The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, by W. E. B. Du Bois This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America 1638-1870 Author: W. E. B. Du Bois Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17700] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE TRADE *** Produced by Suzanne Shell, Victoria Woosley and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE SUPPRESSION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1638-1870 Volume I Harvard Historical Studies 1896 Longmans, Green, and Co. New York Page 1 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America * * * * * Preface This monograph was begun during my residence as Rogers Memorial Fellow at Harvard University, and is based mainly upon a study of the sources, i.e., national, State, and colonial statutes, Congressional documents, reports of societies, personal narratives, etc. The collection of laws available for this research was, I think, nearly complete; on the other hand, facts and statistics bearing on the economic side of the study have been difficult to find, and my conclusions are consequently liable to modification from this source. The question of the suppression of the slave-trade is so intimately connected with the questions as to its rise, the system of American slavery, and the whole colonial policy of the eighteenth century, that it is difficult to isolate it, and at the same time to avoid superficiality on the one hand, and unscientific narrowness of view on the other. While I could not hope entirely to overcome such a difficulty, I nevertheless trust that I have succeeded in rendering this monograph a small contribution to the scientific study of slavery and the American Negro. I desire to express my obligation to Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart, of Harvard University, at whose suggestion I began this work and by whose kind aid and encouragement I have brought it to a close; also I have to thank the trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, whose appointment made it possible to test the conclusions of this study by the general principles laid down in German universities. W.E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS. WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, March, 1896. * * * * * Contents Page 2 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY 1. _Plan of the Monograph_ 9 2. _The Rise of the English Slave-Trade_ 9 CHAPTER II THE PLANTING COLONIES 3. _Character of these Colonies_ 15 4. _Restrictions in Georgia_ 15 5. _Restrictions in South Carolina_ 16 6. _Restrictions in North Carolina_ 19 7. _Restrictions in Virginia_ 19 8. _Restrictions in Maryland_ 22 9. _General Character of these Restrictions_ 23 CHAPTER III THE FARMING COLONIES 10. _Character of these Colonies_ 24 11. _The Dutch Slave-Trade_ 24 12. _Restrictions in New York_ 25 13. _Restrictions in Pennsylvania and Delaware_ 28 14. _Restrictions in New Jersey_ 32 15. _General Character of these Restrictions_ 33 CHAPTER IV THE TRADING COLONIES 16. _Character of these Colonies_ 34 17. _New England and the Slave-Trade_ 34 18. _Restrictions in New Hampshire_ 36 19. _Restrictions in Massachusetts_ 37 20. _Restrictions in Rhode Island_ 40 21. _Restrictions in Connecticut_ 43 22. _General Character of these Restrictions_ 44 CHAPTER V THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION, 1774-1787 23. _The Situation in 1774_ 45 24. _The Condition of the Slave-Trade_ 46 25. _The Slave-Trade and the "Association"_ 47 Page 3 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America 26. _The Action of the Colonies_ 48 27. _The Action of the Continental Congress_ 49 28. _Reception of the Slave-Trade Resolution_ 51 29. _Results of the Resolution_ 52 30. _The Slave-Trade and Public Opinion after the War_ 53 31. _The Action of the Confederation_ 56 CHAPTER VI THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, 1787 32. _The First Proposition_ 58 33. _The General Debate_ 59 34. _The Special Committee and the "Bargain"_ 62 35. _The Appeal to the Convention_ 64 36. _Settlement by the Convention_ 66 37. _Reception of the Clause by the Nation_ 67 38. _Attitude of the State Conventions_ 70 39. _Acceptance of the Policy_ 72 CHAPTER VII TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE AND ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORT, 1787-1807 40. _Influence of the Haytian Revolution_ 74 41. _Legislation of the Southern States_ 75 42. _Legislation of the Border States_ 76 43. _Legislation of the Eastern States_ 76 44. _First Debate in Congress, 1789_ 77 45. _Second Debate in Congress, 1790_ 79 46. _The Declaration of Powers, 1790_ 82 47. _The Act of 1794_ 83 48. _The Act of 1800_ 85 49. _The Act of 1803_ 87 50. _State of the Slave-Trade from 1789 to 1803_ 88 51. _The South Carolina Repeal of 1803_ 89 52. _The Louisiana Slave-Trade, 1803-1805_ 91 53. _Last Attempts at Taxation, 1805-1806_ 94 54. _Key-Note of the Period_ 96 CHAPTER VIII THE PERIOD OF ATTEMPTED SUPPRESSION, 1807-1825 55. _The Act of 1807_ 97 56. _The First Question: How shall illegally imported Africans be disposed of?_ 99 57. _The Second Question: How shall Violations be punished?_ 104 Page 4 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America 58. _The Third Question: How shall the Interstate Coastwise Slave-Trade be protected?_ 106 59. _Legislative History of the Bill_ 107 60. _Enforcement of the Act_ 111 61. _Evidence of the Continuance of the Trade_ 112 62. _Apathy of the Federal Government_ 115 63. _Typical Cases_ 120 64. _The Supplementary Acts, 1818-1820_ 121 65. _Enforcement of the Supplementary Acts, 1818-1825_ 126 CHAPTER IX THE INTERNATIONAL STATUS OF THE SLAVE-TRADE, 1783-1862 66. _The Rise of the Movement against the Slave-Trade, 1788-1807_ 133 67. _Concerted Action of the Powers, 1783-1814_ 134 68. _Action of the Powers from 1814 to 1820_ 136 69. _The Struggle for an International Right of Search, 1820-1840_ 137 70. _Negotiations of 1823-1825_ 140 71. _The Attitude of the United States and the State of the Slave-Trade_ 142 72. _The Quintuple Treaty, 1839-1842_ 145 73. _Final Concerted Measures, 1842-1862_ 148 CHAPTER X THE RISE OF THE COTTON KINGDOM, 1820-1850 74. _The Economic Revolution_ 152 75. _The Attitude of the South_ 154 76. _The Attitude of the North and Congress_ 156 77. _Imperfect Application of the Laws_ 159 78. _Responsibility of the Government_ 161 79. _Activity of the Slave-Trade, 1820-1850_ 163 CHAPTER XI THE FINAL CRISIS, 1850-1870 80. _The Movement against the Slave-Trade Laws_ 168 81. _Commercial Conventions of 1855-1856_ 169 82. _Commercial Conventions of 1857-1858_ 170 83. _Commercial Convention of 1859_ 172 84. _Public Opinion in the South_ 173 85. _The Question in Congress_ 174 86. _Southern Policy in 1860_ 176 Page 5 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America 87. _Increase of the Slave-Trade from 1850 to 1860_ 178 88. _Notorious Infractions of the Laws_ 179 89. _Apathy of the Federal Government_ 182 90. _Attitude of the Southern Confederacy_ 187 91. _Attitude of the United States_ 190 CHAPTER XII THE ESSENTIALS IN THE STRUGGLE 92. _How the Question Arose_ 193 93. _The Moral Movement_ 194 94. _The Political Movement_ 195 95. _The Economic Movement_ 195 96. _The Lesson for Americans_ 196 APPENDICES A. _A Chronological Conspectus of Colonial and State Legislation restricting the African Slave-Trade, 1641-1787_ 199 B. _A Chronological Conspectus of State, National, and International Legislation, 1788-1871_ 234 C. _Typical Cases of Vessels engaged in the American Slave-Trade, 1619-1864_ 306 D. _Bibliography_ 316 INDEX 347 * * * * * _Chapter I_ INTRODUCTORY. 1. Plan of the Monograph. 2. The Rise of the English Slave-Trade. 1. ~Plan of the Monograph.~ This monograph proposes to set forth the efforts made in the United States of America, from early colonial times Page 6 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America until the present, to limit and suppress the trade in slaves between Africa and these shores. The study begins with the colonial period, setting forth in brief the attitude of England and, more in detail, the attitude of the planting, farming, and trading groups of colonies toward the slave-trade. It deals next with the first concerted effort against the trade and with the further action of the individual States. The important work of the Constitutional Convention follows, together with the history of the trade in that critical period which preceded the Act of 1807. The attempt to suppress the trade from 1807 to 1830 is next recounted. A chapter then deals with the slave-trade as an international problem. Finally the development of the crises up to the Civil War is studied, together with the steps leading to the final suppression; and a concluding chapter seeks to sum up the results of the investigation. Throughout the monograph the institution of slavery and the interstate slave-trade are considered only incidentally. 2. ~The Rise of the English Slave-Trade.~ Any attempt to consider the attitude of the English colonies toward the African slave-trade must be prefaced by a word as to the attitude of England herself and the development of the trade in her hands.[1] Sir John Hawkins's celebrated voyage took place in 1562, but probably not until 1631[2] did a regular chartered company undertake to carry on the trade.[3] This company was unsuccessful,[4] and was eventually succeeded by the "Company of Royal Adventurers trading to Africa," chartered by Charles II.