, the
carpenter, the cooper and a boy, when six other mem
bers of the crew got into a boat and fled ashore to the
mate, and thence to the slaver Spencer, Captain Daniel
Cooke. Next morning Captain Cooke took his ship near the
Perfect and "fired his guns into her for about an
hour," but the Perfects mate could not persuade him
to board her. In the end such of the slaves as escaped
the guns of the Spencer managed to run the Perfect
ashore, where they plundered and burned her.

WHEN VOYAGES WENT AWRY 35
Of the troubles that came upon the slavers through
the wars of the eighteenth century one might write a
long and stirring chapter. For the slavers made good
fighting, especially when it was viking blood in the
slavers against Latin blood in naval ships. But
of that nothing can be told here, because the losses
were not an outgrowth of the slave-trade as a special
branch of commerce. But something may be told of the
proportion of losing to paying voyages, even though
no list of slavers has been or can be made. In the old
papers already mentioned in connection with Captain
Lindsay, we find the charges of underwriters set forth,
and no better comment on the risks of a trade can be
found than an insurance policy. A paragraph from
such a policy reads :
" And touching the adventures and perils which we,
the assurers are content to bear, and do take upon us
in this voyage, they are of the seas, men of War, Fire,
Enemies, Pyrates, Rovers, Thieves, Jettisons, Letters of
Mart, and Countermart, Sarprizals, Taking at sea, Bar-
atry of the Master, and Marines, and all the Perils,
Losses, and Misfortunes that have or shall come to the
hurt. Detriment or Damage of the said Goods and
Merchandize, or of the said vessel, her Tackel, Apparel
and Furniture, or any part thereof."
For assuming these risks the underwriters charged
usually £20 in a hundred, but Mr. William Johnson
got at least one policy of a hundred for £18 premium.

CHAPTER IV
THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT
There were Tiny Ships in the Trade — One Vessel had a Ca
pacity of 5,000 Gallons of Molasses Only, and Even Open
Row -Boats were used in the Nineteenth Century — Dimen
sions of a Slaver's Timbers — The Famous f^enus, a Fore
runner of the Yankee Clippers — Steamers that were in the
Trade— The Blubber Kettles of Whalers used for Boiling
Rice and Yams — Rum, Guns, and Coin were the Favorite
Article ^ of Traffic, but Silks, Laces, Parasols and Other
Goods for the Use of Women of Education and Delicate
Tastes were Wanted — A Naval Officer's Estimate for a
Slaver's Outfit.
The Desire, built at Marblehead, in 1636, was the
earliest American slaver of which we have the size, and
she, as already noted, was "a vessel of 120 tons."
Another slaver of those days was the Oak Tree,
"Jansen Eykenboom, from Hoorn, master under
God." In a charter-party dated "in the year of
the birth of our Lord and Saviour the Lord Jesus
Christ, 1659, the 25th of January," under which the
Oak Tree was to "sail, with the first favourable wind
and weather which God may vouchsafe, from the
harbor [New York] direct toward the coast of Africa,"
the size of the ship is given: "In length 120 ft, in
width 25i ft, draft 11 ft, above the waterline 5 to 6 ft,
with a poop deck." 36

THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT 37
The average New England slaver was much smaller.
The sloop Welcome that cleared from Newport for
Barbadoes had a capacity of 5,000 gallons of mo
lasses. The Fame, a noted slaver and privateer of
Newport, had a keel seventy-nine feet long. She was
just about as long on the water-line as the Newport-
built defenders of the America's cup. Hdr beam was
twenty-six and a half feet, which was about the width
of the widest defender.
The brigantine Sanderson, in which Captain David
Lindsay made fame, carried 10,000 gallons of mo
lasses. A contract made by Caleb Clapp and Stephen
Brown, who were ship-builders at " Warren, in the
County of Bristole, in the colony of Rhode Island,"
in 1747, gives some interesting dimensions of a brigan
tine they had on the stocks. She was to be "sixty
feet length of keel, straight rabbet, and length of
rake forward to be fourteen feet, three foot and one-
half of which to be put into the keel, so that she will
then be sixty- three feet keel and eleven feet rake for
ward. Twenty- three feet by the beam, ten feet in the
hold, and three feet ten inches betwixt decks, and
twenty inches waste. Rake abaft to be according to
the usual proportions, to have a sufficient false stern.
Keel to be sided thirteen inches."
A vessel of 500 tons would have, in these days, a
keel no larger than that. The "betwixt decks"
space is worth remembering, because the slaves were
stowed there.
In 1808 the trade was outlawed, while twelve years
later it was declared piracy, and a few war-ships
were sent out to suppress it. Two kinds of vessels

38 THE AilERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
were used thereafter. One kind included slender
schooners built for speed ; the other kind included
large ships, a few only of which were swift. The
large ones were fitted out by men who meant to get
rich at a single stroke. The small ones were used by
men who found the trade congenial. These last would
have been sneak- thieves in a criminal career ashore ;
the others, highwaymen.
We have definite figures regarding some of the ves
sels provided for the sneaking slavers, because some of
them were captured and accurate measurements were
made. In 184/7 the Felicidade, of sixty-seven tons ; the
3Iaria, of thirty tons, and the Bio Bango, of ten tons,
were captured, all loaded with slaves in a manner to
be described further on ; though it may be said here
that the Maria, a, vessel, say, fifty feet long and six
teen wide, had two hundred and thirty-seven on board
when taken. Some New York oyster sloops are larger
than she was.
The smaller vessels were built, in some cases, in such
fashion that the crew could take down the masts and
use oars. This gave them every advantage in escaping
from the cruisers that must show sails above the hori
zon when ten miles or more away.
Even the ten-ton schooner was not the limit. Open
row-boats no more than twenty-four feet long by seven
wide landed as many as thirty-five children in Brazil
out of, say, fifty with which the voyage began.
The finest ship of the large class was the Venus, a
vessel of four hundred and sixty tons, built at Balti
more, at a cost of $30,000. So swift was this vessel
that when chased on the coast of Africa her captain
actually shortened sail in order to play with the man-

THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT 39
o' -war. There was nothing under sail that could equal
her in her day. She landed over eight hundred slaves
on her first voyage, with a net profit not far from three
hundred dollars per head.
A few steamers were known in the trade. The
Providencia in four voyages landed 4,500 slaves in
Brazil. Another one called the Cacique is better
known. She was originally the Tigress, belonging to
a Captain Sanford, and was plying between New York
and Stonington. Sanford sold her to a Brazilian mer
chant named Sexias for $11,500. Sexias spent $18,500
in repairs and alterations. " In these transactions Mr.
Gardner, an American resident in that city [New
York], appears to have acted as agent, and he was
looked upon then and afterward, by the Americans
belonging to the vessel, as the consignee, and there is
reason to believe he engaged in fitting out other steam
vessels for the same purpose."
The Cacique took on 1,000 slaves at Cabenda and
. could have made a safe voyage with these, but Sexias
waited for the local agents to collect five hundred
more and was captured by a British cruiser in conse
quence. The old whaler became a favorite slaver type, be
cause her try -pots could cook yams and rice as well
as try oil, and her barrels carry either oil or water.
One of the last and undoubtedly the most noted of
the whaler-slavers was the bark Augusta, of New York.
Gilbert H. Cooper testified, after the Augusta was
seized, that he " purchased portions of the same vessel
at the rate of $2,000 for the whole," and that he sold
her to Appleton Oaksmith for $4,900, including $1,800
worth of outfittings for the voyage, or $3,100 for the

40 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
ship alone — " which was $1,000 more than the [other]
owners had authorized me to sell her for."
1 As the eighteenth century passed away the improve
ments in merchant shipping, so far as improvements
Iwere made, were due chiefly to the enterprise of slave-
merchants, and at the beginning of the nineteenth
century there was nothing afloat of their size that
could overhaul the slavers that were turned into pri
vateers during the war of 1812.
In the nineteenth century the slave-trade had rela
tively much less influence on shipping, but it is certain
that the Venus from Baltimore was the forerunner of
the splendid Yankee clippers whose voyages previous
to the Civil War astonished the maritime world. It is
certain, too, that the building of small, swift schoon
ers enriched many a Yankee ship-yard owner in the
years before our Civil War. If the sole end of
government were the promotion of business inter
ests, then it might be said that those officials who
winked at the doings of slavers served their country
well. What goods were used in the slave-trade has been
recorded in many official documents. Here is the bUl
of lading of the Sierra Leone, a Yankee slaver in the
middle of the eighteenth century.
"Shipped by the Grace of GOD in good Order and well
conditioned, by William Johnson & Co., owners of the said
Schooner, called the Sierra Leone, whereof is master under
God for this present voyage, David Lindsay, & now riding
at Anchor in Harbour of Newport, & by God's grace bound
for the Coast of Africa : To say," etc. The usual list of
rum, food, and shackles follows, with " sixty musketts, six
half barrels Powder " and so on, the bill ending at last with

THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT 41
these words: "And so God send the good Schooner to her
desired Port in Safety. Amen."
There is no reason to suppose that the invocations
to the Deity were a mere vain following of custom.
There is the record of "one good old elder, whose
ventures on the coast had uniformly turned out
well." He "always returned thanks on the Sunday
following the arrival of a slaver in the harbor of New
port, that an overruling Providence has been pleased ;
to bring to this land of freedom another cargo of be- f
nighted heathen, to enjoy the blessing of a Gospel dis
pensation." As the author of "Examen de I'Esclav- ;
age en General," a French pro-slavery work, says:
"Devotion was at that time the great occupation in
Europe ; and it was believed that Christians and sugar
might easily be made at the same time."
In 1801, when the prices on the slave-coast were at
the highest, the following goods were given for one
prime slave. The list is quoted from Gower Williams :
" One piece of chintz, 18 yards long ; one piece of baft, 18
yards long ; one piece of cheUoe, 18 yards long ; one piece of
bandanoe ; seven handkerchiefs ; one piece of niccannee, 14
yards long ; one piece of cushtae, 14 yards long ; three pieces
of romalls ; forty-five handkerchiefs ; one large brass pan ;
two muskets ; twenty-five kegs powder ; 100 flints ; two bags
of shots ; twenty knives ; four iron pots ; four hats ; four
caps ; four cutlasses ; six bunches beads ; fourteen gallons
brandy." The total cost of the articles was £25.
The captain of another slave-ship, writing in 1757,
gives a list of his cargo as follows :
"Have on bord 140 hhds. Rum for owners, 100 lbs.
Provitions, 12 Thousand lbs. bread, six 4-pounders, 4

42 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
swevles & 4 cowhorns [a kind of gun], smaU arms
&c."
In the earliest days rum was the best article for the
purchase of slaves. At the end of the eighteenth cen
tury, when slaves were obtained chiefly by murderous
raids, arms were of first consequence. And then when
the slavers established great depots and barracoons on
the slave-coast a time came when coin was wanted
more than any other commodity.
When Commodore M. C. Perry was in command of
the African squadron he sent the following letter to
Washington: United States Frigate Macedonian,
At Sea, January 28, 1844.
Goods suitable for the African trade, to comprise a cargo
for a vessel of two hundred and fifty tons.
40 hogsheads tobacco, long leaf and smaU head, Virginia.
100 barrels powder, in 10 and 20 pound kegs. American
cotton goods, consisting of furniture and apron checks,
bleached and unbleached muslins, blue handkerchiefs, calicoes,
blue drill, blue bafts or salempores, EngHsh dry goods, viz..
blue and white bafts satin stripes, romanes, tomcoffees. 100
barrels beef, pork and mackereL 100 barrels flour, 25 barrels
kiln-dried cornmeal. 2,000 pounds refined sugar, 1,000
pounds brown sugar, 20 kegs butter, 20 kegs lard, 20 boxes
sperm candles, 50 boxes soap. 2,000 pounds hams, 1,000
pounds sides and shoulders, 400 pounds beef tongues. 300
pounds cheese, 20 boxes raisins, 50 barrels pilot and navy
bread. Half dozen quarter casks of wine, madeira, port and
sherry. Tea in two-pound caddies, young hyson and gun
powder, 500 pounds coffee. Crockery, consisting of C. C.
wash basins, painted quart and pint mugs and jugs, say 100
dozen of each. Tin pans, assorted sizes, say 50 dozen. Tin
buckets with bales, four gallon size, 100 dozen. Wooden
buckets, painted, say 25 dozen. Gentlemen's boots and shoes,
100 pairs, assorted, principally large sizes. Ladies' shoes,

THE SLAVER AND HER OUTFIT 43
kid and prunelle, 100 pairs, assorted. Gentlemen's half hose,
ladies' cotton stockings of good quality, 50 dozen each. 100
dozen palm-leaf hats, assorted. Blank books, paper, ink and
quiUs, in equal proportion, say $50 worth. 400 pounds
white lead, 30 gallons paint oil, 30 gallons lamp oil. Brass
kettles and pans, say 1,000 pounds, two-eighth kettles.
About $500 laid out in articles of good quality for ladies ;
muslin, lace, insertion, silk gloss, silk stockings, small
quantity of black silk, needles, pins, thread in spools and
hanks, ribbons for bonnets, a few bonnets &c. 10 boxes good
Spanish cigars in quarter boxes. If there be plenty of room,
put in 500 feet of boards. 20 kegs of cut nails, assorted sizes,
say 4, 6, 7, and 8 penny. 2 dozen silk and 5 dozen cotton
umbrellas. A small quantity of ale, porter, and cider, the best
quality, say 50 dozen each of ale and porter, and 25 of cider.
Cutlasses and muskets are in demand for trade, but can be
furnished much cheaper from England than from the United
States. Those brought out are of an inferior quality.
This list has been received from an authentic source, and
is now forwarded to the Navy Department, by
M. C. Peeey,
Commanding AfricoM Squadron.
Note. — Whiskey, or rum, is a profitable article of traf&c, but
is purposely omitted in this list.

CHAPTER V
ON THE SLAVE-COAST
Physical Features of Land and Sea — Peculiarities of the Abo
rigines and some Characteristics that were not Peculiar to
Them — Gathering Slaves for the Market — A Trade that
Degenerated from a System of Fair Barter into the Most
Atrocious Forms of Piracy Conceivable — Utter Degrada
tion of White Traders — The Slaughter at Calabar — Prices
Paid for Slaves — The Barracoons of Pedro Blanco and Da
Souza — When Negroes Voluntarily Sold Themselves.
The chief source of supply for the devouring slave-
market of the West throughout the whole history of
the trade, and practically the only source during the
years when the trade was legal, was found along the
Atlantic coast of Africa, between Cape Verde, at
the north, and Benguela, or Cape St. Martha, at the
south. The sea here makes a great scoop into the land,
as if the Brazilian part of the South American con
tinent had been broken out of the hollow in the Afri
can coast. Two great rivers and a host of smaller
streams come down to the sea within its limits, and
its contour, aB a whole, is that of a mighty gulf, but
there is neither bay nor inlet throughout its whole
extent that forms a good harbor for shipping. And
the off-shore islands, too, are few in number and small
in extent. The land at the beach is almost every
where low, even though hills and mountains may be
44

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 45
seen, flooded with a dreamy haze, in the distance.
The rivers wind about through uncounted channels in
low delta lands covered with masses of mangrove and
palm trees, and haunted by poisonous and vicious
reptiles. The yellowish sand of the sea and the black
washings of the uplands mingle to form low, tawny
beaches and dunes where the river currents are beaten
back by the ever-present and ever-treacherous surf.
Goree and Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Bight
of Benin and the Bight of Biafra, Bonny and Calabar,
Anamaboe and Ambriz, the Congo and St. Paul de
Loango, are all familiar names to the student of slave-
coast literature.
Here as elsewhere in the primitive life of man the
strong dominated the weak — there were tribes that
were superior, mentally and physically, to their neigh
bors, and in every tribe there were men who arose above
the masses, while among these stalwarts there was a
chief who was in every case a real hero to his people.
The sons of the chiefs or kings did, indeed, inherit the
commanding positions of their fathers, but only when
it was shown in them that the blood had not degen
erated. In some tribes there was no inheritance of
the chief's office.
It was a superstitious as well as a savage people,
believing in the existence of invisible supernatural
beings of various kinds, but because of the destruc
tive influence of the unexplainable phenomena of
nature round about, they regarded nearly all of these
spirits as having malevolent minds. From the light
ning's stroke to the insidious spread of a tumor, no ill
of life occurred that was not the work of a malignant
spirit.

46 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
In a way not hard to understand, these savages con
nected the spirits with the evil creatures of the eartli
— with the poisonous serpents, the fierce robber birds,
the ravenous beasts, and with those human individuals
in whom cunning and stealth took the place of courage
and physical prowess. Even the rocks, when of un
usual form, and especially when of terrifying aspect,
were regarded as the abiding places of evil spirits, and
not infrequently as their visible bodies.
With all they had a crude knowledge of what, in
works on political economy, is treated under the head
of "exchanges." The savage, of course, had made
but slight progress in the practical arts, while the
white men understood the results of accumulation
as well as of exchange.
In one other matter the savage and the civilized
man found themselves on common ground, though
that is not to say exactly on a level. They both
loved rum. The white man mixed his rum with
juice of limes and water and sugar. The savage
always took (and takes) his " straight." The white
man of those days, too, preferred madeira wine
when he could afford it, which he could do after
one voyage to Africa. Moreover the white man
drank it for his health, or for some other reason of
that kind, while the savage took it because he liked
it. The relative levels of the two races are herein
manifest. Because the white men were superior in a variety of
ways the black men received them with joy, and
opened traffic at once.
It was a grewsome traffic that followed — the most
grewsome in the history of the world — for the white

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 47
men came seeking slaves and the blacks had them to
sell. It is a curious subject of inquiry, when we come to
consider how the African chiefs happened to have slaves
for sale. That slaves were few in number during the
earlier years of the trade is certain. That is to say,
the great men of every tribe held a few of their neigh
bors as personal property. They were detained in
various ways, but chiefly through taking prisoners in
the fights with neighboring tribes, for strange as it
may seem now, the presence of slaves in a tribe indi
cated some degree of mercy in the minds of the slave
owners. Instead of killing everybody, old and young,
when attacking an enemy, these slave-owners saved
some alive.
One other way was through the tribal laws regard
ing debts. The civilized people threw the insolvent
debtor into prison and held him there, very fre
quently, until he died — sometimes while he starved
to death. The black savages made the debtor work
out the debt. It was also noted by the whites that
when a negro husband found one of his wives unfaith
ful he made a slave of her lover.
More remarkable still was another source of slave-
owning among the Africans. So jealous were they
of their right to worship their gods when, where,
and how they pleased, that for a man to desecrate
or remove a neighbor's fetish, or even to touch
it, was an offence for which the penalty was often
slavery. War, crime, and superstition supplied the great
men of the tribes with servants, and these they would
sell on occasion. That they might also sell wives and

48

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

children scarcely need be said, though sons were rarely
sold save in time of famine, even in the mild slave-
holding days before the white slaver came — days when
slaves were, on the whole, treated as members of the
slave-holder's family. In connection with these facts
we must remember that the Africans, having food and
raiment, were therewith content. They did not try to
accumulate fortunes, and so had no need for many
workmen. Slaves were few in numbef on this coast
before the white man came.
The stco'y of the first American voyage to Africa of
which we have a definite record tells us somewhat of
methods employed in obtaining slave cargoes. A
Boston ship, called the Bainhowe, commanded by
one Captain Smith, went away to Madeira with salt-
fish and staves. Sailing thence with the proceeds of
her sale, she "touched on the coast of Guinea" for
slaves. She found some London slave-vessels already
here, with their captains very much disgruntled be
cause trade was dull. There were very few slaves for
sale, that is, and to liven matters a little, the Yankees
and the Londoners united, and ' ' on pretence of some
quarrel with the natives landed a ' murderer ' — the ex
pressive name of a small cannon— attacked a negro
village on Sunday, killed many of the inhabitants,
and made a few prisoners, two of whom fell to the
share of the Boston ship."
That was in 1645 — ^just twenty-six years after the
Dutchman landed the slaves in Virginia as recorded
by John Rolfe, the first American squaw-man. False
pretence, outrage, and the slaughter of innocents
characterized the first-recorded gathering of slaves in
which an American had part. They " killed many of

AFTER A RAID.
See page 56.

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 49
the inhabitants," and got two slaves for their share of
the plunder.
That Captain Smith's act was not according to the
ordinary usages of the trade may be inferred from
what happened when he returned to Boston. A
quarrel with the ship's owners over the proceeds of
the voyage resulted in a lawsuit. The story of the
voyage was told in court, and although it was not a
criminal trial, one of the magistrates "charged the
master with a threefold offence— murder, man-steal
ing, and Sabbath-breaking." The captain escaped
punishment on these charges, on the ground that the
court had no jurisdiction over crimes committed in
Africa, a decision that was typical of what was to
come. But the two slaves were returned home.
On the other hand, when we consider the usual
course of trade, we may say that, viewed fairly and
by the light of the age, the gathering of slaves on the
coast of Africa, previous to 1750, was conducted with
as great a regard for honesty as was any other trade
with uncivilized people.
The voyage to the coast in the Newport slaver v
days lasted anywhere from six to ten weeks, accord
ing to the ship and the luck in winds. On reaching
Bonny, or Anamaboe, or Old Calabar, then favorite
ports, the captain made ready for a grand entertain
ment in honor of the native chiefs and headmen. To
put it bluntly, the chiefs were invited on board to get
drunk, and they accepted the invitation with an eager
thirst. In addition to this free debauch the chiefs received
sundry presents. According to Alexander Falcon-
bridge, a surgeon in the trade in the latter half of the
4

50 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
eighteenth century, the presents "generally consist of
pieces of cloth, cotton, chintz, silk handkerchiefs, and
other India goods, and sometimes brandy, wine, or
beer." Having propitiated the chiefs, the captain was free
to begin trade. Some inkling of how this was con
ducted is told in the letter of Captain George Scott
in the chapter "When Voyages Went Awry."
It was disheartening and even exasperating to the
slavers, and the more enterprising made ways of liven
ing the trade. They looked for a chief who held a
grudge against a native tribe, and incited and aided
him to take revenge. They suggested to chiefs that
certain stout, well-built citizens of the tribe were am
bitious of becoming rulers and that an effectual stop
to such ambition was to sell the offenders. They made
friends with the fetish or medicine men — always the
adroit and underhand rascals of the tribe — ^in order to
have charges of witchcraft preferred against likely
young men and women. They persuaded the medicine
men to have youths and children entrapped without
any charge of any kind. They told men having many
wives that this or that young man was the lover 6f
one or another wife. So the great man was led to
lie in wait and capture the lover and sell him. It was
a short step from this to another practice whereby at
tractive wives were sent to entrap unwary amorous
swains. Incredible as it must seem, the civilized cap
tains from Christian lands introduced what is known
to professional thieves as the badger game, and they
made money out of it, and the ship merchants and
stockholders in the ships knew that it was done and
willingly shared the profits.

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 51
But a worse state of affairs was to come. That
there was a steady growth in the number of ships in
the trade has already been noted. The cause of the
rapid increase in the number and capacity of the
slavers during the middle years of the eighteenth cen
tury is not far to seek. The planters of the West
Indies had found it more profitable to work slaves to
death, while yet in the prime of life, than to support
them in an idle old age. The loss of hands could be
readily replaced by importations from Africa, and
there was nothing in the civilization of that age to
make the planters consider any other question in the
matter than that of making profits.
The prices of slaves rose steadily under this increas
ing demand. Captain Lindsay, in the voyage that
was "anoof to make a man creasey," sold his prime
slaves for £35 each. Twenty-five years later the price
received averaged £70, and the Liverpool ship Enter
prise, belonging to T. Leyland & Co., in a voyage
made about the first of the present century, cleared
£24,430 8s. lid. on a cargo of three hundred and
ninety-two slaves, or more than £62 per head, old and
young all counted in.
The result was an activity, well called "feverish,"
in the market on the African coast. The price of a
slave there, according to a Newport record dated 1762,
was one hundred and ten gallons of rum. An old
commercial history of Liverpool records that in 1786
the average cost of delivering a slave in the West In
dies was £27 5s. lOd., of which perhaps £22 was the
price paid for the slave. With the first jumps in the
price came a change in the methods of obtaining car
goes. The dribbling supply that had worried Captain

52

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

Lindsay, who was satisfied with a cargo of but fifty-
six, was wholly inadequate to the growing de
mand. The first change in the trade was relatively a mild
one. Slavers had never been very scrupulous about
the title which a seller claimed when a slave was of
fered, but there are cases on record where slavers re
fused to buy when it was learned that men offered as
slaves were really free and had been kidnapped.
When the demand became eager, after 1750, the cap
tains let it be known that every soul offered, if phys
ically sound, would be taken and no questions asked.
Slaves, too, had been purchased almost exclusively
of chiefs and headmen, and it had been a daylight
trade. Now anybody might bring a slave at any
time of the night and get a good price for him.
Straightway the people of the coast who, in the or
dinary course of their lives would never have owned
a slave, began bringing slaves to the ships. Two or
three would paddle off in a canoe at night, bringing
one that was bound and gagged, and the purchase of
those who were manifestly kidnapped became the
regular custom of the trade. Alexander Falconbridge,
the slaver surgeon already quoted, said that in his
time (during the latter part of the century) the ma-
Jjority of the slaves with whom he talked had been
kidnapped. He gave many instances of which he had
personal knowledge, by way of illustration. A wo
man was invited by a neighbor to come in for a visit
i one evening. As soon as she entered the hut two men
in waiting bound her and carried her on board ship.
A father and his son, while planting yams, were
seized by men who came from the brush. A man

ON THE SLAVE-COAST

53

from the interior having brought some product to the
beach for sale was asked to visit the ship lying off
shore and get a free drink of rum. He went, but
when there found that his guide had sold him, and
stay he must.
James Town, a ship carpenter, in the Parliamentary
inquiry, testified that he saw a dealer sell a slave on
board a ship, in the Gallinas, but when the dealer
paddled to the beach with his goods, four men came
from the brush, seized him, robbed him of his goods
and then carried him, in his own canoe, to the slave-
ship, where they sold him to the captain, who had
seen the whole doings.
While the British slaver Briton was lying in the
Benin River a native chief known as Captain Lemma
came on board to get the usual presents. A few min
utes later a canoe with three negroes was seen crossing
the river, and the chief sent his followers to bring it to
the ship. The three proved to be members of another
tribe than the chief s, and they were at once offered for
sale. Two were purchased, but the third, an elderly
man, was refused as unsalable. At that the old man
was taken over the rail and there his head was
cut off.
Off Piccaninni Sestus, on the windward coast, in
1769, Mr. William Dove saw a noted native slaver
named Ben Johnson bring off a girl he had stolen.
Just as Johnson was leaving the ship on one side two
very excited men came to the other to inquire about
the girl. On learning her fate they went in chase of
Johnson, captured him, and, bringing him to the ship,
offered him for sale.
"You won't buy me, whom you know to be a great

54

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

trading man, will you, captain?" said Johnson, in
remonstrance. "If they will sell you I will buy you, be you what
you may," replied the captain, and the kidnapping Ben
Johnson became a slave himself. This story is espe
cially interesting because of the picture it gives of the
workings of the captain' s mind. He would not kidnap
a negro himself, but he would buy of anyone under
any circumstances.
A man named Marsh, who was in charge of a shore
station established for buying slaves at Cape Coast
Castle, in those days, is on record as saying: "I do
not mind how they get them, for I buy them fairly."
It is a queer exhibition of conscientious scruples,
though one, perhaps, not now wholly unknown.
But the slavers rapidly outgrew such squeamishness.
They outgrew it simply because the increased numbers
obtained by such methods were still inadequate for
the demand. Moreover with the increase in the num
ber in an average cargo came a special need for haste
in procuring them. Captain Lindsay might keep forty
negroes ' ' in helth and fatt ' ' under the deck of the
Sanderson while gathering fifteen or twenty more by
the old slow process, but when Captain Billy Boates,
of Liverpool, a noted slaver, who was "born a beggar
to die a lord," had two hundred and fifty on board
the ship Knight, in which he won fame, he could not
wait long for the remaining hundred because those
already on board would die.
The trade in its origin had been an exchange of a
fair measure of goods for individuals legally held
as slaves. It arrived at a stage in which a majority
of every cargo purchased consisted of freemen kid-

ON THE SLAVE-COAST

55

napped as individuals. The next step down in
volved a resort to piracy— to deliberate attacks on
natives who refused to trade. It will be remembered
that the Massachusetts slaver had been a pirate in this
fashion as early as 1645. Such acts were too common
throughout the traffic, but what is to be emphasized
here is that piratical acts naturally increased in num
ber as the demand for slaves increased.
Following bloody quarrels with the coast tribes
came the practice of inciting the coast tribes to make
piratical raids on the interior.
It is likely that the practice of inciting these raids
began as early as 1757 — perhaps earlier, in a desultory
way. At any rate, in a letter already quoted "six
four-pounders, four swevles, and four cow-horns"
were among the goods carried out for trade. But it is
certain that raiding was not then the usual course of
trade. Mr. John Bowman, who was employed at the slave
coast just previous to 1776, testified before the Com
mittee of Parliament that he had had charge of an
agency established on the Scassus River for supplying
the warlike natives with arms for raids, and that he
accompanied the raiders on one expedition. Coming
to the agency the chief obtained a supply of guns and
ammunition. Then the trumpets were sounded, a band
of men was collected, the arms were distributed, and
the start was made immediately. Late in the after
noon the band camped near a branch of the Scassus
and waited until midnight. Then, leaving Bowman,
whose heart had failed him, they crept away through
the forest. A half hour later shouts and screams were
heard and the forest was lighted up by the fiames of

56

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

burning huts. Later still the band returned, bringing
thirty men, women, and children. A small village
had been attacked when all its people were asleep.
Some were killed and some escaped to the brush,
the thirty captives being taken alive and unhurt.
These were bound securely, and when day came they
were carried down to the agency.
This is one of the mildest stories of a raid known to
the history of the trade.
Captain Canot, in describing the work of a raiding
party, says :
"In my wanderings in Africa I have often seen the
tiger pounce upon its prey, and with instinctive thirst
satiate its appetite for blood and abandon the drained
corpse ; but these African negresses [who were of the
raiding party] were neither as decent nor as merciful
as the beast of the wilderness. Their malignant
pleasure seemed to consist in the invention of tortures
that would agonize but not slay. A slow, lingering,
tormenting mutilation was practised on the living
. . . and in every instance the brutality of the
women exceeded that of the men. I cannot picture
their hellish joy . . . while the queen of the har
pies crept amid the butchery gathering the brains
from each severed skull as a honne houcJie for the ap
proaching feast."
As for the defeated negroes who were not killed,
they were carried down to the sea and sold. And as
time passed the passion for blood grew on the raiders
r until it was greater than their greed. They tortured
to death many whom they might have sold. Before
the end of the eighteenth century these raids, called
wars by those who owned the slave-ships, were the

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 57
chief source of supply for the coast market, and after
the trade was declared illegal they were, practically,
the only source of supply ; and the people of the
United States knew that it was so.
There were many little tribes and settlements on
the rivers in the old days wherein the natives were
chiefly devoted to agriculture, and these were the
prey of the coast pirates until the rivers were swept
clean of all peace-loving inhabitants, and the whole
population surviving was turned into ravaging pirate
bands. Said an eloquent coast chief when the English be
gan to negotiate with him for the abolition of the
slave traffic :
" I and my army are ready, at all times, to fight the
enemies of England, and do anything the English
may ask of me, except to give up the slave-trade.
No other trade is known to my people. It is the
source of their glory and wealth. Their songs cele
brate their victories, and the mother lulls the child to
sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to
slavery." Still another view of the effect of the growing de
mand for slaves is to be given. "Treat men as pawns
and nine-pins and you shall suffer as well as they."
It is chiefly because of the effect of the trade on those
engaged in it, directly or indirectly, that their history
is of present interest.
From furnishing arms to raiders and otherwise in
citing them to the work, the white slavers at an early
day descended far enough to take part in the bloody
deeds. Even Anglo-Saxon slavers — members of the
only race that in these days does really understand

5g THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
the meaning of the words justice and liberty— were
found ready to pose as peacemakers for the purpose
of betraying one band of negroes into the hands of
another, and of themselves beginning the bloody
slaughter that followed.
The Calabar (or Kalaba) River empties into the
Bight of Biafra — right at the angle formed by the
coast lines of the huge gulf already mentioned. It is
a stream about three miles wide, with from three to
five fathoms of water. The banks are low and covered
with mangrove brush and palm-trees. Numerous
lagoons are found on both sides of the stream, and
the apparent banks are but a succession of islands.
On one of these islands was a settlement known as
Old Calabar, or the Old Town. On another was a set
tlement called New Town. The people of the two
settlements were of one blood, but they hated each
other intensely because of the rivalry growing out of
the slave trade. Yet so nearly balanced were they
in forces that only by kidnapping and an occasional
murder of an individual or two could one inflict
injury on the other. However, as time went on the
New Town people became somewhat the stronger
through favor of the slave captains, and then came
the crowning infamy of the trade in that age.
It was in the year 1767. The ships Indian Queen,
Duke of York, Nancy, and Concord, of Bristol ; the
Edgar, of Liverpool and the Canterbury, of Lon
don, were lying in the river between the two towns.
Trade was dull, and the captains of these ships got
together to devise a plan to liven it by taking advan
tage of the jealousy between the two towns, and the
somewhat superior force of New Town. After brief

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 59
consultation it was agreed that they should, on the
pretence of making peace between the two towns,
invite the Old Town people to come unarmed to the
ships for a palaver. Accordingly messages were sent
to the chief, Ephraim Robin John, his brother, Amboe,
and some other headmen, requesting all the men of
the town to come to the ships on a certain day, and
promising unlimited free rum to mellow the hearts of
the obdurate before the peace terms were arranged.
The captains, of course, pledged their honor to protect
the Old Town people from all danger during the
palaver, and a safe return ashore.
Knowing their inferiority in fighting force, the Old
Calabar people very gladly accepted the offer of these
ship-captains to arrange for peace, and the appointed
day came on with much jubilation in Old Calabar.
For some reason not given Chief Ephraim did not go
off to the banquet, but he sent one of his wives as a
present to the Chief of New Town ; and three of his
brothers, of whom Amboe was the oldest, went in one
canoe along with twenty-seven other men, while nine
other canoes, none of which was smaller than this,
followed. The first ship visited was the Indian Queen, where a
seemingly hearty welcome was extended. From the
Indian Queen the leading canoe was sent to the Edgar
and thence to the Duke of York, an abundance of rum
being supplied at each ship. Some of the canoes fol
lowed the leader, and others distributed themselves
among the other ships, where the greater number of
their crews went on board and were received with
lavish presents of rum.
The effect of the liquor was soon apparent in the

QQ THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
sleepy actions of the drinkers, and the moment for the
final stroke of the conspiracy was at hand. While
Amboe Robin John and his two brothers were sitting
in the cabin of the Duke of York her officers and crew
suddenly dropped the rum-cups, and, taking up mus
kets, cutlasses, and boarding-pikes, that had been
placed ready for the occasion, they attacked the unsus
pecting and unarmed negroes.
A wild dash for life was made. The three brothers
strove to get out of the cabin-windows, but were
hauled in and ironed. On deck the negroes who strove
to resist were cut down, and those who fled for the rail
were tripped or slashed or stabbed or shot, as the case
might be. Even the canoes alongside were fired on
and sunk with all who happened to be in them, when
some were drowned, some were dragged on board, and
a few went swimming for the shore.
The noise of the conflict on the Duke of York was a
signal to the other ships, on most of which the natives
were attacked in like manner. And then came the
inhabitants of the New Town ; for the slaver captains
had arranged that they should hide in the man
groves along shore until the attack was made, when
they were to come out with canoes and pick up the Old
Town people who might be swimming for the shore.
And these, being mad with their thirst for blood,
killed more than they took out of the water for slaves.
In all more than three hundred of the Old Town people
were killed or enslaved in the course of this raid
planned by the white men.
But the end of the story is not yet told. Having
killed or captured the last man in the water, the New
Town people paddled to the ships to receive their re-

ON THE SLAVE-COAST Ql
ward for their share in the onslaught. This reward
was collected, of course, in the shape of a liberal price
for each captured Old Town man, with free drinks
added, although of the drinks they were naturally a
little shy under the circumstances. But at the side of
the DuJce of York, one other reward was wanted— the
head of their chief enemy among the captured Old
Town people— the head of Amboe Robin John. But
knowing that the captain of the Duke of York cared
nothing for their thirst for blood— knowing that he had
joined in the raid solely for the profit there was in it —
the chief of New Town, who was known as Willy
Honesty, said :
"Captain, if you will give me that man, to cut his
head off, I will give you the best man in my canoe,
and you shall be slaved first ship."
At that Amboe, who could speak English, bowed his
head and, putting his hands together in the attitude of
prayer, begged the captain of the ship to retain him
on board. But the captain forced him, his guest
under a [solemn promise of protection, over the rail,
where his head was struck off, and his body thrown to
the sharks.
As a result of their treachery and murder, the slaver
captains received from twenty-five to thirty slaves
each, of whom a third, perhaps, were captured in
the water, and had to be purchased of the New Town
people. The two brothers of Amboe Robin John were sold in
the West Indies, but managed to escape to Virginia,
and thence to Bristol, "where the captain who had
brought them, fearing he had done wrong, meditated
carrying them back." But before he could sail with

62

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

them, a shipper in the oil, ivory, and gold-dust trade,
who had heard the story of the massacre, took them
before a court on a writ of habeas corpus, when they
were declared free and were sent home to Old Calabar.
Through this means Clarkson, the famous abolitionist,
got the authenticated story, and used it with tre
mendous effect in his crusade against the trade. It
was not in the Anglo-Saxon heart to approve such
doings, even in the eighteenth century.
Time had been when the long and dangerous voyage
had made vikings of those engaged in it, but as the
profits grew and swelled before the eyes of the slavers
all other views were fogged from sight, and from brave
men, really striving to do right, they were, within half
' a century, degraded to a level beyond which there was
no depth conceivable. And degradation is the inevi
table fate of everyone who deliberately ignores justice
in his treatment of inferiors. Get rich he may, but be
degraded hell-low he shall be.
How the degradation of the slaver's deck was con
tagious ; how it spread to the owners of the ships ;
how these owners, while posing as Christians, became,
through inciting such acts, worse than the captains
who participated actively in the infamies ; how com
munities and nations were thus made rotten, until at
last the greatest slave nation of them all regained
health by the most frightful of modern wars, can only
be suggested here.
f After the end of the eighteenth century the only no
table change in the methods of gathering slaves for
market was in the establishing of barracoons — that is,
what a cowboy might call corrals — in which to herd
the slaves awaiting shipment. The trade having

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 63
been outlawed, cruisers were stationed on the African
coast to stop the work of the slavers. The slave-ships
then had need of such quick despatch as had never
been dreamed of before. They came to the coast,
usually, disguised as honest traders, and watching for
a day when the coast was clear they got their slaves
quickly on board and sailed away. To enable a ship
to load quickly, depots were established at conven
ient points, where pens were built by setting tree-
trunks into the ground to make a high fence. In
these the slaves were held by the hundred — sometimes
more than a thousand were imprisoned in one pen — to
await the arrival of a ship.
Captain Philip Drake, an English slaver, whose
diary was printed in New York about forty years ago
under the title of "Revelations of a Slave-Smuggler,"
describes incidentally two of the most noted of these
slave stations — that of Don Pedro Blanco, on the Gal
linas River, and that of Da Souza, at Whydah.
"Gallinas," he says, "was a depot and market for
slaves brought from all streams that penetrated the
Guinea Coast, as well as territory further south. The
river was full of small islands ; and on several of
these, near the sea, as well as on the banks, were lo
cated factories, barracoons, dwelling-houses, and store
houses. The success of Blanco had attracted a dozen
other traders, and the Don was a prince among them.
In African fashion he supported a harem, and quite a
retinue of house servants, guards, etc., besides clerks
and overseers of his barracoons."
Captain Canot describes Blanco's headquarters in
greater detail. He says :
" About a mile from the river's mouth we found a

64 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
group of islets on each of which was erected the fac-
tory of some particular slave-merchant belon^iig. to
the grand confederacy. Blanco's establishments were
on several of these marshy flats. On one, near the
mouth, he had his place of business or trade with
foreign vessels, presided over by his principal clerk,
an astute and clever gentleman. On another island,
more remote, was his residence, where a sister, for a
while, shared with Don Pedro his solitary home.*
Here this man of education and refined address sur
rounded himself with every luxury that could be
purchased in Europe or the Indies, and dwelt in
a sort of Oriental but semi-barbarous splendor. Fur
ther inland was another islet, devoted to his seraglio,
within whose recesses each of his favorites inhabited
her separate establishment after the fashion of the
natives. "The barracoons were made of rough poles of the
hardest trees, four or six inches in diameter, driven
five feet in the ground and clamped together by doub
le rows of iron bars. Their roofs were constructed
of similar wood, strongly secured, and overlaid with a
thick thatch of long and wiry grass, rendering the
interior both dry and cool. Watch-houses, built near
the entrance, were tenanted by sentinels, with loaded
muskets. Each barracoon was tended by two or four
Spaniards or Portuguese, but I have rarely met a
more wretched class of human beings. Such were the
surroundings of Don Pedro in 1836. Three years
later he left the coast forever with a fortune of nearly
a million." There are records of more than one woman being engaged in the
slave-trade on her own account.

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^ WILD DASH FOR LIFE WAS MADE.
See page 60.
ON THE SLAVE-COAST 65
Captain Drake, under date of January 5, 1840,
writes of another coast prince as follows :
"Da Souza, or Cha-Chu, as everybody calls him, is
apparently a reckless voluptuary, but the shrewdest
slave-trader on the African coast. Whydah was built
by his enterprise, and he lives the life of a prince.
His mansion here is like a palace, and he has a harem
filled with women from all parts of the world. He
keeps up a continual round of dissipation, gambling,
feasting, and indulging in every sensual pleasure with
his women and visitors. . . . His house is the
very abode of luxury. He must squander thousands.
But what is money to a man who has a slave-mine in
Dahomey, bringing hoards of wealth yearly by a hun
dred vessels. Da Souza enjoys almost a monopoly of
the coast trade. Blanco has been his only rival of
late years. . . . This morning Cha-Chu met me
and proposed to supply me with a wife. ' You shall
have French, Spanish, Greek, Circassian, English,
Dutch, Italian, Asiatic, African or American,' he
said laughing."
The origin of the demand for silks and other fancy
goods of which Commodore Perry made mention is
thus apparent.
The kidnapping and the raiding were increased, al
though the market price of slaves fell as low as from
$12 to $20 a head. The demand continued because
the hardships of the slave-life killed off the slaves
more rapidly than slave children were born. This
was true even in certain parts of the United States.
Virginia and some other States were breeding places,
but by a statement printed in De Bow's Bemew for
November, 1858, it appears that the slave population
5

66 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
of Louisiana in 1850 was 244,985. The report of the
State Auditors to the Legislature of 1858 puts it at
"264,985, an increase of 20,167, or twelve and one-half
per cent., in seven years." The slaves had increased
at the rate of less than 3,000 a year in spite of the im
portation of thousands from the slave-breeding States
and the smuggling of native Africans !
The raids were extended hundreds of miles inland,
^ according to Canot. In the atrocities of the raids
there could be no change for the worse, because
there was no form of torture or degradation be
low that already existing. There was a greater vol
ume of suffering ; there could be no worse degree
of it..
— -^he history of the slave-trade is in one respect
unique. In all other forms of industry there was a
steady amelioration of the people engaged in them as
civilization grew brighter. On the sea for instance,
the cat was abolished as a lawful instrument of dis
cipline and impressment was abandoned. Even in
the killing of cattle humane methods came to be
\ adopted. But the handling of slaves, from the be
ginning of the trade to its end, was like a portrayal of
^e myth of the bottomless pit.
And yet, black as was the panorama of the trade as
described in history, there was one dash of warm
color in it to relieve the aching heart of the spectator.
Says Charles W. Thomas, U. S. N., chaplain to the
African squadron in 1855, in a work relating to coast
usages :
"In time of famine men who have no slaves to dis
pose of, or not enough to meet the demand, pawn
themselves . . . for food. . . . A degree of ad-

ON THE SLAVE-COAST 67
mirable self-immolation is sometimes shown in such
cases of family distress by a member coming forward
and offering himself to the highest bidder, willing to
go anywhere or to be anything so that he may re
lieve his father and mother or other dear relatives
from distress."

CHAPTER VI
THE MIDDLE PASSAGE
Stowing Slaves for the Voyage from Africa to a Market— The
Galleries — Compelled to Lie " Spoon -fashion" to Save
Deck Space — A Plan by which the 'Tween Decks Space was
Packed Full— Efi^ects of the Ship's RoUing on the Manacled
Cargo — Living Slaves Jettisoned to Make a Claim on the
Underwriters — Horrors of "The Blood-Stained Gloria"—
Blinded Crews of the Rodeur and the Leon—Sniadt
Among the Tortured Slaves — Pitiful Tale of a Weanling's
Death — Punishing Mutiny on the American Slaver Ken
tucky— Shvt Ships Named for Two of Our Presidents.
The term Middle Passage arose from the fact that
J each slaving voyage was made up of three passages—
the passage from the home port to the slave coast, the
passage from the slave coast to the market, and the
passage from that market back to the home port-
say, Newport or Liverpool. It was during the mid
dle of the three passages that the slaves were on board.
This passage was invariably made, of course, from the
east to the west, and the route lay, for the greater
part of its length, in the torrid zone, even when the
slaves were destined for the United States.
Most of the ships built for the trade in the eigh
teenth century had two decks. The space between
the keel and the lower deck was called the lower hold,
while the space between the two decks was sometimes
68

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 69
called the upper hold, but was generally designated
"'tween decks." The 'tween-deck space was reserved
for the slaves. The new slaver built at " Warren in the
county of Bristole, in the colony of Rhode Island,"
was to be " ten feet in the hold, with three feet ten
inches betwixt decks.3' That is to say, the space be
tween the decks where the slaves were to be kept
during the time the cargo was accumulating (three to
ten months) and while crossing the Atlantic (six to ten
weeks) was a room as long and as wide as the ship, but
only three feet ten inches high — the space of an aver
age Newport slaver in the days when the traffic was
lawful and respected.
The men were ironed together, two and two by the
ankles, but women and children were left unironed.
They were then taken to the slave-deck, the males for
ward of a bulkhead built abaft the main hatch, and
the women aft. There all were compelled to lie down
with their backs on the deck and feet outboard. In
this position the irons on the men were usually secured
to chains or iron rods that were rove through staples
in the deck, or the ceiling of the ship. The entire deck
was covered with them lying so. They were squeezed
so tightly together, in fact, that the average space
allowed to each one was but sixteen inches wide by five ^
and a half feet long.
In the Liverpool ships in the latter part of the eigh
teenth century — ships that carried from three hun
dred to five hundred slaves at a load — the average
height between the two decks was five feet two inches.
This statement of the average distance between decks
was proven by measuring many ships. But that is not
to say that the slaves were more comfortable on the

70 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TSADE
ships having greater space between decks. On the
contrary, they were less so. Economy of space was
studied with a sharp eye. It would never do to allow
all that space between decks to remain unoccupied.
So a shelf or gallery, usually six feet wide, was sus
pended midway between the two decks, and on this an
other layer of slaves was placed Of course the deck
under the shelf or gallery was covered with slaves
packed as closely together as possible. This shelf was
made of unplaned lumber, and there was no effort to
make tight the joints between the boards.
The smaller ships — the sloops and schooners that
had no 'tween-decks — were arranged for stowing the
slaves by building a temporary deck beneath the upper
one. Having stowed the barrels of food and water in
the hold so as to occupy as little space as possible, a
row of stanchions, fore and aft on the keelson, and
rising just above the barrels, was erected. These
were connected by a ridge-pole, and from this ridge
pole rafters were extended to the sides of the ship.
On the rafters common unplaned boards were laid.
Thus a deck was laid that could be easily removed on
occasion.
.J The space between this deck and the upper one was
rarely, if ever, more than three feet high, and cases are
on record where it was considerably less than two
feet — in this century even as little as eighteen inches.
Most of the vessels used after the trade was out
lawed were of the small, single-decked class. Be
cause the trade was unlawful these slavers had to be
prepared to pass as palm-oil buyers when they were
overhauled by a cruiser, and they could not do that if
they had a slave-deck laid. Accordingly the slave-

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 71
deck was not laid until the slaves were on the beach
ready to embark. Being then in great haste the slaver
did not usually go to the trouble of erecting stanchions
and building his deck substantially. He merely laid
his rafters or timbers on the barrels, as best he might ;
spread the boards over them, with a nail driven in here
and there, perhaps, but sometimes with never a nail to
hold them in place, and then the slaves were brought
on board and jammed into the thin space with less
regard for their comfort than is shown now for hogs
shipped in a two-deck stock-car.
In fact, when the cruisers became at last somewhat
vigilant, cargoes were shipped in vessels that had no
slave-deck ; the slaves were piled on the barrels of food
and water until the barrels were blanketed out of
sight. .
But the limit of devilish ingenuity in stowing slaves
was not reached until the trade was outlawed. To in
crease the number of slaves on the deck they were then
compelled to lie on their sides, breast to back, ' ' spoon
fashion," to use the term then common. Where the
'tween-deck space was two feet high or more the slaves
were stowed sitting up in rows, one crowded into the
lap of another, and with legs on legs, like riders on a
crowded toboggan. In storms the sailors had to put
on the hatches, and seal tight the openings into the
infernal cesspool. It was asserted by the naval officers
who were stationed on the coast to stop the traffic that
in certain states of the weather they could detect the
odor of a slaver further away than they could see her
on a clear night. The odor was often unmistakable
at a distance of five miles down wind.
It was possible for a humane ship-master, such as

72 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Captain Hugh Crow, the one-eyed slaver of Liverpool;
by alleviating the sufferings of the slaves by means
of good food, daily washings, and some effort to make
them cheerful, such as playing musical instruments,
etc., to keep the death rate down to one or two per
centum. Captain John Newton, who became a famous
preacher, says regarding his own experience:
"I had the pleasure to return thanks in the churches
for an African voyage performed without any acci
dent or the loss of a man ; and it was much noticed
and acknowledged in the town. I question if it is not
the only instance of the kind. ... It [the slave-
trade] is, indeed, accounted a genteel employment,
and is usually very profitable."
Other captains did carry a cargo each without the
loss of a man, but such passages were rare. The or
dinary slaver captain at the end of the eighteenth cen
tury was not so careful, while many a slaver was sim
ply without any sympathy for the unfortunates.
The story of the Zong, Captain Luke CoUingwpbd,
illustrates this statement. The Zong sailed from the
island of St. Thomas, off the coast of Africa, on Sep
tember 6, 1781, bound for Jamaica, with four hundred
and forty slaves. The water on board was insufficient
in quantity, and the slaves began to die for want of it.
On arriving off Jamaica, Collingwood made the mis
take of supposing he was off Hayti, and the death-rate
was now so great that he began to think the voyage
would be unprofitable. On casting about for some
way of saving the owners from the impending loss of
profits, Captain Collingwood remembered that the
underwriters were always obliged to pay for all cargo
jettisoned— thrown overboard — either to lighten the

EVERY SOUL ON BOARD WAS BLIND.
See page 76.

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 73
ship or to provide in any way for the safety of the
cargo retained on board. In short, if the slaves died
of disease or from lack of water while on board the
ship, the loss would fall on the ship ; but if he threw
overboard some of them so that he would have enough
food and water to abundantly nourish those remaining,
he could collect the price of those thrown into the sea
from the underwriters.
Accordingly, one hundred and thirty-two of the most
wretched slaves were brought on deck. Of these one
hundred and twenty-two were thrown to the sharks
that swarmed about the ship; but ten, seeing that
they were to be thrown over, and that most of the
sufferers were writhing in abject terror— these ten
struggled to their feet, and, in spite of cramps and
weakness, staggered to the rail and plunged over, that
they might show the others how to die.
The underwriters refused to pay, however ; the case
went to court, and the jury decided in favor of the
ship. Solicitor-General J. Lee refused to carry the
case to a higher court. He said the master had "an
unquestionable right" to throw the slaves into the
sea. " This is a case of goods and chattels," said he. " It
is really so ; it is a case of throwing over goods ; for
to this purpose, and the purpose of insurance, they
are goods and property."
The insurers appealed the case, and the court above,—
Lord Mansfield, presiding, in spite of the plain man
date of statute — disregarding the obvious meaning of
the laws, with the making of which he had nothing to
do — yielded to his sense of humanity, decided accord
ing to " the higher law," and said, " It is a very shock-

74 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
ing case." He granted a new trial, at which the in
surers escaped paying for the loss. So the laws, being
unjust, were violated — disregarded even — by the
courts before they were repealed. Such sacrifice of a
part of a cargo of slaves to save the others was com
mon enough in the history of the trade.
Por a picture of a slaver of the lower class take that
given by Drake in his " Revelations of a Slave-Smug
gler." He says :
We had left the Verds, and were making southerly in bal
last, when we overhauled a Portuguese schooner, and ran
alongside. She had a full cargo of slaves, with a large quan
tity of gold-dust, and our captain, Kuiz, proposed to attack
her. The crew were ready, and, inspired by rum, soon mas
tered the schooner's hands ; our captain blowing out the
brains of a passenger, who owned the gold. Some of the
Portuguese leaped overboard, with spars ; but Ruiz had a
boat manned, and knocked the survivors on the head vpith
axes. The gold-dust and negroes were then quickly trans
ferred to the slaver, the schooner was scuttled, and we kept
on our way to the land with 190 slaves. . . . We then
ran for Accra, and landed at Papoe, a town belonging to
a Dahoman chief, where we found 600 negroes, waiting for a
Spanish slaver, soon expected. Ruiz bought 400 of these,
paying in the Portuguese gold-dust, and hauled our course
for the Atlantic voyage.
But this was to be my last trip in the blood-stained
Gloria. Hardly were we out a fortnight before it was dis
covered that our roystering crew had neglected to change the
sea- water which had served as our ballast, in the lower casks, ¦
and which ought to have been replaced with fresh water in
Africa. We were drawing from the last casks before this dis
covery was made ; apd the horror of our situation sobered
Captain Ruiz. Ha^ave orders to hoist the precious remnant
abaft the main grathig, and made me calculate how lopg it

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 75
V"
would sustain the crew and cargo. I found that' half a gill a
day would hold out to the Spanish main ; and it was de
cided that, in order to save our cargo, we should allow the
slaves a hah gill, and the crew a gill, each day. Then began
a torture worse than death to the blacks. Pent in their close
dungeons, to the ntmiber of nearly five hundred, they suffered
continual torment/ Our crew and drivers were unwilling to
allow even the half gill per diem, and quarrelled fiercely over
their own stinted rations. Our cargo had been stowed on
the platforms closer than I ever saw slaves stowed before or
since. Instead of lowering buckets of water to them, as was
customary, it became necessary to pour the water into half-
pint measures, "^hose furthest from the gratings never got a
drop. . . . Death followed so fast that in a short time
at least a hundred men and women were shackled to dead
partner^A Our captain and crew, as well as myself, ^lank
hard. . . . /The dead were not thrown overboard. j> At
last Captain Rmz ordered the hatches down, and swra-e he
would make the run on our regular water rations, and take
the chances of his stock.
That night we caroused, and satisfied our thirst, whilst
the negroes suffocated below. Next morning came a storm,
which drove us on our course a hundred knots. Two days
afterward, Ruiz and four of the men were taken suddenly ill
with a disease that baffled my medical knowledge. Their
tongues swelled, and grew black ; their flesh turned yellow,
and in six hours they were dead. The first, mate went next,
and then three others of the crew, and a black driver, whose
body becanie leprous with yellow spots. ^I^egan to notice a
strange, fetid smell pervading the vessel, and a low, heavy
fog on deck, almost like steam. Then the horrid truth\,
became apparent. Our rotting negroes under hatches had
generated the plague, and it was a malaria or- death-mist that
I saw rising. At this time all our men but three and myself
had been attacked ; and we abandoned the Gloria, in her
long boat, taking the remnant of water, a sack of biscuit, and
a rum beaker, with what gold-dust and other valuables we

76

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

could hastily gather up. We left nine of our late comrades
dead and five dying on' the Gloria's deck\ After running for
two days we struck a current, and in three more were drifted
to the island of Tortola.
People familiar with Whittier's poems will recall
" The Slave Ships," founded on the experience of the
French slaver Bodeur. In 1819 while she was on her
way to Guadeloupe with but one hundred and sixty-
two slaves on board, a disease of the eyes appeared in
the hold and spread rapidly. To save the unaffected
and to ground a claim on the underwriters, the captain
threw thirty-six of the negroes alive into the sea. The
disease continued its ravages, however, and soon at
tacked the crew with such malignancy that in a short
time all but one of them became blind.
In this terrorful condition a sail was seen, and the
one man who had the use of his eyes steered the Ro
deur toward her. In a short time she was seen to be
drifting derelict with all sail set, though men were
wandering about her deck. The man on the Bodeur
hailed her, and then her crew swarmed to her rail and
begged for help, saying that she was the Spanish
slaver Leon, and that every soul on board was
blind through the ophthalmia generated among the
slaves. The Bodeur reached port steered by the one man,
but he went blind on reaching shore. The Leon was
never seen again.
To the stories of the ills of the Middle Passage so
far given must be added those which relate to the
mental sufferings of the slaves and those that grew
out of the deliberate cruelty of the crews. Indeed it
is not to much to say that the saddest result of the

THE 'MIDDLE PASSAGE 77
slave trade now visible is the mental attitude of the
white race of America toward the colored.
"The ships," said Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, of
the slaver Tartar, " were fitted up with a view of pre
venting slaves jumping overboard," but an opening
was left in the netting set above the rail in order that
refuse might be dumped overboard, and through this
many a negro leaped to his death. Others managed
to secrete rope-yarn or strong twine, by which a noose
was made and secured to a cleat overhead, and so the
slave strangled himself to death. One tore his throat
open with his finger-nails. Many others, to kill them
selves, refused to eat. They were flogged to compel
them to eat, but this failed so often that it was the
custom for all slavers to carry a tube-like instrument
used by surgeons to force food into the mouths of pa
tients suffering from lockjaw. This was driven into
the mouths of obstinate negroes, smashing lips and
teeth, until food could be forced down the throat. In
stances were described where the lips were burned with
coals and hot irons to compel the negroes to open their
mouths and swallow the food.
How men and women were flogged to death ; how
they died smiling under the blows, saying, ' ' Soon we
shall be free" ; how they leaped overboard and exult-
mgly bade farewell to friends who rejoiced in their
escape — all that has been told over and again by the
slaver captains themselves.
One of the most pitiful stories known to these
annals is told in connection with the slaver habit of
compelling his slaves to eat. There was a child, less
than a year old, that could not eat the boiled rice pre
pared for it, and the captain decided that it was stub-

78

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

born, rather than sick. Getting angry as the little
one repeatedly turned its head from the food, he
grabbed it from its mother's arms. He tied a twelve-
pound stick of wood to its neck as a punishment, and
thereafter flogged it with the cat at each meal-time
until the fourth day, when, after the whipping, it
died. To make complete his work, the captain, whip
in hand, then called the child's mother to pick up the
little body and throw it over the rail. She refused at
first, but, tortured by the cat, she took up the child,
walked to the ship's side, and turning her head away
dropped the body into the sea.
Of the truth of the story there is no doubt. It was
told under oath before a committee of Parliament,
and of all the tales of inhuman deeds perpetrated by
the slavers, none had more effect in ridding the earth
of the traffic than this.
From one point of view the picture of a gang of
slaves when on deck for an airing was one of the most
shocking known to the trade. Por the slaver captain
knew how much brooding over their wrongs tended to
promote disease, and his chief object in bringing them
on deck was to cheer them. He wanted them to sing
and dance, and he saw that they did it too — he ap
plied the lash not only to make them eat, but to make
them sing. There they stood in rows and as the
brawny slaver, whip in hand, paced to and fro, they
sang their home-songs, and danced, each with his free
foot slapping the deck.
When the slaves tried to kill themselves because
they believed in the resurrection and a life in their
old homes after death, some of the slaver captains
mutilated the bodies of the dead by cutting off and

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 79
carrying along the heads or other portions of the
bodies, and telling the slaves that thus the dead
would be wholly unable to exist, or, at any rate, to
enjoy the life they hoped for after death. But the
slaves smiled in contempt when they heard that.
They were of a heathen race. They had never learned
the Christian' s hope of heaven, but something had told
them (who shall say how ?) that the body, though it be
"sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption " —
that though it be " sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body." And they — those heathen — trusted
implicitly the light they had.
It is a most interesting fact that while the slave
trade developed vikings when it was a legal and
reputable traffic, it developed a race devoid of every
manly instinct when it became unlawful. As illus
trating this fact, it may be said that in the nineteenth
century the slavers dealt in children as far as pos
sible. Children did not bring as large a price as field
hands, of course, but they cowered under torture, and
there was no fear of their rising against the crew.
But many adult cargoes were shipped, and the
American slaver Kentucky, Captain George H. Doug
lass, master, and Thomas H. Boyle, mate, was one
that carried adults. On September 9, 1844, she sailed
from Inhambane with five hundred and thirty slaves
in her hold. On the voyage there was an insurrection.
It was quickly subdued by force, but, through fear of v
more trouble of the kind, the captain determined to
punish the ringleaders. In all, forty-six men and one
woman were hanged and shot to death.
"They were ironed or chained, two together, and
when they were hung, a rope was put round their

80 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
necks and they drawn up to the yard-arm clear of the
sail," said one of the crew when testifying under
oath. "This did not kill them, but only choked or
strangled them. They were then shot in the breast
and the bodies thrown overboard. If only one of two
that were ironed together was to be hung, the rope
was put around his neck and he was drawn up clear
of the deck, and his leg laid across the rail and
chopped off to save the irons and release him from
his companion, who at the same time lifted up his leg
till the other was chopped off as aforesaid, and he
released. " The bleeding negro was then drawn up, shot in
the breast, and thrown overboard as aforesaid. The
legs of about one dozen were chopped off in this way.
" When the feet fell on deck they were picked up
by the crew and thrown overboard, and sometimes
they shot at the body while it still hung living, and
all kinds of sport was made of the business.
' ' When the woman was hung up and shot, the ball
did not take effect, and she was thrown overboard liv
ing, and was seen to struggle some time in the water
before she sunk; and deponent further says, that
after this was over they brought up and flogged about
twenty men and six women. The flesh of some of
them where they were flogged putrefied and came ofl
in some cases six or eight inches in diameter, and in
places half an inch thick."
This story, sworn to before United States Consul
George William Gordon, was repeated by Consul
Henry A. Wise (of Virginia) in an official communi
cation to Secretary of State James Buchanan, under
date of May 1, 1845. James K. Polk was then Presi-

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE 81
dent of the United States, and this story and other
stories of like character were sent to the Congress of
the United States in House Ex. Doc. 61, 30th Congress
second session, and Senate Ex. Doc. 28 of the same
session. Said Consul Wise in an official letter dated Febru
ary 18, 1845 :
" I beseech, I implore, the President of the United States
to take a decided stand on this subject. You have no con
ception of the bold effrontery and the flagrant outrages of the
African slave-trade, and of the shameless manner in which its
worst crimes are licensed here. And every patriot in our land
would blush for our country did he know and see, as I do,
how our own citizens sail and sell our flag to the uses and
abuses of that accursed traffic. We are a 'by- word among
nations ' — the only people who can now fetch and carry any
and everything for the slave-trade . . . and, because we
are the only people who can, are we to allow our proudest
privilege to be perverted, and to pervert our own glorious flag
into the pirate's flag? "
Neither James Buchanan nor James K. Polk, nor
any other member of any administration from and
including that of Andrew Jackson down to the Civil
War, did anythirig that could in justice be called an
effort to stop the use of the American flag for cover
ing such atrocities.
It is a signiflcant fact that there was one slave-ship
named Martin Van Buren and another named James
Buchanan. It is a pity that these two slavers could
not have been preserved in the navy yard of the
American metropolis as monuments to the officials
whose names they bore, and to remind the shuddering
spectator that along with our days of magnificent
glor^we have bad our age of infinite shame.
6

CHAPTER VII
THE SLAVERS' PROFIT
Nine Hundred Pounds on One Voyage of the Newport Slaver
Sanderson, a Vessel that was Offered for Sale at ;^450
with No Buyers — One Voyage of the Liverpool Slaver
Enterprise that Paid £2A,A'!>0 — Details of Expenses and
Receipts on a Voyage of the Ninety-ton Schooner La For-
tuna—A Bahimore Schooner's Profit of ^100,000— When
the l^enus Cleared ;^200,000— Sums Paid to Captains and
Crews — Slave Transportation Compared with Modem Pas
senger Traffic.
It has been repeatedly asserted in the course of this
work that the slave-trade was, on the whole, enor
mously profitable, and it is now proposed to give in a
business way some facts in verification of those asser
tions. There were, of course, many voyages that went
awry, but that that was not the usual course of the
trade is abundantly proved. Thus, the fact that New
port had one hundred and fifty vessels in the trade by
the middle of the eighteenth century, shows what
Newport merchants made out of the traffic. Thar
Liverpool had but one sloop of thirty toijs in the trade
in 1729, while in 1751 "no fewer than fifty-three
vessels, with an aggregate burthen of 5,334 tons, sailed
from the Mersey for the slave-coast," shows how Liver
pool slavers prospered. But something more than
these general statements must prove of interest.
83

THE SLAVER'S PROFIT 83
To go back to an early period, we find that the
negroes imported on the White Horse (the first slaver
sent out from New York for the direct trade with
Africa) were sold at auction for an average price of
$125 each for the choice stock. The negroes had arrived
in a bad condition, but they were doctored up for the
sale, and brought good prices for that day, so that the
slaver made a good profit even though the purchasers
afterward lost some of their slaves. The exact profit is
not given, but the fact that a profit was made is proved^
by the act of the directors of the West India Company
taking the trade thereafter into their own hands.
When Captain David Lindsay, of the Sanderson,
sold the cargo he landed "in helth and fatt" in
1753 he received £35 each for twenty-five of his
slaves, £30 each for three more, while the remainder
brought prices ranging down to £21, save one small
boy who brought £15. All told, forty- seven slaves sold
here brought £1,432. The remaining slaves were car
ried to Newport, but there is no record of their sale.
We may guess that they realized about £250, or, say,
a total of £1,680 for the cargo of slaves.
The net profit on this voyage cannot be ascertained
now, but Captain George Scott's letter of 1740 says
that a prime slave cost £12 in the unsalable dry goods,
while other documents show that in 1753 a prime slave
cost one hundred and ten gallons of rum, or £11. The
gross profit on the slaves sold in Barbadoes was doubt
less as much as £900, and the net profit on the whole
voyage, after the remaining slaves were sold elsewhere,
was at least £900. And yet the Sanderson had been
offered for sale several years earlier for £450, and
during this voyage, as we have learned already, her

84 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
captain was able to see " daylight alround" through
the open seams in her bows.
In Williams's " Liverpool Slave Trade" it is shown
that in 1786 the Liverpool slavers sold 31,690 slaves
for £1,282,690 net. The gross value of the goods ex
ported to Africa was £864,895, while the maintenance
of the slaves cost £15,845. That leaves £401,950 for
the owners of the slavers, from which, however, they
had to pay their crews and the wear and tear of the
ships. These expenses are classed as "freight," at
£103,488, but the fact is there was a profit on the
"freight." Nevertheless, calling the freight all ex
pense, the clean profit was £298,462.
That is an estimate giving the expenses at the highest
limit, and the sales at the lowest. Going more into
detail, the returns for a single good voyage are given.
The ship Lottery, Captain John Whittle, belonged
I to Mr. Thomas Leyland, who was "thrice Mayor of
Liverpool." She sailed from the Mersey on July 6,
1798, and passed Barbadoes on November 27th with
four hundred and sixty negroes. Of these four hun
dred and fifty-three were sold for £22,726 net— the
owner received that sum after paying all commissions
and charges. From this sum, however, must be de
ducted £2,307 lOo. for the ship's outfit and £8,326 14s.
for the cost of the cargo sent out to Africa, a total of
£10,634, which leaves the sum of £12,091 profit on the
voyage. That is to say the profit on each negro was
over £26, and it was earned in six months.
The Lottery in another voyage cleared £19,021. The
Enterprise on a cargo of three hundred and ninety-
two slaves landed, cleared £24,430. The Fortune on
three hundred and forty-three cleared £9,487. The

i i

THE SLAVER'S PROFIT 85
Louisa on three hundred and twenty-six slaves cleared
£19,133. The Bloom, belonging to another house, on
three hundred and seven slaves cleared £8,123. An
average of six voyages shows a clean profit of £43
per slave. And to this profit was added that on the
West India goods carried to Liverpool when the ship
went home to refit.
Other estimates of single voyages give profits rang
ing from £12 up to £40 per head landed.
An important element in the trade was the cost of
the ship. The records show that a good ship fit to
carry from three hundred to four hundred slaves could
be built for £7,500. Such a ship would make a clean
profit of from £7,000 to £20,000 each voyage, and it is
certain that some of them made as high as five voyages
before they became so foul that they had to be aban
doned. Of the profits made when the trade was declared to
be piracy we have abundant records, even though it
was a smuggling business.
Captain Theodore Canot in his autobiography^.
"Twenty Years of an African Slaver" (it is prac
tically an autobiography), has the following (p. 101) :
As the reader may scarcely credit so large a profit, I sub
join an account of the fitting of a slave vessel from Havana in
1827, and the liquidation of her voyage in Cuba :
1. — Expenses Out.
Cost of La Fortuna, a 90-ton schooner  $3,700.00
Fitting out, sails, carpenter's and cooper's
bills  2,500.00
Provisions for crew and slaves  1,115.00
Wages advanced to 18 men before the mast 900.00

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Wages advanced to captain, mates, boat
swain, cook and steward  440.00
200,000 cigars and 500 doubloons, cargo . 10,900.00
Clearance and hush-money  200.00
Total  $19,755.00
Commission at 5j^  987.00
Full cost of voyage out  $20,742.00
2. — Expenses Home.
Captain's head-money, at $8 a head  $1,736.00
Mate's " " " $4 " "  873.00
Second mate's and boatswain's head-
money, at $2 each  873.00
Captain's wages  219.78
First mate's wages  175.56
Second mate's and boatswain's wages  307.12
Cook's and steward's wages  264.00
18 sailors' wages  1,972.00
Total of expenses out and home  $27,162.46
3. — Expenses in Havana.
Government officers, at $8 per head  $1,736.00
My commission on 217 slaves, expenses off 5,565.00
Consignees' commission  3,873.00
217 slave dresses  634.00
Extra expenses of aU kinds  1,000.00
Total of all expenses  $39,970.46
4  Returns.
Vessel at auction  $3,950.00
Proceeds of 217 slaves  77,469.00
$81,419.00

THE SLAVER'S PROFIT 87
Resume.
Total Returns  $81,419.00
" Expenses  39,970.46
Net Profit  $41,448.54
With a schooner that cost $3,700 and a total capital
all told, amounting to less than $21,000, the net profit
in six months was $41,438.54.
Writing on the same subject. Captain Philip Drake
tells about one voyage he made in the schooner Ifa-
poleon. "The Napoleon was a ninety- ton Baltimore clipper,
a model for speed and symmetry. She came out from
Cuba, in ballast, as a new craft, and made two suc
cessful trips before, at Don Pedro's request, I supplied
the place of mate and surgeon in her last voyage,
when she sailed freighted with two hundred and fifty
full-grown men and one hundred picked boys and girls
for the Cuban market. By actual calculation the
average cost per head of the three hundred and fifty
was $16, and in Havana the market average was
$360, yielding a profit for the whole, if safely de
livered, at $360 a head, of $120,400 on the slaves.
Subtracting $20,000 from this, the average cost of
the clipper's round trip, including commissions, and
her earnings would be $100,000 in round numbers.
Such were the enormous profits of the slave-trade in
1835." An official report on the first voyage of the beautiful
Baltimore clipper ship Venus [See House Ex. Doc. 115,
26th Cong. 2d Sess.] says :
"With regard to the ^hv^ Venus, otherwise the Dvr
quesa de Braganza, we should state that the original

88 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
cost, we understand, was 30,000 dollars ; and that the
fitting out, and expenses of every description for the
voyage, including the value of the return cargo, was
estimated at $60,000 more. The number of negroes
brought back, as has been before stated, was 860 ; and
they are said to have been sold at 340 dollars per head,
producing the sum of nearly 300,000 dollars ; of which
therefore two- thirds was net profit." That was in
1838-39. As far back as 1827, the captain of a small slavek-
would receive $2,000 for a round trip requiring six
months' time, while the mate got $1, 000. To f uUy ap
preciate how much money that was to a ship' s officers
one has to remember that even now there are plenty of
captains of schooners and barks of a thousand tons
capacity who receive but $75 or $80 a month, although
wages all around are fifty per cent, higher, and even
more. The captains of transatlantic liners to-day
receive from $2,000 to $3,000 a year, whereas the
captain of a little ninety-ton slaver got $2,000 in six
months. The liner that cost, say, a million dollars
will carry first-class passengers in luxurious state
rooms and furnish abundant meals for from $100 to
$150 for the passage, and $125 is a fair average price
for superb accommodations on the most expensive ves-
sel. The average profit on a slave after the year 1825
was not less than $250, or twice the price of a first-
class passage on a ship costing a million. To make
the contrast absolutely fair we should say that the
slaver who received $340 per head, and paid but $20
in Africa received $320 for transporting the slave to
Cuba. His net profit was reduced to, say, $260 by
the expenses of the voyage, just as the gteam liner's

THE SLAVER'S PROFIT 89
net profit may be reduced to $25 by the expenses of
the voyage.
However, to be liberal, there was the sum of $250
net, at least, which the slaver could get for transport
ing a negro from Africa to Cuba. If the owners of
steamships costing a million can afford to carry first-
class passengers in luxury for $125, the slaver might
have carried negroes in cleanliness and perfect com
fort, and still have realized profits of from fifty to one
hundred per centum every voyage, from the invest
ment. It is plain that the horrors of the Middle Pas
sage were not necessarily incident to the transportation
of slaves from Africa to the West Indies.

CHAPTER VIII
SLAVER LEGISLATION IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
The Colonies often Levied Taxes on Imported Slaves, and these
Duties were in Rare Cases Prohibitive, but this Legislation
was always Based on Commercial Considerations Only, or
else a Fear of Negro Insurrections — Great Britain Never
Forced the Slave-trade on Them Against Their Virtuous
Protest — Georgia's Interesting Slave History.
If there is any chapter in our history that is likely
to make a patriotic student an utter pessimist, it is the^
chapter relating to American slave legislation. No
other chapter is so disheartening ; none can excite such
indignation and contempt. But if we consider that at
last, after two hundred and forty-two years of oppres
sion and robbery, a time came when we did, by legal
enactment, recognize that a negro man was entitled at
least to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we
shall not be without hope that a time may yet come
when we shall fully understand and act upon the Di
vine command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self." That the British Government, in the interest of Brit
ish shipping, did, in the eighteenth century, try to en
courage the slave-trade is abundantly proved by many
other facts than the appropriations, amounting to
£90,000, which Parliament granted, between 1729 and
1750, for building, repairing, and supporting forts and
90

SLAVER LEGISLATION IN AMERICAN COLONIES 91
slave-pens on the coast of Africa. But whether the
American colonies virtuously struggled to resist and
suppress the slave-traffic during those years is another
matter entirely.
To begin with the facts in the matter, we find that in
New York in 1709 a tariff duty of £3 per head was laid
on all negroes imported from any other place than an ^
African port, and this is said to have been prohibitive.
In connection with this take the letter of the Earl of
Bellemont to the Lords of Trade :
" I should advise the sending for negroes to Guinea,
which I understand are bought there and brought
hither, all charges whatever being bourne, for £10 a
piece. New York money. . . . If it were practical
for the King to be the merchant and that the whole
management of this undertaking were upon his ac
count, were it so, there would be profit of at least £50
per cent." (Vol. IV. Col. Doc.)
The tax was laid to promote a direct trade. In 1716
a tariff then imposed was explained by Governor
Hunter. (Vol. V., N. Y. Col. Doc.)
"The duties laid on negroes from ye other colonies
are intended to encourage their own shipping and dis
courage their importing of refuse and sickly negroes
here from other colonies, which they commonly do."
The fact is that while New York State eventually
abolished slavery, it never put so much as a spray of
sea-weed under the bows of slave-ships owned by her
citizens. In Ehode Island, as early as 1708, a tax of £3 per
head was laid on all negroes imported. This tax has
been called a restraint on the trade and it has been
quoted to show that the Hhode Islanders , even thus

93 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
early showed a glimmering sense of the moral char
acter of the slave-trade. The fact is the tax was laid
to enable the Colonial Government to obtain a share
of the profits of the trade, and Newport streets were
first paved out of the proceeds of that tax.
Moore, in his " Slavery in Massachusetts," points out
that in 1701 the representatives from Boston were
"desired [by the voters] to promote the encouraging
the bringing of white servants, and to put a period to
negroes being slaves." That looks like a. real desire
to abolish slavery, even though no legislation followed
on the desire ; but the truth is, the Boston voters were
animated solely by business principles, as shall be
pointed out in connection with similar legislation in
New Jersey.
Moreover " the law of 1703 (two years later) chapter
2, was in restraint of the 'Manumission, Discharge
or Setting free ' of ' Molatto or Negro slaves.' " The
close-fisted slave-owners had begun "to manumit
aged or infirm slaves, to relieve the master from the
charge of supporting them."
In 1705 Massachusetts again enacted slaver laws.
One clause of the bill imposed a tax of £4 on each
slave imported. This looks something like a restraint
of the trade, but a further examination of the act
shows that it was "for the Better Preventing of a
spurious or mixt Issue." It is shocking to learn that
the young men of Puritan blood were so fond of the
black Briseises. Another clause of the bill provided
for an entire rebate of the tax if the slaves were
exported after having been entered at the custom
house. The act was really designed to enable the
colony to share in the profits of the slave-trade, and

SLAVER LEGISLATION IN AMERICAN COLONIES 93
to encourage slavers in making Boston a clearing
house, so to speak, for the slave-trade of the whole
continent. Du Bois notes that the middle colony and southern
ports allowed a rebate of not more than one-half the
duty of reshipment of slaves ; but the student must
not fail to consider this in its proper light. It was not
a question of morals — of a desire to suppress the slave-
trade. The middle and southern ports were merely
less anxious to promote sea-traffic — they were less
under the influence of ship-owners.
It appears that New Jersey really strove to prohibit
the trade in 1713, by a duty of £10. This law looks
quite a little like an honest attempt to extirpate the
traffic. It certainly was not the expression of a desire
to participate in the proflts, or to promote shipping,
or to interfere with the trade of other colonies. But
on looking at the real reason we find (Vol. IV. New
Jersey Archives) that it was ' ' calculated to Encour
age the Importation of white Servants for the better
Peopeling that Country."
It was seen clearly in New Jersey, and also in other
colonies (though dimly in some of them) that white
servants of a character to become enterprising citizens,
when their term of slavery was ended, were likely to
be of more benefit to a community with a climate like
that of any of the northern colonies than African
slaves would be. The negro was to be a slave for life
—a mere laborer whose value was as that of a horse.
But a large proportion of the white slaves became, at
last, business men who would develop the natural
resources of the country, and build the nation.
And all this is to say, with emphasis, that the pro-

94 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
hibitive legislation of New Jersey, as of some other
communities, was based strictly on business considera
tions. The only question reaUy was, Which in the
end wiU pay best — white or black servants 1
In Pennsylvania the first law to impose a prohibitive
tax was passed in 1712, and the bill itself sets forth
the object in view. It began: "Whereas divers
Plots and Insurrections have frequently happened,
not only in the Islands, but on the Mainland of Amer
ica, by Negroes, which have been carried on so far
that several of the inhabitants have been barbarously
Murthered, an Instance whereof we have lately had in
our Neighboring Colony of New York,'' etc. The act
ended by imposing a duty of £20.
Por fear the slaves whom they dominated might rise
to secure liberty and avenge uncounted injuries, the
people of Pennsylvania decided that no more slaves
should come in. It was the sheer cowardice of con
scious tyrants that animated those Pennsylvania legis
lators. A similar state of affairs was developed in South
Carolina very early — in 1698 — when it was said that
' ' the great number of negroes which of late have been
imported into this collony may endanger the safety
thereof," and a special law to encourage the importa
tion of white servants was passed. A few years later,
when the King of Spain and the Queen of England
went into the slave-trade in partnership, heavy duties
were laid on imported negroes, because "the number
of Negroes do extremely increase," and " the safety
of the said Province is greatly endangered." In 1717
a duty of £40 currency was laid, and this cut down
importations so much that a duty of £10 was substi-

SLAVER LEGISLATION IN AMERICAN COLONIES 95
tuted for all others in 1719. In 1734 there were 22,000
slaves to less than 8,000 whites in South Carolina, and
this state of affairs was exceedingly alarming to the
whites, especially as insurrections had been attempted.
An insurrection at Stono under a negro called Cato
led to a prohibitive duty of £100 laid for a time on
imported negroes. Again in 1760 the importation was
prohibited through fear.
Georgia was first established by charitable English
men as a refuge for a lot of people who were im
prisoned for debt — in trouble through misfortune
only. The charter was granted June 9, 1732. It was
to be "a silk, wine, oil and drug growing colony."
And negro slavery was absolutely prohibited.
T. Bundle, one of the trustees of the corporation, in
a sermon preached at St. George's, February 17, 1733,
said: "Let avarice defend it as it will, there is an
honest reluctance in humanity against buying and
selling, and regarding those of our own species as
our wealth and possessions." To this Oglethorpe
himself, the colony's chief promoter, added that the
slave-trade was "against the gospel as well as the
fundamental law of England," and that "we refused
as Trustees to make a law permitting such a horrid
crime." In view of the regulations covering rum and negro
slaves, Du Bois, the distinguished historian of the
negro race, is moved to say that "in Georgia we have
an example of a community whose philanthropic
founders sought to impose upon it a code of morals
higher than the colonists wished."
The fact is, however, that Oglethorpe was Deputy
Governor of the Royal African Company, the company

96 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
chartered to monopolize the slave-trade under the
famous Assiento contract with Spain — the company
which agreed to deliver 4,800 slaves per year, or 144,000
slaves in all, in the Spanish colonies alone, during the
course of thirty years, and which did deliver many
more than 4,800 slaves into the American colonies in
the very year when Oglethorpe made a speech on the
slave-trade declaring it a "horrid crime." He also
owned a plantation near Parachucla, South Carolina,
forty miles north of the Savannah River, that was
worked by slaves. Oglethorpe proclaimed (as many
an American did after him) that the slave-trade was
"horrid," but he was one of the most active partici
pants in it known to his age. The conclusion reached
by Stevens in his " History of Georgia" is irresistible.
" It was policy and not philanthropy which prohibited
slavery" in the settlement of Georgia. The poUcy
was the desire to place a buffer — perhaps one should
rather say a sentinel troop — between the Spanish
forces of Florida and the English colony of Carolina.
The Carolina people felt that their slaves were an
element of great weakness should the Spanish come
as invaders. A colony of white men only would serve
as an outpost that the Spaniards would fear and
respect. But Georgia did not prosper as a settlement of
whites only, and slaves were, at last, introduced, at
the urgent demand of the colonists.
To omit further details of colonial policy it may be
said generally that, with the exception of Georgia,
every colony did at one time and another impose
taxes on imported negro slaves, and that in some
cases the so-called restraint amounted to prohibition.

HE APPLIED THE LASH NOT ONLY TO MAKE THEM EAT BUT TO MAKE THEM SING.
See page 78.

SLAVER LEGISLATION IN AMERICAN COLONIES 97
But with this admission it must be declared that every
such tax was laid either through greed {i.e., for the
sake of giving the State a share of the profits) or
through the idea that from a business point of view
white servants would develop the country more rapid
ly ; or through a mean and degrading fear of the
blacks. Not one act passed by a colonial legislature
showed any appreciation of the intrinsic evil in the
trade or tended to extirpate it from the seas — not one.
It might as well be asserted that our present tariff on
imported woollen goods shows that we abhor shep
herds and desire to extirpate the world's traffic in
wool, as to assert that the colonial tariffs on the slave-
trade were honest efforts to rid the world of a horrid
traffic. The world was not at that time sufficiently
civilized to even discuss the rights of slaves. It was
not until 1772 that Granville Sharp, the lone aboli
tionist of England, got one lone question regarding one
right of one lone slave heard and decided in an Eng
lish court. The assertion that the British forced the
traffic on unwilling colonists in America is a puling
whine.

CHAPTER IX
THE EARLY WORK FOR EXTIRPATION
The Words and Deeds of the Fanatics— The Quakers— Slaves
that were Freed by Baptism — Granville Sharp as a Liber
ator — A Fanatic's Political Creed Plainly Stated— Wide
spread Influence of the Somerset Case when the Right Pre
vailed in England — A Policy that would not Square Well
with a Practical Business Sense of Things — The American
Declaration of Independence and the Black Men.
When Sir John Hawkins, flushed with success, was
telling Good Queen Bess how he had taken, "partly by
the sword and partly by other means ' ' three hundred
negroes from the coast of Guinea to the far side of the
Atlantic and sold them there with profit, the heart of
the Queen was touched and she saw, back of the "great
profit," the picture of the negroes when they were
torn from their homes by force, and she said the deed
"was detestable." For one brief moment she saw
clear-eyed, and a writer recorded her words where
they were most likely to find readers among her
people — in a naval history.
The importance of the fact that her words were
printed is to be emphasized. The reader will recall
what Carlyle says of the voiceless millions, whose suf
ferings made the French revolution possible, in contrast
with the screaming outcries of the few who were un-
98

THE EARLY WORK POR EXTIRPATION 99
justly treated therein while those millions held power.
When the protest of Elizabeth was printed, the voice
less negro slave was heard.
In like fashion the slave was heard again when
Morgan Godwyn, a clergyman employed by the slave-
holding missionary society of England, wrote "The
Negroes' and Indians' Advocate." Then Richard
Baxter wrote a "Christian Directory," wherein he
gives "advice to those masters in foreign plantations
who have negroes and other slaves."
They were sowing good seed — a sort of winter-
wheat crop, one may say. The Pennsylvania Quakers
took up the work and on "the 13th day of the 8th
month, 1693," at "our Monthly Meeting in Phila
delphia," prepared an "Exhortation and Caution to
Friends Concerning Buying or Keeping of Negroes."
They were opposed to "keeping negroes for Term
of Life" for several reasons clearly stated, the
"fifthly" of which shall be quoted : " Because slaves
and souls of men are some of the Merchandize of
Babylon, by which the Merchants of the Earth are
made Rich."
In the valuable and interesting book called "The
Workers" by Walter A. Wyckoff, is a graphic de
scription of the effect, as he observed it, of a sermon
upon a wealthy congregation in a Chicago church
which he attended that he might see how a laborer
would be received among the wealthy. So earnest
was the preacher, so intent were the audience, that (to
quote the author) ' ' it was as though distress had ceased
to be for them the visible sufferings of the poor, and
had grown, through the deepening sense of brother
hood, into an anguish of their own, which must find

100 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
healing in forms of effective helpfulness. Very clearly
dawned the conviction that, if one could but point out
to the members of this waiting company some ' way,'
' something to do, which would square well with their
practical business sense of things, instant and un
measured would be their response.' "
The quotation emphasizes the work of the Quakers
of 1693, for they did not ask nor did they so much as
think of what would square with practical business
sense. There is not a word in their manifesto, nor was
there a thought in the heart of one of them, about the
"Impolicy of the Slave-trade." And they were fol
lowed by many others who refused to entertain busi
ness considerations, but asked solely what was right.
The story of the Boston slaver, who, in 1645, robbed
an African village by force of arms of its inhabitants,
was told in open court because the slaver captain quar
relled with the ship's owners. On hearing it, one of the
magistrates, Richard Saltonstall, declared that the
master and his mate had been guilty of murder, man-
stealing, and Sabbath-breaking, all crimes "capital
by the law of God.'' This was the first time that a
man was accused in open court, on United States soil,
of a capital offence because he had stolen negroes in
Africa. It was the first of the long series of slave-
trials wherein the insolent slaver was let go on techni
calities, the Courts deciding that they had no jurisdic
tion over crimes committed by citizens of the colony
when on the coast of Africa.
The next court case worth mention here came np
in 1767. In 1727 the British planters of the West
Indies who came to England bringing slaves for
personal attendants began to have trouble through

THE EARLY WORK POR EXTIRPATION 101
the efforts of the slaves to escape service. The ne
groes, seeing the relative freedom and comfort of the
white servants of England, ran away. For a time the
masters had merely to find the negroes to recover them,
but eventually it was noised among the negroes that,
under the laws of England, every human being who
had been baptized in the Established Church was free.
Thereat every negro made haste to get baptized.
The law was plain in letter and spirit, but the Crown
Attorney and the Solicitor-General, at the request of
certain slave-owners, wrote an opinion saying that bap
tism of a slave could not divest the slave-owner of any
property right. That opinion served as law for nearly
forty years.
But in 1765 a Barbadoes planter named David Lisle
came to London bringing a negro slave named Jona
than Strong with him, and took lodgings in Wapping.
Lisle abused Strong in shocking fashion and then
turned him into the street, as he would have turned a
worthless dog, to die.
At that time a Dr. William Sharp lived in Wap
ping, and he gave much time to charity. In some way
the negro Strong found his way to Sharp's office.
Sharp heard his story and sent him to a hospital,
where he was cured. Now, Dr. Sharp had a brother,
one Granville Sharp, "born at Durham, England,
November 10, 1735. His early education was limited.
In 1750 he was apprenticed to a Friend — afterward to
an Independent — and subsequently to a Romanist."
The story of the negro Strong appealed to Granville,
who after he left the hospital obtained a situation for
him where all went well with him until one day in 1767
his old master saw him, and at once decided to take

102 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
possession of him again. To this end he had the slave
kidnapped, and then sold him to one John Kerr for
£30. Although held in prison. Strong found means to send
for friends, and Granville Sharp went to the Lord
Mayor, Sir Robert Kite, "and entreated him to send
for Strong, and to hear his case."
Accordingly the case was heard, and Strong was
discharged from custody on the ground that he had
been kidnapped— that is, really, on a technical plea.
Sharp freed Strong, but this case established no prin
ciple worth mention, and the story is told chiefly be
cause the work of Sharp in the case was his first effort
in behalf of the negro race, and great things were to
follow through his later efforts.
Straightway Sharp found his hands full of the work
of liberating slaves. So let us look his work in the
face. It was nothing more nor less than an attack
on property legally obtained and legally held. It was
a work that would not ' ' square with the business
sense " of anybody. It is, therefore, but justice to the
man to let him say here what the faith was that
moved him to this extraordinary career. In a letter
to Lord Carysport he said :
"This is the compendium or sum total of all my poli
tics, so that I include them in a very small compass.
I am thoroughly convinced that Right ought to be
adopted and maintained, on all occasions, without
regard to consequences either probable or possible."
This was the first statement made by an abolitionist
of what the abolitionists called " the higher law."
In November, 1769, Charles Stewart, a Virginia
planter, brought a slave named James Somerset to

THE EARLY WORK POR EXTIRPATION 103
England. Somerset ran away ; was recaptured, and
was placed on the ship Mary and Ann to be carried
to Jamaica and sold. On learning this fact Sharp
took the negro from the ship on the usual writ, and
it was agreed that the case should turn on the broad
question "Whether an African slave coming into
England becomes free."
That was a trial to stir the kingdom, for it was an
open attack not alone on the planters of distant col
onies, but on the whole foreign commerce of the na
tion that had been developed, nurtured, improved,
and brought to the leading place on the sea through
the profits of the slave-trade. Worse yet, from a
business point of view, it was an attack upon many
interests ashore. The distilleries that made rum, the
factories that made ropes, sails, and other ship fit
tings, even the whole industry of Manchester that
turned out cloths for the African trade — all these
were interested in the success of the slavers.
The wealth of the nation and the power of society
gathered on one side. On the other side stood a tim
orous negro slave and Granville Sharp. Lord Mans
field in his robes presided.
For six months— from January to June, 1772, inclu
sive—blind Justice held the scales aloft in that court
while learned counsel heaped this side and that with
lore and statute bald, and strove with fierce as well as
pleading breath to sway the poised beam. And then
he who stood for the oppressed, rising above the ob
scuring, tape-bound "chaos of formulas," asked in a
voice that was heard in spite of clamor :
" Shall the Right prevail in England ? "
When those words were heard a hush fell upon all

104 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
in that court, as if God had spoken. And then Jus
tice raised her sword, and, while the timorous slave
and the arrogant master listened, the justice who was
appointed to speak said :
"Immemorial usage preserves the memory of pos
itive law long after all traces of the occasion, reason,
authority, and time of its introduction are lost ; and
in a case so odious as that of the condition of slaves,
must be taken strictly (tracing the subject to natural
principles, the claim of slavery never can be sup
ported). The power claimed by this return never was
in use here. We cannot say the cause set forth by
this return is allowed or approved of by the laws of
this kingdom, and therefore the man must be dis
charged." That was said on Monday, June 22, 1772. From
that day slave-traders lost England as a landing-place
— lost her waters even as ports of call whUe their
human cargoes were on board. The slave-trade had
been actually restricted regardless of business consid
erations. Not only did the case of Somerset serve to restrict
the territory of the slave-traders ; the stir it created
in public talk was of tremendous effect. For it
should be recalled that under the laws of England
and of the colonies in those days it was libellous to
tell the truth in public print about the ill-treatment a
slave might receive from his master, unless, indeed,
the story of it were first told in open court during a
trial involving the matter. The cases which Gran
ville Sharp brought into court enabled the masses of
the English-speaking people who held no slaves to
learn lawfully how slaves were treated by slave-own-

THE EARLY WORK POR EXTIRPATION 105
ers, and this set them to considering whether or not
slave-owning was right.
Granville Sharp, in fighting the battle of an unfort
unate negro, prepared the way in England for the
discussion of slavery and the slave-trade on their
merits. The voiceless negro through him appealed to
the justice and humanity of the dominant race.
In America no such appeal as that was heard, but a
demand was made there for universal liberty, and it
was heard around the world because emphasized by
the thunder of cannon.
When the colonists united to oppose British op
pression, the talk about slavery and slaves, which
had reference to their own condition, turned their
thoughts to the unfortunate negro slaves, and on
Thursday, October 20, 1774, they signed an agree
ment that they would "not purchase any slave im
ported after the first day of December next ; after
which time we will wholly discontinue the slave-trade,
and will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will
we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manu
factures to those who are concerned in it."

CHAPTER X
THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED
British Abolitionists and Their Work — After a Crusade of only
Twenty Years, They Outlawed a Trade that, from a Busi
ness Point of View, had been the most Profitable in the
United Kingdom — The Slave-trade and the American
Constitution — Inauguration of the System of Compromises
that Led to the Civil War — Slave-trade Legislation of the
States— The Act of March 2, 1807.
Although the British American colonies, from
Massachusetts to Georgia, had become the United
States of America before anything was done through
a love of humanity for the legal abolition of the traffic,
it is necessary, for the purposes of this history, to con
sider the progress of the trade, and of its opponents,
very much as if no separation had taken place be
tween the colonies and the mother country.
Although the notable decision that right should
prevail in England, as far as the negro Somerset was
concerned, was made in 1772, it was not until 1787
that a " Society for the Abolition of the African Slave-
trade," was formed in London. However, an aboli
tion association, or committee without special organi
zation, was formed as early as 1783. The immediate
cause of its formation was the story of the slaver
Zong already related.
The first meeting of the committee was held July 7,
106

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 107
1783, "to consider what steps they should take for the
relief and liberation of the Negro slaves in the West
Indies, and for the discouragement of the Slave-trade
on the coast of Africa." The result of the agitation
of this private committee was the formation on May
22, 1787, of the "Society for the Abolition of the
African Slave-trade," of which Granville Sharp was
the chairman, and Thomas Clarkson was, next to
Sharp, the most active member. In Parliament Will
iam Wilberforce became the champion of the society,
chiefly through the work of Clarkson. Of the stand
ing of the supporters of the trade we have a sufficient
indication in the fact that their leader was His Royal
Highness the Duke of Clarence, afterward William IV.
How the society held meetings and published ap
peals, and how the slavers were forced to reply but
failed to show convincing arguments, cannot be told
here. But in the meantime David Hartley, a member
of Parliament from Hull, made a motion in the House,
in 1776, ' ' That the slave-trade is contrary to the laws
of God and the rights of man." In support of this
resolution he laid on the table of the House some of
the irons used in securing slaves on the slave-ships.
Sir George Saville seconded the motion, but, of course,
it failed even of a respectful /hearing.
In 1783 an effort was made to regulate the slave-
trade, and it was then the abolition committee began
its work. The bill of 1783 failed, but because of the
continually increasing agitation by the abolitionists
"the King by an order in council, dated February
nth, 1788, directed that a committee of the Privy
Council should sit as a board of trade ' to take into
their consideration the present state of the African

108

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

trade, particularly as far as related to the practice and
manner of purchasing or obtaining slaves on the coast
of Africa, and the importation or sale thereof " in the
markets of the West.
On May 9, 1788, the first real discussion of the slave
trade was heard in Parliament. Mr. Pitt moved a reso
lution to the effect that a full discussion of the trade
be had in the next session, and his motion prevailed.
However, Sir William Dolben was not satisfied to
allow the session to close without doing something to
relieve the slaves, and on May 21, 1788,. asked leave to
bring in a bill which was designed " only to limit the
number of persons to be put on board to the tonnage
of the vessel which was to carry them, in order to
prevent them from being crowded too closely to
gether ; to secure them good and sufficient provisions,
and to take cognizance of other matters which related
to their health and accommodation ; and this only till
Parliament could enter into the general merits of the
question." The slavers at once protested that any restriction
would ruin the trade, but meantime Mr. Pitt had sent
Captain Parry, of the Royal Navy, to Liverpool to
measure the slavers there, and his measurements
showed that many slavers had made enormous prof
its where fewer slaves had been carried than the con
templated bill would permit. It was now that the
people learned how little space was allowed to the
slaves crowded into the slaver's hold.
On June 17, 1788, the bill passed the House of Com
mons by a vote of fifty-six to five. By its terms
slavers were to be allowed to carry "five men to every
three tons in every ship under one hundred and fifty

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 109
tons burthen [according to the custom-house measure
ment] which had the space of five feet between the
decks, and three men to two tons in every vessel be
yond one hundred and fifty tons which had equal
accommodation in point of height between the decks."
In the House of Lords, in spite of increased oppo
sition, the bill was amended to compel the carrying of
regularly educated surgeons on every slaver and to
give bounties to slaver captains who lost no more than
two per centum of the slaves during the Middle Pas
sage. Finally, on Thursday, July 10, 1788, "the first
bill that ever put fetters upon that barbarous and de
structive monster, The Slave-trade," was sent to the
King. And on the next day the King signed it and it
became the law of the realm.
The Parliamentary investigation of the trade fol
lowed, and this gave the public a full knowledge of
its horrors. As already said, these horrors grew up
only because of the blind greed of the slavers. They
might perhaps, by giving the slaves good passenger
accommodations, have long delayed the fate that was
at hand. But blind they were. On April 27, 1792,
Parliament passed a resolution by a vote of one hun
dred and fifty-one to one hundred and thirty-two for
the abolition of the trade in 1796. In the House of
Lords it failed.
In 1793 the abolitionists failed in the Commons as
well as the House of Lords. In 1794 the measure was
carried in the Commons but lost in the upper house.
Then an effort was made to keep British ships from
supplying foreigners, and that failed. A supreme
effort seems to have been made in 1799, but that failed
also, and thereafter nothing of importance was done in

110 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Parliament until 1804, which was fixed upon for re
newed exertions. A bill then passed the Commons,
but was thrown out by the Lords.
However, in 1805 " an order in council prohibited the
importation of negroes to the newly conquered colo
nies of the British Crown." Following this "Sir A.
Pigott, the Attorney-General, as an officer of the
Crown, brought in a bill on March 31, 1806, the first
object of which was to give effect" to that order. The
second object was "to prohibit British subjects from
being engaged in importing slaves into the colonies of
any foreign power." A third object was "to prohibit
British subjects and British capital from being em
ployed in carrying on a slave-trade in foreign ships,"
and to prevent foreign slavers fitting out in British
ports. This bill, "the first which dismembered this
cruel trade," passed the Commons at once, and the
Lords on May 7th, when it was signed by the King.
The triumph of Humanity was at hand. Parliament
was dissolved in November, 1808, but public opinion
had so far changed that Roscoe, a noted abolitionist,
could be sent from Liverpool, the chief slaver port,
to the new Parliament that was soon convened. It
was a short-lived Parliament, but a bill was passed
declaring that no vessel should clear out for slaves
from any port within the British dominions after May
1, 1807, and that no slave should be landed in the colo
nies after March 1, 1808. It received the King's signa
ture on March 25, 1807. The fight that was organized
in 1787, when the abolitionists formed their society for
outlawing the trade, was won.
This was not the first time that the trade had been
prohibited by legal enactment in an English-speaking

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED m
state, but it was the first time such a law had been
made from humane motives only.
To consider the course of events on our side of the
Atlantic, it appears that "the slave-trade was hardly
touched upon in the Congress of the Confederation."
It was mentioned only in connection with ' ' the count
ing of slaves as well as of freemen in the apportion
ment of taxes;" but when the articles were finally
adopted a law was enacted by which fugitive slaves,
captured on the sea, or on the beach below high-water
mark, were to be free unless claimed by the owner !
Prom the adoption of the articles of confederation
until it was found that those articles were utterly in
adequate to their proposed object of holding the States
together as a nation, the slave-trade was not an object of
national legislation. But when the convention which
adopted the present Constitution met, the subject
of the slave-trade had a fair discussion, though it must
be said that no one foresaw the extent to which slavery
was to grow. On the contrary, the people as a whole
believed that it was a dying institution, destined
speedily to take itself from the nation.
A fair examination of the discussions in this conven
tion shows that the trade would have been prohibited
in the Constitution but for the delegates from Georgia
and South Carolina. Delegates from Delaware, Mary
land, and Virginia all denounced the traffic, even
though all of them were slave-holders. Mason, of Vir
ginia, called it "infernal." Georgia was ruled by
the feeling in favor of slavery that had come down
from the days when her financial interests had suf
fered for want of slaves under the proprietary gov
ernment.

112 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
In South Carolina the people were probably in
fluenced chiefly by what may be called the States'
rights doctrine. They did not then need imported
slaves. In fact, of their own will, they prohibited
the traffic temporarily afterward. It was, appar
ently, the principle of surrendering the control of
the trade to the general government to which they
objected. When the two States refused to join the confederacy,
if the slave-trade were definitely prohibited, Roger
Sherman, of Connecticut, said : " It is better to let the
Southern States import slaves than to part with those
States." Herein was laid the foundation of the national legis
lation on slavery that was continued until it culmi
nated in the civil war. It is certain that but for the
compromises then inaugurated we should have had
two nations instead of on6 formed from the original
colonies. In view of this undisputed fact, and in view of the
history of the nation since that date, what does the
reader think of the assertion of principle made by
Granville Sharp, when he said :
'¦'¦Right ought to be adopted and maintained on all
occasions, without regard to consequences, either
probable or possible ? "
And here let it be remembered that the slave ques
tion was discussed in the Constitutional Convention
chiefly from an "economic standpoint," and that the
word " slave "was carefully excluded from the instru
ment/or the sake of appearance.
Not to dwell too long on a topic that is humili
ating to every patriot, we find that the slave-trade

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 113
matter was disposed of as follows in the Constitu
tion: Aeticle I. Section 9. The Migration or Importation of
such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think
proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress
prior to the Year one thousand, eight hundred and eight, but
a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not ex
ceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The opponents of the trade provided for a date
when the trade might be prohibited, and they saw
that a negro was described as a "Person," not as an
animal or real estate. This was something. People
had been found to deny that a negro was a man and a
brother, though the fact that he was a half-brother to
some of the leading white citizens of the nation was
patent enough.
Meantime the States were able, both under the con
federation and under the Constitution, to deal with the
slave-trade and slavery as they pleased. The State
legislation was based chiefly on economic considera
tions, but the effect of the Declaration of Indepen
dence is also seen. New York, as a State, appears to
have taken the lead in prohibitory legislation. On
February 28, 1788, she enacted that no slave should be
imported within her boundaries, nor should any be
purchased in the State for export. The penalty was
£100. Massachusetts followed, on March 25, 1788, and
prohibited to her citizens the African slave-trade.
There was nothing in the act to prevent carrying slaves
from any other continent.
Pennsylvania four days later was more sweeping, for
8

114

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

it prohibited the trade " to, from, or between Europe,
Asia, Africa, or America, or any places or countries
whatever." South Carolina, during this year, prohibited the
trade for a period (until January 1, 1793). Delaware
followed with prohibition on February 3, 1789.
On May 13, 1789, it was proposed in Congress to tax
the importation of slaves at $10 a head. The national
government needed money badly, but this proposal
to share in the profits of the trade was never carried.
The first real step toward a national restriction of
the trade under the Constitution was taken on March
23, 1790. The abolitionists had been stirring up the
menagerie — if one may be allowed the only term graph
ically descriptive of the members in their ordinary
motives and doings in connection with disagreeable
topics. Petition after petition on the subject of
slavery and the trade had been sent in, and Congress
had continued the policy of evasion inaugurated at
the Constitutional Convention. But on that date the
House declared "that Congress have authority to
restrain the citizens of the United States from carry
ing on the African trade, for the purpose of supplying
foreigners with slaves, and of providing, by proper
regulations, for the humane treatment, during their
passage, of slaves imported by the said citizens into
the States admitting such importations." Further,
" that Congress have authority to prohibit foreigners
from fitting out vessels in any port of the United
States for transporting persons from Africa to any
foreign port."
The vote was twenty-nine to twenty-five, and even
that was obtained only because the same resolutions

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED Hg
declared that " Congress have no authority to interfere
in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of
them within the States," and that "the migration or
importation of such persons as any of the States now
existing shall think proper to admit cannot be pro
hibited by Congress prior to the year one thousand,
eight hundred and eight."
Four years passed before anything was done under
these declared powers. The ills of the slave-trade as
described by the witnesses before the English Parlia
ment became widely known in this country, and the
abolitionists, led by the persistent Quakers, kept nag
ging Congress with petitions for the abolition of
slavery, but Congress went on, brushing these aside,
until the shadow of the storm raised in Hayti by
Toussaint L'Ouverture darkened the southern horizon.
The slaves of the great island just east of Cuba arose,
and in a day, so to speak, had asserted and maintained
the principle that all men are born free and equal.
Their rising, like that of the oppressed in France, was
marked with the violence that power suddenly released
from restraint always shows. Many and frightful
were the deeds of bloodshed and rapine, and the
thought of these and of the real cause of them made
the white American legislators cower.
"A Quaker petition for a law against the transport
traffic in slaves was received without a murmur in
1794, and on March 22 of that year the first national
act against the slave-trade became a law."
The student finds, as he reads through the great mass
of American works on slavery printed since that day,
that many of the writers announce, with a flourish of
Old Glory, that the United States was the first nation

116 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
to prohibit the slave-trade. They think this act pro
hibited the trade.
The truth is the act was merely " to prohibit the
carrying on the Slave-trade from the United States to
any foreign place or country" and to prohibit fitting
out slavers here for a foreign country. It was merely
an act in mild restraint of the trade — so mild, in fact,
that it never injured the slavers to the extent of a
dollar. Here the matter rested for six years — save only that
by the act of April 3, 1798, "in relation to the Missis
sippi territory," to which the constitutional provision
did not extend, the introduction of slaves was forbid
den, under severe penalties, and every slave imported
contrary to the act was to be entitled to freedom.
But in 1800 a petition of Pennsylvania free negroes for
a revision of the laws relating to the slave-trade, the
fugitive slave law, and for gradual emancipation, once
more stirred the House to fever heat.
In the debate that followed, Dana, of Connecticut,
declared that the petition contained "nothing but a
farrago of the French metaphysics of liberty and
equality." That from Connecticut !
Brown, of Rhode Island, said: "We want money;
we want a navy ; we ought therefore to use the means
to obtain it. . . . Why should we see Great Brit
ain getting all the slave-trade to themselves— why may
not our country be enriched by that lucrative traffic ? "
Congress, however, made it unlawful not only to fit
out ships for the foreign slave-trade but to hold any
interest, direct or indirect, in foreign slaver voyages.
And serving on slavers was prohibited to American
citizens. Naval vessels were directed to make prizes

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 117
of any American slave-ships, and the guilty merchants
and crews were to bear, on conviction, an imprison
ment of two years as well as a fine of $2,000 for a
maximum penalty. The slaves were to be forfeited,
but what was to be done with them was not said, al
though the captors were not to have them.
It was still lawful to import slaves from Africa into
any State permitting the trade. On February 28,
1803, a bUl became a law which provided for the for
feiture of any ship that should bring into any State,
contrary to its laws, "any negro, mulatto, or other
person of color." The ship-master violating this law
was to be fined $1,000. Curiously enough, this law
was passed on presentation of a petition from North
Carolina. Some Haytian negroes had landed at Wil
mington, and the North Carolinians were frightened
by the thought that the Haytians were emissaries come
to preach the Haytian ideas of liberty and equality.
Nevertheless the great profits in cotton planting,
after Whitney invented the cotton gin, and was robbed
of his rights, caused a reaction in favor of the slave-
trade. To obtain more negroes for the cotton-field,
South Carolina repealed her law prohibiting slave im
ports. What South Carolina did openly, other States
did sneakingly ; they smuggled slaves.
About that time the Louisiana Territory was under
consideration in Congress, and many slaves were
wanted there. Harper, of South Carolina, got a biU
passed compelling the planters in Louisiana to import
through " the limits of the United States ; " the practi
cal effect of the law being to make all slavers enter
their cargoes at Charleston, after which they were at
liberty to proceed to New Orleans.

llg THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
As a result of this opening of the traffic in South
Carolina, two hundred and two ships brought 39,075
slaves from Africa to Charleston during the years 1804
to 1807, inclusive. According to the official returns of
the custom house as gathered by Senator Smith, of
that State, and reported to Congress, these ships were
divided as follows : " From Connecticut, 1 ; Boston, 1 ;
Norfolk, 2 ; Baltimore, 4 ; Rhode Island, 59 ; Charles
ton, 61 ; Sweden, 1 ; France, 3 ; Great Britain, 70."
There were only sixty-one ships nominally hailing from
Northern ports engaged in the trade. But when one
looks to see who reaped the profits, it appears that of
the consignees of these slavers "88 were natives of
Rhode Island, 13 of Charleston, 10 of France, and 91
of Great Britain."
Rhode Island passed in October, 1787, an act to
prevent the importation of slaves into her own terri
tory and to encourage the abolition of slavery in the
State. Importation of slaves was prohibited under
penalty of a fine of £100 per negro, and £1,000 per
ship, but there was nothing in her legislation, or in
any other legislation then extant, to prevent her ship
owners reaping the profits of the open trade to South
Carolina. It was right hard work to induce legislators
in those days to shut off absolutely a business where
in a man could make $90,000 profit in one round voy
age of a ship worth less than $10,000.
However, as the year 1808 drew nigh, legislation of
importance was had. Congress had assumed that it
had the right to prohibit the trade beginning with that
year, and President Jefferson in his message of De
cember 2, 1806, congratulated Congress "on the ap
proach of the period at which you may interpose

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 119
your authority constitutionally " to prohibit the slave-
trade. The next day— December 3— Bradley, of Ver
mont, introduced the bill that became the act of
March 2, 1807.
The first part of it considered was the disposal of
the slaves in vessels to be captured while attempting
to bring slaves in — that the ship-owners would violate
the law was taken as a matter of course. The anti-
slavery men wanted the negroes so captured to be
free, but were willing to have them indentured, even
for life. This was asking more than could be ob
tained. The fear of having free blacks turned loose
in slave-holding communities — the fear that the free
blacks would incite insurrections was too strong.
Of course there were moral objections to selling the
slaves, but Congressman Joseph Clay declared "mo
rality has nothing to do with this traffic. It must ap
pear to every man of common-sense that the question
can be considered in a commercial point of view only."
Worse yet. Congressmen were found to argue for the
"decent appearance" of the statute book. They
were drabs who feared detection, not the sin.
Of course, in the state of civilization then prevail
ing the commercial consideration necessarily pre-
vafled. The law (section 4), as at last passed, pro
vided that "neither the importer, nor any person or
persons claiming under him, shall hold any right or
title whatsoever" to any negro which might be capt
ured on a slaver coming to the United States, "but
the same shall remain subject to any regulations," not
contrary to this act, which " the several States or
Territories'' might make in the matter.
So Congress in trying to stop the traffic provided

120 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
that the unfortunates brought from Africa should not
regain the liberty they had lost through the work of
land pirates.
No slaves were smuggled into the Northern region.
In the South some States passed no law on this matter,
and in others the laws varied widely. The Alabama-
Mississippi territory act of 1815 provided for the sale of
the negroes by public auction, for cash, to the highest
bidder, the informer to have half the" proceeds of the
sale, and the other half to go to the public treasury.
How this law worked will appear later on. In North
Carolina (law of 1816) one-fifth of such sales went to
the informer. In Georgia the slaves, by the act of
December 18, 1817, might be "sold, after gi\dng sixty
days' notice in a public gazette," or "if the society for
the colonization of free persons of color . . . will
undertake to transport them to Africa ... at the
sole expense of said society, and shall likewise pay all
expenses incurred by the State since they had been
captured and condemned, His Excellency the Gov
ernor is authorized and requested to aid in promoting
the benevolent views of said society.' '
No national law regulating the disposal of such
slaves as these was passed until after the war of 1812.
Another matter considered in connection with this
bill introduced on December 3, 1806, was the coastwise
traffic between the States. The efforts to prohibit that
failed ; but the law provided that no ship under forty
tons should engage in it. There was no limit to the
number of slaves that might be carried, although a
voyage from the Chesapeake to New Orleans fre
quently lasted as long as one from Africa to the West
Indies.

THE SLAVERS OUTLAWED 121
The penalties provided for the violation of this act
included forfeiture of the ship " to the United States" ;
a fine of $20,000 to be imposed for fitting out a slaver ;
a fine of $5,000 for aiding in the importation of slaves ;
a fine of from $1,000 to $10,000, with imprisonment
ranging from five to ten years, for taking slaves on
board a ship from Africa or any other foreign country,
and a fine of $800 for buying a smuggled slave.
Furthermore, the President was authorized to ' ' cause
any of the armed vessels of the United States" to be
employed " to cruise on any part of the coast of the
United States" in search of smugglers. In case any
such smuggler was captured the captain, on conviction,
was to be imprisoned from two to four years, and fined
not to exceed $10,000. The ship was to be forfeited
as a prize to the naval ship. The negroes were to be
delivered to the State authorities where the slaver
prize found a port.
This law has often been mentioned as the result of a
great moral victory — and, of course, it did show some
progress in American civilization ; but when the facts
are considered we find that practically it was a mere
dead-letter.

CHAPTER XI
TALES OF THE EARLIER SMUGGLERS
A Slaver's Ferry Between Havana and the Florida Ports-
Amelia Island as a Smugglers' Headquarters — The Bara
taria Pirates and the Smuggling Trade — Extent of the
Illegal Traffic — A Georgia Governor who Left His Post to
Become a Slave Smuggler.
Nothing like a complete story of the smuggling
traffic in slaves carried on along the coasts of the
United States has ever been told, and none can be
told, because of conditions that were very well stated
by Congressman Lowndes, of South Carolina, in the
House on February 14, 1804. " With navigable rivers
running into the heart of it [his State], it was impos
sible, with our means, to prevent our Eastern breth
ren, who in some parts of the Union, in defiance of the
authority of the general Government, have been en
gaged in this trade, from introducing them into the
country. The law was completely evaded, and for the
last year or two Africans were introduced into the
country in numbers little short, I believe, of what
they would have been had the trade been a legal
one." The fling at New England ship-owners was entirely
justified by the facts, but it will also be observed that
citizens of South Carolina were the receivers of the
goods stolen by the New England thieves.
123

TALES OP THE EARLIER SMUGGLERS 123
Another popular Florida port was Pensacola.
There was a regular slave-ferry between Havana and
Pensacola in the days when Florida was Spanish ter
ritory. When General Jackson seized Pensacola in
the spring of 1818, Colonel Brooke captured the
slaver Constitution with eighty-four negroes on board,
while Lieutenant McKeever, of the naval forces, capt
ured the Louisa and the Marino with twenty-three
slaves between them. All these slaves were destined
to the United States for a market. Considering the
fact that three slavers were found in or near the port
at one time, it is fair to suppose that at least one slaver
a week was the average of arrivals.
Congressman Mitchell estimated that 20,000 were
smuggled in each year. In 1810 President Madison
referred to the traffic and said he believed that "just
and benevolent motives" would " be felt by Con
gress in devising further means of suppressing the
evil" On January 22, 1811, Secretary of the Navy Paul
Hamilton wrote to Captain H. G. Campbell, the com
manding naval officer at Charleston, S. C, saying:
"I hear, not without great concern, that the law pro
hibiting the importation of slaves has been violated
in frequent instances at St. Mary's (Ga.), since the gun
boats have been withdrawn from that station. . . .
Hasten the equipment of the gunboats . . . and
despatch them to St. Mary's with orders to use all
practicable diligence."
The extent of the traffic here mentioned may be im
agined from what is said by the author of the " Voy
age of the Ship Two Friends," who was in a position
to learn some of the facts before he wrote his book.

124 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
" During the existence of the impolitic intercourse act
... so great was the trade [of all kinds] that three
hundred sail of square-rigged vessels were seen at
one time in the Spanish waters waiting for cargoes."
Amelia Island was then probably the most populous
slave-station in the world.
Another notable slave-station on the borders of the
United States previous to the war of 1812 was that
established at Barataria, southwest of New Orleans,
where Jean Lafitte ruled. Lafitte' s piratical cruisers
captured many slavers and brought their cargoes to
Barataria. The bayous between that and the Missis
sippi were admirably suited for smugglers. They
smuggled all kinds of goods, but negroes paid best of
all. The operations became so bold that the national
Government sent Commodore D. T. Patterson, of the
navy, and Colonel George T. Ross, of the army, with
forces that destroyed the settlement. The vessels and
other property captured sold for $50,000, and this sum
was distributed among our men who had part in the
expedition. That so great a sum was realized at
forced sale for the property shows how extensive the
Barataria smuggling business was.
After the war of 1812 the people chiefly concerned
in the Barataria colony went to Galveston Island and
there established what they called the Government of
the new State of Texas. This was done in 1817 but
the exact date is not recorded. The ruling spirit was
"Commodore Louis Aury," who had held a commis
sion in the New Grenada navy, but was in 1817 act
ing under a commission issued by Herrero, an agent
of the Mexican republic. Aury called himself the
Commodore of the allied fleet in the war with Spain.

TALES OP THE EARLIER SMUGGLERS 125
He set up a court of admiralty, and before this court
he brought and condemned such vessels as his "allied
fleet" could capture. To dispose of the property thus
obtained he adopted the smuggling tactics of the Bar-
atarians, and he found plenty of men in New Orleans
ready to assist him.
On April 5, 1817, Aury removed his establishment
down to Matagorda, and thence to Amelia Island,
Fla., where the smuggling operations became so
bold and extensive as to attract the attention of the
whole nation.
In fact the business became so profitable that Gov
ernor David B. Mitchell, of Georgia, resigned his hon
orable office and became the United States agent of the
Creek Indians in order that he might, as he supposed,
safely participate in the smuggling traffic. The Creek
agency was in the midst of the wilderness then lying
between the Georgia settlements and the new planta
tions of the Louisiana purchase. Mitchell had the
slaves taken by obscure trails to his headquarters at
the agency, and he intended to distribute them thence
to the Louisiana plantations. He supposed that the
routes to be followed, the location of the agency, and
his personal influence combined would enable him to
do a wholesale smuggling business in perfect safety.
But he was detected, and lost money as well as his
honor. The facts in this matter can be found in the
"American State Papers" — Miscellaneous — Vol. II.,p.
957. It seems necessary to give the authority for this
story lest it seem wholly incredible.
The documents in this case (p. 962) show that "prime
fellows were offered at Amelia at $250 ; ordinary from
$175 to $200." Therefore the net profit in smuggling

126

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

slaves into the United States varied between $350 and
$500 per head.
Details of the smugglers' methods are to be had in
sufficient number, but the story of one trip described
by Drake may suffice for all.
"The kaffle, under charge of negro drivers, was to
strike up the Escambia River, and thence cross the
boundary into Georgia, where some of our wild Afri
cans were mixed with various squads of native blacks
and driven inland till sold off, singly or by couples,
on the road. . . . The Spanish possessions were
thriving on this inland exchange of negroes. . . .
Florida was a sort of nursery for slave-breeders, and
many American citizens grew rich by trafficking in
Guinea negroes and smuggling them continually, in
small parties, through the Southern United States. At
the time I mention, the business was a lively one."

CHAPTER XII
SLAVERS DECLARED PIRATES
Fines and Imprisonment with Rewards for Informers were not
Sufficient to Stop Slave Smuggling — Workings of the Pro
hibitive Legislation Illustrated by the Doings of the Knife-
Inventor Bowie and the Pirate Lafitte— Slaves Sold by the
Pound — Influences that Led to the Piracy Act.
With the smoke of the Amelia Island camp-fires in
their eyes and nostrils our national legislators under
took the task of making the dead law of 1807-08 a live
one. Both houses brought in bills, but adroit politi
cians were found in Congress to see that the power of
the bills was weakened, if not destroyed, and in this
case these politicians succeeded in ruining the bill
altogether. The bill as passed was entitled "An act in addition
to ' an act to prohibit the introduction [importation]
of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction
of the United States, from and after the flrst day of
January in the year of our Lord 1808,' and to repeal
certain parts of the same." It was approved on April
20, 1818.
It might with truth have been entitled " An act to
promote treachery among smugglers." Congress sup
posed that by appealing to the cupidity of the lawless,
and offering a cash premium to those smugglers who
127

128 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
would inform on their associates, the morality of the
smuggling region would be improved.
To show how the new law differed from that of 1807,
it may be said that the old provided (see sec. 2) that
"every such ship" engaged in importing slaves "shall
be forfeited to the United States." The law of 1818
[sec. 1] provided "forfeiture, in any district in which
it may be found ; one-half thereof to the use of the
United States, and the other half to him or them who
shall prosecute the same to effect."
But while the act was ineffective, as a whole, one
section (8) is of interest because it clearly shows a ten
dency in Congress at that time to extirpate the trade.
Therein it was provided that in "all prosecutions
under this act the defendant or defendants shall be
holden to prove" that the slave " which he or they
shall be charged with having brought into the United
States, or with purchasing, selling, or otherwise dis
posing of" the same, "was brought into the United
States at least five years previous to the commence
ment of such prosecution, or was not brought in,
holden, or purchased, or otherwise disposed of con
trary to the provisions of this act." To throw the
burden of proof on the accused was a novelty in
American legislation.
The next year Congress acknowledged this law to
be inefficient by passing the act of March 3, 1819.
While this was in the House of Representatives, Nel
son, of Virginia, had a clause inserted providing the
death penalty for engaging in the traffic. This pen
alty was struck out in the Senate. Du Bois notes
here that Congress was already beginning to divide
on party as well as geographical lines when slavery

IT WAS A MALARIA- OR DEATH-MIST THAT i SAW RISING.
See page 75.

SLAVERS DECLARED PIRATES 129
was to be considered. The bill of 1818 was favored,
he says, "by the South, the Senate, and the Demo
crats." The law of 1819 was the bill of the North,
the House, and by the as yet undeveloped but grow
ing Whig Party.
Under the act of 1819 the President, in section 1,
was "authorized, whenever he shall deem it expe
dient, to cause any of the armed vessels of the United
States to be employed to cruise on any of the coa,sts
of the United States or territories thereof, or of the
coasts of Africa or elsewhere ... to seize ' ' Amer
ican slavers. The proceeds from the sale of seized
slavers were to be divided between the nation and the
naval crew, and a bounty of $25 for each slave so
taken was given in addition.
The President was also authorized to appoint an
agent to reside on the coast of Africa (Liberia) to re
ceive and care for the negroes when captured.
Plain citizen informers were to have half the
proceeds of fines and $50 cash bonus for each
slave captured in the course of smuggling opera
tions. On the other hand, in the interests of the slavers,
it was provided (sec. 5) that a naval officer must
"bring the vessel and her cargo, for adjudication, into
some port of the State or Territory to which such ves
sel so captured shall belong, if he can ascertain the
same." This section was added on the motion of
Congressman Butler, of Louisiana, who said he had
"a due regard for the interests of the State that he
represented." The slave-ships owned in New Orleans,
for instance, were to be sent to New Orleans for ad
judication. Section 4 provides also that "it shall be

130 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
ascertained by verdict of a jury" whether a ship had
violated the law.
To show how this law operated we may quote a
passage from the life of the noted James Bowie, of
New Orleans, who gave his name to the famous sheath-
knife. Bowie, with his brother, Rezin Bowie, and two
others of like adventurous minds, formed a company,
and entered into treaty with Lafitte, who was still a
chief spirit among the smugglers in the Gulf region.
Lafitte " sold them sound and likely blacks off his
slave-ships at the rate of a dollar a pound. That made
the average price something like $140 the head. In
the open market the blacks would fetch from $500 to
$1,000 each." Having purchased the slaves, the or
dinary course was to sneak them through bayous to
any purchaser they could find. But taking advantage
of the law that gave half the proceeds of the sale of
the negroes to the informer, besides a bounty of $50 a
head, they often informed on each other, under false
names, and had the slaves condemned and sold by
due process of law. At the sale no competitors ap
peared, because it was fully understood in the com
munity that Bowie was evading the law, and, slaves
being in demand, public sentiment supported the
transaction. The Bowies made a good profit in these
transactions, the Government officials got fat fees, and
planters got the slaves at market prices.
"Altogether the company realized a profit of some
$65,000 within a couple of years. But the business
involved such mummery and flummery of false names,
pretended disguises, and pretended seizures that the
Bowies pretty soon tired of it." They were a rough
lot, but they were not sneaks. They proved, long be-

SLAVERS DECLARED PIRATES 131
fore the words were written, that "it is physically im
possible for a brave man to make money the chief
object of his thoughts."
When Congress reassembled in December after pass
ing the act of March 3, 1819, the slave-trade came up for
further consideration. The colonization society that es
tablished Liberia, of which the story is to be told, had,
by its activity in various ways, increased the public
knowledge of the evils of the slave-trade. Further
more, it was able to reach the slave-holders for two
reasons. First, it was pledged not to interfere with
American slavery. Second, it was formed for the
specific purpose of removing the slave-holder's chief
eyesore, the free negro, out of the United States.
Undoubtedly there were in the United States many
people who were opposed to the trade because of prin
ciple. But the student cannot overlook the fact that
the feeling against the trade was able to make head
way because there was no financial interest in slaves
or slavers at the North, outside of a few ports, and at
the South there were increasing numbers of slave-own
ers who had slaves to sell through the natural increase
of their holdings. The fact that the coastwise trade
had demanded consideration in the previous legislation
is significant. Virginia was already the mother of an
export trade in slaves. To prohibit absolutely the
importation of wild Africans was to " bull the market "
for the planters who found more profit in breeding
slaves than in cultivating the soil.
Meantime the privateers, so-called, of the Latin-
American republics had made alarming attacks on
our unarmed merchant ships. Pirates swarmed over
the West India seas, and their doings were justly be-

132 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
lieved to be, in many cases, chargeable to the slave-
trade. The slavers turned pirates, and the pirates
turned slavers, as occasion warranted.
In short, from good motives and bad, a bill was
brought in that became the act of May 15, 1820.
Because it provided the death penalty for partici
pation in the slave-trade, the sections pertaining to
the trade shall be given in full :
And be it further enacted, That, if any citizen of ^the United
States, being of the crew or ship's company of any foreign
ship or vessel engaged in the slave-trade, or any person what
ever being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel
owned in whole or in part, or fiavigated for, or in behalf of,
any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall land, from any
such ship or vessel, and, on any foreign shore, seize any negro
or mulatto, not held to service or labor by the laws of either of
the States or Territories of the United States, with intent to
make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall decoy, or forcibly
bring or carry, or shall receive, such negro or mulatto on
board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such
citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and, on convic
tion thereof, before the Circuit Court of the United States
for the district wherein he may be brought or found, shall
suffer death.
And be it further enacted, That, if any citizen of the United
States, being of the crew or ship's company of any foreign
ship or vessel engaged in the slave-trade, or any person what
ever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel
owned wholly or in part, or navigated for, or in behalf of, any
citizen or citizens of the United States, shall forcibly confine,
or detain, or aid or abet in forcibly confining, or detaining,
on board such ship or vessel, any negro or mulatto not held
to service by the laws of either of the States or Territories of
the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto
a slave, or shall, on board any such ship or vessel, offer or
attempt to sell, as a slave, any negro or mulatto not held to

SLAVERS DECLARED PIRATES 133
service as aforesaid, or shall, on the high seas, or anywhere
on tide-water, transfer or deliver over, to any other ship or
vessel, any negro or mulatto not held to service as aforesaid,
with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall
land or deliver on shore, from on board any such ship or
vessel, any such negro or mulatto, with intent to make sale
of, or, having previously sold, such negro or mulatto as a
slave, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and,
on conviction thereof before the Circuit Court of the United
States for the district wherein he shall be brought or found,
shaU suffer death.
An an expression of the sentiment of the nation as
a whole at that time, regarding the slave-trade, that
law seems unmistakable. But that was not all that
Congress did to show the determination of the nation
to suppress the slave-trade. On May 12th a resolution
passed the House as follows :
" That the President of the United States be requested to
negotiate with all the Governments where Ministers of the
United States are or shall be accredited, on the means of
effecting an entire and immediate abolition of the slave-
trade." The law was comprehensive and just. Though lim
ited in life to two years, it was made perpetual by a
joint resolution on January 30, 1823. This resolution
looked to a wide-spread and thorough enforcement of
the law. It was a good resolution.

CHAPTER XIII
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION FOR SUPPRESSING
THE TRADE
Work of British Diplomacy among the Continental Powers —
When Spain agreed to Abolish the Slave-trade for a
Money Consideration and Failed to Fulfil Her Contract—
A Free Offer of " Sailors' Rights" which We Refused to
Accept — A Shameful Record in American Slaver Legisla
tion—The Ashburton Treaty.
Meantime in Europe, in 1804, an act in Denmark,
abolishing the slave-trade, which had been passed in
1792, came into operation. In 1806 Great Britain pro
posed to the United States a treaty "of amity, com
merce, and navigation ' ' under which the two nations
were to ' ' agree to use their best endeavors to procure
the co-operation of other Powers for the final and com
plete abolition of a trade so repugnant to the principles
of justice and humanity," but the United States re
fused to join.
Finding that the act of 1807 was ineffective, the
British legislators in 1811 declared participation in the
trade by any British subject a felony punishable with
fourteen years' transportation.
On March 29, 1815, Napoleon, on assuming control
of France after his return from Elba, decreed the abo
lition of the slave-trade. This decree was re-enacted
in 1818 by the Bourbon dynasty. 134

CO-OPERATION POR SUPPRESSING THE TRADE 135
By the treaty of Ghent, concluded December 24,
1814, Great Britain and the United States agreed to
"use their best endeavors" for the abolition of the
trade. On February 8, 1815, " five of the principal Powers
[Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France]
made a solemn engagement, in the face of mankind,
that this traffic should be made to cease, in pursuance
of which these Powers have enacted municipal laws to
suppress the trade."
On July 23, 1817, Great Britain and Portugal made
a treaty whereby "ships of war of each nation might
visit merchant vessels of both, if suspected of having
slaves on board, acquired by illicit traffic. ' ' This related
only to trade north of the equator. On September 23d
of the same year Spain agreed, in consideration of
£400,000 paid to her as an inducement, to " the imme
diate abolition of the trade north of the equator, its
entire , abolition after [May 30] 1820, and the conces
sion of the same mutual right of search which the
treaty with Portugal had just established." Portugal
agreed to abolish the trade absolutely in 1823.
Mixed courts were also established under these
treaties, but it is certain that their work was nullified
as far as possible by both the Spanish and the Portu
guese people.
Few events more honorable to the British nation
are described in history. Her willingness to pay out
$2,000,000 thus early for the benefit of a down-trod
den race was not only a forerunner of a similar and
much greater sacrifice, but it was characteristic. That
Spain should have beein willing to accept pay under
such circumstances, and that she should then have de-

136

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

liberately violated the contract for more than fifty
years, was also characteristic.
On May 4, 1818, Great Britain and the Netherlands
contracted for a mutual right of search.
On March 3, 1824, Great Britain enacted that any
British subject found guilty of engaging in the slave-
trade should " be deemed and adjudged guilty of
Piracy, Felony and Robbery," and should "suffer
Death without Benefit of Clergy, and Loss of Lands,
Goods and Chattels, as Pirates, Felons and Robbers
upon the Seas ought to suffer.' '
In 1713 the Assiento treaty was considered a mar
vellous triumph of diplomacy. In 1824, the trade con
templated in that treaty was denominated piracy.
On November 6, 1824, Sweden and Great Britain
agreed to a mutual right of search on the slave-coast,
and England invited us to join in such an agreement,
though we declined. In 1820 she had done this also.
In 1830 Brazil prohibited the slave-trade under severe
penalties. In 1831 and 1833 Great Britain and France
agreed to a mutual right of search, and then together
invited the United States to join them under the
same agreement.
This is an important matter from one point of view.
We fought out the war of 1812 because of British ag
gression ; but, in spite of our victories, the British,
when peace was made, refused to concede our de
mands in regard to the searching of our ships and the
impressment of our seamen. But now, in order to
suppress the slave-trade, England not only asked for
the right of search within a definitely described space,
but in terms both renounced all claims to a right of
search elsewhere and offered to agree that no seamen

CO-OPERATION FOR SUPPRESSING THE TRADE 137
should be impressed from the ships so to be searched.
A pirate had been, by the law of nations, a man with
out a country : he was the lawful prize of all honest
ships. The plain meaning of any statute declaring the
slave-trade piracy was to deliver up the slaver to the
vengeance of any lawfully authorized patrolman of the
high seas. Great Britain was entirely willing that
every British slaver should be treated so, but even
John Quincy Adams was constrained to declare to the
British authorities, at the behest of the slaver power,
that the slave-trade was " statutory piracy " — some
thing different from high-sea robbery. It could never
be allowed by the people of the United States that an
American slaver should be treated as a high-sea robber
by any other power than an American court !
Anyone wishing to examine the original documents
pertaining to this branch of the subject will find them
in Sen. Doc, 18 Cong. 2 Sess. I. No. 1 ; and American
State Papers, Foreign, V- Probably the most inter
esting of our public documents on the slave-trade are
No. 283, Ho. Rep., 27 Cong. 3d Sess., and Doc. No.
115, Ho. Ex. Rep. 26 Cong., 2d Sess.
The radical trouble was that cotton-growing was be
coming so profitable that people who in 1808 thought
slavery a dying institution had become aggressive for
the spread of it, and so men were always found in Con
gress to block legislation that would hinder the slavers.
Worse yet, the law of May 15, 1820, was thwarted by
the United States District Attorneys who brought
indictments against captured slavers under previous
Statutes. It appears by the records, for instance, that
in the United States District Court for Maryland, Cap
tain Jason L. Pendleton, of the slaver brig Montevideo,

138 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
was sentenced on Monday, June 23, 1845, by Justice
Heath, on an indictment found under the statute of
May 10, 1800.
Our act of 1819 for the suppression of the slave-trade
had carried an appropriation of $100,000 for enforcing
it. In 1823 we appropriated $50,000. Thereafter at
wide intervals smaller appropriations were made. In
1834 only $5,000 was appropriated, and not another
cent was given after that until 1842. Moreover the
money given in these appropriations was not wholly
for the direct suppression of the slave-trade, the bulk
being devoted to the support of negroes captured
from smugglers and of that ill-gotten enterprise the
Liberia colony.
Nevertheless a treaty in relation to the slave-trade
was yet to be made with Great Britain. The causes
leading to this treaty were numerous, the chief cause
being the exposures, frequently made, of the doings of
American slave-ships. Our cruisers captured a slaver
now and then. The Cyane, the first sent out, captured
five, of which the Plattsburgh was most notorious.
The tales of these slavers, and the perjury which
their owners never hesitated to commit (see the slaver
cases in reports of U. S. Supreme Court) were shock
ing. But the feature of the trade that proved most shock
ing was the use of the American flag for its protection.
Because we had deliberately and emphatically de
clared that no foreign ship should search an American
merchant-man in time of peace, the slavers flocked to
our flag. Slavers were captured, too, that carried
blank American papers to be filled out as occasion re
quired. The Constitucao, with blank papers signed

CO-OPERATION POR SUPPRESSING THE TRADE I39
by United States Consul N. P. Trist, of Havana, was
one. (See Sen. Ex. Doc. 125, 26 Cong. 2 Sess.)
Then came Buxton's book on "The Slave-trade and
Its Remedy." It was an appeal to sentiment rather
than reason, but it gave facts which have never been
seriously disputed, and which excited horror wherever
read. It was proved beyond dispute that more than
250,000 lives were deliberately sacrificed in Africa and
more than 60,000 on the high seas in each year in order
to supply the Americans with the slaves wanted.
Meantime there were a number of matters in contro
versy between Great Britain and the United States,
and the people were sensible enough to get commis
sioners to consider them instead of going to war. Out
of this commission came a treaty of which the part im
portant for this history was a solemn agreement on the
part of the United States to keep a squadron of war
ships cruising on the African coast to operate in con
junction with a British squadron of equal force for the
suppression of the slave-trade.
Our laws had, therefore, permitted the President to
send naval vessels to Africa to suppress the slave-
trade. By Article 8 of what is known as the Ashbur
ton Treaty we became in honor bound to ' ' maintain
in service, on the coast of Africa, a sufficient and ade
quate squadron or naval force of vessels, of suitable
numbers and descriptions, to carry in all not less than
eighty guns, to enforce, separately and respectively,
the laws, rights, and obligations of each of the two
countries for the suppression of the slave-trade."
Daniel Webster signed the treaty for the United
States, and Lord Ashburton for Great Britain, on
August 9, 1842.

CHAPTER XIV
TALES OF THE OUTLAWED TRADE
How the Laws were Interpreted— Slavers that would Make a
Fierce Fight — Famous American Privateers that Became
Slavers — Whole Cargoes of Slaves Thrown to the Sharks
to Avoid the Confiscation of Vessels — Tales of the Rapido,
the Regulo, and Hemans's Brillante — A Cargo of Slaves
Bound to Anchor and Chain and Thrown Overboard— A
Slaver Who Coolly Murdered His Sweetheart and Child—
A Trade that was Lucrative in Proportion to Its Heinous
ness.
The trade being now outlawed, the tender solicitude
of legislators for what were called lawful traders,
that is, traders who exchanged rum and cast-iron
muskets for ivory and palm-oil, was so great that
the law regarding slavers was restricted in ridicu
lous fashion. Nor was it ridiculous alone from the
point of view of one who sees that to trade rotten
muskets for good palm-oil and ivory was degrading to
the trader. The lawful traders, so called, on the coast
of Africa were almost invariably panders to the slave-
traders. Says Drake, in his "Revelations of a Slave-
Smuggler " (p. 66), regarding the goods he exchanged
for slaves: "Our spirits, cotton, powder, and guns
are bought from English trading stations on the Congo.
We buy on the coast, and pay higher for these goods,
rather than that the old factories should break up ;
140

TALES OP THE OUTLAWED TRADE 141
they being very convenient sometimes as temporary
slave depots."
To protect these panders it was provided in the con
ventions between England and various continental
governments for the suppression of the trade that
"no visit or detention can take place, except by a
commissioned officer having express instructions and
authority for the same ; nor can he detain or carry into
port any vessel so visited, except on the single and
simple fact of slaves found on board."
In like fashion it was held for a time in our courts
that the presence of slaves on a ship was necessary to
secure her conviction as a slaver. Eventually the
presence of slave-goods was sufficient to convict, and
in English courts the slave-goods were also considered
good evidence as to an English slaver, but it appears
that when a slaver under any other flag was to be
tried there it was always necessary to show that the
slaves were on board lest some harm be done to the
"lawful trader."
As to the effect of the laws on the slavers — the men
in the trade — there is one feature of this effect that
seems to have been overlooked by the writers who
have considered the subject. It is a most interest
ing fact that from th£jmomsjiJliLjEiiI!ft^^^
"^ve-trade becameinore attractive to certain advent-
UEQusspirits ojfthe age. For it need not be doubted
that menTiveSr in those days whose souls as eagerly
sought the thrill of a fight for life — whose souls
more eagerly sought for the smell of burned gun
powder and the sight of blood-splashed decks than
for the gold doubloons that rewarded the successful
voyage. The sea was alive with men who had served in

142

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

the privateers during the long-continued wars, and
real black-flag pirates abounded. To declareh^Jegjg-
lative enactmgnt that_J;he slave-trade was illegir,imat,e
was i'or these me,nJ)ut_t_oJ^n£reaseJJg^^
Still all slavers were greedy, more or less, and an
immediate effect of the laws was to reduce the price
of the slaves on the coast of Africa. Slavers, when
the trade was lawful, had often paid as high as $100
for a good negro in Africa. The price now went down
to $15 and $20. On the other hand, the market in the
West was at least made firm. Prices were not raised
in Cuba or Brazil, perhaps, but there was never any
trouble in disposing of the cargo even when the slaves
were reduced so much that they had to be carried ashore
in arms, like babes, from the landing barges. The
price in the United States would have been increased
by the laws, only for the fact that Virginia had become
an exporter of slaves ; but, as it was, the price was
already high enough to yield a profit that now seems
well-nigh incredible. The slave that cost $20 in Africa
would, if landed in fairly good order in Georgia bring
no less than $500 net, even after allowing for dividing
with underground agents there. In short, outlawing
the trade enhanced its attractiveness in every way to
the wilder spirits.
So it came to pass that a naval cruiser' s success in
capturing a slaver sometimes depended on the relative
size, speed, and armament of the two ships. In the
House Reports No. 348, 21st Congress, first session, is
a list of eighteen slavers that resisted the cruisers by
force of arms. Of these, five were former well-known
American privateers. They were the Commodore
Perry, the Commodore McDonough, the Argus, the

TALES OP THE OUTLAWED TRADE 143
Criterion, and the Saucy Jack. Built for speed, and
manned by men who had seen service in voyages for
legal plunder, these privateers were the ideal slavers.
They went down the slave-coast flying any flag that
pleased the fancy. If they fell in with a slaver of less
force than their own they transferred her cargo to their
own decks. If they met a small cruiser they cleared
for action, and it is a matter of record that they made
such a good flght, in many cases, that they beat off
armed agents of the law. Of the five, four were capt
ured, but, each of the brief reports says, "after a
severe action." The Saucy Jack seems to have justi
fied her name, for she not only escaped capture but
"convoyed several vessels to and from the coast."
The Paz was a noted Yankee slaver. " Under the
American flag" she "beat off \hQ Princess Charlotte
and killed several of her men." The Camperdown, an
English slaver brig, of sixteen guns, "destroyed the
sloops Rambler and Trial, of Sierra Leone, and carried
ofl their black crews as slaves," and " made slaves of
all the people going off in canoes."
And then there was the slaver Velos Passagero.
She carried twenty guns and a crew of one hundred
and fifty men. Having five hundred and fifty-five
slaves on board, she fell in with the British sloop-of-
war Primrose, but not until forty-six of her crew had
been killed and twenty wounded by the war-ship's
close-range fire, would she yield. The sloop lost three
killed and twelve wounded.
Extended reports of these battles are not now to be
found, but the brief statements of losses show how
stubbornly the outlaws resisted arrest when they were
of a force to give hope of success.

144 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
On the whole, it is likely that during the earlier
years of this century nearly a fourth of all the slavers
overhauled by the cruisers made some sort of resist
ance with arms, and as late as 1845 we have an account
of the massacre of the crew of the cruiser Wasp on
the African coast. But that one was a sorry victory
for the slavers, for it led to the just order to British
cruisers to give no quarter to a slaver that resisted,
and resistance immediately went out of fashion.
Previous to that massacre, according to Captain
Canot, British officers were known, sometimes, to ad
mire a good fighter so much as to let him escape-
even to help him escape after capture !
When there was no hope in a fight, the only way
to escape condemnation was to get rid of the slaves
before the cruiser could get an officer alongside. That
legislators should not have foreseen the effect of this
law or its interpretation, is no great wonder. But
that the rule should have remained in force as it did
is a shocking exhibit in the civilization of the day.
The facts as to the workings of this rule appear in
the brief stories of scores of captured slavers. There
was the case reported by the British cruiser Black
Joke, Captain Ramsey, for instance, in the Bight of
Benin, in 1831. Captain Ramsey sent two tenders in
chase of the Spanish slaver brigs Bapido and Regulo
that were seen coming, loaded with slaves, from the
Bonny River in September of that year.
"When chased by the tenders both put back, made
all sail up the river, and ran on shore. During
the chase they were seen from our vessels to throw
their slaves overboard, by twos, shackled together by
the ankles, and left in this manner to sink or swim as

SHE WALKED TO THE SHIP'S SIDE AND DROPPED THE BODY INTO THE SEA.
S(;l- page 78.

TALES OP THE OUTLAWED TRADE 145
they best could. Men, women, and children were
seen in great numbers, struggling in the water, by
everyone on board the two tenders ; and, dreadful to
relate, upward of one hundred and fifty of these
wretched creatures perished in this way." So runs
Captain Ramsey's report. Captain Ramsey said after
ward that he and his men distinctly saw the sharks
tearing the negroes as they struggled in the water.
In order to save the two vessels, that together were
not worth $10,000, from condemnation in court, these
slaver captains deliberately murdered one hundred and
fifty human beings.
The Begulo was overhauled while she had yet two
hundred and four on board out of her original cargo
of four hundred and fifty. The Bapido had not one
left on board when overhauled, but, two of her cargo
having been picked up, it was possible to prove that
they had been on board of her, and she was made a
lawful prize.
One of the most murderous stories of captains who
were anxious to get rid of their slaves is told of
the slaver Brillante, commanded by an Englishman
named Homans, who in ten voyages had landed 5,000
negroes in Cuba. She was brig rigged, carried ten
guns, thirty sweeps (big oars), and a crew of sixty men
in the forecastle. An English cruiser that attacked
her was so badly cut up that her crew had to abandon
her. When, on another occasion, the boats from a
sloop-of-war attacked the Brillante they were driven
off with great slaughter. Finally Homans found him
self trapped by four cruisers that came upon him from
all quarters, and there was no escaping them.
However, the wind died away and night came on
10

146 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
before the cruisers arrived at their range, and at that
Homans set his largest anchor ready for dropping.
Then he hauled the chain-cable out through the
hawse-pipe and stretched it around the ship outside
the rail, by means of slender stops, and to this chain
he bound every slave on board — about 600 in number,
piling them up at the rail and securing their arm-
shackles to it by strong cords through the chain links.
There the slaves remained until the war-ship boats were
heard coming near at hand, and then he cast loose the
anchor, and down all those slaves were carried into the
sea. Although the crews of the war-ship boats had heard
the noise and the outcries when the slaves were sent
to the bottom, and the hold of the slaver contained
indisputable evidence that the slaves had been there
but a few minutes before the boats arrived, they had
to let the slaver go free. Indeed, Homans jeered in
their faces and defied thern as they stood on his deck,
but they had no redress.
The British war-ship Medina on boarding a slaver
off the Gallinas River found no slaves on board. The
officers learned afterward, however, that her captain
really had had a mulatto girl in the cabin. He kept
her for some time after the cruiser appeared, but see
ing that he was to be boarded, and knowing that the
presence of one slave was enough to condemn the
ship, he tied her to a kedge anchor and dropped her
into the sea. And so, as is believed, he drowned his
own unborn flesh and blood, as well as the slave girl.
In view of the murders invariably committed on
board the slavers, it is not without interest to recall
that among those captured in 1828 was one on its way

TALES OP THE OUTLAWED TRADE I47
from Africa to Brazil, that was called the Bom \Sic:\
Jesus. One might multiply these stories by going to the
slaver cases that reached the United States Supreme
Court, but it would only add to the number of facts
without increasing knowledge. The student who may
wish to pursue the subject will find all the stories he
needs in " Wheaton's Reports," vols. 5, 8, 9, 10, and
12; "Cranch's," 2, and 6; " Peters' s," 11, 14, and
15 ; all of which were carefully examined in preparing
this work.
Ji.s, to the extent of tlia.Jjade-Bgejdtms., to the Ash-
burtoii treaty, we can find am^le,_c.onfirmati.Qn of all
«Jthajaa(ijBJLtfia-.ey£r,made by the abolitionists if we will
,.e,xamiae,.,.the.. official reports oF consuls and. naval
¦.affifiecsv— Captain Trenchard of 'tie Cyane, for instance,
reported three hundred slavers on the coast while he
was there. Over two hundred slavers were nominally
owned in Havana in 1818. During the year 1828 no less
than 46,160 slaves were imported into Rio de Janeiro
alone, and the slavers bringing them reported deaths on
the way numbering 5,592 (see Niles's Register, Janu
ary 9, 1830). Cuba and Brazil had become the great
landing territories for slaves, for it was an open traf
fic there in spite of solemn treaties. , JJtifi.tr ade .was
indeed "JJugrative in proportion toi^ts heinousness " ;
JhejEade£s-iUa.sQiideJhe laws " did but " increase its

CHAPTER XV
THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE
Story of the Half-hearted, Wholly Futile Work of Block
ading the African Coast — Reward of an Officer Who
Earnestly Strove to Stop the Trade — An Interesting
Period in the Career of Commodore M. C. Perry —
American and British Squadrons Compared — The Sham
Work of the Buchanan Administration.
The first act of Congress to connect our navy in any
way with the slave-trade was that of 1800. Section 4
provided ' ' That it shall be lawful for any of the com
missioned vessels of the United States to seize and
take any vessel employed in carrying on trade, busi
ness or traffic, contrary to the true intent and mean
ing of this, or the said act, to which this is in addition."
Nothing to attract public attention was done by the
navy under this act until 1811, when Captain H. G.
Campbell, senior officer at Charleston, was ordered by
Secretary Paul Hamilton to "hasten" to the St.
Mary's River as already noted, to stop the smuggling
trade. A similar use of the navy was made in the
trouble with Aury.
After the act of March 3, 1819, several ships were
sent to the coast of Africa. The Cyane, Captain Ed-
148

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE I49
ward Trenchard, twenty-four guns, sailed from the
United States in January, 1820 ; the corvette Hornet,
Captain George C. Reed, eighteen guns, sailed in
June, 1820, and the corvette John Adams, Captain
H. S. Wadsworth, twenty-four guns, sailed July 18,
1820. To these was added the schooner Alligator,
Captain R. F. Stockton, that sailed on April 3, 1821,
reached the coast on May 6, started home in July,
sailed out once more on October 4, and left for home
on December 17, thus making two cruises on the coast
in that year. The schooner Shark, Captain M. C.
Perry (a brother of the hero of Lake Erie), sailed on
August 7, 1821, and was on the slave-coast a part oi'
September, all of October, and a part of November.
Trenchard of the Cyane reported that there were three
hundred slave-ships on the coast. Perry reported, " I
could not even hear of an American slaving vessel ;
and I am fully impressed with the belief that there is
not one at present afloat.' ' *
The Cyane captured five American slavers, the Hor
net took one, the Alligator took four, but three of
these were recaptured from the prize-crews. The
fourth, the Jeune Eugene, reached Boston and was
condemned. In 1822, Captain R. T. Spence succeeded Trenchard in
command of the Cyane. The Secretary of the Navy,
Samuel L. Southard, in his report dated December 1,
1823, says that both Spence and Perry "have, for
short periods, cruised on the coast of Africa to carry
into effect the intentions of the Government. . . .
[they] neither saw nor heard of any vessel, under the
American flag, engaged in the slave-trade."
* " American State Papers— Naval Affairs," Vol. I., p. 1099.

150 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Thereafter the work of the navy in suppressing the
slave-trade was confined to " occasional visits " to Li
beria until 1839, when the shame aroused by the fre
quent reports of the use of the American flag by
slavers caused some activity. The brig Dolphin,
Commander Bell, and the schooner Grampus, Lieu
tenant Paine, were sent to the coast, where they mere
ly scared a few slavers. Captain John S. Paine, of the
schooner Grampus, having been ordered to the coast
of Africa to suppress the slave-trade, assumed that
he was to do everything possible within the laws of
nations to accomplish the work. He found many
slavers provided with double sets of papers. Now,
under the laws he could do nothing with slavers
bearing any flag but his own. But England hav
ing made treaties including the right of search on
that coast with a number of continental powers,
her cruisers were able to search almost any ship
visiting the coast except those under the American
flag. To meet the scheme of double papers Captain Paine
and Commander William Tucker, of the British forces,
agreed that whenever the Grampus fell in with a
vessel manifestly a slaver, and showing any flag ex
cept the American, she was to be detained (but not
searched) until a British cruiser could be brought to
search her. On the other hand, every slaver showing
the American flag was to be detained (but not searched)
until the Grampus could come to make the search.
When Paine reported his plan to Washington he
was promptly told that his plan was " contrary to
the well-known principles" of his Government. The
slave-coast was 3,000 miles long. Paine was ordered

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE

151

to "suppress" all American slavers there with the
Qrampus.
In 1842 came the Ashburton treaty, under which
J?kj5^§E§---^SUlld~luL.ka^0^ of Africa a
^lsjjffijderiLsk\A..ad&gpi£^ .force of
ym^%\^Jojth%'-^supjiressi,on'' of the slave-trade.
gnglan,d^ was bound Ipy th.e ^arne w.ojd8,*
The fact is, we never had on the coast, for any length
of time worth mention, even the eighty guns which the
' A message of President Buchanan under date of April 21, 1858, to
the Senate of the United States contains the following tables showing
how each nation kept its faith :
ThefoUowing is a statement of the 7mmber of vessels and total number of guns of the
British squadron on the west coast of Africa on the 1st of January of each year
from 1843 to 1S57, inclusive :

Year.

Vessels.

Guns.

Tear.

Vessels.

Guns.

1843 

14

141

1851 

.' 26

201

1844 

14

117

1852 

25

174

1845 

20

180

1853 

19

117

1846 

23

245

1854 

.: 18

108

1847 

21

205

1855 

.' 12

71

1848 

21

208

1856 

.i 13

72

1849 

23

155

1857 

16

84

1850 

24

154

The following is a statement of the nurnber of vessels and total number of guns of the
United States squadron on the coast of Africa on the 1st of January of each year
from 1843 to 1857, inclusive :

Tear.

Vessels.

Guns.

Tear.

Vessels.

Guns,

1843 

2

30

1851 

6

96

1844 

4

82

1852 

6

76

1845 

5

98

1853 

7

136

1846 

6

82

1854 

4

88

1847 

4

80

1855 

3

82

1848 

5

66

1856 

3

46

1849 

6

72

1857 

3

46

1850 

5

76

152 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
treaty called for. The table shows how many guns
were on ships assigned to the squadron, not what
were actually on the coast.
Commodore M. C. Perry was the first officer to com
mand on the coast under this treaty. He got his or
ders on April 6, 1843, and reached Liberia on August
1st. It was almost a year after the treaty was ratified
before we had a gun on the coast, and even then she
was at an American free colony.
Perry's ship was the Saratoga, a frigate, whereas
light, swift schooners were needed. However, the Por
poise did cruise on the slave-coast. The instructions
to her commander, as issued by Perry, may be summed
up in the following paragraph taken from a letter un
der date of August 1st :
It is only necessary for me to add that under no circum
stances are you. to permit, without resistance to ttie extent of
your means, any foreign vessel of war, of whatever /orce or na
tion, in the exercise of any assumed right of search or visita
tion, to board in your presence (you having'first forbidden it)
any vessel having the American flag displayed. But you are
to use every vigilance in examining, with your own. officers,
the vessels so displaying the American flag, and if it shall be
found that she has unauthorizedly hoisted such flag, you wiU,
if there be no cause for detention by yourself, immediately
give notice to any vessel of war in sight that she (the vessel
examined by you) has no rightful claim to your interference
or protection.
The Decatur also cruised on the slave-coast. Her
orders said :
It is my desire that you show your ship at as many of
the slave and trading marts as time and circumstances wiU
authorize.

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 153
This order calls to mind a certain game constable
employed by the State of New York to prevent poach
ers from killing deer in the Adirondacks out of season.
Some law-abiding citizens having notified him that
Utica scoundrels were killing deer by jacklight on Lit
tle Black Creek Lake, the constable said : "I'll stop
them at once." Thereat he drove as near to the lake
as the woods roads would permit, and stuck his card in
the splinters of a dozen or more stumps along the
route. "There," said he; "that'll scare 'em out." Then
he drove home again.
Having fallen in with a British cruiser. Perry got
authentic stories of two American vessels, the Illinois
and Shakspeare, that brought slave-goods to the
coast, and, after discharging, were loaded with slaves.
Then the American flag was hauled down and away
they went over the sea. The Illinois hailed from
Gloucester, Mass., and was the property of Pason &
Co. In the instructions issued to British naval officers
on the coast after the treaty of August 9, 1842, ap
pears the following sentence :
"The commanding officers of Her Majesty's vessels
on the African station are to bear in mind that it is
no part of their duty to capture or visit, or in any
way interfere with, vessels of the United States, wheth
er these vessels shall have slaves on board or not."
The British officers had only to satisfy themselves
that a ship really had American papers. They were
even instructed to manoeuvre so as to board without
bringing to the vessels flying the American flag.
Meantime it should be noted that Perry had been

154 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
instructed that it was "highly desirable that a vessel
of each nation should, as far as possible, cruise in
company with a vessel of the other, so that each may
be in a position to assert the rights and prevent the
abuse of the flag of its own country."
"To assert the rights" was put flrst, of course;
joint cruising was desirable rather to keep the British
from American traders than to suppress the slave-
trade. '¦'¦Joint cruising" was one of the stock terms in use
at Washington before the civil war. Every admin
istration believed in "joint cruising" as the right
way to suppress the slave-trade.
Says the chaplain to the African squadron in the
years 1855-57, himself a believer in slavery, in his
book "Adventures and Observations on the West
Coast of Africa" (p. 318): "The joint cruising has
been from the first in spirit and letter dead. It is
hardly worth while to inquire upon which party the
greater blame rests in the non-fulfilment of this pro
vision ; but it is certainly true that the object of the
treaty could be better carried out by a hearty and
well-understood co-operation. The prevailing indif
ference on this subject may be seen by the following
statement : The flagships of the American and British
squadrons on the coast in the years 1855, 1856 and
part of 1857 met but once, and that at sea. They
were two miles apart ; they recognized each other by
signal, and by the same means held the following
communication :
" ' Anything to communicate % '
"Answer. — ' Nothing to communicate.' "
Perry himself summed up the result of his work as

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 155
the commander of the American squadron for the
suppression of the slave-trade on the coast of Africa
in a letter to Secretary A. P. Upshur, dated Septem
ber 5, 1843 :
" I cannot hear of any American vessels being en
gaged in the transportation of slaves ; nor do I believe
there has been one so engaged for several years."
He deliberately ignored the cases of the Illinois and
the Shakspeare. Moreover that was in 1843, when a
condition of affairs prevailed at Rio Janeiro that led
the United States Consul, a Wise of Virginia, to write,
a little later : " We are a byword among nations — the
only people who can fetch and carry any and every
thing for the slave-trade without fear of the English
cruisers" — a condition wherein the slavers were
allowed "to pervert our glorious flag into the pirate's
flag." We can now see how it happened that . Perry was
honored with the command of the Gulf squadron in
the war with Mexico, and with the command of the
Japan expedition in later years. The name of Oliver
Hazard Perry will be held in honor while glorious
deeds afloat are remembered ; the name of his brother
Matthew C. Perry brings the flush of shame to the
face of everyone who is proud of the navy's glory_
The system of patrol was utterly wretched and Perry
was a fit man for commodore under such a system.
After Commodore Perry the next naval officer in in
terest to this history was AdmiraJLA^ndrew Hull Foote, _
in those days a lieutenant-commander, who was sent to
the coast as captain of the brig Perry^
Foote was a sincere man, but, being of a sanguine
temperament, he was mistaken as to what was really

156

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

accomplished by the American squadron. He carried
out the spirit of his orders, and so devoted very much
more time to hunting for British cruisers that were
accused of boarding American ships than to suppress
ing the slave-trade. In a book that he wrote about
his experience on the coast, he devotes more space to
telling how "the American commodore argued frojn
documents and other testimony that bona fide Ani^-
ican vessels had been interfered with, and, whether en-'
gaged in legal or illegal trade, they were in no sense
amenable to British cruisers" than to the capture of
slavers. Nevertheless Foote did good work on the coast, and
his book has some good stories of slaver days in it.
Among the best of the stories is that of the capturie of
the American bark Pons, Captain James Berry, on
November 30, 1845. The Pons had been at Kabenda
for twenty days during which the British cruiser Cyg
net remained on blockade. But a time came when the
Cygnet had to leave for supplies. At that Captain
Berry turned the ship over to one Gallano, a Portu
guese slaver, and at eight o'clock that night the Pons
was under way with nine hundred and three slaves
under her hatches.
To avoid the cruisers off shore the Pons kept along
shore during the night. At daylight, seeing the upper
sails of a British cruiser out at sea, she furled her own
sails and drifted so close in to the breakers that the
natives came to the beach expecting her to come
ashore. However, she neither grounded nor attracted
the British cruiser, and eventually she stood out to sea.
As it happened, the Torktown, Captain Bell, was
lying in her path, but the slavers supposed she

THEN HE CAST LOOSE THE ANCHOR.
See page 146.

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 157
was a British cruiser and at once set the American
flag. That settled her fate, for she was a legitimate
prize to an American warship. The Portuguese cap
tain put on his hatches, but no sooner had the American
naval officer boarded her than they were taken off and
the "slaves gave a shout that could have been heard a
mile." A remarkable fact about this ship was that she had
no slave-deck. About eight hundred and fifty of her
cargo had been stowed in bulk on the water-casks and
provision barrels in the hold. Eighteen had died
during the night. In the fourteen days that elapsed
while going to Monrovia one hundred and fifty more
died, and eight died while in the harbor before they
could be landed.
Foote' s chief prize was a big ship called the Martha.
The Perry arrived at Ambriz on June 5, 1850, in
search of her flagship, John Adams, but learned that
she had gone to Loanda. Sailing thence the Perry,
while at sea, next day, saw a big ship standing in for
the coast and at four o'clock in the afternoon brought
her to. At this time the Perry had not shown her
flag and the stranger hoisted the American flag. Her
name and port, '¦'¦Martha, New York," were painted
across her stern.
Accordingly a boat was sent to her, when her cap
tain saw, by the uniform of the boat's officer, that the
Perry was an American cruiser. At that the MartJia's
American flag was hauled down and the Brazilian
hoisted, while a writing-desk was thrown overboard on
the side of the Martha opposite the boat.
A Portuguese who claimed that he was captain pro
tested when Lieutenant Rush, the American boarding

158 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
officer, reached the deck, but Rush said that the ship
had made herself a legal prize as a pirate by throwing
away her papers. The writing-desk had been picked
up and its contents discovered meantime. The Amer
ican captain, though disguised as a common sailor,
was identified. He finally admitted that she was a
slaver and that she was to have taken on board 1,800
slaves that night.
The Martha and all her crew were sent to New
York, where the ship was condemned. Her captain
was released on $3,000 bail, which he at once forfeited.
The mate was not well taken care of by the slavers,
for he was sent to prison for two years.
The farce which our courts played regularly in
those days was exhibited in this case, for the percent
age payable to the slaver captain on an ordinary cargo
of slaves landed — say four hundred— was $12,000.
Rarely, if ever, was a greater bail than $5,000 exacted.
And it is to be further noted that when Foote capt
ured the Martha he had "her crew put in irons,"
but "both American and Brazilian captains, together
with three or four cabin passengers [probably slave-
agents] were given to understand that they would be
similarly served in case of the slightest evidence of
insubordination ! " They lived in the cabin.
Foote declares that the yellow fever, that has car
ried off its tens of thousands of white men, was gen
erated from dead slaves in the slavers at Rio de Ja
neiro in 1849. He is right beyond question. It is a
fact that may even now give us pause. The sufferings
of the slaves were avenged on the white race with mer
ciless severity. There is a universal law of compensa
tion.

THE NAVY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 159
Foote believed that the activity of the American
squadron in the early fifties had broken up the slave-
trade. How far wrong he was appears in the report
of the Secretary of the Navy for 1860, wherein no less
than eleven slavers are mentioned as prizes taken in
1859. The one most important to this history was the
ship Erie, captured on August 8, 1860, ofl the Congo,
by the sloop-of-war Mohican, Commander Sylvester
W. Godon. She had eight hundred and ninety-seven
slaves on board. She landed those that survived at
Monrovia. The number of slavers captured that year was most
remarkable. At first glance one would say that the
Buchanan administration was honestly striving to en
force the law, but the fact is, this flurry of activity
was but a part of a scheme to enlarge the borders of
American slave territory. Buchanan and his Secre
tary of the Navy, Isaac Toucey, deliberately told
Congress that the administration was '^^Jiveju its
endeavors to suppressthe African coast slave-trade,"
when Jhgy_were_a.Qtive only in. an effort to annex Cuba
toJheJQnitecL.-States. On the same page where Tou
cey boasts that his department was "active" (p. 9,
report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1860), he says :
"Cuba is now the only mart in the world open to-
this trade. . . . If Cuba were to pass under the
Constitution of the United States by annexation the
trade would then be effectually suppressed." '

CHAPTER XVI
FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE
England Led the Way by Establishing a Colony at Sierra Leone
to Provide a Home for Negroes Carried from the United
States during the Revolutionary War — The Enterprise
Saved by the Sturdy Maroons — Origin of the American
Society for Colonizing Free People of Color — Life of the
Colonists at Cape Mesurado — The Nation of Liberia Or
ganized — An Ape of Philanthropy,
When Lord Mansfleld declared on June 22, 1772,
that the negro Somerset must be set free a new ques
tion arose for the consideration of the ruling race. It
was a question of growing importance, as time went
on, and it was eventually transferred to America,
where it became, at last, for a time, the most serious
subject of discussion before the people of the United
States : What shall be done with the freed man ?
It was easy to provide for Somerset and all those
who were liberated, one at a time, under Lord Mans
fleld' s order, but after our Revolutionary war the
English had a larger share in the problem, because
of the number of American slaves they had carried
away during that war.
Most of the slaves thus taken had been landed
in Nova Scotia, where there were no slaves. The
negroes would have been more comfortable in the
160

PREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 161
West India islands, but thither they could not be
taken because the slave-owners were beginning to see
that free negroes were a serious disturbing element
among the plantations. It rarely occurred to a negro
slave that he was born to any rights equal with those of
his master, until he saw free negroes work or not at
pleasure, and receive wages when they did work.
Then he began to think. It was a serious matter
for the owner when the slave began to think. It
became most serious in Jamiaca when the slaves fled
to the mountains for freedom and there organized com
munities that were naturally predatory — so serious,
indeed, that troops were sent into the mountains to
hunt out with bloodhounds these maroons, as they
were called. The troops settled the question there
temporarily by killing many of them and capturing
more. Meantime the British people found., the ports of
England swarming with negroes discharged from the
navy at the end of the war. So three classes of free
negroes were to be considered at the end of the
eighteenth century — the slaves from America, the sail
ors from the navy, and the Jamaica maroons.
As a flrst step in solving the problem an Englishman
named Smeatham, of London, who had lived for a
time at the foot of the Sierra Leone Mountains, con
ceived the idea of forming an African colony with
these freedmen. The subject appears to have been
broached flrst in 1783; it is mentioned in Sharp's
"Memoranda" on August 1st of that year, and Sharp
adopted the idea. Eventually the Government granted
an allowance of £12 per head for the expense
of transportation ; a ship was chartered ; a sloop-of-
11

162 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
war — the Nautilus, Captain Thompson — was sent as
convoy, and on April 8, 1787, away they sailed for
Sierra Leone. There were more than four hundred
ex-slaves gathered in English ports, and sixty Euro
peans in the party. Reaching the coast they pur
chased of a native chief, known as King Tom, the Sierra
Leone colony site, and the African colonization scheme
was inaugurated.
How the first colonists died by the score from ma- '
larial fever; how the Nova Scotia negroes were
brought there to die in like fashion ; how drunkenness
and indolence helped on the anarchy ; how a war with
the natives nearly wiped out the remnants of the set
tlement, and how, at last, in 1800, a band of maroons
from Jamaica, five hundred and fifty strong, came and
saved the adventure from utter failure — all that is too
long a story to be told here. We need only remember
that the men who saved the colony were those who
had been too proud to remain slaves, and had found
liberty in the wilds of the Jamaica mountains until
hunted down by bloodhounds set on by the Christian
hosts of the king.
When the colony of Sierra Leone had been estab
lished as a refuge for freed negroes the story was told
in the United States, where the slave-owners were ever
in fear of a servile insurrection led by free negroes.
Here, then, was the solution of the most troublesome
question known to slave communities ! It appealed to
the humanitarian who was willing to sacrifice his
property in slaves whenever he could do so without
violating the laws of his State, as well as to the slave
owner whose brutal tyranny was the result of innate
cowardice. The one was glad of a chance to give free-

FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 163
dom to his slaves ; the other was glad to get rid of
the free negroes, whom he hated because he feared
them. Still another class heard of the plan with joy— the
indolent philanthropists, who would do something for
unfortunate people if it did not involve too much
trouble. Looking the matter squarely in the face, a century
after the plan was inaugurated, we can see unmistak
ably that the African freedmen colony scheme was
founded chiefly on indolence and cowardice. If we
speak of Liberia alone we must say it was founded on
cowardice and indolence. At the same time many
upright, sincere, self-sacriflcing people were connected
with both colonies. The tales of what some people
suffered to promote the interests of the unfortunate
blacks are heart-rending.
It is true that the idea of forming a free-negro colony
was considered in the American colonies before our
Revolutionary war, but it was not until Sierra Leone
was established that anything practical was done here.
On December 31, 1800, the Virginia House of Delegates
requested the Governor to correspond with the Presi
dent "on the subject of purchasing lands without the
limits of this State whither persons obnoxious to the
laws or dangerous to the peace of society may be
removed." (Italics not in original.) Other State Legis
latures considered the matter in similar fashion. There
was talk of sending the free negroes to Hayti. A part
of the Louisiana Territory was considered as a possible
location. Finally, on December 21, 1816, a meeting
was called in Washington "for the purpose of form
ing a colonization society." Henry Clay presided, and

164

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

on the 28 th the organization of the society was com
pleted. The constitution adopted began as follows:
Art. 1. This society shall be called " The American Society
for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States."
Art. 2. The object to which its attention is to be exclusively
directed is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing
(with their consent) the free people of color, residing in our
country, in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem
most expedient. And the society shall act, to effect this ob
ject, in co-operation with the general Government, and such
of the States as may adopt regulations upon the subject.
The constitution was written by Robert Wright, of
Maryland. Elias B. Caldwell, Clerk of the United
States Supreme Court, was the chief orator of the oc
casion, but John Randolph also spoke. Mr. Justice
Bushrod Washington was elected President. Henry
Clay and Andrew Jackson were among the seventeen
Vice-Presidents, of whom, by the way, only five were
from the free States. It is asserted that all of the twelve
managers were slave-owners, and certainly nearly all
were so, while Bushrod Washington was engaged in
the domestic slave-trade when not hearing cases on the
bench. J. H. B. Latrobe, in an address delivered before
the society on January 20, 1880, describes the organi
zation and the motives of the original members accu
rately. He said that some "regarded it as a mis
sionary enterprise only." Others "hoped that it
would lead to a separation of the negroes from what
the masters said was an injurious contact with their
slaves." Others "believed that it would tend to
raise the negroes of the United States to civil and re
ligious liberty in the land of their forefathers. Others

FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 165
again supported it as likely to promote emancipation.
Others looked forward to the commerce that would
follow the establishment of a colony on the borders
of a vast continent . . . and others again fancied
that, in some undefined way, African colonization
would afford a solution of the negro question in this
country." That is to say, those who " sincerely desired to af
ford the free black an asylum from the oppression
they suffered here, and by their means to extend to
Africa the blessings of Christianity and civilization" ;
those who wished to accelerate emancipation ; those
who expected to enhance the value of slaves by get
ting rid of the meddlesome free blacks ; those who
wanted to promote trade in ivory and palm-oil, and
the half-hearted philanthropists who sought "relief
from a bad population without the trouble and ex
pense of improving it," all these were united in an
organization for colonizing our free negroes in Africa.
At their meetings ' ' the devoted missionary, ready to
pour out his life on the sands of Africa," was "jos
tled by the trafficker in human flesh," and the " hum
ble, self-denying Christian listened to the praises of
the society from the unblushing profligate." Mr. La
trobe, speaking to and for the society, says " it was
well that all this was so. Co-operation, regardless of
motive, was the necessity of the occasion."
Congress by the act of March 3, 1819, authorized
the President to employ naval ships " to cruise on
any of the coasts of the United States or territories
thereof, or of the coasts of Africa or elsewhere,"
to capture slave-ships ; and, further, " to appoint a
proper person or persons, residing upon the coast of

166 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Africa, as agent or agents for receiving the negroes,
mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered from on
board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave-
trade by commanders of the United States' armed
vessels." The Rev. Samuel Bacon, on the society's recom
mendation, was appointed both Government and co
lonial agent. Mr. John P. Bankson and Dr. Samuel
A. Crozer, agents of the society, were associated with
him. The ship Elizabeth was chartered by the United
States (Congress had appropriated $100,000) and
eighty-six colored emigrants were picked up and car
ried to Boston. These agreed, "in consideration of
their passage and other aid," to " prepare suitable ac
commodations for such Africans as might be rescued
from the slave-ships by American cruisers."
On February 6, 1820, the Elizabeth sailed. A land
ing was made at Sherboro, where a New Bedford negro
named Kizel had established a colony of eight families
at his own expense. Then " fever made its appear
ance among the people, who were loud in their com
plaints," * and with very good reason, too, because
twenty-flve of them died of it, and Bacon himself fell
a victim. The remaining emigrants went to Sierra
Leone, and colonization was in a bad way.
But meantime the warship Cyane and others had
sent several slavers loaded with wild negroes to the
United States for adjudication, and to get rid of those
negroes further efforts were made to establish an Afri
can colony. The Government sent the war schooner
Alligator, Captain R. F. Stockton, to explore the
African coast, and Captain Stockton selected Cape
* Foote's Africa and the American Flag, p. 113, line 18.

FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 167
Mesurado as a suitable location, on December 12,
1822. When an attempt to get the land by treaties with
the natives was made the chiefs foresaw that the colony
would interfere with their profitable slave-trade, but
Stockton's diplomacy prevailed, and a tract, including
Cape Mesurado, that lay between the Mesurado and
Junk rivers, " thirty-six miles along the sea-shore with
a breadth of two miles" was secured.
To this site Dr. Ayres carried the remaining colo
nists who had gone to Sierra Leone, landing them on a
small island "amidst the menaces of the natives."
Then, by an arrangement with a neighboring chief,
they crossed the river to the north and "erected a
number of comparatively comfortable buildings."
Meantime many colonists had been attacked with
the unavoidable fever, and while this was spreading
they had a fight with the natives. An English crew on
a captured slaver let her drive ashore. The natives
came to loot her and the colonists helped the English,
with loss of life on both sides. They saved the vessel
but incurred the hatred of the natives. The truth is
the scheme would have failed then and there but for
the courage and fortitude of Elijah Johnson, one of
the colored men.
When Dr. Ayres, the white agent, and a number of
the emigrants returned to Sierra Leone, "almost in de
spair" (as the society's records say, but wholly in de
spair, probably), Johnson said :
"I have been two years searching for a home and I
have found it, and 1 shall stay." And he did stay.
Neither the Pilgrim fathers nor the followers of Lord
Baltimore nor the French Huguenots had worse troub-

168 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
les to face than he, nor did any one of them all show
a manlier front.
Not to follow all the distressful details of the found
ing of the colony, it may be said that the inevitable
fever was their chief enemy, even though at one time
they had to fight so many natives that the balls from
their nine-pounder cannon literally passed through
so many bodies as to spend their entire force in that
fashion. Until 1824, the colonists were, on the whole, acting
in self-defence. In 1824, no less than fifteen slavers
were loading, under the guns, almost, of the colony,
and there was a contract between one slave-trader and a
native chief by which eight hundred slaves were to be
delivered within four months. Thereat the colonists as
sumed the offensive, attacked the chief who had made
this contract, destroyed the slave-pen, released the
slaves, and compelled the chief to sign an agreement
to abandon the trade.
Following this a slaver settlement called Tradetown,
where there were three slave factories and two armed
slave-ships, was attacked. The fighting lasted from
April 10th to April 12th, inclusive (1824), the settle
ment was captured, and "the explosion of two hun
dred kegs of powder consummated the destruction of
Tradetown." "The annihilation of Ti-adetown and of the slave
factories was a severe blow to the traffic, which was
felt as far south as the Bight of Benin," says Commo
dore Foote.
This much was done by free colored men. In view
of that fact the reader will find the following extracts
from publications of the Colonization Society remark-

FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 169
able reading. Said Henry Clay in a speech found in
the African Repository, Vol. VI., p. 12 :
" Of all the descriptions of our population the free
persons of color are by far, as a class, the most cor
rupt, depraved, and abandoned." The same periodi
cal. Vol. VII., p. 230, called them "an anomalous
race of beings, the most depraved upon earth." An
editorial Vol. I., p. 68, said : " There is a class among
us, introduced by violence, notoriously ignorant, de
graded and miserable, mentally diseased, broken-
spirited'' Meantime the colony had been named Liberia by
the home society, from the Latin word liber, a free
man. In 1834 the Maryland Colonization Society, formed
on the same lines as the original association, sent out
an expedition on the brig Ann. She called at Mon
rovia, got twenty-five acclimated citizens, and, going
down to Cape Palmas, formed an independent colony,
landing on February 11th. " A very valuable tract of
land at Bassa Cove was purchased for the Young
Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania," this
year, and the ship Ninus landed one hundred and
twenty-six emigrants there, of which one hundred and
ten were "slaves, freed by the will of Dr. Hawes, of
Virginia;" Meantime the original colony was widen
ing its borders.
Then came (in 1836) Thomas Buchanan, a colored
man, agent of the New York and Pennsylvania so
cieties to Monrovia. He was a born leader. He saw
the evil likely to arise through trade jealousies be
tween the separate and independent though neigh
boring colonies, and a union of all was effected under

170 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
a constitution providing for a government somewhat
like that of the United States. No white man could
become a land-owner under the laws, but all adult
black males were voters, and slavery was absolutely
prohibited. It failed of making a nation of the col
onies only because "the American Colonization So
ciety retained the right to veto the acts of the local
legislature." This was an anomalous condition of affairs, but it
served very well until Buchanan, as governor of the
united colonies, began levying duties on goods im
ported at old-established trading posts lying within
the territory over which his people had obtained con-.
trol. There were factories for legitimate trade that
had been in existence longer than the Liberian settle
ments. The traders having made the establishments
by the same sort of contract that existed between
the natives and the Liberians, believed themselves to
have as good rights to free trade there as the Libe
rians had. Buchanan acted on the theory that the
Liberian Government had the same control over its
territory as our Government has over the United
States. As a matter of fact Liberia had then no standing as
a government. It consisted merely of a lot of settle
ments controlled by a society of private American
citizens. So when Buchanan seized by force the
property of certain British citizens he went too far.
The British Government naturally protected its cit
izens, and the John Seyes, a colonial schooner, was
taken by way of reprisal.
This led to an appeal to the American Government.
It was proposed that the United States adopt the col-

FREE-NEGRO COLONIES AND THE SLAVE-TRADE 171
ony as Great Britain had adopted Sierra Leone ; but
we would have no entangling over-sea alliances, and so
missed a chance to get a foothold on what is now a
continent well worth exploiting. So a compromise
was effected with the British.
After a time Buchanan died in the harness and Jo
seph J. Roberts succeeded him as Governor. He was,
a statesman as well as a natural leader. He had been
trained under the masterful Buchanan, and the region
under his control continued to flourish, after a fash
ion, until the evil of its anomalous position among na
tions compelled an organization as a republic. Ac
cordingly a convention was called, a Declaration of
Independence was proclaimed, a new constitution writ
ten and adopted, and on August 24, 1847, the lone-star
flag of the Republic of Liberia was flung to the
breeze. A census report published in the African Reposi
tory for 1847 (p. 192) shows that in 1845 the immi
grant population amounted "to nearly 5,000," to
which was added a native population of which " esti
mates vary from 10,000 to 15,000. Of these about 300
are so far civilized" that they were permitted to vote
at elections. In this report the startling statement is
made that of all the emigrants from the United States
to Liberia no less than one-fifth had died of the so-
called acclimatizing fevers ! The average life of a
white man there, as learned on another authority, was
three years.
Ten years later (1857) the Rev. Charles W. Thomas,
the naval chaplain already quoted, reported Liberia as
having a coast line of ' ' over 600 miles, embracing a
country of 30,000 square miles, and a population of

172 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
over 10,000 civilized blacks and 200,000 natives" (un
civilized). This may be considered a friendly esti
mate. In 1857 the Government income was $47,556 ; dis
bursements, $47,048. Said Thomas : "There is a sur
plus in the treasury of $500 ; but truth demands the
statement that many of the Government officials,
noble and patriotic men, have deferred drawing the
full amount of their salaries, small as these are, until
the country is more able to pay them."
Of the history of Liberia since that time little need
be said. Perhaps as a last item the fact that it stood,
hat in hand, before Congress in 1879, begging for the
pitiful sum of $25,000, will suffice.
The old society has still life enough to support a
secretary and publish an annual report, but its power
for creating discontent among the American negroes is
well-nigh ended. It was an ape of philanthropy from
the day of its organization, and the industrial schools
for colored men that are flourishing at the end of the
nineteenth century will soon strangle — or starve — it
to death, when its memory will be found worth pre
serving only as a warning.

THEY WERE SEEN TO THROW SLAVES OVERBOARD SHACKLED TOGETHER.
See page 144.

CHAPTER XVII
TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS
Colored Men from New York Prison Sent to New Orleans and
Sold — Stealing Slaves in New Jersey for the Southwest
Market — Coastwise Slavers that Lost their Human Car
goes in British Islands — Madison Washington a Negro
Worthy of his Name — Joshua R. Giddings and the Coast
wise Trade — Extent of the Coastwise Traffic.
When the United States prohibited the slave-trade
by the act of March 2, 1807, a reservation was care
fully made in favor of the coastwise trade of the na
tion itself. Sections 8 and 9 provided that no "ship
or vessel of less burthen than forty tons," in the coast
trade, should take on board or transport anj^ slave "to
any port or place whatsoever " under penalty of $800
for each slave. Anj^ "ship or vessel of the burthen of
forty tons or more . . . sailing coastwise from
any port in the United States to any port or place
within the jurisdiction of the same," might carry
slaves, however, on making out ' ' duplicate manifests
of every such negro," with a full description of each,
and delivering " such manifests to the collector of the
port," before sailing. There was absolutely no limit
specified as to the number to be carried, nor was there
any provision for the safety, let alone the health and
comfort, of the slaves so to be carried. And that, too,
173

174 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
in the face of the fact that a voyage from the breeding
plantations in Virginia to the market in New Orleans
might, and often did, last as many days as the shorter
voyages from Africa to the West Indies.
Curious tales are told regarding the working of this
law. The first, so far as found by the writer hereof, is
in an incidental reference in a public document quoted
in Niles's Register for September 30, 1815, wherein
is mentioned the fact that "a young woman named
Catharine Richardson" was "in the schooner Cyn
thia, of New York, Charles Johnson, master." John
son having touched at a British port, his slave
managed to get ashore and found friends who se
cured her freedom under the British law that pro
hibited the importation of slaves. That occurred in
1811. A New Orleans paper quoted in the Register for
February 8, 1817, said :
"Some inhuman speculator at New York has dis-
burthened the prison of that city of seventy or eighty
negroes, by procuring their imprisonment to be com
muted for transportation, and shipping them for this
place — where they arrived a few days ago. But he
has been disappointed of his profit, and we doubt if he
will clear even the freight of his cargo. The corpora
tion has very properly ordered the vessel containing
this gang of thieves and ruffians to proceed without
the limits of the city."
In that day newspapers did not employ professional
humorists, but the editors wrote humor unintention
ally and in spite of indignation. Fancy sending sev
enty able-bodied negroes beyond the limits of New
Orleans, in 1817, as a means of depriving the holder of

TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS 175
a profitable sale ! If the editor had added that con
scienceless New York was forcing an odious traffic
upon helpless but indignant Louisiana as the wicked
British forced the odious traffic on their helpless but
indignant American colonies the editorial would have
been worth printing as a red-ink broadside to be
framed for lasting preservation.
A similar editorial item in June, 1818, says that
" negro trading seems to be actively carried on through
certain great villains holding their headquarters in
New Jersey, from whence, we trust, the good people
of that State will soon chase them. A vessel with
thirty-six persons of color has been seized at New Or
leans for not having a manifest, etc., as required by
law. She received her cargo of human beings near
Perth Amboy. It is probable that the greater part of
these unfortunate creatures were stolen.' '
That is to say, free negroes in New Jersey were kid
napped, taken on board ship, and carried to New Or
leans for sale — an exact counterpart of one feature of
the prohibited African slave-trade. Mr. Niles did not
give the name of the vessel, but it was the brig Mary
Ann, and she sailed from Perth Amboy on March 10,
1818. Near the end of 1829 the schooner Lafayette sailed
from Norfolk for New Orleans, having on board a
cargo of more than one hundred slaves. The slaves
rose against the crew, but were subdued, and twenty-
five of them were "bolted down on the deck" for
the remainder of the voyage. That was the first
"mutinj'-" in the coastwise trade that I have found.
Others more interesting followed.
To appreciate fully the following stories the reader

2^76 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
must recall an act passed by the British Parliament
in 1833, to take effect August 1, 1834. This act was,
in one respect, the most notable in the history of hu
man liberty, for while in a thousand other cases men
have done noble deeds for their own liberty, in this
one the British nation voluntarily taxed itself to the
extent of £20,000,000 to provide liberty for an inferior
race. During more than thirty years Great Britain
spent regularly more than £500,000 a year on her Af
rican squadron and gave the lives of many of its best
sailors for the benefit of the despised negro, and mean
time, at one appropriation, added £20,000,000 to all
that expense. As a national recognition of the obliga
tion which the dominant race owes to all inferior races
the work of Great Britain in connection with negro
slavery and the slave-trade remains unequalled in the
\ history of the world.
On August 1, 1834, slavery for life was forever abol
ished in the British nation. The legislation of all
other nations of that day was based on the inhuman
idea that mental and physical superiority in one race
gave it the right to deprive inferior human beings of
liberty and to extort from them labor for the aggran
dizement of the superior race.
In the year 1830 the city of Alexandria, Va., was
what may be called the Omaha of the human cattle
trade. Slaves were gathered there by traders for trans
fer to the ever-craving maw of the Gulf States. In
the course of the year the brig Comet was loaded there
with slaves and cleared for New Orleans, but on the
way she was wrecked on the False Keys of the Bahama
group. Wreckers carried crew and slaves to Nassau,
where the authorities held that the slaves were free,

TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS 177
because, as alleged, the British laws prohibited the in
troduction of slaves.
The brig Encomium, from Charleston for New Or
leans, with slaves, met the same fate in the same local
ity, with the same result to the slaves, early in 1834.
The Enterprise, with a cargo of slaves from the Dis
trict of Columbia — Washington was noted for its slave
barracoons in those days — also carrying slaves for the
New Orleans market, was compelled by stress of
weather to put into Bermuda on February 20, 1835.
The "Friendly Society" of colored people of the town
at once got out writs of habeas corpus, served them
upon the people interested, and had all the negroes,
seventy-eight in number, brought before the proper
court, with their alleged owners and the master of the
ship. It was nine o'clock at night when they appeared
before the court. The master of the ship had striven
to have the hearing put off until next day, hoping, no
doubt, to go to sea, but the effort was vain. He had
also promised to give the slaves considerable sums of
money if they would tell the Court that they preferred
to continue the voyage.
Having all the slaves in court, the Chief Justice took
his seat, called up one of the negro men, and said :
" Your name is George Hammett ; you came in the
brig Enterprise as a slave, and it is my duty (under
standing that you were kept on board that vessel
against your will) to inform you that in this country
you are free — free as any white person ; and should it
be your wish to remain here, instead of proceeding to
the port whither you was bound, to be sold or held to
service as a slave, you will be protected by the au
thorities here ; and if you do decide to remain, you
12

178 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
will become, as I have observed, a free person, and will
be punished for any breach or break of the laws of this
colony ; while if you conduct yourself with propriety,
soberness, honesty, and industry, you will meet with
encouragement from the whole community. Do you
therefore wish to remain and be a free person, or con
tinue your voyage to the vessel's destined port and re
main a slave ?"
All of the slaves save a woman with five children
declared they would remain. This one family went on
to their destination as slaves.
The expressive phrase of "twisting the lion's tail"
had not been invented in those days, but twisting the
lion's tail was much more common then than even in
those recent years before our war with Spain had
shown us what a real and natural bond of sympathy
existed between the two English-speaking nations.
And the manner in which members of Congress turned
and twisted the lion's tail in connection with these
slave-ship deliveries was memorable.
As to the British, their attitude was admirably por
trayed by the picture of the true griffin in Ruskin's
" Modern Painters." They were at once reposeful and
alert, and withal ready to fulfil national obligations.
International law, which is presumably founded on
natural rights, demanded that all the property on
those vessels should be held sacred for the owners, but
straightway there arose a question as to the property
right of masters in their slaves. Under the laws of the
United States that right was granted [See the fugitive
slave laws]. Under the laws of Great Britain that
right had been everywhere abolished within her juris
diction on August 1, 1834.

TALES OP THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS I79
After the matter had been fully discussed, Lord
Palmerston said that the slaves taken from the En
comium and the Comet had been unlawfully freed be
cause when they came within British jurisdiction Brit
ish law recognized property in human beings. Therefore
they would be paid for. Those of the Enterprise ar
rived when British soil and water were free, and would
not be paid for. This decision was made in 1837.
From that year property in man, as a feature of inter
national law, " ceased and determined for ever."
Nevertheless, the question was to come up again.
On October 25, 1841, the Creole, under the command of
Captain Robert Ensor, sailed from Richmond, Va.,
bound for New Orleans, having on board three white
men as passengers, with the wife and child and a niece
of the captain. In the hold were one hundred and
thirty-five slaves for the New Orleans market. Two
days later the Creole cleared the Capes and thereafter
had a prosperous voyage until Sunday evening, No
vember 7, 1841, when she was within about twelve
hours' sail of Nassau.
Among the slaves was a man named Madison Wash
ington, who was of unusual character. He had fled
from slavery in Virginia some time before that, and by
the underground railway had safely reached the free
soil of Canada. But when there he remembered his
wife away back on the old plantation, and out of love
for her had returned to carry her to freedom also. He
reached the plantation in safety, but before he could
get away with the wife he was caught by the planter.
In those days the fate of these runaways was settled
in advance. They were whipped unmercifully and
then sold for the New Orleans market. To the ordi-

180 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
nary negro, to be placed on a New Orleans ship was to
end hope. To Madison Washington it brought oppor
tunity for freedom.
At eight o'clock on the night of November 7th the
crew hove to the Creole for the night, because of the
dangers of navigation ahead of them. At 9.30 o'clock
it was reported to the mate Z. C. Gifford, who had the
deck, that one of the negro men was among the female
slaves. At that Gifford made an examination and
found Madison Washington there. Having a very
wrong idea of the negro's intentions in going there,
Gifford expressed his surprise, and then, having
brought him on deck, was about to secure him for
punishment, when Washington suddenly resisted, a
shot was fired by an unknown hand, the mate was
severely wounded in the back of the head, and Wash
ington cried out :
"Come on, my boys! We have commenced and
must go through with it."
He had planned a mutiny, and the other negroes
were awaiting his detection in the hold as a signal for
the assault on the crew.
In the fight one white man was killed and several
were wounded. No negro was hurt, and in ten minutes
Washington controlled the ship. Then by threats
and promises he got her navigated into Nassau har
bor, where she arrived on Tuesday morning, the 9th,
at eight o'clock.
Of course the American consul, as in duty bound,
at once made every effort to get the brig again under
the command of her crew, with the slaves on board.
The populace, including the authorities, knowing all
about the case of the Enterprise at Bermuda, were

TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS 181
determined that the negroes should go free, and free
they became, though nineteen of them, who were
identified as active in the assault on the crew, were
taken in custody on the charges of mutiny and mur
der preferred by the consul and the crew. But they
were not replaced on the Creole.
To state the case of the slave-owners, we may quote
the words of Henry Clay when he said that the Creole
was carried to Nassau by " an act of mutiny and mur
der," and if the British authorities sanctioned "the
enormity," "Americans would be virtually denied the
benefits of the coastwise trade of their own country,
because their vessels could not proceed in safety from
one port to another witii slaves on board." It is ap
parent that under the laws of the United States, as
they then stood, Mr. Clay was entirely justified in
what he said. But by the laws of Great Britain there
was no such thing as property in man. " All men
were born free," by her law, and the negroes who
were held in slaverj'-, contrary to their will, were jus
tified in taking the lives of their masters in order to
obtain their natural right. Having carried the brig
into British waters, the slaves, under British laws,
became free ; and the result was that they all re
mained free except five who voluntarily continued the
voyage to New Orleans.
It is perhaps worth mentioning here that Joshua R.
Giddings, a member of the House from Ohio, prepared
a number of resolutions on the subject in which he
sustained the natural right of the negroes to liberty
and to use force to obtain it. These resolutions he
took to the House, introduced them, and gave notice
that he would call them up for consideration. For

182 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
this he was censured by the House by a vote of one
hundred and twenty-five to sixty-nine. Remarkable
as it seems now, the pro-slavery members were so
far fanatical in their pursuit of Mr. Giddings that
they refused to allow him to defend himself or even
explain his object in introducing the resolutions.
Such unjust action eventually did more harm to the
perpetrators than to anyone else — it did harm, in
fact, to no one else. Giddings resigned, went home,
and was returned by his constituents within five
weeks. Thus the mutiny on the Creole, a coasting slaver,
became one of the most important episodes in the "ir
repressible conflict" that was rising between the slave
and the free-soil States.
The number of slaves that were shipped in coastwise
traders is now really a matter of conjecture, but one
may get an idea from kindred facts. Thus the Vir
ginia Times, in an article quoted in Niles's Register
for October 8, 1836, boasts that no less than 40,000
slaves had been sold for export from Virginia to other
States during the fiscal year preceding, and that the
sales had brought into the State an average of $600
per head, or $24,000,000 all told. A letter to the Jour
nal of Commerce, of New York, at about that period
estimates the number driven {i.e., sent South on foot)
out of the State in a year at 20,000. This would leave
20,000 to be sent by ship.
Another estimate may be drawn from the fact that
the number of slaves in the Lafayette, Encomium, En
terprise, and Creole was near one hundred per vessel.
Very likely that was an average coaster cargo. Now
one Alexandria firm advertised two ships a month,

TALES OF THE COASTWISE SLAVE-SHIPS 183
and there was at least, on the average, a vessel a
week from that port the year round. Norfolk was a
port about as lively, and Baltimore and Richmond
were not far behind. Apparently two hundred ves
sels carried a hundred slaves each to a Southern mar
ket every year from the waters of Virginia.
In the Democratic Review, of New York, for July,
1858, in an article entitled "Visitation and Search of
Vessels," wherein an argument is made in favor of re
opening the over-sea slave-trade, the editor says of the
over-sea and the coast trades :
" We aver that if one is wrong, then both are
wrong ; that if one is right, then both are right. We
enter protest against such absurd definitions and dis
tinctions as have been made by Congress."

CHAPTER XVIII
STORY OF THE AMISTAD
A Cuban Coastwise Slaver that may have been Used to Smug
gle Slaves into the United States — On the Way from Ha
vana to Puerto Principe the Slaves Overpowered the Crew,
and Started Back to Africa, but were Beguiled to Long
Island — Judicially Decided that Slaves Unlav/fully Held
have a Right to Take Human Life in a Stroke for Liberty.
On August 26, 1839, the United States brig Wash
ington, Captain Thomas R. Gedney, was engaged in
surveying the water between Gardiner's Island and
Montauk Point, L. I., when a schooner was seen at
anchor well in shore near CuUoden Point. There were
a number of people on the beach with carts and horses,
and a boat was passing to and fro between the stranger
and the shore.
Apparently here was a smuggler at work in broad
daylight, and Captain Gedney at once sent a boat,
with six armed men, in charge of Lieutenant Richard
W. Meade and Passed Midshipman David D. Porter
to investigate. They found her "a Baltimore-built
vessel of matchless model for speed, about one hun
dred and twenty tons burden, and about six years old.
On her deck were grouped, amid various goods and
arms, the remnant of her Ethiope crew, some decked in
the most fantastic manner in the silks and finery pil-
184

STORY OF THE AMISTAD 185
fered from the cargo, while others in a state of nudity,
emaciated to mere skeletons, lay coiled on the decks.
' ' Over the decks were scattered, in the most wanton
and disorderly profusion, raisins, vermicelli, bread,
rice, silk, and cotton goods. In the cabin and hold
were the marks of the same wasteful destruction.
"Her cargo appeared to consist of silks, crepes,
calicoes, fancy goods of various descriptions, glass and
hardware, bridles, saddles, holsters, pictures, looking-
glasses, books, fruits, olives, olive-oil, and other things
too numerous to mention." So runs an old newspa
per account.
As soon as the United States officers reached her
deck two white men came to them, one begging for
protection, while the other, an elderly man, threw his
arms around Lieutenant Meade and held him in an
embrace that made the lieutenant think the man in
tended violence. Drawing a pistol, Meade thrust it in
his face, when the man retreated, and his companion,
a young man of good address, who spoke English flu
ently, began an explanation.
He said his name was Jose Ruiz and that of the
demonstrative elder was Pedro Montez. No offence
was intended by Montez ; on the contrary, his embrace
was but a manifestation of gratitude. The queer little
schooner, he continued, was the Amistad, of Havana,
where she was owned and commanded by Captain
Ramon Ferrar. She had sailed from Havana on June
27th, bound for Guanaja, in the Cuban state of Puerto
Principe, but on the night of June 30th the slaves on
the ship had mutinied, killed the captain and cook,
sent the two sailors ashore in the boat, and ordered
him (Ruiz) and Pedro Montez to navigate the ship to

186 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Africa. Under fear of death the Amistad had been
steered toward the east by day, but at night she had
been headed for the United States. So it had hap
pened that they had been for several days within a
few miles of Long Island, and had finally anchored
where found in order to get food and water.
As to the negroes, Ruiz said that one called Antonio
was the property of the slain captain, three belonged
to Pedro Montez, while the remainder, forty-nine in
number, were his own property.
On hearing that, Meade sent Porter ashore with four
men to round up the blacks there. The blacks on
shore got into their boat and started rowing out to
the schooner, but Porter stopped them with a pistol
shot, and took them on board the schooner under
guard. Once there, their leader, called Cinque, leaped
overboard with a belt containing three hundred doub
loons, and went "diving and swimming like a fish"
for shore, but he was hauled back on board with a
boat-hook in the hands of a grinning quartermaster.
Meantime Captain Gedney had brought the Wash
ington alongside, and on hearing the reports of his
officers decided to take the schooner to New London,
where he libelled her for salvage. And then the
trouble began.
Sehor A. Calderon, who was then the Spanish Min
ister at Washington, at once demanded the vessel and
cargo under the treaty with Spain dated 1795. One
article of this treaty was quoted as exactly covering
the case. It said :
" All ships and merchandise of what nature soever,
which shall be rescued out of the hands of any pi
rates or robbers on the high seas shall be brought into

STORY OF THE AJOSTAD 187
some port of either State and shall be delivered to the
custody of the officers of that port, in order to be
taken care of and restored entire to the true proprietor
as soon as due and sufficient proof shall be made con
cerning the property thereof."
The words in italics were so emphasized when quoted
in Senor Calderon' s demand. Very naturally the
Washington officials were entirely willing to grant the
demand. Under our laws slaves were property, and
here were negroes in charge of a ship which they had
taken by force from its owner. Further than that,
these negroes were, according to the papers of the
ship and the passports of the two Spaniards Ruiz and
Montez, slaves. Ruiz, for instance, produced a pass
port issued by the captain of the port of Havana, in
due form, dated 26 de junio (June) del839, which read
in Spanish thus: "Concedo licencia, a cuarenta y
nueva negros ladinos, nombrados," etc. The names
of the negroes followed.
The Spanish words are given because of their bear
ing on the case, as will appear further on. So far as
the papers appeared, everything was in proper form.
Meantime, however, the negroes, who were put in
jail at New London, had found friends who were will
ing to spend money to see that they had a fair trial,
were that possible in the existing state of civilization.
These friends saw the passport which Ruiz exhibited
as proof of ownership of the forty-nine negroes, and
they were able to translate it. The translation offered
by Ruiz and accepted by our Government, and so
printed in a message of the President on the subject,
read as follows :
"I concede license to forty-nine sound negroes," la-

188

THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE

dinos being rendered as sound. As a matter of fact,
ladinos was a local term used in Cuban law to desig
nate slaves born in the country or imported previous
to 1820. The translation was a fraud, and the begin
ning of a shameful attempt to deceive the people of
the United States, including the courts. For it was
at once learned that neither the forty-nine negroes
claimed by Ruiz nor the three claimed by Montez
were ladinos. Cuban slave-dealers had imported them
from Africa in a Portuguese vessel called Teqora, on
June 12th— fifteen days only before they were taken
on board the Amistad. They had been landed near
Havana, and taken to a barracoon near the city, and
there, on June 22d, Ruiz and Montez had purchased
them. The purchasers had then obtained the usual
permit for taking ladinos coastwise. But how it had
happened that the Havana official was willing to issue
a ladino permit, when these negroes had been landed
contrary to the Spanish law, does not appear in the
printed proceedings.
In short, the abolitionists said these negroes, that
had been taken from their African homes and carried
to Cuba, contrary to the laws of Spain, were not slaves
but freemen, and when they were confined as slaves on
the Amistad they had the natural right to rise against
those who restrained them, and to regain liberty even
if they had to kill two men to do it.
So issue was joined, and in the course of time (1841)
the case reached the United States Supreme Court,
where Justice Story delivered the opinion of the court.
He said that in order to sustain the claims of Ruiz
and Montez "it is essential to establish: 1st. That
these negroes under all the circumstances fall within

STORY OF THE AMISTAD 189
the description of merchandise in the sense of the
treaty. 2d. That there has been a rescue of them on
the high seas out of the hands of the pirates and rob
bers, which, in the present case, can only be by show
ing that they themselves are pirates and robbers. 3d.
That Ruiz and Montez, the asserted proprietors, are
the true proprietors, and have established their title
by competent proof."*
As to the first point, if the negroes had been law
fully held as slaves under the Spanish law, said the
Justice, " we see no reason why they may not justly be
deemed, within the intent of the treaty, to be includ
ed under the denomination of merchandise. . . .
But admitting this, it is clear, in our opinion . . .
it is plain beyond controversy, if we examine the evi
dence, they never were the lawful slaves of Ruiz or
Montez, or of any other Spanish subject. ... If,
then, these negroes are not slaves . . . there is no
pretence to say they are pirates or robbers. But it is
argued on behalf of the United States that the ship
and cargo and negroes were duly documented as be
longing to Spanish subjects, and this court has no
right to look behind these documents. ... To
this argument we can in nowise assent. . . . The
very language of the ninth article of the treaty of
1795 requires the proprietor to make due and suffi
cient proof of his property. And how can that proof
be deemed either due or sufficient which is but a
connected and stained tissue of fraud? Upon the
whole, our opinion is . . . that the said negroes
be declared free, and be dismissed from the custody
of the court, and go without date."
* Peters's U. S. Reports, toI. 15, p. 592.

190 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
The narrative of events has been interrupted in or
der to give the exact status of these negroes under our
laws of that date, because we are thus enabled to ap
preciate better the attitude of the Government officials
toward this case. The Spanish Minister, Calderon,
claimed them not only as slaves but as murderers, and
asserted that if the leaders were executed for crime in
Cuba the effect would be more salutary than if they
were convicted and executed in Connecticut. Our
Government officials were anxious to sustain this
view. United States District Attorney William S.
Holabird, of Connecticut, was so anxious in the matter
that he wrote to Secretary of State Forsyth to ask
whether there were no treaty stipulations under which
the negroes might be given up "before our court sits."
There were none, but Secretary Forsyth instructed
him to " take care that no proceedings of your Circuit
Court, or any other judicial tribunal, place the vessel,
cargo, or slaves beyond the control of the Federal Ex
ecutive." Attorney-General Grundy wrote an opin
ion saying he could not see any "legal principle"
that would justify the Government in questioning
" the papers clearing the vessel from one Spanish port
to another." He added that as the negroes were
charged with violating Spanish law they ought to be
delivered over to Spanish courts for trial in order that
the guilty "might not escape punishment." The
President, he thought, ought to order the vessel, cargo,
and negroes delivered to the Spanish Minister at once
without any investigation.
President Van Buren did not go so far as that,
but Captain Gedney was ordered to hold his vessel in
readiness to go to Cuba with the negroes, and for the

STORY OF THE AMISTAD 191
purpose of giving testimony ' ' in any proceedings that
may be ordered by the authorities of Cuba in the mat
ter." This was done before the court in Connecticut
had assembled to consider the case. Worse yet, the
Cabinet, in anticipation that the District Court would
decide against the liberty of the negroes, prepared to
hurry them off to Cuba before an appeal could be taken.
The proof of this is found in a letter written by Secre
tary Forsyth in which he said: "I have to state, by
direction of the President, that if the decision of the
court is such as is anticipated, the order of the Presi
dent is to be carried into execution unless an appeal
shall actually have been interposed. You are not to
take it for granted that it will be interposed."
Had the Court decided as Van Buren hoped it would
do, the negroes would have been marched from the
court-room to the United States ship Washington,
and sent, as fast as wind and tide could drive her, to
Havana. By the decision of the Court the negroes freed were
only those that had been imported from Africa in the
Portuguese ship Teqora. Antonio, claimed as the
property of Captain Ferrar, of the Amistad, was by
law a slave, and he would have been delivered to the
Spanish authorities had not some conductors on the
underground railroad come to his aid. He had simply
disappeared. The schooner was sold for salvage.
Mills' Register (October 31, 1840) says she was old
and Cuban built. She sold for $245.
Drake in his "Revelations of a Slave- Smuggler "
speaks of the Amistad as a schooner that belonged to
a joint-stock slave-smuggling company "connected
with leading American and Spanish mercantile

192 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
houses," that used "one of the Bay Islands, so called,
near the coast of Honduras," as a station where slaves
were landed after the voyage from Africa. They were
there restored to health and taught plantation -work
before being sent to market.
It is not unlikely that the energy shown by the
Washington authorities in their efforts to return these
free negroes to Cuba was due in part to pressure
brought by New York merchants of prominence.
But the case of the Amistad by no means came to
an end with the comprehensive decision of the. Su
preme Court. The Spanish authorities appealed to
Congress for indemnity in behalf of Ruiz and Montez.
Our executive branch of the Government was entirely
willing to grant this appeal, and on April 10, 1844,
Congressman Charles J. IngersoU, of the House Com
mittee on Foreign Affairs, brought in a report in which
the committee "entirely concur with the Presideht's
intimation " that " in conformity with every principle
of law and justice" the United States ought to pay for
the Amistad negroes. It was asserted by them that
" to set the slaves free cardinal principles were vio
lated"; and that "in defiance of the law of treaties,
of the law of all civilized nations and of primary prin
ciples of universal jurisprudence, were these much-
abused foreigners stripped of their property ; and the
pirates who, by revolt, murder, and robbery, had de
prived them of it, set free."
By an examination of the documents (including
House Reports No. 426, 28th Congress, 1st Session) it
appears that Ingersoll in making this report delib
erately falsified dates, and built his argument on a
false date.

THE SLAVES ON THE SHIP HAD MUTINIED See page 185.

STORY OP THE AMISTAD I93
The desired appropriation was not made, but as late
as February 2, 1858, the claim was before Congress
with a recommendation from President Buchanan that
it be paid. But it never was paid, and it might now
be forgotten but for the fact that the Supreme Court
of the United States, when it heard the case, decided
then, for the flrst time, that black men carried from
their homes in Africa as slaves had the right, when
seeking ' their liberty, to kill any who would deprive
them of it. 13

CHAPTER XIX
LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS
Notable Slave-ships that Plied between the African Coast and
the United States just before the Civil War — When the
Wanderer Carried the Flag of the New York Yacht Club
to the Congo — Troubles of a Smuggler as described in his
Letter-book — A Movement for Legally Reopening the
Slave-trade — Dream of a Slave Empire.
The most remarkable evidence regarding the smug
gling of slaves into the United States in the decade
before the civil war is found in a series of letters
copied from the letter-book of Charles A. L. Lamar,
a citizen of Savannah and a member of a family of
high social position. These letters were rescued from
a paper mill by an unnamed writer and printed in the
North American Review for November, 1886.
The first letter referring to the slave-trade was
dated on October 31, 1857, and was written to Lamar's
father. It says :
"You need give yourself no uneasiness about the
Africans and the Slave-trade. I was astonished at
some of the remarks in your letter ; they show that
you have been imbued with something more than the
' panic ' by your associations North and with Mrs.  .
194

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 195
For example, you say ' An expedition to the moon
would have been equally sensible, and no more con
trary to the laws of Providence. May God forgive
you for all your attempts to violate His will and His
laws.' Following out the same train of thought,
where would it land the whole Southern community ?
" You need not reproach yourself for not interposing
with a stronger power than argument and persuasion
to prevent the expedition. There was nothing you or
the Government could have done to prevent it. Let
all the sin be on me. I am willing to assume it all."
A letter of an earlier date (July 27, 1857) tells some
thing more about this expedition, and also gives a
very good insight into the way President Buchanan's
administration got on with the slave smugglers. The
letter was written to Howell Cobb, Secretary of the
Treasury. It says :
"I am loath to trouble you again, but your damned
sap-head of a collector refuses to do anything. . . .
He detained my vessel eight days after she was ready
for sea, and after she had applied for her clearance
papers. Mr. Boston said she was not ' seized,' but
merely 'detained.' He said the department would
respond to any demand I might make for damages,
etc. The District Attorney and all the lawyers to
whom he applied for advice told him that there was
nothing to cause suspicion to attach to the vessel."
A bill for damages follows : " Bight days' detention
at $150 per day, $1,200; wharfage, etc., $120 ; total,
$1,320." It is not unlikely that the bill was paid.
Then comes this frank statement :
" I did not, in my other communication, disclaim
any intention of embarking in the Slave-trade, nor did

196 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
I say anything to warrant you in supposing I was not
engaged in it. I simply declared that there was noth
ing on board except what was on the manifest, and
that I insist there was nothing suspicious on it. I will
now say, as the vessel is 1,000 miles from here, that
she was as unfit for a voyage to import negroes as any
vessel in port. . . . What she may hereafter do
is another matter. . . . John Boston had her de
tained because he says he knew she would be engaged
in the trade, and had heard that from men who con
fessed that they were eavesdroppers, who hung around
my windows to listen to all conversations that took
place. ... I am coming on to bore you in person
unless you will yield to my short epistles."
That to an officer who had sworn he would execute
the laws !
We find in a letter of November 7th, of the same
year, to N. C. Trowbridge, of New Orleans, that the
venture went awry. The letter reads :
' ' I am truly glad to find that Grant [the slave cap
tain] is at least honest. He has acted badly and sac
rificed our interest most shamefully. His clearance
papers would have taken him anywhere he wanted to
go, unmolested. . . . He knew the vessel was
fitted for nothing else but the trade, and ought to
have known we would want to send her back. . . .
Why did he not go to the Coast? He knew before he
undertook the command that there were armed vessels
on the Coast, and a number of them. He ought to have
known that he was running no risk — that the cap
tain and crew are always discharged. The captain of
the Albert Devereux was here the other day. The
British cruisers even let him take his gold. If Grant

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 197
had been equal to the emergency we would all have
been easy in money matters."
A letter of December 23, 1857, to Theodore Johnson,
of New Orleans, says: "In reference to Grant, dis
charge him, pay him nothing, and hope with me that
he will speedily land in hell."
Much talk of Lamar' s financial straits follows, and
then we learn the name of the vessel. "Something
ought to be done at once with the Rawlins," he says.
A letter dated three days later invites L. Viana, of
158 Pearl Street, New York, to join in the slave-smug
gling business, and then we learn that " Captain Will
iam Ross Postell ... a Gent, reliable in every
way, and a thorough sailor and navigator," was se
cured to take command of the E. A. Rawlins. An
era of prosperity came to the smugglers, it seems, for
the letters show that, in addition to the Rawlins, the
Richard Cobden and the notorious yacht Wanderer ,
were put into the trade. Lamar even contemplated^
buying a steamer. Here is what he wrote about the
steamer on May 24, 1858, to "Thomas Barrett, Esq.,
Augusta," italics as in the original :
I have in contemplation, if I can raise the necessary
amount of money, the fitting out of an expedition to go to
the coast of Africa for a cargo of African apprentices to be
hound for the term of their natural lives, and would like your
co-operation. No subscription will be received for a less
amount than $5,000. The amount to be raised is $300,000.
I will take $20,000 of the stock and go myself. I propose to
purchase the " Vigo," an iron screw steamer of 1,750 tons, now v
m Livei-pool for sale at £30,000 cash. She cost £75,000. G.
B. Lamar can give you a description of her. . . She is
as good as new, save her boilers, and they can be used for
several months. If I can buy her I will put six Paixhan

198 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
guns on deck and man her with as good men as can be found
in the South. The fighting men will all be stockholders and
gentlemen some of whom are known to you, if not person
ally, by reputation. My estimate runs thus :
Steamer $150,000 ; repairs, guns, small arms,
coal, etc., $50,000  $200,000
Supplies, $25,000 ; money for purchase of
cargo, $75,000  100,000
$300,000
I have, as you know, a vessel now afloat, but it is, in my
mind, extremely doubtful whether she gets in safely, as she
had to wait on the Coast until her cargo could be collected.
If she ever gets clear of the Coast, they can't catch her. She
ought to be due in from ten to thirty days. I have another
now ready to saU which has orders to order a cargo of 1,000
or 1,200 to be in readiness the 1st of September, but to be
kept, if necessary, until the 1st of October — which I intend for
the steamer— so that no delay may occur. V7ith her I can
make the voyage there and back, including all detentions, bad
weather, if I encounter it, etc., in ninety days, certain and
sure ; and the negroes can be sold as fast as landed at $650
per head. I can contract for them " to arrive " at that figure,
cash. The " Vigo " can bring 2,000 with ease and comfort, and
I apprehend no difficulty or risk, save shipwreck, and that
you can insure against. I can get one of the first lieutenants
in the navy to go out in command, and we can whip any
thing if attacked, that is on that station, either English or
American. But I would not propose to fight ; for the " Vigo "
can steam eleven knots, which would put us out of the way
of any of the cruisers.
In an estimate of the steamer's profits sent to
William Roundtree, of Nashville, Tenn., Lamar placed
the cost at $300,000, and the income— " 1,200 negroes
at $650, $780,000, which leaves net profit and steamer
on hand, $480,000."

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 199
In some way this scheme fell down ; probably he
could not raise the capital. But it is worth telling, as
showing the drift of affairs in our slave territory at
that time.
As to his proposal to introduce Africans as appren- "
tices for life, to evade the letter of the law, he said in a
letter to Secretary Cobb, in 1858 : "I would land the
cargo on the levee in New Orleans and test the legal
ity of the matter in the courts of the United States."
And because Cobb refused to sanction such a plan,
Lamar asked sternly in another letter, " Has Northern
public opinion, then, acquired the force of law ?. ' '
The yacht Wanderer, of which Lamar makes men
tion, was without doubt the most notable slave-smug
gler known to the trade, and her story is therefore
well worth giving here.
According to the records of the New York Yacht
Club, the Wanderer was built by James G. Baylis, at
Port Jefferson, L. I., for Mr. J. D. Johnson, a wealthy
member of the club. She was launched in June, 1857. ^
Her dimensions were : Length over all, 104 feet ; keel,
95 ; beam, 26.5 ; depth of hold, 10.5 ; draught, 10.5.
Her mainmast was 84 feet long and its topmast 35.
The main boom was 65 feet long, and its gaff and the
main gaff 35. The bowsprit was 23 feet outboard.
Captain Thomas Hawkins superintended her while
on the blocks, and " to hear him tell it," said one of
his friends to me, " you'd think she could fly instead
of sailing." He added : "She was, however, a very
fast schooner." A beautiful painting of the Wan
derer hangs in the Yacht Club's reception room at
this writing (1900).
Mr. Johnson sold the schooner to Captain W. C.

200 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Corrie, who was elected a member of the New York
Yacht Club on May 29, 1858, and he sailed for the
South with her at once. Under the rules of the club
Corrie was captain of the yacht. Her sailing master
was a brother of the late Admiral Semmes, of the Con
federate navy. Captain Corrie took her to Charles
ton, and there cleared out for Trinidad, as if on a
pleasure voyage, although, as a matter of fact, she
had a slaver outfit in her hold. Captain Egbert Farn-
ham, a man of an adventurous career — he had been a
famous overland rider in his time, and, it is said, one
of Walker's Nicaragua filibusters — went along as su
percargo. Prom Trinidad the Wanderer went to St. Helena,
and thence to the Congo River. She was still flying
the American flag and that of the New York Yacht
Club, of course, and when the British war-ship Me
dusa was found cruising for slavers on the Congo
coast. Captain Corrie ran alongside and remained
with her several days (according to the newspapers),
during which he entertained the British officers with
the best he had, and was in turn entertained in royal
fashion on the war-ship. Places of interest ashore
were visited in company. There was a race with a
British yacht off the coast, in which, of course, the
Wanderer won handsomely.
Farnham told the reporters, after his return, that on
one occasion, after the wine had mellowed the British
officers sufficiently, they were invited to inspect the
Wanderer to see whether she was not a slaver, whereat
the whole party laughed joyously. The idea that such
a magnificent floating palace as the Wanderer was to
be used as a slaver did seem extremely ridiculous to

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS gQl
them. Then the British sailed away and the Wan
derer slipped away up the Congo to the barracoons.
The owners of the Wanderer, besides Corrie, were
Charles A. L. Lamar, of Savannah ; N. C. Trowbridge, ^
of New Orleans ; Captain A. C. McGhee, of Columbus, v
Ga. ; Richard Dickerson, of Richmond, Va., and Ben
jamin Davis, of Charleston, S. C. Captain McGhee, in
an interview with a correspondent of the New York
Sun, printed four or five years ago, said that the cargo
purchased consisted chiefly of young negroes from thir
teen to eighteen years of age, and that seven hundred
and fifty were taken on board.
That she got clear of the slave-coast with a full load
is beyond doubt. The exact date of her arrival on the
Georgia coast is not known, but it was not far from
December 2, 1858. The flrst mention of the matter in
print is found in the Savannah Republican of Decem
ber 11th of that year, wherein it is asserted that her
cargo was landed "in the neighborhood of St. An
drews Sound, near Brunswick," and that "part of
her cargo ,was subsequently sent up Saltilla River on
board a steamer."
The Savannah Republican said a few days later that
it had heard "that the slaves were landed on Jekyl
Island, for which privilege, it is said, the negro traders
paid $15,000, and that a steamboat from this city went
down and brought one hundred and flfty of them past
Savannah and up the river to a plantation from whence
they were scattered over the country."
Captain McGhee tells how this was done :
"The most difficult part of the voyage was to get
into port. The only way to enter the mouth of the
Savannah River was under the black muzzles of the

202 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
guns of the fort, and it would have been madness to
attempt to enter with that contraband cargo in open
daylight. Instead Captain Semmes crept into the
mouth of the Great Ogeechee by night and ascended
the river to the big swamp, and there lay concealed
while he communicated with Lamar in Savannah.
"Lamar thereupon announced that he was going to
give a grand ball in honor of the officers and garrison
of the fort, and insisted that the soldiers, as well as
their superiors, should partake of the good cheer.
When the gayety was at its height the Wanderer stole
into the river and passed the guns of the fort unchal
lenged in the darkness and made her way to Lamar's
plantations, some distance up the river. The human
cargo was soon disembarked and placed under the
charge of the old rice-field negroes, who were nearly
as savage as the new importations."
According, however, to a letter written by Lamar
to N. C. Trowbridge, of New Orleans, on December
18th, the smugglers were in trouble enough in spite
of successful tricks, for United States District At
torney Ganahl had moved in the matter at once, and
Lamar wrote :
I returned from Augusta this morning. I distributed the
negroes as best I could ; but I tell you things are in a hell of
a fix ; no certainty about anything. The Government has em
ployed H. R. Jackson to assist in the prosecution, and are
determined to press matters to the utmost extremity. The
yacht has been seized. The examination commenced to-day
and will continue thirty days, at the rate they are going on.
They have aU the pilots and men who took the yacht to Bi-uns-
wick here to testify. She will be lost certain and sure, if not
the negroes. Dr. Hazlehurst testified that he attended the
negroes and swore they were Africans, and of recent importa-

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 203
tion. ... I don't calculate to get a new dollar for an old
one. All these men must be bribed. I must be paid for my
time, trouble, and advances. ... Six of those who were
left at Mont's, who were sick, died yesterday. I think the
whole of them now sick wiU die. They are too enfeebled to
administer medicine to. I am paying fifty cents a day each
for ah those I took up the country. It was the best I could
do. ... I tell you hell is to pay. I don't think they wUl
discharge the men, but turn them over for trial.
Nor were his troubles solely with the Government
officials. In a letter to Theodore Johnson, of New Or
leans, he says that some of the planters with whom the
negroes were left for safe keeping were proving recre
ant to the trust. He says :
I am astonished at what Governor Phiniz has written me.
. . . The idea of a man's taking negroes to keep at fifty
cents a head per day, and then refusing to give them up when
demanded, simply because the law does not recognize them
as property, is worse than stealing.
A letter from Lamar to " C. C. Cook, Esq., Blakely,
Georgia," is of interest here, though I am not able to
say definitely that it refers to the Wanderer, for Lamar
had two other slavers afloat. The italics are in the
original :
You are aware that it is a risky business. / lost two out of
three. To be sure, at first knew nothing of the business. I
have learned something since, and I hope I can put my infor
mation to some account. I have been in for " grandeur," and
been fighting for a principle. Now I am in for the dollars.
Meantime arrests had been made. Captain Corrie
was taken in custody on January 22, 1859. The date
of Lamar's arrest is not recorded, as far as I can
learn. '--^

204 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
From a letter addressed to " Captain N. D. Brown,"
who was apparently one of the men under arrest, it
appears that while in trouble himself, Lamar still
stood by some of his crew, for he says :
Your attorneys will visit you before the trial. If a true
bill be found against you by the grand jury, it will be done
upon the evidence of Club and Harris, and of course they will
testify to the same thing. In that case I think you aU ought
to leave, and I will make arrangements for you to do so, if you
agree with me. I have ofiered Club and Harris $5,000 not to
testify ; but the Government is also trying to buy them.
. . . I am afraid they will convict me, but my case is only
seven years and a fine. If I find they are likely to do so, I
shaU go to Cuba until I make some compromise with the
Government. The distribution of the negroes was accomplished in
the meantime. Captain Frazier, of the river-steamer
Augusta, testified that he carried one hundred and
seventy-two of the negroes from Jekyl Island to a
plantation lying two miles below Augusta. It is likely
that the ball mentioned by Captain McGhee was given
when this cargo was taken up the river past Savannah
to Augusta.
Meantime the news had created a deal of excite
ment in every part of the country. Congress took up
the matter. On motion of Senator Henry Wilson the
Senate called on President Buchanan for all the facts
that the Government had. The document containing
the President's reply is a leaflet. He said : " I concur
with the Attorney-General [J. S. Black] in the opinion
that it would be incompatible with the public interest
at this time to communicate the correspondence with
the officers of the Government at Savannah, or the

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 205
instructions which they have received." He added a
promise to "make every practicable effort" to dis
cover "all the guilty parties and to bring them to
justice." As usual, the smugglers escaped, and the Wanderer
was condemned. She was sold at auction, and was
bid in by her former owners at a fourth of her value
as a merchant schooner.
Captain McGhee, already quoted in telling of the
final results of the voyage, said that the ' ' slaves that
had been purchased for a few beads and bandanna
handkerchiefs were sold in the market for from $600
to $700 apiece. The owners of the vessel paid Cap
tain Semmes $3,500 for his services and cleared up
ward of $10,000 apiece on the venture for themselves. J
Lamar's letters do not quite agree with this so far
as he was concerned personally. ' ' I have been badly
swindled," he says, "by getting into the hands of
rascals and vagabonds. I am out of pocket on the
Wanderer — had to assume all the responsibility, pay
aU the money, and do all the work."
It is fair to presume that he actually got back more
dollars than he put in, but considered that he had
lost his time— had been inadequately paid for it.
On July 21, 1859, Lamar wrote to his friend Trow
bridge, at New Orleans, saying, "The Wanderer is
going to China, and may return with coolies. They
are worth from $340 to $350 each in Cuba, and cost
but $12 and their passage." It is likely she did not
go on this voyage. McGhee said, at any rate, that
"In the spring of 1859 the Wanderer again sailed
for the west coast of Africa, and again Captain
Semmes found King Dahominey ready to trade on the

206 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
most liberal terms. On the second occasion he had to
go further up the river to secure the cargo, but he
succeeded in delivering six hundred captives at the
mouth of the river. They were more intelligent than
the first cargo, lighter in color, and better in many
respects than those captured nearer the coast. A
number of them died during the voyage, and the
Wanderer was put to her best speed on several occa
sions to get away from undesirable acquaintances, but
she was never overhauled, and she arrived ofl the
Georgia coast in December. She was caught in a vio
lent gale, and in attempting to enter Jekyl Creek,
between Jekyl and Cumberland Islands, she ran
aground one stormy night, and a number of the cap
tives escaped from the hold and jumped into the sea
and were drowned. . . . The negroes were sent to
New Orleans and sold, except a few that were scat
tered about among the Georgia planters. The profits
were quite as large as from the flrst expedition, and
but for the breaking out of the war and the blockad
ing of the port at Savannah, the Wanderer might
have made another voyage in 1860. As it was, she
was hemmed up in the river by the blockade and
finally sold to the Confederate Government."
Lamar wrote a letter regarding this second voyage
that is interesting as showing the kind of a heart
he had. He said :
The man who went on her before would like to go again,
but he made an extraordinary claim the last time, and it, of
course, was not settled in full — and he might take some ad
vantage and throw us, to pay off any feeUng he might have
against the old company. He claimed he was to have re
ceived $30 a head for every one who had life in him,, that was

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 207
landed, independent of his condition, even though he might
die before he could be housed. Such was not the contract.

Imagine the scene portrayed by this letter. There
on the banks of Jekyl Island lay the negroes, dying
because of the torments they had endured, while La
mar and the captain stood by quarrelling over the
blood money.
In the record of the meetings of the New York
Yacht Club for 1859 (a thin little 12mo manuscript
volume) can be found, under the date of Febru
ary 3, a preamble and resolutions expelling Corrie
from the club and erasing the name of the Wanderer
from the club's squadron list. The club did this not
only because Corrie had violated the law, ' ' but more
especially from his being engaged in a traffic repug
nant to humanity and to the moral sense of the mem
bers of this association."
There were many slavers living in New York then,
but they were not considered fit for membership in
the New York Yacht Club.
According to Lamar's letter-book, the Wanderer
was stolen out of Savannah, after the second voyage
to Africa, by a Captain D. S. Martin. " He has un
doubtedly gone to the coast of Africa for a cargo of
negroes," says Lamar ; " and if he is as smart there as
he has been here, he will get one."
The Wanderer was eventually captured by the
Federal forces, and was, for a time, used as revenue
cutter at Pensacola. Then she was sold at auction
and was put into the cocoanut trade by a firm deal
ing with the islands on the north coast of Honduras,
and there she remained until driven ashore on Cape

208 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Henry, where her bones found a last resting-place.
Lamar was killed in battle during the civil war.
One might tell in considerable detail, too, the story
of the slaver Clotilde, a schooner of three hundred
and twenty-seven tons built by Captain Timothy
Meagher on the Mobile River late in the fall of 1858.
Timothy bought one hundred and seventy-five prime
slaves in Africa, and landed them without the loss of
one (a most humane voyage) near Mobile City. But it
did not pay. The negroes cost too much ($8,640 gold,
besides ninety cases of rum and eight cases of cloths),
and only twenty-flve could be sold, because of the
discovery of the importation and the rush of officials
for prize money. The Captain sunk in all nearly
$100,000. As to the extent of the smuggling Stephen A.
Douglas said in public that he believed 15,000 slaves
were smuggled into the United States in 1859. A
correspondent wrote to the Tribune in 1860 that
"twelve vessels will discharge their living freight
upon our shores within ninety days from the 1st of
June last." Douglas's position on the slaver ques
tion cost him dearly — he failed of election as Presi
dent because of it.
In spite of a pretence of prosecuting the slavers de
tected in their work, the Government in those days
practically aided them by failing to prosecute them to
conviction for the crime committed. Out of sixty
persons arrested as slavers, "who have been bailed
from the first day of May, 1852, to the first day of
May, 1862," says a report made by Secretary of the
Interior Caleb B. Smith, the following disposition had
been made : Eight cases were still pending ; nine had

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 209
been tried and acquitted by the jury ; no bill had
been found in two cases; in one case "Defendant
could not be found, but the bond was not forfeited " ;
in another, "Defendant surrendered his bail, but af
terward escaped." In all other instances the case was
dismissed or a nolle was entered.
In one of Lamar's letters was a reference to what he
calls his missionary work, and that is a subject need
ing further notice. An examination of newspapers
and periodicals shows that many slave-owners had a
strong desire for the expansion of the slave territory.
Filibustering expeditions like that of Walker to Nica
ragua -grew out of it. Pollard in his " Black Dia
monds ' ' speaks of Walker as one of a number of men
who looked over the whole territory bordering on the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico as a vast fleld
for slave-holders to acquire in order that they might
make of it a slave empire that should supply the world
with cotton, coffee, sugar, and other staples, all to be
produced by slave labor for the beneflt of the domi
nant race. Pollard called the dream magnificent.
Then there was the plan for buying Cuba which
Buchanan aided, as already mentioned. Spain could
have had $100,000,000 for the island then.
In addition to these evidences of restlessness were
the efforts made to reopen the slave-trade between
Africa and the United States.
In De Bow's for November, 1858, is the following :
"It cannot be denied that the Southern States —
more especially those in which are grown the great
staples of cotton, sugar, and rice — demand a greater
number of negro laborers than can now possibly be
14

210 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
acquired by natural increase or from those home
sources which have hitherto yielded but a sparse
supply." The price of slaves was increasing rapidly, the
writer continues. Quotations from reports of auction
sales showed that " the price has already reached that
point which is beyond the means of small planters."
Able men sold as high as $1,835 cash. The lowest
price for an adult at a sale quoted was "Olivia, $1,-
140.' ' There was, of course, but one remedy — the re
opening of the African slave-trade.
This is a fair sample of many similar appeals in
periodicals. Pamphlets were printed and circulated.
One of them made a most potent appeal to all the
merchants and manufacturers having trade with slave
owners. The character of the appeal appears from its
title, " Southern Wealth and Northern Profits." It
may be found in the libraries.
Meantime conventions were called wherein orators
could proclaim views which were, of course, printed
afterward in the newspapers. It was " a campaign of
education." For instance, there was the convention of May 10,
1858, held at Montgomery, Ala. Spratt, of South Car
olina, from the committee on the slave-trade, intro
duced the following resolutions (quoted in Du Bois) :
"Resolved, That slavery is right, and that, being right, there
can be no wrong in the natural means to its formation.
" Resolved, That it is expedient and proper that the foreign
slave-trade should be reoijened, and that this convention wiU
lend its influence to any legitimate measure to that end."
When some of the more conservative men present
mildly objected, Yancey declared that "if it is right

LATTER-DAY SLAVE SMUGGLERS 211
to buy slaves in Virginia and carry them to New Or
leans, why is it not right to buy them in Cuba, Brazil,
or Africa, and carry them there ? "
His question was, of course, unanswerable. He
might also have said that if it was right to own
negroes it was right to buy them wherever they were
on sale and take them to any place where they were
needed. Although he did not know it, he was clear
ing the much-befogged road leading to the point of
view from which might be seen the real evil principle
at the bottom of slavery.
At Vicksburg, in 1859, a convention of commercial
men resolved by a vote of forty to nineteen that "all
laws, State or Federal, prohibiting the African slave-
trade ought to be repealed;" also that "the conven
tion raise a fund to be dispensed in premiums for the
best sermons in favor of reopening the African Slave- ^J
trade!" The reopening of the trade was also advocated on
the floor of Congress. Omitting many quotations
that might be made from the words of slave-holding
Congressmen it will be sufficient to note what two
who were representative of their class said. Alexan
der Stephens, in his farewell address to his constitu
ents, according to reputable reports, used these
words : " Slave-States cannot be made without Afri
cans. . . . [My object is] to bring clearly to your
mind the great truth that without an increase of Afri
can slaves from abroad you may not expect or look
for many more slave-States."
Jefferson Davis, while opposing an immediate reop
ening of the trade, denied " any coincidence of opinion
with those who prate of the inhumanity and sinful-

212 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
ness of the trade. The interest of Mississippi, not of
the African, dictates my conclusion." He thought to
open the trade immediately would flood Mississippi
with negroes by bringing in more than could be profit
ably and safely handled, but " this conclusion, in re
lation to Mississippi, is based upon my view of her
present condition, not upon any general theory. It is
not supposed to be applicable to Texas, to New Mexi
co, or to any future acquisitions to be made south
of the Rio Grande."
But the rising tide of the power of those who be
lieved in human slavery had reached its highest level.
While slave-holders were holding conventions in
which to advocate the reopening of the slave-trade,
the abolitionists were in a thousand ways proclaiming
the right of every human being to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. A few were even proclaiming
the strange doctrine that the superior race, instead of
having, by virtue of its superiority, the right to op
press the weak, was, by the example and command of
Almighty God, bound to uplift and carry the burden
of the weak. A river of Jordan running bankful of
blood lay before us, and we were about to bathe in it
and be healed.

CHAPTER XX
WHEN THE END CAME
Buchanan's Administration and the Slave-trade — When the
Sham Efforts to Suppress Came to an End — Story of Cap
tain Gordon of the Erie, the First Slaver Pirate to be Exe
cuted in the United States.
As hitherto noted, the slave-trade differed from all
other kinds of traffic known to the history of the world.
In every other traffic there was (and there is) a steady
amelioration of the condition of all persons engaged in
it. The African slave-trade to the Americas began
with the work of a good bishop who saw that it was
more humane to enslave the hardy African than the
effeminate red aborigines. Prom that the trade de
scended to a level where it was, for that day, an ordi
nary commercial enterprise, and then, because it was
profitable and was becoming steadily more profitable,
it reached out to overwhelm with its suffering, as well
as its shame, not only everyone connected with it,
whether directly or indirectly, but it drenched with
its sorrows uncounted thousands who had never had
any part in it, and still other thousands who had
opposed it.
But even while Buchanan was striving to buy Cuba
on the pretence that thus the slave-trade would be
suppressed, the end of America's shame was at hand.
213

214 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
It was not in the blood of the race to perpetuate
hypocrisy and injustice forever.
Those of us who are old enough recall with strange
feelings the tumultuous controversies of the days of
the Buchanan Administration. The pelting of words
was incessant, but back of all that and growing
steadily more ominous, was the tornado roar of one
mighty question. Shall the Right prevail in the United
States of America ?
Granville Sharp, as the friend of one oppressed
negro, had asked that question, standing alone, in
other years. Now tens of thousands of the mightiest,
most heroic souls of the earth were standing up to
answer it, not by words alone but by freely giving
their life blood.
Yet let no injustice be done now in recalling that
controversy. As long as a people " holds its life in its
hand, ready to give it for its honor (though a foolish
honor) ; for its love (though a foolish love) ; for its
business (though a foolish business), there is hope for
it." The slave-owners, too, held their lives in their
hands. No higher proof of their sincerity is known
to man. Nathan Hale, whose statue stands in the
City Hall Park of New York, reached out both hands
(albeit with sorrow) when he welcomed to the further
shore the spirits of those Americans who cheerfully
went to their death in the David torpedo-boat, of
Charleston harbor. We were to determine not only
whether the right should prevail, but to see what was
right, and our pool of Siloam was full to the brim of
blood. But when that is said — ^when the entire sincerity of
the masses of those who sought to perpetuate slavery

WHEN THE END CAME 215
is proclaimed — the fact remains (and we can all see it
now) that our Declaration of Independence had been
for three-quarters of a century a grinning mask. It
could not remain so longer. The spirit that had
inspired the men who made that Declaration, not
fully knowing what they did, was ready at last to
turn the mask into the flushed face of the goddess of
America. A time had come when a President who
could understand the immortal words was to be
elected, and he was elected. The laws against the
slave-trade were now to be executed. The spirit of
the Declaration of Independence was now not only to
be enacted in statutes, but, within limits, to become
the faith of the people.
Under Buchanan it was possible for the slave-bark
Cora to be captured on the coast of Africa on the
18th day of May, carried to New York, let go after a
form of condemnation, and then captured once more
on the slave-coast, on December 10 of the same year.
With the advent of Abraham Lincoln the sham
passed away. Here was a man who had the flrst
characteristics of all heroes — sincerity and strength.
He would, with charity for all and with malice
toward none, and with such obstacles in his way as
no American had ever faced before, and no American
will ever face again — he would do his duty. Of all
books that have been written here and may now be
had for a price, there is none so well worth the study
of an American reader, if he will but seek the heart of
it, as a Life of Abraham Lincoln. But the American
Carlyle has yet to come to place the heart of it plainly
before us.
In a letter regarding the slave-trade written by Mr.

216 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
Seward to Lord Lyons, on March 22, 1862, it is said
that the last slave-smuggler was the Wanderer,
already described. Possibly — in fact, very likely-^
small parties were brought over from Cuba after she
landed her cargo, but she was the last regular slave-
ship to come to our coasts.
The blockade of the Confederate ports by the
Federal ships, however, in 1861 ended all slave-smug
gling here. Nevertheless the smuggling of slaves into
the Spanish colonies in America was carried on for a
long time after our civil war ended. The trade is
called smuggling because during all the weary years
after 1820 — the weary years during which so many
negroes were thrown overboard that every wave of the
sea in the Middle Passage became a mound over a
body that had been tortured to death — during all
those years the laws of Spain prohibited the traffic.
Mr. Seward, in view of the fact " that this infamous
traffic has been carried on by persons resident in other
countries, including the United States," was prepared
to open negotiations for a convention with Her
Majesty's Government that should be worthy of the
civilizations of the age. The shams of previous ad
ministrations, and the clap-trap about the right of
search and the sacredness of our flag, were to come to
an end, and they did end in a treaty that was con
cluded at Washington on April 7, 1862. To give it
effect. Congress made two appropriations of $900,000
each. The days when an American cruiser, out of
fifteen months' service in the African squadron, would
spend no more than fifteen days on the slave-coast, as
really happened under the sham, were now at an end.
The days when American naval officers were to go

THE HUMAN CARGO WAS UNDER THE CHARGE OF THE OLD RlCE-FlELD NEGROES.
See page 202.

WHEN THE END CAME 217
through the forms of executing the laws, while ham
pered by the Department, were also at an end. There
were, indeed, slavers afloat thereafter. While the
market existed, and such enormous profits were to be
made, even the severest measures could, perhaps, but
repress. By a treaty made with Great Britain on
February 17, 1863, the limits of the territory wherein
the mutual right of search existed were greatly ex
tended. Even as late as 1870, Great Britain and the
United States had to strengthen still further their
agreement for the suppression of the trade, because a
few slavers were yet on the high seas. It was not
until about 1886 that the Spaniards (and some Ameri
can citizens) ceased to own slaves in Cuba, but the
slave-trade began its death throes — it for the first time
felt a real strangling pressure on its throat— when this
treaty was made.
Detailed stories of some of the slavers owned in New
York but trading to Cuba are to be had by the stu
dent in sufficient number. For instance, George Howe,
M.D., told the story of his experience in "The Last
Slave-Ship," in Scribner's Magazine for July, 1890.
The story of how Appleton Oaksmith, written also
Oaks Smith), the son of an honored poetess, disgraced
his name by trying to get away for a slaver voyage in
the whaler bark Augusta is told in Government
documents. This is a particularly interesting story
from the fact that Oaksmith was prosecuted by Mr.
Stewart L. Woodford, late United States Minister to
Spain, then just beginning his public career by serving
as an assistant to the United States District Attorney
in New York City. It brings the slave-trade close
down to the present day, so to speak, when we re-

218 T.HE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
member that the well-known diplomat of 1898 began
his public career by prosecuting a slaver. But all of
these stories must be omitted in order to emphasize
that of a slaver whose fate marked the end of the
heinious traffic.
In the summer 'of 1860, Captain Nathaniel Gordon, of
the ship Erie, took his vessel to Havana and there com
pleted an outfit for the slave-trade that he had begun
buying in New York. Gordon was a citizen of Port
land, Me., and had made already, it was said, three
slave voyages. On leaving Havana he went directly
to the Congo River, and sailed forty-five miles up into
the interior. There he discharged a cargo of liquor,
and having prepared his ship for her return cargo of
slaves he came down near the mouth of the stream,
where on the afternoon of August 7, 1860, he brought
on board the slaves, and ' ' thrust them, densely
crowded, between the decks, and immediately set sail
for Cuba." The slaves numbered eight hundred and
ninety, of whom but one hundred and seventy-two
were men. The women numbered one hundred and
six, and the remainder were boys and girls. Gordon
was one of those slavers who carried children because
it was safer to carry them. They would but flinch
and scream when he tortured them ; they would never
strike back.
As it happened the United States warship Mohican
was fifty miles off shore next morning, and the Erie,
while crowding sail for Havana, was seen and capt
ured. The negroes were taken to Liberia and landed,
while the Erie and Gordon were sent to New York
for trial. The ship was soon disposed of. She had
been taken with the slaves on board, and even in 1860

WHEN THE END CAME 219
she was sure to be condemned, because the condem
nation would bring considerable sums of money to all
concerned in her capture and condemnation. She
was sold, on October 4th of the same year, at auction,
for $7,823.25, showing she was a right good ship, for
she measured but five hundred tons.
To punish Gordon as a pirate under the law of 1820
was another matter, and when he was first brought to
face the charge there was a mistrial. But in the
meantime a new administration had come in, and a
District Attorney, E. Delafield Smith, who respected
his oath of office, had been appointed.
Gordon was once more put on trial on November 6,
1861. He was defended by ex- Judge Dean and P. J.
Joachimson, who were experienced in such cases.
Judge Nelson presided. In two hours a jury was
obtained. The papers of that day say that but few spectators
were in court during the trial. The public showed
very little interest in the case. The Civil War was in
progress, and how could anyone stop to consider the
trial of a ship captain who had been on trial once be
fore, had secured a disagreement of the jury, and, if
precedent counted for anything, was likely to go free
in the end ? Even the most sensational papers of the
day gave the trial but scanty space. So, with never a
thought that they were making important history, the
Judge and the lawyers and the jury worked away.
The plea, as was usual in such cases, was that Gordon
was a passenger, having turned the command over to
a foreigner carried along for the purpose. On the af
ternoon of Friday, November 8, the attorneys ended
their part of the trial, Judge Nelson delivered his

220 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
charge, and at 7 o'clock in the evening the jury re
tired. Twenty minutes later they came back with the
verdict. " Guilty."
"Gordon heard the verdict without emotion," so
the reporters described the scene, and they were about
the only spectators outside of those directly inter
ested in the case.
But when that verdict had appeared in print, next
day, the people of New York woke up to the im
portance of what had occurred. On Saturday, No
vember 30, when motions for a new trial had been de
nied, and Gordon was commanded to stand up and
hear his doom, he arose to his feet in a court-room
"densely packed" with people who had come to hear
the sentence of the first American slaver convicted as
a pirate. As Gordon heard the command to stand up his face
changed color rapidly, but once on his feet he recov
ered his composure, and in reply to the usual ques
tion said, with a forced smile,
" I have nothing to say whatever."
At that Judge Nelson began to speak. He recited
the facts in the case, warned the prisoner that as he
had shown no mercy to the unfortunate he could ex
pect none now from the Court, and ended by ordering
that the slaver be, on February 7, 1862, between the
hours of noon and three in the afternoon, hanged by
the neck until he was dead.
When February 7 came Gordon had been respited
for two weeks by the President. "It was currently
reported that the President had commuted the sen
tence," said one paper, but Marshal Murray knew

WHEN THE END CAME 221
better, and when Gordon looked in his face, on receiv
ing the respite, he saw his fate.
" Mr. Marshal, then there is no hope ? " he asked.
" Not the slightest," replied Murray.
There was no lack of effort, however, to save the
pirate. Even on the last day of his life, one of his
attorneys telegraphed that the Governor of the State
had appealed to the President, and asked for a delay
for a reply, but Murray explained that an arrangement
had been concluded with the President by which no
telegram from any source whatever should interfere.
Nor was that all that was done to save him.
Threats were made that a rescuing mob to storm the
jail would be raised — threats that were really ominous,
for that was a day when innocent negroes were hanged
to lamp-posts by a New York mob.
But a guard of eighty marines from the navy-yard
filed into the yard of the city prison on the morning
of February 21, 1863, and there loaded their muskets
with ball cartridges, and fixed their bayonets. And
that ended the possibility of mob attacks.
Meantime Gordon had passed the early part of the
night in writing letters. At one o'clock in the morn
ing he went to sleep and slept for two hours. On
waking he managed to swallow a dose of strychnine
he had obtained for the occasion. As it began to
work he gnashed his teeth at the guards and shouted,
" I've cheated you ! I've cheated you ! "
But he was mistaken, for physicians saved him alive
and conscious for the gallows. Two or three notes
were written by him after his recovery from the poison,
and then, just before the noon hour, the Marshal came
to the cell and in the usual course read the death

222 THE AMERICAN SLAVE-TRADE
warrant and asked Gordon if he had anything to
say. For a; moment the prisoner was silent, and then in
a firm voice he replied :
"My conscience is clear. I have no fault to find
with the treatment I have received from the Marshal
and his Deputy, Mr. Thompson ; but any public man
who will get up in open court and say to the jury, ' If
you convict this prisoner, I will be the first man to
sign a petition for his pardon,' and will then go to the
Executive to prevent his commuting the sentence, is
a man who will do anything to promote his own ends,
I do not care what people may say.'
It was a remarkable speech to make in the shadow
of the gallows, for the charge it contained against
District Attorney Smith was untrue. The reporters
hunted up the stenographic report of the speech to
the jury and found no such words in it.
At noon, on February 21, 1862, Nathaniel Gordon,
with a slanderous lie on his lips, started for the
gallows. " He was deathly pale with terror [says the
New York Tribune of February 22, 1862], his head
hung over his shoulder, and his limbs almost refused
their office. He tottered as he stood beneath the fatal
beam, [so that] he had to be supported. At a given
signal the cord was snapped asunder by the execu
tioner's axe and Nathaniel Gordon was hoisted aloft
into mid-air. A few convulsive twitches of the body
followed. The veins of his neck and hands swelled
and stood out hard ; then the limbs lost their rigidity,
the flesh assumed a livid hue, and the slave-trader,
now a lump of dishonored clay, swung slowly to and
fro in the frosty air."

WHEN THE END CAME 223
For more than three hundred years the oppressed
had been crying from the foul hold of the slaver,
"How long, O Lord, how long?" But when the axe
fell, and the rope creaked to the weight of that dis
honored clay, the sweet angel of Mercy was at last
able to reply :
"Now."

APPENDIX A.

Feom Sen. Ex. Doc. 53, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.
Names and number of vessels arrested and bonded from the flrst day of May, 1852, to the first day
OI of May, 1862, in the Southern District of New York, charged with being engaged in the slave-trade,
together with the names of the bondsmen, the amounts they were bonded for, and the amounts real
ized by the Government.

Names of Vessels.

Where
Arrested.

When
LibeUed.

When
Bonded.

Names of Bondsmen.

Amount ' Disposition of Case, and
Bonded for ' ¦^f™™* Realized on For-
¦ j feitm-e.

Soh. Osorge U.

Dec, 1854.
March 18,
1856.
January 31,
1855.
June 9,
1856.

Dec. 39,
1854.

T. W. Hutchinson. 

$5 000 00 T.iViel ^T<!rr<Hf.s...^

Sch. Falmouth
and cargo 



Condemned and sold for
$5,000.

Sch. Onward...

Brig Braman...
Coast of
Africa.
June 18,
1856.*
Sovereigns bonded by Jos^ B. da
Cunha, B. da Cunha Reiz,
Henry M. Barnes, and M. B da
Cunha Reiz. Vessel bonded by
Manuel J. Frazer, by J. Brad-
dick, Attorney, Thos. J. G.
Blumersrother, and John Levi.
Cargo bonded by Patrick Mc-
Grary and Henriques da Costa.
£317
t86,200 00
X 857 95
Case still pending.
>
* Money found on board bonded ; September 16, 1866, vessel bonded ; November 1, 1856, cargo bonded.
% Cargo.
Or
Karnes of Vessels.

Bark Orion.

Bark Ardennes
and cargo 
Brig J. P.
Eooper. 

Ship Emily aai
cargo 

Bark Charlotte
E. Tay and
cargo 

Bark Cora and
cargo 

Sch. Joaephene
and cargo 

Brig Falmouth
and cargo 

Where
Arrested.

Coast of
Africa.

Coast of
Africa.

Coast of
Africa.

New York.

New York.

New York.

Coast of
Africa.

When
Libelled.

June 21,
1859.

June 30,
1859.
Nov. 1, 1859.

Nov. 15,
1859.

April 84,
1860.
May 18,
1860.

May 88,
1860.
June 18,
1860.

When
Bonded.

August 6.
1859.

Sept. 30,
1859.

January 14,
1860.

May 10,
1860.
June S3,
1860.

June 22,
1860.

Names of Bondsmen.

Rudolph Blumenberg and H. S.
Vining for vessel; Rudolph
Blumenberg and J. F. D. Mi
randa for cargo.

Horace ¥. Parish and Merrit N,
Craft.
(Vessel remained in custody) . . . .

Wm. M. Arnold and Stephen
Kelly.

Jesse A. Braddock and Fred K.
Myer.
Robert Griffiths and Chas. New
man.

David Decker and Benjamin
Isaacs.

Amount
Bonded for.

* $12,000 00
t 5,933 95

7,039 68

4,776 80

6,354 71

22,188 33

12,174 59

Disposition of Case, and
Amount Healized on For
feiture.

Condemned, execution re
turned nulla bona.
Blumenberg's convic
tion for perjury in justi
fication as bail, recently
procured by United
States district attorney ;
State prison five years.
Case still pending.
Libel dismissed. May 3.
1860.
Case stiU pending.

Case still pending.

Condemned and execu
tion issued ; returned
nulla bona.
Caee.8til} pending.

Sold as perishable prop
erty for $1,058.33, and
amount paid into court ;
case still pending as to
$273, amount of pro
ceeds above costs and
sailors' wages.

>bM

Sch. Mariguita
and cargo 
Briff Th omas
Achorn 
Bark Kate and
cargo 
Brig W. n.
Kibby 
Bark Weather-
gage 
Ship Erie 
Sch. William J.
Cogswell 
Bark Oora and
cargo 
Bark Sarah and
cargo 
Ship Nightin
gale 
Bark Augusta
and cargo 

New York,

Coast of
Africa.
New York.

Coast of
Cuba.
New York.

Coast of
Africa.
New York.

Coast of
Africa.
New York.

Coast of
Africa,
Greenport, L. L

June 16,
1860.

Aug. 16,
1860.
July 6, 1860.

August 4,
1860.
October 1,
1860.
October 4,
1860.
Nov. 28,
1860,
Deo. 10,
1860.
April 6,
1861.

June 20,
1861.
June 19,
1861,

July 10,
1860,

December 4,
1860,
August 30
1860,

Feb. 2,
1863.

October 28,
1861,

James E. Ward, James A. Van
Brunt, Michael Rupp, Pierre L.
Pierce, Henry M. Barnes and
H. C, Lyon,
Joseph Santos and George H.
Blanchard.

John J. Diehl.

(Still in custody).

(Vessel remained in custody)

Joseph W. Yates and Robert
Porterfield.

Isaac Peck and Joseph Wagler. .

24,500 00
3,485 00
9,300 00

Libel dismissed January
28, 1851.

Case still pending.
Case still pending.

Condemned and sold for
84,551.47.
Condemned and argued
on appeal, and awaiting
decision of the court.
Condemned and sold for
$7,883.35.
February 4, 1861, libel
dismissed.
Condemned and sold for
$9,596.63.
Condemned and argued
on appeal, and awaiting
decision of the court.
Condemned and sold for
$13,501.10.

4,350 00 Condemned and case
pending on appeal.

16,886 31

>It)

• Vessel. t Cargo,

to

Names of Vessels.

Where
Arrested.

When
Libelled,

When
Bonded.

Names of Bondsmen.

Amount
Bonded for.

Disposition of Case, and
Amount Realized on For
feiture.

Brig Falmouth
and cargo 
Brig Triton and
cargo 

Coast of
Africa.
Coast of
Africa.
Greenport, L. I.

August 2,
1861.
July 12,
1861.
Nov. 11,
1861.

October 1,
1861.
August 6,
1861.*

George a Leinas and WiUiam
Watts.
Peyton A. Key, John S. Pearson
and J. A. Leland.
(Still in custody) 

$1,665 00
2,379 00

Case still pending.
Case BtiU pending.
Case still pending.

BarkjdffMto 

ItlfoSd'TobiwXS ^ssell wVe m^^^^^^ condemned in our courts than men were becaose ¦¦ there was money in it," when vessels
were condemned— fees and bonnties for officials and mformers.
In3 lO
> s
APPENDIX B.

From Sen. Ex. Doc. 53, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.
Names of all persons arrested who have been bailed from the flrst day of May, 1852, to the first day of
May, 1862, in the Southern District of New York, charged with being engaged in the slave-trade,
together with the names of the bondsmen, the amounts of the bonds, and the amounts the Government
has realized from the forfeiture thereof.

Names.

Manuel Eeheverria. .
Stephen E. Glover . .
Jeronimo Hermes . . .
L. Kraft alias G.
Filetti 

William F. Martin..
Theodore A. Myers. .
Bartholomew Blanco.
William C. Valen
tine 

When Arrested.

June, 1855.
Oct., 1854.
June, 1855.
Jan., 1855.
May, 1855.
May, 1855.
Oct., 1854.
Sept. 80, 1854,

When Bailed.

Sept. 25, 1855.
April, 25,
1855,
June 39, 1855.

Jan. 39, 1855.
July 14, 1855.
May 26, 1855.
Oct, 11, 1854.
Sept. 30, 1854.

Names of Bondsmen.

Andrew PatruUo and Fran
cisco del Hoyo.
John J. Boyd and Joseph
McMurray.
John A, Machado 

George Van Staveren
Ramon Palanca.
Philo V, Beebee 

and

Robert J. Walker,^ A. C.
Washington, C. H. Ring.
Edward Baulker and Charles
G. Staffani.
David T. Valentine, Bassett
B. Boerum, and James S.
Libby.

Amount of
Bonds.

$20,000 20,00010,000 5,0002,500
5,000
20,000
20,000

Disposition of the Cases, and Amounts
Realized on Forfeitures.

Bond not forfeited, defendant tried
and acquited.
Bond not forfeited, no bill being
found by grand jury.
Bond not forfeited; complaint dis-

Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited ; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited ; no biU found.

Bond not forfeited ; defendant tried
and acqaitted.

>

b3toCO

Names.

Whon Arrested.

When Bailed.

Names of Bondsmen,

Amount of
Bonds.

Disposition of the Cases, and Amounts
Realized on Forfeitures.

Jasper M. Da Cunha.

April, 1857.
June, 1856.
May, 1855.
May, 1857.
May, 1857.
May, 1857.
May, 1857.
Oct., 1857,
AprU, 1857.
1857.
Oct., 1856.
Oct., 1857.
June, 1856.
June, 1856.
June, 1856.
Oct., 1856,

June 5, 1858,
July 17, 1856.
Nov, 14, 1855.
May 8, 1857,
May 3, 1857,
May 35, 1857.
May 37, 1857.
Oct. 36, 1857.
Oct, 26, 1857,
July 81, 1857.
Oct. 33, 1857,
Oct. 32, 1857.
June 26, 1856.
June 86, 1856.
June 21, 1856,
Nov. 11, 1851.

$2,500 2,500
7,500 5,000 5,0005,000 500
10,000 2,0001,000
3,0002,000
5,000
8,5005,000
5,000

Bond not forfeited ; nolle prosequi
entered, 1858.
Bond not forfeited ; defendant tried
and acquitted.
Bond not forfeited ; defendant tried
and acquitted.
Bond not forfeited; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited.
Bond not forfeited.
Bond not forfeited; nolle prosequi
1858, "
Bond not forfeited ; nolle prosequi
entered, 1858.
Bond not forfpit.pH

Placido de Castro . . .

Rudolph E. Lasala..
Philip S. V^i Vech-
ten 

Nicholas Del Rio, Daniel
Curtis.
Junnis R, Van Veohten and
John P. Weeks.
Peter Gilseyand Edwin P.
Christy.
Edwin R. Kirk 

J. De Aranga 
Lewis Pulver 

John Jones 

Jesse A Braddick

Lerda Vianna 

Job6 Santos 

Jos. A. Yates 
Joseph W. Yates 
Benj. F. Wenberg. . .
Bond not forfeited; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited; nolle prosequi
entered, 1858.
Bond not forfeited ; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited; tried and ac
quitted.
Defendant surrendered by his bail,
and afterward escaped.
Bond not forfeited; tried and ao-
qnitted.
Juan M. Smith 
Basilio La Cunha
Reis 
Robert Porterfield and H.
M. Barnes.
George W. Roosevelt and G.
J. De La Figaniere.
Joseph Varona. 
Placido de Castro . . .
Henrico de Costa. .-. .
Henry M. Barnes 
Augusta C. de Mes-
Geo. M. Rea and John Rad-
way, jr.
COo
>a
M
Benj. F. Wenberg. . .
John P. Weeks ....
Wm. C. Stewart 
John Williams 
Jos. Williams 
Henry WilUamB 
Richard Welch 
Thomas Morgan. 
George Paul 
William Fisher 
Robert Horn. 
Harmon Beeker 
Jonathan Brown ....
Tristas P. Conhoo. . .
Thos. Carolton 
Wm. C. Carter 
John A. Machado . . .
Wm. Pratt 
Antonio Orse . , . ,

Oct., 1856.
Oct., 1856.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
June, 1859.
May, 1860.
Aug., 1861.
April, 1861.
Dec, 1860.

Nov. 6, 1856.
Nov. 6, 1856.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
June 16, 1859.
May 20, 1860.
Sept. 11, 1861.
July 27, 1861.
May 3, 1861.

Thomas A. Gerry and Jacob
R. Telfair.
Benj. Newhouse 

Thoa. Collins 
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A, Bradick,
Jesse A. Bradick.
Thomas Collins . .
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A. Bra^ck.
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A. Bradick.
Jesse A. Bradick .
Jesse A. Bradick.
John J. Diehl ....

George A. Vogel ...
Charles M. Terry. . ,
John F. Broderick.

5,000

850250250
250250
1,000 850 250
850250250
1,000 350
3,000
5,000 1,000 500

Bond not forfeited; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited; tried and ac
quitted.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Defendant was indicted Jime 35,
1860, and could not be found ; but
the bond was not forfeited.
Bond not forfeited; complaint be
ing dismissed.
Bond not forfeited, no biU being
found.
Bond not forfeited, nolle prosequi
being entered.

>
hi
H
O
M

03

Names.

I ^ 
^ Nathaniel Currier.
vi^ Jose' Sanchez 
J~ GiAManuel St. Savara

?

Sidney Oaksmith .
Walter R Haven. ,
Bartolo Grau 
Brastus H. Booth .
Eirastus H. Booth.
Joseph E. Santos . .
Albert Horn 

Minthume Wester-
,velt 

Frederick Otto 
Henrico Da Costa,
George H. Liei^aa .
Alberti Givins 

J. M. Smith.
Albert Horn .

Pierre L. Pierce.

When Arrested.

Dec, 1860.
Dec, 1860.
Dec, 1860.
Nov., 1861.
Nov., 1861.
Dec, 1860.
Sept., 1861.
Sept., 1861.
August, 1861.
April, 1861.
June, 1861.
July, 1860.
July, 1860.
Sept., 1861.
Nov., 1861.
Feb., 1863.
AprU, 1861.
Sept., 1860.

When Bailed.

May 3, 1861.
May 3, 1861.
Feb. 31, 1861.
Nov. 30, 1861.
Nov. 20, 1861.
Oct. 8, 1861.
March 24,
1862,
Feb. 27, 1862.
Aug. 14, 1861.
Aug. 13, 1861.
Nov. 25, 1861.
July 10, 1860.
Sept. 18, 1860.
Sept. 19, 1861.
Nov. 33, 1861.
Feb. 10, 1863.
May 4, 1861.
Oct. 6, 1860.

Names of Bondsmen.

John F. Broderick 
John F. Broderick 
Garrett Erkson 
Orvin D. Case 
Orvin D. Case 
Alex. Melville 
Pliny S. Mills 
Wm, Albatson and Benj.
Wells.
James Murphy 
W. R. Beebe and Guy R.
Pelton.
John S. Weatervelt and
Francis Man.
Jesse A, Braddick 
Philo V. Beebe 
W. R. Beebe 
W. R. Beebe 
C. Donohue 
W. R. Beebe and Guy R.
Pelton.
Ward A. Work 

Amount of
Bonds.

$500 500500500500500
3,000
3,000 5,000
5,000 5,0001,5005,0003,000 500
3,0005,000
5,000

Disposition of the Cases, and Amounts
Realized on Forfeitures.

to 03
«!0

Bond not forfeited, nolle prosequi
being entered.
Bond not forfeited, nolle prosequi
being entered.
Bond not forfeited, nolle prosequi
being entered.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint be
ing dismissed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint be
ing dismissed.
Bond not forfeited; nolle prosequi
being entered.
Case still pending.
Case still pending.
Case still pending.
Case still pending.

Case still pending.
Bond forfeited, and suit commenced ;
suit still pending.
Bond f orteited, and suit commenced;
suit still pending.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Bond not forfeited ; complaint dis
missed.
Case still pending.
Case still pending.
Bond not forfeited ; nolle prosequi
entered.

a

3 9002 00945 6006

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