Book Cards

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638-1870 Flashcards

W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois · Public domain edition · 363 cards · 99 chapters

W. E. B. Du Bois’s 1896 monograph argues that the African slave trade to the United States was never effectively suppressed by law, tracing colonial statutes, royal instructions, and the economic interests that sustained the traffic from 1638 to 1870. The deck covers his sources and acknowledgments, the Assiento and British statutes, colonial mortality data, and the regional differences among New England, the planting colonies, Georgia, and South Carolina.

1 / 363

18+ roast lines

Chapter 1 · Question

What does Du Bois's monograph propose to set forth?

WakeCards · wakecards.com · Big ideas. Quick review.

Arrow keys move between cards. Space or Enter flips.

All questions and answers

Every card in the deck, in reading order. Click a chapter to expand. The reviewer above uses the same content.

Section 14 cards

What does Du Bois's monograph propose to set forth?
It proposes to set forth the efforts made in the United States of America, from early colonial times until the present, to limit and suppress the trade in slaves between Africa and these shores. The study covers the colonial period, the Constitutional Convention, the period before and after the Act of 1807, the international problem, and the crises up to the Civil War.
Chapter 1
How does the monograph treat slavery and the interstate slave-trade?
Throughout the monograph the institution of slavery and the interstate slave-trade are considered only incidentally. The central subject is the efforts to limit and suppress the African slave-trade to the United States, not slavery as an institution or the domestic trade between states.
Chapter 1
What sources is the monograph mainly based upon?
It is based mainly upon a study of the sources: national, State, and colonial statutes, Congressional documents, reports of societies, and personal narratives. Du Bois says the collection of laws available was nearly complete, but facts and statistics on the economic side were difficult to find, so his conclusions are liable to modification from that source.
Chapter 1
Who suggested the work and who is thanked for aid and encouragement?
Du Bois says he began the work at the suggestion of Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard University, and brought it to a close by his kind aid and encouragement. He also thanks the trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, whose appointment made it possible to test the conclusions by the general principles laid down in German universities.
Chapter 1

Section 24 cards

What did the Assiento of 1713 require England to supply Spain's colonies?
The Assiento was a treaty between England and Spain granting England a monopoly of the Spanish colonial slave-trade for thirty years. England was to supply at least 144,000 slaves at 4,800 per year, advance Spain 200,000 crowns, and pay a duty of 33½ crowns per slave. The kings of Spain and England each received one-fourth of the profits.
Chapter 2
How did the Statute 23 George II, chapter 31, change the slave-trade?
It dissolved the old Royal African Company and erected a new "Company of Merchants trading to Africa" in its stead. Any merchant desiring to engage in the trade could do so on payment of certain small duties, and such merchants formed a company headed by nine directors. This marked the total abolition of monopoly in the slave-trade, the form under which it was carried on until after the American Revolution.
Chapter 2
Why did England's colonial governors discourage duties on imported slaves?
The author argues that by 1700 the slave-trade had become an almost unquestioned axiom in British practical economics, with colonists calling slaves "the strength and sinews of this western world." Governors were generally instructed to encourage merchants, especially the Royal African Company, and duties or restrictive acts were frowned upon and often disallowed, as in Governor Dobbs's instructions for North Carolina.
Chapter 2
What did the 1680-1688 African Company voyages show about slave mortality?
From 1680 to 1688 the African Company sent 249 ships to Africa, shipped 60,783 slaves, and after losing 14,387 on the middle passage, delivered 46,396 in America. The chapter notes the trade increased early in the eighteenth century, with 104 ships clearing for Africa in 1701, then dwindled until the Assiento, standing at 74 clearances in 1724.
Chapter 2

Section 34 cards

How did slavery differ between New England/New York and Maryland/Virginia?
Du Bois describes New England and New York Negroes as merely house servants or farm hands, treated neither better nor worse than servants generally in those days. Between these extremes, the system varied from a mild serfdom in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to an aristocratic caste system in Maryland and Virginia.
Chapter 3
Why does Du Bois call the planting colonies decisive for North American slavery?
The author argues the planting colonies were the Southern settlements whose climate and character destined them to be the chief theatre of North American slavery. Their early attitude toward the trade was decisive because theirs was the only soil, climate, and society suited to slavery; elsewhere the institution was doomed from the beginning, so only strong moral and political motives could check a traffic favored by the mother country.
Chapter 3
What restrictions did Georgia's founders impose, and how did colonists respond?
Oglethorpe and the London proprietors banned both rum and the slave traffic from the beginning, refusing to authorize slavery as against the Gospel and fundamental law of England. Colonists clamored for repeal from 1735 to 1749, evading the law by hiring Negroes from Carolina for life and making open purchases at Savannah. In 1749 the trade was thrown open under restrictions probably never enforced.
Chapter 3
What made South Carolina's slave trade the largest among continental colonies?
Du Bois attributes it to the character of her settlers, her nearness to the West Indian slave marts, and the early development of staple crops such as rice that were adapted to slave labor. He adds that the colony suffered much less interference from the home government than many others, making it possible to trace untrammeled development of slave-trade restrictions in a typical planting community.
Chapter 3

Section 44 cards

Why did South Carolina pass heavy duties on imported Negroes around the Assiento period?
Two heavy duty acts were passed because the number of Negroes was increasing extremely in the Province while, through the afflicting providence of God, white persons did not proportionately multiply, so the safety of the Province was greatly endangered. The trade nevertheless suffered scarcely any check, due to encouragement abroad and increased business activity in exporting naval stores at home.
Chapter 4
What happened to South Carolina's 1760 total prohibition of the slave-trade?
The act was promptly disallowed by the Privy Council and the governor was reprimanded. The colony then declared that an importation of negroes equal in number to what had been imported of late years might prove of the most dangerous consequence, and that the best way to obviate such danger would be imposing such an additional duty as might totally prevent the evils. A prohibitive duty of £100 was accordingly imposed in 1764.
Chapter 4
What did Virginia's Burgesses petition the king for in 1772?
They declared that the importation of slaves from the coast of Africa had long been considered a trade of great inhumanity, and feared it would endanger the very existence of the Majesty's American dominions. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, they besought the king to remove all restraints on his governors of the colony which inhibited their assenting to laws that might check so pernicious a commerce.
Chapter 4
How did Virginia's slave-trade duties change between 1732 and 1761?
The Act of 1732 laid a duty of 5%, continued until 1769, with all other duties in addition. By such cumulative duties the rate reached 25% in 1755 and 35% at the time of Braddock's expedition. These acts were found very burthensome, introductive of many frauds, and very inconvenient, and were so far repealed that by 1761 the duty was only 15%.
Chapter 4

Section 53 cards

How did Maryland's slave-trade duties change between 1717 and 1771?
Maryland laid a duty of 40s. in 1717, raised it to 50s. in 1754 and £4 in 1763, then imposed a prohibitive duty of £9 in 1771. In 1783, after the war, all importation by sea was stopped and illegally imported Negroes were freed. Du Bois notes the trade to Maryland was small and was regulated to economic demand by a slowly increasing tariff.
Chapter 5
When did Maryland's slave trade effectively end, and why?
According to Du Bois, the trade had nearly ceased of its own accord after 1769, before Revolutionary restrictive legislation, and the last importation was reportedly in 1769. He suggests Maryland's proximity to Virginia made an independent slave-trade less necessary to her. The 1783 law then formally stopped importation by sea and freed illegally imported Negroes.
Chapter 5
What motive does Du Bois identify as the main basis of opposition to the slave trade in the planting colonies?
Du Bois argues that whatever opposition existed in the planting colonies was based principally on political fear of insurrection. He notes opposition did not appear in Georgia, was based almost solely on that fear in Carolina, and sprang largely from the same motive in Virginia, mingled with some moral repugnance. Maryland he describes as passive.
Chapter 5

Section 64 cards

What three motives does Du Bois give for the farming colonies' opposition to the slave trade?
The author identifies economic, political, and moral motives: importing slaves did not pay except to supply household servants; the colonies feared a large servile population; and many settlers had sterner moral fibre than Southern cavaliers. He adds that these colonies, unlike Virginia and Carolina, saw themselves as permanent states rather than temporary commercial investments.
Chapter 6
How did the 1728 New York duty on slaves fare, and why?
A duty of 40 shillings was laid in 1728, to continue until 1737. It proved restrictive, and in 1735 it was disallowed on the humble petition of Bristol merchants as greatly prejudicial to the trade and navigation of the Kingdom. Governor Cosby was also reminded that no duties on slaves payable by the importer were to be laid.
Chapter 6
What was the Dutch role in the continental slave trade, and how did England take it over?
The Dutch seem to have begun the trade to the American continent; John Rolfe records a Dutch man-of-war selling twenty Negroes in Virginia in 1619. The Dutch West India Company, formed in 1621, became the great slave carrier. The Navigation Ordinance of 1651 and two wars wrested the trade from them, and peace surrendered New Netherland to England.
Chapter 6
How did the Pennsylvania Quakers' stance on slavery develop from 1688 onward?
German Friends at Germantown protested in 1688, asking whether buying men is not like stealing them. The Yearly Meeting postponed it, then in 1696 advised Friends not to encourage bringing in more Negroes, repeating this for a quarter-century. In 1754 purchasing slaves became a matter of discipline; in 1758 importing, selling, or purchasing could bring disunion; manumission was recommended and made compulsory in 1776.
Chapter 6

Section 74 cards

What was the first enactment of its kind in America, passed in Pennsylvania in 1712?
Pennsylvania's 1712 "Act to prevent the Importation of Negroes and Indians," the first enactment of its kind in America. It was inspired largely by fear of insurrection following the 1712 "Negro-plot" in New York, and it laid a prohibitive duty of £20 on all slaves imported. The act was disallowed in England in 1713.
Chapter 7
How did England respond to Pennsylvania's early slave duty acts?
England quickly disallowed them: three duty acts affecting Negroes, including the prohibitory act, were disallowed in 1713, and the Deputy Governor, Council, and Assembly were strictly enjoined not to permit those laws to be executed. The Assembly repealed them, but in 1715 passed another laying a £5 duty, which was also eventually disallowed.
Chapter 7
What motives does the author attribute to farming versus planting colonies' trade restrictions?
The author argues the main difference in motive was that planting colonies limited the slave trade mainly from fear of insurrection, while farming colonies did so mainly because it did not pay. The economic motive produced less legislation, and most farming colonies have fewer statutes than Southern colonies. Only in Pennsylvania did the revolt acquire a distinct moral tinge, through the Quakers.
Chapter 7
What happened to New Jersey's 1762 or 1763 prohibitive duty on slaves?
New Jersey laid a prohibitive duty on account of the inconvenience of lying open to free importation of Negroes while neighboring provinces had duties. The Board of Trade said that while it did not object to "the Policy of imposing a reasonable duty," it could not assent to this one, and the act was disallowed. Importation was finally prohibited in 1786.
Chapter 7

Section 84 cards

What was the stated motive of New Netherland colonists regarding foreign trade?
The colonists declared that they were inclined to a foreign trade, especially to the Coast of Africa, in order to fetch slaves from there. The chapter notes that colonists were encouraged to trade, but the terms were not favorable enough, citing O'Callaghan's Laws of New Netherland and Voyages of the Slavers.
Chapter 8
How did New York's slave population change between 1698 and 1774?
Estimates cited in the chapter rise from 2,170 in 1698 to 2,258 in 1703, 6,171 in 1723, 13,548 in 1756, and 21,149 in 1774. The chapter also notes that from 1701 to 1726, 2,375 Africans were imported, of whom 802 came from Africa.
Chapter 8
What happened to Pennsylvania's 1710 and 1715 duty acts?
Both were disallowed, according to the chapter's summary of Pennsylvania and Delaware legislation. The 1710 act set a duty of 40s., and the 1715 act set £5; both were disallowed. The chapter notes Pennsylvanians did not send their laws to England until long after passage, and these acts were disallowed February 20, 1713.
Chapter 8
What was the outcome of the 1775 Pennsylvania bill to prohibit importation?
The chapter's legislative summary lists a 1775 bill to prohibit importation that was vetoed by the governor, and a separate 1775 Delaware bill to prohibit importation also vetoed by the governor. A large petition had called for the bill, and much altercation ensued with the governor.
Chapter 8

Section 94 cards

Where did New England's significance in the African slave-trade chiefly lie, according to Du Bois?
Du Bois argues it lay not in slavery at home, which had a slight basis due to climate, settlers, and political views, but in the fact that New England citizens were the traders of the New World: they early joined the carrying slave-trade and furnished slaves to other colonies. He therefore treats suppression efforts as chiefly about stopping citizens' participation in carrying slaves.
Chapter 9
How did the molasses-rum-slave trade form a 'perfect circle' in New England?
Du Bois describes owners of slavers carrying slaves to South Carolina for naval stores, to the West Indies for molasses, or to other colonies for hogsheads. The molasses became New England rum, shipped in those hogsheads to Africa for more slaves. Thus the rum-distilling industry indicated New England's activity in the slave-trade; Newport alone once ran twenty-two stills continuously.
Chapter 9
What did Massachusetts do about Captain Smith's seizure of Africans around 1640?
When Captain Smith attacked an African village and brought natives home, he was promptly arrested. The General Court ordered the Negroes sent home at the colony's expense, conceiving themselves bound to bear witness against the 'haynos & crying sinn of manstealing' and to prescribe a law for the future to deter others from such vile courses.
Chapter 9
What did Massachusetts's 1705 duty act reveal about its attitude toward imported slaves?
The act 'for the Better Preventing of a Spurious and Mixt Issue' laid a restrictive duty of £4 on all slaves imported. Like many New England acts, it allowed a rebate of the whole duty on re-exportation, offering New England harbors as a free exchange-mart for slavers. By contrast, Southern and Middle colony duty acts allowed rebates of only one-half or three-fourths, taxing even temporary importation.
Chapter 9

Section 104 cards

How did Massachusetts respond to two captured Negroes advertised for sale at Salem?
The Revolutionary legislature considered a resolution to free them, declaring that selling and enslaving humans violated natural rights and the principles of the liberty struggle. The Council refused consent, so the final resolution only forbade the Negroes' sale or ill-treatment. Committees on slavery were appointed in 1776 and 1777, but no decisive action followed.
Chapter 10
What did Rhode Island's 1652 law against life slavery decree?
It ordered that no Black or white person bound by covenant serve longer than ten years, or until age twenty-four if taken in under fourteen. Servants were to be freed at ten years, as with English servants. Anyone refusing to free them or selling them elsewhere to be enslaved forfeited forty pounds to the colony. The law was enforced for a time but later became a dead letter.
Chapter 10
Why did Rhode Island become America's greatest slave-trader despite few imports for its own use?
From 1700 its citizens increasingly engaged in the carrying trade, becoming a clearing-house for other colonies' trade. Vessels carried lumber out and molasses back, often making a slave voyage in between. Samuel Hopkins reported around 1770 that over thirty distilleries ran and one hundred fifty vessels were in the slave-trade, and the author quotes him calling the trade Newport's 'first wheel of commerce.'
Chapter 10
What contradiction did Rhode Island's 1774 importation act contain?
Its preamble declared personal freedom the greatest right and said those enjoying liberty should extend it to others, and it freed any slave brought into the colony. Yet it omitted any ban on Rhode Island citizens participating in the slave-trade, and it exempted slaves from Africa carried to the West Indies on colony vessels and unsold there, if the owner bonded to export them within a year.
Chapter 10

Section 114 cards

What penalties did Connecticut's 1788 law set for participating in the slave trade?
Connecticut's 1788 law forbade participation in the slave trade and set the penalty at £50 for each slave and £500 for each ship engaged. This followed earlier measures: a 1774 prohibition on importing slaves, with a £100-per-slave penalty, re-enacted in 1784 along with provisions for gradual abolition.
Chapter 11
Why did Connecticut's 1774 law prohibit further importation of slaves?
The 1774 law prohibited further importation because, in the statute's words, "the increase of slaves in this Colony is injurious to the poor and inconvenient." It banned importation under any pretext with a penalty of £100 per slave. The measure was re-enacted in 1784, when provisions were also made for the abolition of slavery.
Chapter 11
On what grounds did New England oppose slave importation, according to Du Bois?
Du Bois argues that in New England slavery had no economic justification, and the small number of Negroes furnished no political arguments against them. Opposition to importation was therefore based from the first solely on moral grounds, with some social arguments. The carrying trade, however, was different: its economic advantages swept away a feeble moral opposition.
Chapter 11
What did Du Bois say finally suppressed New England's slave carrying trade?
Du Bois argues that the immense economic advantages of the slave traffic to a thrifty seafaring community of traders swept away the early, feeble moral opposition. Neither moral suasion nor even the strong "Liberty" cry of the Revolution could wholly suppress the trade, until the closing of the West Indian and Southern markets cut off the demand for slaves.
Chapter 11

Section 124 cards

What three general periods does Du Bois trace in colonial slave-trade legislation?
Du Bois traces three: 1638–1664, a tendency toward a high moral stand against the traffic, seen in New England laws and the Delaware and Georgia settlement plans; about 1664–1760, no general unity but statutes laying duties varying from encouragement to absolute prohibition, plus some moral opposition; and about 1760–1787, pronounced effort to regulate, limit, or totally prohibit the traffic.
Chapter 12
Why did the Revolution bring national unity on the slave-trade, and where did Du Bois locate the real crisis?
Du Bois argues the Revolution brought unison in action on the slave-trade, as on other matters, which may justly be called national. But he argues the real crisis came not in the upheaval but in the calm that followed, when most men thought the question settled—so that in 1787 it took an exceptionally clear mind to deny slavery and the trade were doomed to early annihilation.
Chapter 12
What did Du Bois identify as the uncertain quantities in the 1787 outlook?
Du Bois lists three: the motives of law-makers in South Carolina and Pennsylvania were dangerously different; the century of industrial expansion was dawning, awakening the economic revolution in which American slavery would play a prominent and fatal role; and faint signs in the South of a changing moral attitude that would treat slavery as a permanent though perhaps unfortunate necessity rather than a temporary makeshift.
Chapter 12
How large was the slave trade around 1760 and after the Revolution, according to Du Bois?
In 1760 England, the chief slave-trading nation, sent on average 163 ships annually to Africa, tonnage 18,000 tons, exports worth £163,818; only about twenty returned regularly to England. The Revolution cut English slavers clearing from 167 in 1774 to 28 in 1779. By 1787 it was estimated the British took 38,000 slaves annually, the French 20,000, Portuguese 10,000, Dutch and Danes 6,000—74,000 total.
Chapter 12

Section 134 cards

What were the six reasons behind the colonists' concerted action against the slave-trade at the Revolution's outbreak?
Du Bois lists six: economic failure of slavery in the Middle and Eastern colonies; the new philosophy of Freedom and the Rights of man; old fear of slave insurrections, heightened by war and fear of British incitement; overstocked slave markets in 1774-1775; low slave prices and vulnerable merchant interests; and the belief that stopping commercial intercourse with England was the best weapon against her.
Chapter 13
What did the Continental Congress resolve on October 12, 1774, regarding slaves and the slave trade?
After reciting grievances, the Congress declared non-importation would best secure redress, excluding goods from Great Britain, Ireland, the East and West Indies, and Dominica. It resolved to neither import nor purchase any slave imported after December 1, and thereafter to wholly discontinue the slave trade, not be concerned in it, hire vessels to it, or sell commodities to those concerned in it.
Chapter 13
How does Du Bois characterize the motives behind the Association's action against the slave-trade?
The author argues the movement was not a great moral protest against an iniquitous traffic; though it had strong moral backing, it was primarily a temporary war measure. He explains the strong resolution by the motives given, the drafting committee's character, America's desire to appear well before the world, and the natural moral enthusiasm aroused by the imminence of a great national struggle.
Chapter 13
Which colonies specifically mentioned slaves in their 1774 non-importation resolutions, and what did Virginia's county conventions say?
Only three states specifically mentioned slaves: Rhode Island recommended stopping all trade with Great Britain, Ireland, Africa, and the West Indies; North Carolina resolved not to import or purchase slaves after November 1; Virginia gave the trade especial prominence. Fairfax County called it a wicked, cruel, unnatural trade, while Prince George and Nansemond called the African trade injurious to the colony.
Chapter 13

Section 144 cards

How did the colonies respond to the Association's slave-trade clause?
Most colonists accepted the clause with little comment; a Connecticut town meeting praised it. Disapproval was widespread and determined only in Georgia, where it delayed ratification and led the governor to adjourn the meeting. Some Georgia delegates agreed to stop importation on March 15, 1775, four months later than the Association directed, and the agreement was not binding on the province.
Chapter 14
How did Congress and the colonies enforce the slave-trade ban?
Enforcement was voluntary. South Carolina sent a cargo of nearly three hundred slaves out of the colony because the Association interdicted it. Norfolk's vigilance committee publicly censured merchant John Brown for importing slaves from Jamaica, urging others to break off dealings with him. Congress later resolved on May 17, 1775, to halt all exportations to Georgia except St. John's Parish, which brought the colony to terms.
Chapter 14
What did Congress resolve about slave importation on April 3, 1776?
Congress resolved to allow importation of articles not grown or manufactured in Great Britain, except tea, and voted that no slaves be imported into any of the thirteen United Colonies. Du Bois argues this marked a change from the definitive promise of 1774 to a temporary resolve, which probably represented public opinion better than the earlier strong words.
Chapter 14
What did Du Bois conclude about the first national anti-slave-trade movement?
Du Bois argues its influence on the trade was temporary and insignificant, and that the outlook for final suppression was little brighter than before. The movement served as a social test showing the slave-trade was far more powerful than many Revolutionists assumed. He notes the wartime stoppage created extraordinary demand, leading to a postwar trade nearly as large as before.
Chapter 14

Section 151 cards

Why did economic pressure after the war revive demand for the African slave-trade?
The chapter states that the economic forces of the country, which had suffered most, sought to recover, and selfish motives led a bankrupt nation to demand a reopening of the profitable African slave-trade. The demand was especially urgent because slaves had been so reduced in numbers during the war, by pillage, flight, and actual fighting, that the South felt an urgent need for more laborers.
Chapter 15

Section 163 cards

How did South Carolina and Georgia delegates block moral arguments against the slave trade?
They repeatedly asserted the states could never accept the plan if it prohibited the slave trade, calling any expectation of stoppage vain. Roger Sherman concluded it was better to let the Southern States import slaves than to part with those States, effectively silencing moral argument.
Chapter 16
What economic argument did Pinckney and Rutledge make for the slave trade?
C.C. Pinckney contended importation served the whole Union: more slaves meant more produce. Rutledge added that Northern states consulting their interest would not oppose increasing slaves, since that would increase the commodities they carried. Ellsworth echoed, "What enriches a part enriches the whole."
Chapter 16
What did Ellsworth and Baldwin argue about who should control slavery?
Ellsworth said slavery's morality and wisdom belonged to the states themselves; each state should import what it pleases, and since the Confederation never meddled, neither should the Union. Baldwin warned the "central States" wanted to be a "vortex for everything," even local matters.
Chapter 16

Section 174 cards

What 'middle ground' did Gouverneur Morris propose for the slave-trade dispute?
Morris suggested committing the whole subject, including clauses on export taxes and navigation acts, so they 'may form a bargain among the Northern and Southern States.' The Convention assented; sections on the slave trade and capitation tax were committed 7 to 3, and the navigation-act section 9 to 2, to a committee of one member from each state.
Chapter 17
According to Luther Martin, what did the committee's 'bargain' exchange?
Martin reports the Eastern States, despite their aversion to slavery, were willing to indulge the Southern States with temporary liberty to prosecute the slave trade, provided the South would place no restriction on navigation acts. The committee's majority report barred the general government from preventing slave importation for a limited time and omitted the restrictive navigation clause.
Chapter 17
What did Madison argue against extending the slave-trade limit to 1808?
Madison protested that twenty years would produce all the mischief apprehended from liberty to import slaves, and that so long a term would be more dishonorable to the American character than saying nothing in the Constitution. Despite this, the South and East voted the extension 7 to 4, with only New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia objecting.
Chapter 17
How was the slave-importation tax finally settled?
Baldwin proposed replacing the vague 'average' duty with a 'common impost on articles not enumerated.' Sherman and Madison objected that taxing implied recognizing property in man; Mason and Gorham said the tax restrained the trade; King, Langdon, and Pinckney called the clause 'the price of the first part.' It was unanimously agreed the duty not exceed ten dollars per person.
Chapter 17

Section 184 cards

What did the Convention decide on Pinckney's motion to require two-thirds votes for navigation acts?
By a vote of 7 to 4, with Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia in the minority, the Convention refused to consider Charles Pinckney's motion and let the committee's recommendation pass. Pinckney had argued that regulating commerce was a pure concession by the Southern States, while Sherman, Morris, and Spaight said diversity of interest was itself a security.
Chapter 18
What proviso did Rutledge secure for the amendment clause regarding the slave trade?
Rutledge declared he could never agree to a power letting states not interested in slave property alter the slave articles. The clause adopted September 15 therefore provided that no amendment made prior to 1808 could affect the 1st and 4th clauses of the 9th section of the 1st article, protecting the slave-trade provisions.
Chapter 18
How did the North and South differ in their understanding of slavery as 'temporary'?
The author argues all three sections united in considering slavery temporary, with the slave-trade as its corner-stone, and few members doubted that putting abolition in Congress's hands twenty years hence would sap its foundations. But when the North said temporary it meant twenty or thirty years, while the South's temporary period was scarcely less than a century.
Chapter 18
How did Iredell and Noah Webster defend the slave-trade clause against critics?
Iredell replied to Mason that he would have heartily approved prohibition, but South Carolina and Georgia thought further importation useful and might not otherwise have agreed to the Constitution; the evil must be borne, and future legislatures would decide. Webster called the exception pitiful, noting state laws against importation stood unrepealed and that immediate abolition would bring ruin.
Chapter 18

Section 193 cards

How did Tench Coxe's 'Examination' characterize the slave-trade clause?
Tench Coxe argued that any temporary reservation of a matter is an admission it should be abolished. He said regard was paid to the situation of southern fellow-citizens, but they were not insensible of the delicate situation of national character on this subject. He noted arguments from liberty, justice, religion, and sound policy had been urged against slave-trading.
Chapter 19
How did Madison defend the slave-trade clause in Federalist No. 41?
Madison wrote it were doubtless to be wished the power to prohibit importation had not been postponed to 1808, or had immediate operation. But he called it a great point gained for humanity that twenty years could terminate the traffic, which would receive discouragement from the Federal Government and might be totally abolished by states following the prohibitory example. He dismissed objections as misconstructions deserving no answer.
Chapter 19
What was the character of state convention opposition to the slave-trade clause?
Du Bois says records are meagre, but where they exist some opposition appears in nearly all. It was seldom pronounced or bitter, taking the form of regret—some thought the Convention went too far, others not far enough. He concludes the Constitution was probably never in danger of rejection on account of this clause. Delegates like Wilson, Barnwell, Heath, and Iredell defended it; Neal, Thompson, Mason, and Atherton opposed.
Chapter 19

Section 202 cards

Which state alone proposed an amendment letting Congress prevent all slave importation?
Despite discussion across the states, only Rhode Island went so far as to propose an amendment directing Congress to promote and establish laws and regulations that would effectually prevent the importation of slaves of every description into the United States. The proposal was adopted by a majority of one in a convention of seventy.
Chapter 20
What motives does Du Bois say drove the states to accept the slave-trade compromise?
Du Bois notes the compromise was accepted by various states from widely different motives, though a certain underlying agreement in dislike of slavery remained discernible. He argues that if the late war's devastation had not left an extraordinary demand for slaves in the South, or if the slave market had been as glutted in 1787 as in 1774, the country's future history would have been far different.
Chapter 20

Section 214 cards

Why did South Carolina reopen the African slave trade in 1803?
Du Bois states that South Carolina reopened the trade by an act of December 17, 1803, driven by home demand in view of the probable stoppage of the trade in 1808, speculative chances of the new Louisiana Territory trade, and the large existing illicit traffic. The act still carefully excluded "West India" Negroes. The author argues this action profoundly stirred the Union and aroused anti-slavery sentiment.
Chapter 21
What penalties did Connecticut's 1788 act impose for participating in the slave trade?
Connecticut's 1788 act, secured through Rhode Island Quaker remonstrances, prohibited participation in the trade with a fine of £500 on the vessel, £50 on each slave, and loss of insurance. The act was strengthened in 1792, the year after the Haytian revolt. Du Bois notes the Eastern States aimed at stopping citizens' participation in the trade outside the state.
Chapter 21
What did Parker of Virginia propose in the 1789 Congress debate?
On May 13, 1789, Parker of Virginia moved to lay a tax of ten dollars per capita on slaves imported, plainly stating the tax was designed to check the trade and that he was sorry the Constitution prevented Congress from prohibiting the importation altogether. The proposal caused extended debate and was eventually withdrawn for a separate bill, which was postponed.
Chapter 21
What was the outcome of the 1790 Quaker petitions in Congress?
Quaker petitions from the interstate Yearly Meeting of Friends and from New York, presented February 11, 1790, urged Congress to inquire whether it could exercise justice and mercy toward abolishing the slave trade. Smith of South Carolina objected and precipitated a sharp debate. Stone of Maryland argued the petitioners had no more right to interfere than other community members, and that religious sects wrongly imagined they understood human nature better.
Chapter 21

Section 224 cards

What did the select committee report say about Congress and slave importation before 1808?
The committee's first point held that the General Government is expressly restrained from prohibiting the importation of such persons as any existing states think proper to admit until the year 1808. This reflected the constitutional compromise, which Baldwin warned would tremble under their feet if jostled. The report was adopted by the Committee of the Whole 29 to 25 on March 23, 1790.
Chapter 22
What did the committee say about Congress interfering in emancipation of existing slaves?
The second point stated that Congress, by a fair construction of the Constitution, is equally restrained from interfering in the emancipation of slaves already present, or who may be imported or born within those states before 1808. This went beyond the importation clause to bar emancipation of the existing enslaved population, a broader reading than the text alone required.
Chapter 22
What powers did the committee concede Congress had over the slave trade?
The fourth and fifth points conceded Congress authority to lay a tax or duty not exceeding ten dollars per imported person, and to interdict or regulate the African trade so far as carried on by United States citizens supplying foreigners, plus to provide for humane treatment of slaves on passage. The committee also denied authority over internal state regulations like religious instruction, clothing, marriage, and family separation.
Chapter 22
How did the House dispose of the antislavery memorials in 1790?
After bitter debate, the memorials were committed by a vote of 43 to 11, with the South Carolina and Georgia delegations plus Bland and Coles of Virginia, Stone of Maryland, and Sylvester of New York voting no. A committee without Southern members reported on March 5, producing what Du Bois calls a sort of official manifesto of Northern antislavery politics, which the House then debated for days.
Chapter 22

Section 234 cards

What did the 1794 committee report say about Congress and emancipation within states?
The report stated that Congress had no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in their treatment within any state; that power remained with the individual states alone, to regulate as humanity and true policy required. Congress could, however, restrain citizens from carrying on the African trade to supply foreigners with slaves.
Chapter 23
What did the Act of March 22, 1794 prohibit and what penalties did it set?
The first national act against the slave-trade prohibited carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country, and fitting out slavers in the United States for that purpose. Penalties were forfeiture of the ship, a $1000 fine for each person engaged, and $200 for each slave transported.
Chapter 23
What news from the seas influenced Congress to pass the 1794 act?
News came from the seas southeast of Carolina and Georgia: the revolt of slaves, the rise of a black leader, and the birth of a nation of Negro freemen. This frightened pro-slavery advocates and armed anti-slavery agitation, so a Quaker petition for a law against the transport traffic was received without objection in 1794.
Chapter 23
How did Congress respond to the 1797 petition on the African race and interstate trade?
The petition called attention to the oppressed state of African brethren in the country and to the interstate slave-trade. John Rutledge insisted 'sufficient for the day is the evil thereof' and urged shutting the door against anything tending to produce like confusion. After excited debate and committee investigation, both Senate and House ordered the petition withdrawn.
Chapter 23

Section 243 cards

What did the Act of May 10, 1800 add to the earlier Act of 1794?
The 1794 act barred citizens from equipping slavers for the foreign trade. The 1800 act went further, forbidding any direct or indirect interest in such voyages or serving on slave-ships in any capacity. It added two years' imprisonment to the $2,000 fine and directed United States commissioned ships to capture such slavers as prizes. Slaves forfeited by the owner were not to go to the captor, and the act omitted to say what disposition should be made of them.
Chapter 24
What prompted the Act of February 28, 1803?
The Haytian revolt and the arrival of freedmen from the West Indies in American ports. On January 17, 1803, Wilmington, North Carolina, memorialized Congress about freed Negroes arriving from Guadeloupe, fearing danger to the peace and safety of the Southern States. A House committee agreed prompt interference was needed, and the resulting law provided for forfeiture of any ship bringing 'any negro, mulatto, or other person of color' into States prohibiting them, with the captain also punished.
Chapter 24
What did Congressman Brown of Rhode Island argue in the 1800 debate?
Brown made an elaborate plea for throwing open the foreign slave-trade. He said Negroes bettered their condition by being enslaved, so it was morally wrong and commercially indefensible to impose a heavy fine and imprisonment for carrying on so advantageous a trade. Alternatively, if the trade must be stopped, he argued the matter should be equalized and slavery abolished too. The author reports these as Brown's arguments, not as fact.
Chapter 24

Section 253 cards

What arguments were made for and against taxing imported slaves in 1806?
Supporters argued the trade was wrong, the tax would serve as a slight check, add revenue, and act as a moral protest; it was not inequitable since a state could avoid it by prohibiting the trade. Opponents argued a revenue-producing tax would defeat its own object and make prohibition harder in 1808, was inequitable toward one state and agriculture, gave national sanction to the trade, and that a small tax would be useless as protection and criminal as revenue.
Chapter 25
What did the 1804 Louisiana territorial act provide regarding slave imports?
The act placed the Northern District of Louisiana under Indiana Territory and the Ordinance of 1787. For the Southern Territory, amendments confined importation to slaves from the States, then limited it further to slaves imported before South Carolina opened her ports. Only slaves imported before May 1, 1798, who were slaves of actual settlers, could be introduced; illegally imported slaves were freed. The act was limited to one year.
Chapter 25
How was the 1804 Louisiana restriction on slave imports undone in 1805?
The stringent act was limited to one year. The next year, in accordance with the urgent petition of the inhabitants, a bill was introduced against these restrictions. By dexterous wording, this bill, which became law March 2, 1805, swept away all restrictions upon the slave-trade except that relating to foreign ports, and left even this provision so ambiguous that later judicial interpretation allowed the foreign slave-trade, at least for a time.
Chapter 25

Section 263 cards

What did the 1806 bill concerning San Domingo prohibit, and how long did it remain law?
A bill to prohibit trade with San Domingo passed the Senate on February 20, 1806, after considerable opposition. In the House, one side charged the measure was dictated by France, the other that it arose from fear of countenancing Negro insurrection. The bill became law, and by continuations remained on the statute-books until 1809.
Chapter 26
Why did John Randolph oppose reopening trade with San Domingo?
When a proposal was made to reopen trade with the island, John Randolph pointed out the "dreadful evil" of a "direct trade betwixt the town of Charleston and the ports of the island of St. Domingo." The nightmare of the Haytian insurrection continued to haunt the South even at that distance, shaping its resistance to renewed commerce with the island.
Chapter 26
How does Du Bois characterize the twenty years from 1787 to 1807 regarding slave-trade suppression?
Du Bois says these years were, on the whole, a period of disappointment so far as suppression of the slave-trade was concerned. Fear, interest, and philanthropy united for a time in an effort that bade fair to suppress the trade; then the real weakness of the constitutional compromise appeared, and the interests of the few overcame the fears and humanity of the many.
Chapter 26

Section 272 cards

What did Southern representatives admit about enforcing a strict slave-trade law?
Southern men declared that no strict law against the slave-trade could be executed in the South, and that the trade could be checked only by playing on motives of personal interest. The author calls the readiness of this admission a sad commentary on prior enforcement of State and national laws.
Chapter 27
What did Early say about Southern attitudes toward slavery?
Early boldly said, 'A large majority of people in the Southern States do not consider slavery as even an evil.' The author uses this to illustrate the slowly changing moral attitude of the South, noting that the South insisted on treating man-stealing as a misdemeanor rather than a crime.
Chapter 27

Section 284 cards

What two chief positions divided Congress on disposing of illegally imported Africans?
The propositions split into two radically opposed heads: one held that illegally imported Africans should be free, though possibly indentured for a term of years or removed from the country; the other held that such Africans should be sold as slaves. Du Bois notes the arguments on both sides fell roughly into three classes: political, constitutional, and moral.
Chapter 28
What political argument did supporters of freedom make against selling imported Africans?
They argued that enslaving them would perpetrate the very evil the law was meant to stop: by the same law we condemn the man-stealer yet become receivers of his stolen goods, punishing the criminal then stepping into his place to complete the crime. They also claimed forfeiture and sale implied a property right in the Africans that did not exist.
Chapter 28
What was Early's argument that a law freeing imported Africans could not be executed?
Early argued that to give effect to laws you must not make them repugnant to the passions and wishes of the people among whom they operate. Since Southerners believed free Africans among them were a greater evil than slavery itself, no one would inform, because informing would lead to an evil deemed greater than the offence and would oppose self-preservation and love of family.
Chapter 28
How did Northern men counter the Southern constitutional argument over Congress's power?
Southern men derived Congress's power over the slave trade from the commerce clause and said Congress could not declare Africans imported into a slave State free against that State's laws, nor determine what should be property in a State. Northern men replied that on this principle forfeiture and sale in Massachusetts would be illegal, that the power came from the restraining clause since a non-existent power could not be restrained, and that the United States could act under general powers as executor of the Law of Nations.
Chapter 28

Section 294 cards

What did Section 4 of the final law say about title to illegally imported Negroes?
Section 4 provided that neither the importer nor anyone claiming under him could hold any right or title to any illegally imported negro, mulatto, or person of color, nor to their service or labor. Such persons remained subject to regulations not contravening the act that state or territorial legislatures might later make for disposing of them.
Chapter 29
What were the two opposing positions on punishing violations of the slave-trade law?
One side held that violation should be a felony punished by death, stressing the enormity of the offense and comparing it to piracy and forgery, which carried death penalties though they were crimes only against property. The other side held it should be a misdemeanor punished by fine and imprisonment, arguing the death penalty was disproportionate and therefore immoral.
Chapter 29
What penalties did the bill as passed impose for slave-trade offenses?
Equipping a slaver drew a $20,000 fine and forfeiture of the ship. Transporting Negroes drew a $5,000 fine plus forfeiture of ship and Negroes. Transporting and selling drew a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, imprisonment of 5 to 10 years, and forfeiture. Knowingly buying illegally imported Negroes drew an $800 fine per Negro and forfeiture.
Chapter 29
How did Congress compromise on the interstate coastwise slave-trade?
The first proposition would have prohibited the coastwise slave-trade altogether, but Randolph and Early vehemently opposed it. The Conference Committee compromised by forbidding the coastwise trade for purposes of sale in vessels under forty tons. Early said the law would not prevent the introduction of a single slave, and Randolph was so dissatisfied he introduced an amendatory bill, which failed.
Chapter 29

Section 304 cards

What punishment did the Senate bill initially prescribe for violations of the slave-trade act?
The Senate bill, passed January 27, 1807, provided that violations of the act should be felony punishable with death, and it forbade the interstate coast-trade. The House had amended its own version to make violation a misdemeanor punishable by fine and imprisonment, and the Senate ultimately agreed to that substitution, though it asked for a conference on the coast-trade provision.
Chapter 30
What was the outcome of Bidwell's motion that no person be sold as a slave under the act?
Bidwell's amendment to the forfeiture clause, providing that no person shall be sold as a slave by virtue of the act, resulted in a tie vote of 60 to 60. Speaker Macon of North Carolina cast the deciding vote against it. New England voted solidly for it, the Middle States stood 4 for and 2 against, and the six Southern States stood solid against it.
Chapter 30
How did the House and Senate resolve their disagreement over the interstate coast-trade?
The Senate asked for a conference on the provision that left the interstate coast-trade free. The six conferees brought the Houses to agree by limiting the trade to vessels over forty tons and requiring registry of the slaves. The bill then passed the House 113 to 5 and was signed by President Jefferson on March 2, 1807.
Chapter 30
How does Du Bois characterize the Act of 1807 and its enforcement?
The author argues the bill can hardly be regarded as a great anti-slavery victory, since strong anti-slavery men like Bidwell and Sloan were outgeneraled by Southerners like Early and Williams. He notes no special machinery was provided for enforcement; responsibility shifted among Treasury, Navy, State, War, and later Interior. He argues that from 1814 on the law was probably enforced as the people who made it wished.
Chapter 30

Section 313 cards

How did Southern states dispose of illegally imported Africans under supplementary acts?
Most Southern states tardily passed supplementary acts; a few passed none. The Alabama-Mississippi Territory Act of 1815 directed illegally imported Negroes be sold at public auction for ready money, half to the informer or collector and half to the treasury. North Carolina's 1816 act sold them for the state's use, one-fifth to the informer. Georgia's 1817 act allowed sale or transfer to the Colonization Society, provided it reimbursed the state and paid transportation costs.
Chapter 31
How did the Spanish flag figure in American slave-trading after 1807?
The African Society of London estimated Americans shipped fifteen of sixty thousand slaves annually taken from Africa down to 1816. American-flag slaving continued until 1809, when an English prize-appeal decision made American slave ships liable to capture; the flag then suddenly vanished from the coast, replaced almost instantly by the Spanish flag. The author says this substitution confirmed that the trade, now in Spanish dress, was really other nations' trade in disguise.
Chapter 31
What was the Galveston slave-piracy system reported around 1817?
Naval officers and collectors reported that since the war a system of slave piracy had arisen at Galveston under buccaneer governor Aury: organized brigands who did not sail to Africa but captured slavers and sold their cargoes into the United States. In 1817 the nest had eleven armed vessels, cargoes of up to three hundred slaves arrived in Texas, and violations of the slave and revenue laws continued.
Chapter 31

Section 324 cards

What did the Register of the Treasury report to the House on January 7, 1819?
After the wholesale and open violation of the Act of 1807, the Register reported, in response to a House request, that examination of the office records—particularly the settled accounts of customs collectors and marshals—showed no forfeitures had been incurred under the act. This stood as the most severe comment on the period, underscoring that the law was openly flouted without financial penalty.
Chapter 32
What did Secretary Crawford confess to Congress in 1820 about enforcement instructions?
Crawford admitted that an examination of the office records showed no particular instructions had ever been given by the Secretary of the Treasury under the original or supplementary acts prohibiting the introduction of slaves into the United States. This confession of administrative inactivity capped the government's negligent response to collectors' repeated reports of violations.
Chapter 32
What happened in the 1818 case of the schooners Constitution, Louisa, and Marino?
The three American schooners sailed from the U.S. to Havana and returned with 107 slaves. The Constitution was captured under Fort Barancas's guns; the Louisa and Marino by Lieutenant McKeever. Slaves were placed with three bondsmen, friends of the judge, not the marshal. The vessels were condemned in 1822, and in 1824 the Supreme Court condemned the vessels and slaves on two of them; the slaves were sold at auction despite the Act of 1819, and no action was taken against the traders.
Chapter 32
What did the Darien collector report in March 1818 about illicit slave introduction?
He reported undoubted information that African and West India negroes were almost daily illicitly introduced into Georgia for sale, settlement, or passage to U.S. territories. Such negroes appeared in St. Mary's streets, and those captured by warships and ordered to Savannah were illegally bartered by hundreds before any court decision, via 'bonding' that was really selling. He urged immediate congressional interposition.
Chapter 32

Section 333 cards

What two approaches to fixing the 1807 Act did the 1818 and 1819 Acts try?
The Act of 1818 tried minimizing the crime of transportation and encouraging informers to concentrate efforts against buying smuggled slaves; the Act of 1819 tried making transportation so great a crime that no slaves would be imported. Du Bois calls the latter the more upright and logical method, while the 1818 Act was a poorly constructed compromise pitting cupidity against cupidity.
Chapter 33
What did the 1818 Act provide regarding informers and penalties?
One-half of all forfeitures and fines went to the informer. Fines and imprisonment were changed: equipping a slaver drew $1000 to $5000 and 3 to 7 years instead of a $20,000 fine; transporting Negroes drew $1000 to $5000 and 3 to 7 years; actual importation drew $1000 to $10,000 and 3 to 7 years; knowingly buying illegally imported Negroes drew $1000 per Negro. The burden of proof was laid on the defendant to show importation at least five years before prosecution.
Chapter 33
What did the Act of May 15, 1820 declare about slave-trading?
The Act of May 15, 1820 provided that direct participation in the slave-trade should be piracy, punishable with death. It originated from piracy bills introduced early in the sixteenth Congress; the House bill was amended to include slave-trading under piracy and passed, and the Senate agreed without a division. Du Bois calls it the last of the Missouri Compromise measures.
Chapter 33

Section 344 cards

What did Monroe do about recaptured Africans despite his constitutional scruples?
Monroe had constitutional scruples about executing the Act of 1819, but when Congress took no action he put a fair interpretation on his powers and appointed Samuel Bacon as an agent in Africa to form a settlement for recaptured Africans. That agency gradually merged with the Colonization Society's work on Cape Mesurado, and from this union Liberia was finally evolved.
Chapter 34
How did contemporaries in 1818-1820 estimate the number of illegally imported slaves?
Tallmadge told the House in February 1819 that about fourteen thousand slaves had been brought into the country in the last year. Middleton of South Carolina and Wright of Virginia estimated illicit introduction at 13,000 and 15,000 respectively. Judge Story charged a jury that the trade continued with implacable rapacity and that American citizens were steeped in this stream of iniquity.
Chapter 34
What did the 1822 congressional committee conclude about the slave trade and American involvement?
The committee said it could not measure precisely the effect of the laws and seizures, and could not tell whether American merchants, capital, and seamen had abandoned the traffic or sought shelter under other flags. It noted the suspicious fact that as the American flag disappeared, the trade increased annually under other nations' flags, and complained of spasmodic executive efforts and rare cruiser visits.
Chapter 34
Why was enforcing anti-slave-trade law inside the United States so difficult?
Attorney-General Wirt had to remind collectors in 1819 that prosecutions were public policy. A district attorney wrote it seemed almost impossible to enforce the laws once Africans were landed in a state, and freedom for captives was hard to secure in slave-holding states. Smugglers hid Africans in the woods while partners 'robbed' them to erase traces; only about 350 cases were officially reported from 1818 to 1820.
Chapter 34

Section 353 cards

What does Du Bois infer from the lack of evidence of smuggling after 1825?
Du Bois argues that although there is little positive evidence of large illicit importation for a decade after 1825, the activity in the trade makes it hardly possible that slaves were not largely imported. He reasons that absence of evidence of petty smuggling becomes presumptive evidence that collusive or tacit understanding of officers and citizens allowed the trade to some extent.
Chapter 35
What happened to the 280 Africans captured on the Antelope?
A Venezuelan privateer fitted out in Baltimore captured several slavers and took their slaves; after being wrecked, it transferred crew and slaves to the Antelope, which a U.S. cruiser captured, sending 280 Africans to Georgia. The Supreme Court ordered those taken from Spaniards surrendered and the others returned to Africa; only 139 remained, 100 sent to Africa, and the Spanish claimants sold the remaining thirty-nine to Mr. Wilde.
Chapter 35
What does Du Bois conclude about Congress's laws from 1807 to 1820?
Du Bois argues that although Congress laid down broad lines of legislation from 1807 to 1820 sufficient, save in some details, to suppress the African slave trade to America, the execution of these laws was criminally lax. He adds that slavers could disguise their identity and escape even vigorous enforcement, so the situation required energetic and sincere international co-operation.
Chapter 35

Section 364 cards

How did House and Senate votes on the death penalty for slave traders split regionally?
The Committee of the Whole amendment imposing the death penalty passed 63 to 53. The New England States stood 3 to 2 in favor; the Middle States were evenly divided, 3 and 3; and the South stood 5 to 0 against it, with Kentucky evenly divided.
Chapter 36
What did Du Bois say about the reliability of his account of this bill?
Du Bois states that on account of the meagre records it is difficult to follow the course of the bill. He says he pieced together information from various sources and trusts that his account is approximately correct.
Chapter 36
How did the Senate bill substitution affect the anti-slavery and Southern parties?
The substitution of the Senate bill was a victory for the anti-slavery party, since all battles had to be fought again. The Southern party, however, succeeded in carrying all its amendments.
Chapter 36
What did the grand jury do in the Brunswick, Georgia slave-trade cases, and what did the collector say?
The grand jury found true bills against the owners of the vessels, masters, and a supercargo, but all were discharged. Collector McIntosh wrote he could not say why, except that it could not be for want of proof against them.
Chapter 36

Section 373 cards

Why were the slaves on the 'Constitution' not condemned?
They were not condemned for a technical reason: the vessel was not captured by a commissioned officer of the United States navy. The chapter presents this as the formal ground that blocked condemnation, illustrating how procedural requirements could defeat enforcement of the slave-trade laws even when captives were aboard.
Chapter 37
Which regions and parties favored the Act of 1818 versus the Act of 1819?
The chapter states that the first method, represented by the Act of 1818, was favored by the South, the Senate, and the Democrats. The second method, represented by the Act of 1819, was favored by the North, the House, and the as yet undeveloped but growing Whig party.
Chapter 37
What did the House slave-trade committee of 1813 recommend, and what followed?
The chapter notes that committees on the slave-trade were appointed by the House in 1810 and 1813. The committee of 1813 recommended a revision of the laws, but nothing was done. The citation is Annals of Congress, 11 Cong. 3 sess. p. 387, and 12 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 1074, 1090.
Chapter 37

Section 384 cards

What did the House Committee report in 1822 conclude about suppressing the slave trade?
The House Committee, appointed after the President's message boasting of the government's success in suppressing the trade, reported conclusions that contradicted those claims. Its findings were confirmed by British parliamentary papers. In 1823 Ashmun, the African agent, reported that thousands of slaves were still being abducted, showing the trade continued despite official optimism.
Chapter 38
How did presidential pardons undercut enforcement of the slave-trade laws?
Du Bois lists pardons from Jefferson through Jackson for those convicted of illegal slave-trading or importing slaves. Madison remitted every penalty for fifteen vessels arriving at New Orleans with 683 negroes. Monroe pardoned J.F. Smith after he served twenty-five months of a five-year sentence. The author presents these as evidence that enforcement was undermined by executive leniency.
Chapter 38
What did the Senate and House do with bills to register slaves and prevent illegal importation?
Du Bois notes that two Senate bills to register slaves so as to prevent illegal importation were both dropped in the House. A House proposition to the same effect also came to nothing. A further proposal, the Meigs resolution of February 5, 1820, to devote public lands to suppressing the slave-trade, was ruled out of order and later tabled.
Chapter 38
Which countries held slaves at the start of the nineteenth century, and in what numbers?
Du Bois states England held 800,000 slaves in her colonies; France, 250,000; Denmark, 27,000; Spain and Portugal, 600,000; Holland, 50,000; Sweden, 600. Brazil had about 2,000,000 and the United States about 900,000. He calls these roughly four and a half million enforced laborers the economic basis of the demand for the slave-trade.
Chapter 38

Section 394 cards

What did Jay propose during the 1783 peace negotiations, and how did Fox respond?
Jay proposed a proviso barring British subjects from carrying or importing slaves into the United States, stating the States' intention to prohibit importation entirely. Fox replied that if that was their policy, it could never be competent for Britain to dispute their own regulations. The provision was omitted from the final treaty, probably because it was thought unnecessary.
Chapter 39
What did Article 24 of the proposed 1806 London treaty commit the parties to do?
It bound the high contracting parties to communicate without delay all laws enacted by their legislatures and all measures taken for the abolition or limitation of the African slave trade. They further agreed to use their best endeavors to procure the co-operation of other Powers for the final and complete abolition of a trade described as repugnant to justice and humanity.
Chapter 39
What did the May 30, 1814 additional article to the Treaty of Paris require of France and Britain?
It engaged the two powers to induce the approaching Congress at Vienna to decree abolition of the slave trade so it would cease universally. On France's part it was to cease definitively within five years, and during that period no slave merchant could import or sell slaves except in the colonies of the state of which he was a subject.
Chapter 39
Why did Adams reject Canning's proposed mutual Right of Search in 1820?
Adams saw constitutional objections: a compact letting one nation's naval officers search another's merchant vessels, seize them into foreign ports, and face tribunals half composed of foreigners was an investment of power over citizens' persons, property, and reputation unwarranted by any delegation of sovereign power and adverse to individual rights. He instead suggested co-operation of fleets on the coast of Africa, which was promptly accepted.
Chapter 39

Section 403 cards

What three proposals did England make at the Congress of Verona in 1822?
England recommended that each country denounce the trade as piracy to build a general law of nations; that Powers withdraw their flags from non-natives engaging in the traffic; and that states refuse produce from colonies of states allowing the trade, which would apply to Portugal and Brazil alone. Austria accepted only the first two, France refused to denounce the trade as piracy, and Prussia was non-committal.
Chapter 40
What did Adams propose regarding the slave trade as piracy under the law of nations?
Adams agreed to recognize the slave-traffic as piracy under the law of nations, meaning slavers would be seizable by officers and authorities of every nation but triable only by the tribunals of the country of the slave-trading vessel. Canning accepted only if it were piracy under the Law of Nations, not merely statute law, and proposed a strictly limited Right of Search.
Chapter 40
Why did the Senate's amendments doom the 1824 convention with England?
The Senate amended the convention to be terminable at six months' notice, and a systematic attack led by Johnson of Louisiana struck out vital provisions: American waters were excepted, West Indies waters barely escaped exception, and the Right of Search was not applied to citizens chartering vessels of a third nation. England refused to sign, demanding at least the Right of Search in American waters.
Chapter 40

Section 414 cards

What did Forsyth say in 1840 about the U.S. duty on the slave-trade?
Secretary of State Forsyth declared in 1840 that the United States' duty regarding the slave-trade "has been faithfully performed," and that if the traffic still existed as a disgrace to humanity, it was to be imputed to nations with which Great Britain had formed intimate connections and paid for the right of active intervention. The chapter presents this against overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Chapter 41
How did the flag protecting slave-traders shift between 1830 and 1860?
The traffic floated under French, Spanish, and Portuguese flags until about 1830. From 1830 to 1840 it began assuming the United States flag; by 1845 a large part was under the stars and stripes; by 1850 fully one-half, and in the decade 1850-1860 nearly all the traffic found this flag its best protection.
Chapter 41
What did the Quintuple Treaty of 1841 provide?
Signed December 20, 1841, by England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria (all but France assenting to England's draft), it denounced the slave-trade as piracy and agreed that ships of war with special warrants could search any merchant-vessel of the contracting parties suspected on reasonable grounds of slave traffic. Captured slavers were sent to their own countries for trial.
Chapter 41
How did Lewis Cass protest the Quintuple Treaty, and what did Guizot reply?
Cass, U.S. minister to France, sent an official note to Guizot on his own responsibility, protesting an international Right of Search and warning the powers against force. Guizot replied that no new principle of international law subjecting non-participating vessels was intended, and hoped the United States would aid the trade's definitive abolition. The chapter calls Cass's protest the manifesto of a laissez-faire faction.
Chapter 41

Section 424 cards

What did the Treaty of Washington (1842) substitute for a Right of Search?
It substituted joint cruising by English and American squadrons for the proposed grant of a Right of Search. Tyler stated the treaty altered no rules of the law of nations; it simply required each government to maintain a sufficient squadron on the coast of Africa to enforce its own laws against the slave trade. Benton moved to strike the article, but the attempt failed 37 to 12 and the treaty was ratified.
Chapter 42
How did slavers exploit the American flag, according to the chapter?
Vessels sailed under the American flag so British cruisers could not touch them if the flag and papers were correct, and no American cruiser could touch them if no slaves were aboard, even when fittings and water-casks proved a slaving venture. The 'Illinois' was boarded under American papers, then sailed under Spanish colors with slaves, and later ran aground rather than be searched.
Chapter 42
What did Cass concede in 1859, and what did he still refuse?
Cass acknowledged that if a vessel under American colors was honestly examined amid strongly marked suspicious circumstances and found entitled to her flag, with no injury and irreproachable conduct by the boarding party, no government would seriously reclaim. He expressed desire to co-operate against the trade but steadily refused all further overtures toward a mutual Right of Search.
Chapter 42
What did the 1862 treaty with Great Britain establish?
Signed June 7, 1862, after the Lincoln administration through Seward expressed willingness to suppress the trade, it granted a mutual limited Right of Search and established mixed courts for trial of offenders at the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, and New York. Seward wrote to Adams that had such a treaty been made in 1808, there would now have been no sedition.
Chapter 42

Section 434 cards

What two propositions did Castlereagh make at the 1818 Aix-la-Chapelle meeting?
At the meeting of plenipotentiaries beginning October 24, 1818, Castlereagh proposed, first, that the five powers jointly urge Portugal and Brazil to abolish the trade by May 20, 1820, and second, that the powers adopt the principle of a mutual qualified Right of Search. Metternich, Richelieu, Wellington, Hardenberg, Nesselrode, and Capodistrias were among those present.
Chapter 43
How did the U.S. Senate treat the slave-trade treaty agreed with Colombia?
Mr. Anderson offered Colombia the proposed English treaty of 1824, including the Senate amendments, and the treaty was agreed to. Nevertheless, the Senate summarily rejected it on March 9, 1825. Colombia had replied courteously to the U.S. invitation to cooperate in suppressing the trade.
Chapter 43
What happened to the Senate committee report on U.S. participation in the Panama Congress?
Colombia proposed that the slave-trade and the status of Hayti be discussed at the Panama Congress. A Senate committee then recommended that the United States take no part in the Congress. That report was finally disagreed to by a vote of 19 to 24.
Chapter 43
When did Brazil abolish the slave trade, according to the chapter?
The chapter states that Brazil abolished the trade in 1830. It also notes that Portugal prohibited the slave-trade in 1836, except between her African colonies, and that Great Britain meanwhile made treaties with Hayti, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia, the Argentine Confederation, Mexico, and Texas.
Chapter 43

Section 444 cards

Which nations abolished the slave trade in 1807, according to the table?
The table lists Great Britain and the United States as abolishing the slave trade in 1807. Denmark had done so earlier, in 1802, and Sweden in 1813, followed by the Netherlands in 1814. These dates appear in the column headed 'Slave-trade Abolished by,' which is distinct from the columns recording right-of-search treaties and joint-cruising arrangements.
Chapter 44
When did the United States make a Right of Search treaty with Great Britain?
The table places the United States' Right of Search treaty with Great Britain in 1862, the last entry in that column. Earlier right-of-search treaties were made by Portugal and Spain in 1817, the Netherlands in 1818, Sweden in 1824, France in 1831-33, and Belgium in 1845. The United States is also listed in 1842 under arrangements for joint cruising with Great Britain.
Chapter 44
What was the Quintuple Treaty of 1841, and which powers made it?
The table lists the Quintuple Treaty of 1841 under right-of-search treaties, naming Austria, Russia, and Prussia among the parties. The table's entry is abbreviated, so it does not enumerate all five powers. The treaty appears in the same column as bilateral right-of-search agreements made by Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Denmark, the Hanse Towns, Texas, Belgium, and the United States.
Chapter 44
What did the author argue about the rise of the cotton kingdom and slavery?
The author argues that after 1820 slavery and the slave trade must be read in light of the industrial revolution, especially cotton manufacturing. He contends that compromising with slavery early and pursuing laissez-faire made the South's development abnormal, producing a slave-labor farming system intertwined with industrial economic forces, so that a vast civil war was necessary to displace it. He says Southern slavery was changing from a family institution into an industrial system.
Chapter 44

Section 454 cards

How did the South's attitude toward the slave trade change after 1820?
From 1808 to 1820 the South half wished to end the institution but saw no way to do so, consenting to partial prohibition through severe national enactments while refusing to vigorously enforce those laws. After 1820, supplied with more slave laborers through illicit importations, rich land, and a profitable crop suited to slave labor, the South's attitude gradually shifted toward defending the trade.
Chapter 45
What economic practices did the slave regime adopt as cotton expanded?
The author argues the theory of land and slave consumption broke down ethical and prudential bounds: it was found cheaper to work a slave to death in a few years and buy a new one than to care for him in sickness and old age, and easier to exhaust rich new land through intensive culture and move southwest than to conserve the soil. This created demand for land and slaves beyond what the country could supply.
Chapter 45
How did the demand for land and slaves manifest politically?
The demand for land appeared in the annexation of Texas, the conquest of Mexico, and the movement toward acquiring Cuba. The demand for slaves showed in illicit traffic that increased about 1835 and reached large proportions by 1860, in attacks on the government for stigmatizing the trade as criminal, in disinclination to make repressive laws effective, and in declarations by prominent men that the trade could not be abolished by force.
Chapter 45
What did Congress actually appropriate for suppressing the slave trade before 1856?
Only one act, that of 1823 appropriating $50,000, was designed materially to aid suppression; other appropriations covered expenses after violations. Amounts dwindled to $5,000 by 1834, with no further appropriations until 1842. In 1843 $5,000 was given and in 1846 $25,000, the last sum obtainable until 1856. Nearly all went to reimbursing plantation owners for care of illegally imported Africans.
Chapter 45

Section 464 cards

How did American slavers evade U.S. Navy cruisers, according to the chapter?
The chapter explains that under cruiser orders only slavers with slaves actually on board could be seized. Fully equipped slavers therefore sailed past the American fleet, made preparations to ship a cargo, then when the English were not near "sold" the ship to a Spaniard, hoisted the Spanish flag, and sailed past the American fleet with slaves aboard. An English commander blamed this blemish, not the officers' zeal, for nullifying efforts.
Chapter 46
What did the chapter conclude about the size and effectiveness of the African coast squadron?
The chapter states the coast squadron varied from two to six vessels with thirty to ninety-eight guns between 1843 and 1850, but the force actively cruising was probably less by one-fourth. In only four of eight years was the fleet at the stipulated eighty guns, and commanders themselves acknowledged the squadron was too small and the cruising-ground too large for effective joint cruising.
Chapter 46
How did executive and legal interpretations favor the slave trade, per the chapter?
The chapter reports that in cases of doubt the decision usually favored the looser construction of the law. The New Orleans to Mobile trade was declared not coastwise and left free; after the conquest of Mexico, vessels bound to California via Cape Horn could clear coastwise; and Attorney-General Nelson declared selling an American vessel to a slave-trader for delivery on the African coast was not aiding the slave-trade.
Chapter 46
What does the chapter say about punishing notorious slave-traders in the courts?
The chapter states it was next to impossible to secure punishment. In the "Fame" case, a mate held to bail of one thousand dollars, payable by any Rio slave trader on presentation of a draft, drew little encouragement. In 1850 the "Perry" captain admitted guilt, was condemned, admitted to bail of $5,000 reduced to $3,000, forfeited it and escaped; the mate got two years. Other slavers escaped via technicalities.
Chapter 46

Section 474 cards

What drew American capital into the slave trade, per Du Bois?
Du Bois argues that the enhanced price of slaves in the American market, caused by new industrial development and laws against the slave-trade, was the irresistible temptation that drew American capital and enterprise into the traffic. He notes the average price rose from about $325 in 1840 to $360 in 1850 and $500 in 1860, with Brazil and Cuba offering similar inducements to smugglers.
Chapter 47
How did the American flag figure in suppressing the slave-trade?
The chapter shows the American flag protected slavers. Governor Buchanan of Liberia reported in 1839 that the chief obstacle to British suppression efforts was the American flag, and one slaver was boarded fifteen times yet escaped via her papers. President Fillmore's 1850 report found that of ten American ships wrongly detained by the English, nine were proven red-handed slavers.
Chapter 47
What evidence tied American citizens and capital to the trade?
Minister Proffit stated in 1844 that the slave-trade was almost entirely carried on under the American flag in American-built vessels. A notorious Brazilian slave merchant complained that Americans insisted on hiring their vessels for the trade. Papers of the captured slaver owned by Blanco and Carballo of Havana named correspondents in Baltimore and New York, and consul Trist issued blank clearance papers.
Chapter 47
How was the Texan and Gulf smuggling trade described?
The Havana consul reported in 1836 that cargoes of Africans were shipped to Texas in American vessels, with 15,000 estimated annually by 1838. Smuggler Drake described an extensive joint-stock company linked to American and Spanish mercantile houses, with a Gulf depot holding up to 1,600 Negroes, sending small groups overland to Texas and Florida and into swamps, sold as captured runaways.
Chapter 47

Section 484 cards

What does Du Bois call the decade beginning in 1850 regarding the slave-trade?
Du Bois describes 1850 as the threshold of a critical decade that was, by a herculean effort, destined finally to suppress the slave-trade. He frames the preceding state of the trade as the starting point for this decisive period of suppression.
Chapter 48
What did Calhoun say about the term 'piracy' being applied to the slave-trade?
As early as 1836, Calhoun declared that he should ever regret that the term 'piracy' had been applied to the slave-trade in American laws, as cited by Benton's Abridgment of Debates. The chapter notes this in a footnote on legal attitudes toward the trade.
Chapter 48
What instructions did Commodore Perry receive in March 1843?
Perry was charged with protecting legitimate commerce, told the United States wished to suppress the slave-trade but would not admit a Right of Search by foreign vessels, ordered to arrest slavers, and instructed to allow no exercise of the Right of Search or great interruption of legitimate commerce.
Chapter 48
What did Consul Trist argue about American slavers evading search?
Trist asked what risk an American vessel taking on negroes on the coast ran of being searched when no American man-of-war was present to obtain intelligence, and, if one was in port, what secured the merchantman's master against the commander learning or suspecting his intention in time to intercept him before he ran a league toward Texas.
Chapter 48

Section 504 cards

What did the Knoxville Commercial Convention of 1857 vote on regarding the slave trade?
At Knoxville in August 1857, the first regular business was a proposal to recommend abrogating the 8th Article of the Treaty of Washington on the slave trade. An amendment by Sneed of Tennessee declaring it inexpedient to reopen the trade was voted down, with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia refusing to agree; the original motion then passed.
Chapter 50
What did the 1858 Montgomery Convention ultimately resolve about reopening the African slave trade?
Spratt presented a majority report favoring reopening the trade, but after debate the report was tabled until the next convention and ordered printed as a radical campaign document. The convention then passed a resolution that it was inexpedient for any State or its citizens to attempt to reopen the African slave trade while that State remained one of the United States.
Chapter 50
What happened at the 1859 Vicksburg Commercial Convention when the slave-trade resolutions were debated?
At Vicksburg in May 1859, the Committee on Resolutions recommended repealing all State or Federal laws prohibiting the African slave trade. Debate grew so heated that personal violence was menaced and about a dozen conservative members withdrew from the hall. The first resolution passed 40 to 19, the 8th Article of the Treaty of Washington was again condemned, and a newspaper suggested raising a fund for premiums on sermons favoring reopening the trade.
Chapter 50
According to Du Bois, what checked the radicals' push to reopen the slave trade?
The author argues the movement represented the economic revolt of the slave-consuming cotton belt against its base of labor supply. He states the divergence of opinion and interest between the Gulf and Border States, more than any moral repugnance, checked the radicals, since the Gulf States could not get on without the active political co-operation of the Border States. The agitation still swept away nearly all theoretical opposition, leaving reopening a question of expediency.
Chapter 50

Section 514 cards

How did Southern congressmen respond to anti-slave-trade resolutions in 1856 and 1859?
In December 1856, fifty-seven Southern Congressmen refused to call reopening the slave-trade "shocking to the moral sentiment of the enlightened portion of mankind," and eight refused even to call it "unwise" and "inexpedient." By January 31, 1859, the House of 199 members could not muster a two-thirds vote even to consider Kilgore's resolutions condemning the traffic as inhuman and unchristian.
Chapter 51
What did Jefferson Davis say about reopening the slave-trade, and with what qualification?
Davis denied "any coincidence of opinion with those who prate of the inhumanity and sinfulness of the trade," saying "The interest of Mississippi, not of the African, dictates my conclusion." He opposed immediate reopening in Mississippi for fear of a paralyzing influx of Negroes, but added that this view rested on her present condition, not a general theory, and did not apply to Texas, New Mexico, or future acquisitions south of the Rio Grande.
Chapter 51
What concrete efforts to reopen the African slave-trade occurred in the South around 1857-1860?
An "African Labor Supply Association" formed under J.D.B. De Bow to promote African labor. South Carolina's legislative committee report declared in italics that "The South at large does need a re-opening of the African slave trade"; Pettigrew, the lone dissenter, failed re-election. Georgia's attempt to expunge the prohibition from its constitution failed by one vote; Louisiana's bill to import 2,500 indentured Africans failed by two Senate votes.
Chapter 51
How extensive was the illicit slave-trade from 1850 to 1860, according to Du Bois?
Du Bois says the agitation and familiarity with violations since 1808 led to such an increase that the movement "may almost be termed a reopening of the slave-trade." British officers reported at least half the successful trade ran under the American flag. New York was the principal fitting-out port; eighty-five slavers reportedly left its harbor in eighteen months of 1859-1860, transporting 30,000 to 60,000 slaves annually.
Chapter 51

Section 524 cards

What did the British consul report about slave expeditions when the Brazil trade declined?
The British consul reported that almost all slave expeditions for some time past had been fitted out in the United States, chiefly at New York. This shift followed the decline of the Brazil trade, when the illicit Cuban trade greatly increased. Earlier, the absence of United States war-ships at the Brazilian station had enabled American smugglers to run in cargoes despite the prohibitory law, including one cargo of five hundred slaves landed in 1852.
Chapter 52
How did smugglers conceal newly landed Africans on the Texas coast?
A slaver could enter a deep pocket in the Texas coast about thirty miles from Brazos Santiago at night, discharge its cargo onto a bluff, and put to sea within three hours. The Africans were marched across the main island over porous soil that refused to retain footprints, then placed in boats and hidden on the many small islands covered with thick bushes and grass in the Laguna behind.
Chapter 52
What did Stephen A. Douglas claim about slave imports in 1859?
Douglas said there was not the shadow of a doubt that the slave-trade had been carried on quite extensively for a long time, and that more slaves had been imported into the southern States in the last year than in any one year even when the trade was legal. He believed over fifteen thousand had been brought in during the past year, and said he had personally seen three hundred recently imported people in a slave-pen in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and large numbers at Memphis, Tennessee.
Chapter 52
What did Slidell's 1854 Senate report advocate, and what happened to it?
Slidell, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, made an elaborate report to the Senate advocating abrogation of the 8th Article of the Treaty of Washington, arguing it was costly, fatal to sailors' health, and useless because the trade had actually increased under it. Both this and a similar attempt in the House failed, as did an attempt to substitute life imprisonment for the death penalty.
Chapter 52

Section 534 cards

Why did federal marshals show little interest in seizing slave-trade vessels?
Du Bois argues the laws were structured so the duty was unremunerative: marshals found their fees for such seizures were actually less than their necessary expenses. Combined with lax executive enforcement, this made the laws a dead letter, and Du Bois says suspicion was well grounded that certain federal officers connived at violations.
Chapter 53
How did the 'Wanderer' case illustrate failed enforcement?
The Wanderer was arrested on suspicion, released, and soon landed a cargo of slaves in Georgia. Some who tried to seize the Negroes were arrested for larceny, and the captain was never punished despite Congress's efforts. The yacht later began another voyage and was sold back to her former owner for about one third her value.
Chapter 53
What did the 1855-1857 reports claim about the slave trade, and how did a British commander respond?
The government received advice in 1855 that the trade south of the equator was entirely broken up, and reports were favorable in 1856; Secretary Toucey claimed in 1857 the African force had accomplished its main object. A British commander wrote that no American cruisers had been seen for years and suspected intentional withdrawal.
Chapter 53
Why did Southern leaders omit the slave-trade from the Confederate Constitution?
Du Bois argues many Southern leaders doubted slavery could long survive without reopening the slave-trade, but at secession they needed the Border States' adherence and European aid. Fighting openly for slavery and the slave-trade would forfeit both, so the provisional and permanent Confederate Constitutions instead included an article suppressing the trade.
Chapter 53

Section 544 cards

What did the Confederate Constitution say about the African slave trade?
It forbade importing negroes of the African race from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United States, and required Congress to pass laws to prevent it. It also gave Congress power to prohibit introducing slaves from any State or Territory not belonging to the Confederacy.
Chapter 54
How did the Confederate government explain its slave-trade power to foreign ministers?
In a circular, it argued the Confederate Constitution was an agreement among independent States, and that power over African slave importation was not delegated to the Confederate government but reserved to the States. It denied having any power over the subject and said it could not entertain propositions about it, urging ministers to avoid such negotiations.
Chapter 54
What did Du Bois say the conservative Southern position meant?
The author argues that the conservative leaders' attitude, if it meant anything, meant individual State action could reopen the slave-trade whenever a State pleased. He notes radicals were unsatisfied with this veiling of the new slave republic's ulterior purpose and attacked the constitutional provision violently.
Chapter 54
What steps did the Lincoln government take against the slave trade?
It hanged the first American slave-trader to suffer the extreme penalty, and by an order of May 2, 1861, gave Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, execution of the slave-trade laws. Congress made two appropriations of $900,000 each, and in six months five vessels were seized and condemned and four traders convicted.
Chapter 54

Section 553 cards

What did De Bow's Review estimate about slavers clearing from Eastern harbors in 1856?
De Bow's Review estimated in 1856 that forty slavers cleared annually from Eastern harbors, clearing yearly $17,000,000, as cited in footnote 44. The same note reports that from April 1857 to May 1858, twenty-one of twenty-two slavers seized by British cruisers proved to be American, from New York, Boston, and New Orleans.
Chapter 55
How did the vote on the resolution in De Bow's Review, XXVII, split?
Footnote 12 records 40 yea votes and 19 nay votes. Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, and Mississippi voted yea; Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina voted nay. Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and North Carolina did not vote, having either withdrawn or not been represented.
Chapter 55
What was the outcome of the slave-trade committee motion at the convention?
Footnote 7 states that the appointment of a slave-trade committee was at first defeated by a vote of 48 to 44; finally a similar motion was passed, 52 to 40. A motion to table the motion on the 8th article was supported only by Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland, and those voting for Sneed's motion were Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Chapter 55

Section 563 cards

What did the colonists claim about the slave trade, and how does Du Bois qualify it?
The colonists averred with perfect truth that they did not commence the traffic, which was imposed on them from without. Yet Du Bois notes they soon laid aside scruples and hastened to share its material benefits; even those who braved the Atlantic for high moral motives fell victim to the system's allurements.
Chapter 56
What pattern does Du Bois identify behind colonial attempts to stop the slave trade?
The author argues that despite many honest attempts to stop the trade, behind nearly all of them lay a certain moral apathy and an indisposition to attack the evil with the sharp weapons its nature demanded. This steady development created a vast social problem requiring two and a half centuries for a trained European-stock nation to solve.
Chapter 56
What does Du Bois say about the economic advantage of the slave trade over time?
He argues that for at least a century agriculture flourished, trade increased, and English manufactures were nourished in proportion as Americans stole Negroes and worked them to death. This advantage later shrank and at one critical period was almost nil in the Southern States, but energetic efforts were wanting, and slavery seized a nearly immovable footing in the Cotton Kingdom.
Chapter 56

Section 573 cards

How did Du Bois characterize colonial and national slave-trade laws?
The author argues these laws merely registered the average public opinion of the moment, making them negative signs rather than positive efforts. They reflected moral awakening, fear of servile insurrection, and a desire to appear well before the civilized world. On the whole they were poorly conceived, loosely drawn, and wretchedly enforced, and their systematic violation bred a belief that enforcement was impossible.
Chapter 57
What was the economic basis of the colonization movement, per Du Bois?
Du Bois calls the colonization movement another form of economic effort against the trade. He argues it was inadequately conceived and not altogether sincere, but it had a sound economic basis, though in this case an impracticable one. The one great measure that finally stopped the slave-trade forever was the abolition of slavery, giving the Negro the right to sell his labor at a price consistent with his own welfare.
Chapter 57
What does Du Bois say about the slavery compromises of the Constitutional Convention?
The author argues the compromises had serious results and that it is neither profitable nor scientifically true to assume whatever the constitutional fathers did was right. He contends the problem arose from the cupidity and carelessness of ancestors, and that in 1787 the system had slighter economic, political, and moral justification than at any other time, yet a bargain largely of dollars and cents opened the highway to the Civil War.
Chapter 57

Section 584 cards

What did Du Bois say began in 1787 regarding slavery and the slave-trade?
The author argues that with the nation's faith broken at the outset, slavery untouched, and twenty years' respite given to the slave-trade, there began in 1787 a system of bargaining, truckling, and compromising with a moral, political, and economic monstrosity. Each generation sought to shift its load onto the next until one came both too weak and too strong to bear it longer.
Chapter 58
What does Du Bois identify as a dangerous national attitude toward social problems?
The author argues the nation has an inchoate idea that it is not destined to be harassed by great social questions, and that if it fails to answer them the fault lies with the question, not with us. Consequently, he says, we often congratulate ourselves more on getting rid of a problem than on solving it, which he calls dangerous.
Chapter 58
What question does Du Bois say study of the slave-trade's suppression most obviously suggests?
The author says the most obvious question is: How far in a State can a recognized moral wrong safely be compromised? He concedes the history gives no definite answer suited to ever-varying political life, but it warns nations against allowing any social evil to grow through carelessness and moral cowardice.
Chapter 58
What conclusion does Du Bois draw from the rise of the Slave-Power from a small institution?
The author argues that no one would have seen the Civil War with more surprise and horror than the Revolutionists of 1776, yet from the small and apparently dying institution of their day arose the walled and castled Slave-Power. From this he concludes that nations, like men, should do things at the very moment when they ought to be done.
Chapter 58

Section 594 cards

What did Massachusetts's 1705 act require of masters importing Negroes?
Under the 1705 act 'for the Better Preventing of a Spurious and Mixt Issue,' effective May 1, 1706, every master importing Negroes had to enter their number, name, and sex in the impost office and in the bill of lading, and pay £4 per head to the commissioner and receiver of the impost. Both master and ship served as security for payment.
Chapter 59
What penalty did Massachusetts impose for failing to enter imported slaves?
Section 7 of the 1705 Massachusetts act provided that a master who neglected to enter the slaves forfeited £8 for each Negro, with one-half going to the informer and one-half to the government. The act also allowed a drawback of the whole duty if a Negro was exported and sold elsewhere within twelve months with a receipt shown.
Chapter 59
Why did Pennsylvania's 1712 act impose £20 per head on imported Negroes and Indians?
The act cited frequent plots and insurrections by Negroes in the islands and mainland of America, including murders of inhabitants and a recent instance in neighboring New York, and said importing Indian slaves caused suspicion and dissatisfaction among neighboring Indians. It set £20 per head, except Negroes brought directly from the West India Islands before August 1. Great Britain disallowed it in 1713.
Chapter 59
What did New Jersey's 1713 duty act require of importers of slaves?
New Jersey's March 11, 1713 act laid a duty on Negro, Indian, and Mulatto slaves imported into the province. Importers had to enter each slave with a collector of her Majesty's customs within twenty-four hours and pay £10 per slave, or give sufficient security for payment within three months. The act ran for seven years, and violations incurred forfeiture and sale of slaves at auction.
Chapter 59

Section 604 cards

What did the Assiento of March 1713 require Britain to supply to Spanish America?
Britain undertook to bring 144,000 negroes, Piezas de India, of both sexes and all ages, into Spanish America over 30 years, beginning May 1, 1713 and ending in 1743—at a rate of 4,800 per year. Assientists were to pay a duty of 33 pieces of eight per negro, covering all duties, and to advance 200,000 pieces of eight to the Catholic King, returnable after the first twenty years.
Chapter 60
How did the Treaty of Utrecht of July 1713 incorporate the Assiento?
Article XII granted Britain and its appointed company the contract for introducing negroes into Spanish American dominions for thirty years from May 1, 1713, on the same conditions the French enjoyed. It also granted land on the river of Plata for planting and keeping negroes until sold, free of duties during the contract. The March 26 Assiento and its clauses were deemed part of the treaty as if inserted word for word.
Chapter 60
Why did South Carolina's December 1714 act impose an additional duty on slaves from Africa?
Section 9 states that the number of negroes was increasing greatly in the Province while, through the afflicting providence of God, white persons did not multiply proportionally, greatly endangering the Province's safety. To prevent this, every merchant importing negro slaves aged twelve and upwards from any part of Africa was to pay two pounds current money per slave to the public receiver within thirty days of importation.
Chapter 60
What became of Pennsylvania's 1715 duty on imported negroes?
The act, titled 'An Act for laying a Duty on Negroes imported into this province,' was disallowed by Great Britain in 1719. The chapter cites the 1715 Acts and Laws of Pennsylvania, the Colonial Records, and Chalmers's Opinions. In the same period Maryland's June 1715 act laid a 20s. duty on negroes and also on Irish servants, to prevent importing too great a number of Irish Papists.
Chapter 60

Section 614 cards

What duty did South Carolina's 1716 Act lay on African versus American slaves?
South Carolina's 1716 Act laid a duty of £3 on African slaves and £30 on American slaves, as part of a general act imposing duties on liquors, goods, and merchandise imported into and exported out of the province to raise funds for public government charges.
Chapter 61
Why did South Carolina's 1717 Prohibitive Duty Act impose a £40 duty on imported slaves?
The act's preamble states that the great importation of negroes, in proportion to white inhabitants, would greatly endanger the province's future safety. To prevent this, every person importing any negro slave eighteen months after ratification had to pay an additional £40 current money per slave, over and above existing duties. The duty was to last four years after ratification and to the end of the next session.
Chapter 61
Under South Carolina's 1722 Act, what duty applied to negroes imported from America, and what exception existed?
Negroes imported from any part of America above ten years of age paid £50, and those under ten (sucking children excepted) paid £5, unless the owner or agent produced a notarized testimonial proving on oath that they were new negroes and had not been six months on shore in any part of America. The act also imposed £150 on Spanish negroes, Indians, mustees, or mulattoes, citing the danger of enticing local slaves to desert.
Chapter 61
What happened to Virginia's 1727 duty act on imported slaves?
Only the title of Virginia's February 1727 'Act for laying a Duty on Slaves imported; and for appointing a Treasurer' is found. Du Bois states the duty was probably prohibitive; it was enacted with a suspending clause and was not assented to by the king.
Chapter 61

Section 624 cards

What did Rhode Island's May 1732 act do to its 1712 slave-import duty?
It repealed the 1712 act laying a duty on imported negro slaves, declaring it null and void for the future. The preamble states the Assembly was directed by His Majesty's instructions to repeal it. Du Bois notes that if this is the act mentioned under the Act of 1708, the title is wrongly cited; if not, the act is lost.
Chapter 62
How did South Carolina's 1751 Act tie slave import taxes to white settlement?
It imposed taxes on purchasers of imported slaves (ten pounds for slaves four feet two inches and up, five pounds for those between three feet two inches and four feet two inches, and two pounds ten shillings for smaller ones, sucking children excepted). Three-fifths of the net proceeds over five years funded bounties for poor foreign Protestants settling the frontier.
Chapter 62
What did Georgia's 1735 act provide regarding black slaves?
It was an act for rendering the colony of Georgia more defensible by prohibiting the importation and use of black slaves or negroes into the same. Du Bois cites Stevens's History of Georgia, Martyn's Account of the Progress of Georgia, and Hoare's Memoirs of Granville Sharp as sources.
Chapter 62
What did Virginia's May 1732 duty act impose, and how long did it last?
It laid a duty upon slaves to be paid by the buyers, for four years. It was continued and slightly amended by acts of 1734, 1736, 1738, 1742, and 1745, revived in February 1752, continued by later acts through 1769, and revived or continued by an act of February 1772 until 1778.
Chapter 62

Section 634 cards

Under the 1753 New York plate duty act, how long did the duties remain in force?
The act granted duties on imported goods and was annually continued until 1767, or perhaps until 1774, according to the chapter's citations to the Laws of New York and the Documents Relative to Colonial History of New York. The chapter presents the end date as uncertain rather than fixed.
Chapter 63
What rebate did the earlier colonial tax law allow for re-exporting slaves?
Section 14 of that act allowed a rebate of three-fourths of the tax if the slaves were re-exported within six months. The provision appears among the act's numbered sections, alongside bounties for Protestant settlers, land surveying, and ship-building.
Chapter 63
Why did Virginia repeal its 1755 additional ten per cent duty on slaves?
The Act of May 1760, section 11, repealed it because the duty 'prevents the importation of slaves, and thereby lessens the fund arising from the duties upon slaves.' So the colony removed a duty that was suppressing imports and shrinking its own revenue.
Chapter 63
What exception did Maryland's 1763 additional £2 duty act grant to new settlers?
Section 2 allowed persons removing from other of his Majesty's dominions to settle and reside in the province to import their slaves duty free for carrying on their proper occupations at the time of removal. Other importers paid £2 current money per Negro, with a £10 forfeiture for nonpayment.
Chapter 63

Section 644 cards

What did Rhode Island's June 1774 act do to illegally imported slaves?
The act prohibited bringing negro or mulatto slaves into the colony and declared any slave thereafter brought in immediately free as to personal freedom and private property, like native Indians. It excepted settlers' and travellers' slaves, slaves from Africa stranded in the West Indies on colonial vessels under bond for export within a year, and slaves on vessels already at sea.
Chapter 64
What did Virginia's 1772 address to the King request regarding the slave trade?
The Burgesses called the African slave trade 'a trade of great inhumanity' that, under its present encouragement, would endanger the very existence of the King's American dominions. They asked the King to remove restraints on colonial governors that prevented them from assenting to laws checking so pernicious a commerce.
Chapter 64
What reason did New Jersey's 1769 duty act give for taxing slave purchasers?
The preamble said duties on slave importation in neighboring colonies had proven beneficial in introducing sober, industrious foreigners and promoting industry. To promote the same designs and make slave purchasers contribute an equitable share of public burdens, it laid a duty of fifteen pounds proclamation money on purchasers of imported slaves.
Chapter 64
How did Massachusetts bills to prohibit slave importation fare in 1771 and 1774?
In April 1771 a bill to prevent importation passed both houses but failed to receive Governor Hutchinson's assent. In March and June 1774, two more bills designed to prohibit importation also failed of the governor's assent, according to the General Court Records and Massachusetts Archives.
Chapter 64

Section 654 cards

How did Virginia's 1778 act punish importing slaves and what happened to imported slaves?
Virginia's October 1778 act barred importing slaves by sea or land and banned their sale or purchase. Importers forfeited £1,000 per slave; buyers or sellers forfeited £500 per slave. Any slave imported contrary to the act became free upon importation. Exceptions covered bona fide settlers with slaves brought by November 1, 1778 and not for sale, plus transient travellers. It was re-enacted in substance in October 1785.
Chapter 65
What did Pennsylvania's 1780 gradual abolition act require and exempt?
Pennsylvania's March 1, 1780 act required all slaves to be registered before November 1. Only slaves registered as aforesaid could thereafter be held as slaves or servants for life; others were deemed free men and women. Exceptions included domestic slaves attending delegates in Congress from other states and those of travellers staying under six months and foreign ministers, provided such slaves were not sold to inhabitants. Fugitive slaves from other states could be taken back, and former duty acts were repealed.
Chapter 65
How did the Williamsburg Convention in 1775 explain failed duties on imported Negroes?
On November 23, 1775, the Williamsburg Convention told the public that the assemblies had repeatedly passed acts laying heavy duties on imported Negroes, meaning altogether to prevent the horrid traffick, but their humane intentions were as often frustrated by the cruelty and covetousness of a set of English merchants. The address claimed Americans would, if possible, not only prevent any more Negroes from losing their freedom but restore it to those already enslaved. Du Bois notes it was evidently addressed partly to Negroes to keep them from joining the British.
Chapter 65
What did Vermont's 1777 Constitution and 1779 act do about slavery?
Vermont's first Constitution, adopted July 2, 1777, declares slavery a violation of natural, inherent and unalienable rights. In 1779, an Act for securing the general privileges of the people abolished slavery in Vermont. These are listed among the early state actions against slavery that Du Bois records in this chapter.
Chapter 65

Section 664 cards

What did New York's 1785 Act do to imported slaves who were sold in the state?
New York's April 12, 1785 Act made it a public offence to sell any negro or other person imported into the state as a slave after June 1. The seller, factor, or agent forfeited £100 lawful money of New York, recoverable by any person, and the act further provided that every such person imported and sold contrary to the act shall be freed.
Chapter 66
What did New Jersey's 1786 Act prohibit, and what exceptions did it allow?
New Jersey's March 2, 1786 Act barred bringing into the state, for sale or servitude, any Negro slave brought from Africa since 1776, with a £50 forfeiture per slave. A £20 penalty applied to slaves not born in or brought from Africa since that year who were sold or kept six months. Settlers taking up residence could bring their slaves, except those from Africa since 1776, and temporary visitors could employ slaves as servants if not sold.
Chapter 66
What did North Carolina's 1786 slave import duty act provide regarding emancipation-state slaves?
North Carolina's 1786 act imposed a prohibitive duty on all slaves brought into the state by land or water, declaring importation productive of evil consequences and highly impolitic. Section 6 required slaves introduced from states that had passed emancipation acts to be returned within three months, otherwise a £50 bond was forfeited and a £100 fine imposed. Section 8 set the act to take effect the next February 1, but it was repealed by an Act of 1790.
Chapter 66
What penalties did Rhode Island's October 1787 act impose for the slave trade?
Rhode Island's October 1787 act, titled 'An act to prevent the slave trade and to encourage the abolition of slavery,' prohibited and censured the trade under penalty of £100 for each person and £1,000 for each vessel. The chapter cites Bartlett's Index to the Printed Acts and Resolves and the Narragansett Historical Register as sources.
Chapter 66

Section 674 cards

What did New York's 1788 act do to illegally imported slaves?
New York's 1788 act made selling as a slave any negro or other person imported into the State after June 1, 1785, a public offence, with a £100 forfeit for the seller, factor, or agent. It further provided that every person so imported shall be free. Purchasing slaves for removal to another State was also prohibited under a £100 penalty.
Chapter 67
How did Massachusetts enforce its 1788 slave-trade ban?
Massachusetts' 1788 act barred citizens and residents from importing, transporting, buying, selling, or receiving on board any African inhabitants as slaves or term servants, as master, factor, supercargo, owner, or hirer. Penalties were £50 per person received on board and £200 per vessel fitted out, split between the Commonwealth and the prosecutor. Insurance on such vessels and cargo was void, and the act did not extend to vessels already sailed on their present voyage.
Chapter 67
What did Pennsylvania's 1788 amendment require before removing a slave from the state?
Pennsylvania's 1788 amendment barred removing a negro or mulatto slave or term servant out of the state with intent to change their residence, detain a pregnant woman until delivery, or bring them back after six months, without their consent if of full age, testified before two justices of the peace, or, if under twenty-one, also without parental consent. The penalty was £75 per offence. Slaves brought in by persons intending to settle were free.
Chapter 67
What penalties did Connecticut's 1788 act set for slave-trade violations?
Connecticut's 1788 act barred citizens and inhabitants from importing, transporting, buying, selling, or receiving on board any African inhabitants as slaves or term servants, as master, factor, supercargo, owner, or hirer. Penalties were £50 per person received on board and £500 per vessel, half to the plaintiff and half to the State. Insurance on such vessels and slaves was void. Kidnapping a free negro of the State drew a £100 forfeit, and suspected vessels clearing for Africa had to give bond in £1000.
Chapter 67

Section 683 cards

What did Virginia's December 1792 act provide about slaves brought into the commonwealth?
Virginia's act of December 17, 1792 declared that slaves brought into the commonwealth and kept there one whole year, or for that amount of time at intervals, shall be free. It preserved slavery only for those enslaved on October 17, 1785, and descendants of their females, with an oath-based exception for new citizens removing from other states.
Chapter 68
What did South Carolina's December 1792 act prohibit, and for how long?
South Carolina's act of December 21, 1792, deeming it inexpedient to increase the number of slaves in the state's present circumstances, barred importing slaves from Africa, the West India Islands, or other places beyond sea for two years beginning January 1, 1793. It also barred bringing in slaves or term-bound Negroes, Indians, Moors, or Mestizoes from the United States by land or water, though settlers could bring their own slaves.
Chapter 68
What did the House do in 1789 with proposals to tax imported slaves?
In 1789 the House considered a $10 per head tax on slaves imported, moved by Parker of Virginia, which was withdrawn after debate. Later that year a committee under Parker reported a bill concerning the importation of certain persons prior to 1808; it was read once and postponed until the next session.
Chapter 68

Section 694 cards

What did the 1794 North Carolina act prohibit, and what was the penalty for importing slaves?
The act barred importing or bringing any slave or indented servant of color into the state by land or water from May 1, 1794, and forbade buying, selling, or hiring those brought in contrary to the act. The penalty was £100 per slave for importing, and the same for buying or selling. Persons removing or travelling were excepted, and the act was slightly amended in 1796.
Chapter 69
What did the 1796 Maryland act do to a slave imported for sale or residence?
The act made it unlawful to import or bring any negro, mulatto, or other slave into Maryland by land or water for sale or to reside. A slave brought in contrary to the act immediately ceased to be the importer's property and became free. Citizens taking up bona fide residence could bring slaves they owned at removal, subject to residency conditions, and such slaves could not be sold within three years except by will.
Chapter 69
What did the March 22, 1794 United States statute forbid?
It was titled 'An Act to prohibit the carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to any foreign place or country,' cited in Statutes at Large, I. 347. The chapter gives only the title and cites the congressional proceedings in the Senate Journal, House Journal, and Annals of Congress. It does not describe the statute's penalties or enforcement provisions.
Chapter 69
What did the 1798 Georgia constitutional provision say about slave importation and emancipation?
Article IV, section 11 barred any future importation of slaves into Georgia from Africa or any foreign place after the first day of October next. It denied the legislature power to emancipate slaves without each owner's consent, and denied power to stop emigrants from other states bringing persons deemed slaves under those states' laws.
Chapter 69

Section 703 cards

What did the 1800 US statute forbid Americans to do regarding the slave trade?
The Act of May 10, 1800, a supplement to the earlier act prohibiting the slave trade from the United States to foreign places, forbade Americans to trade in slaves from one foreign country to another. It is cited in Statutes at Large, II. 70, with Congressional proceedings in the Senate Journal, 6 Cong. 1 sess.
Chapter 70
Under New York's 1801 act, when could a slave still be imported into the state?
The Act of April 8, 1801, barred importing slaves into New York unless the importer was coming with intent to reside permanently, had resided outside the state, and had owned the slave at least one year before importing. A sworn certificate was required; violation or neglect meant freedom for the slave, with $250 penalties for sale or export.
Chapter 70
What did South Carolina do in December 1803 regarding African slaves?
On Dec. 17, 1803, South Carolina passed an act repealing its earlier acts of 1792, 1794, 1796, 1798, 1800, and 1802. It prohibited importing Negroes from the West Indies, required a certificate of good character for Negroes over fifteen imported from the United States, and provided that illegally imported Negroes be forfeited and sold.
Chapter 70

Section 714 cards

What did Virginia's 1806 law direct courts to do with illegally imported slaves?
Under the January 25, 1806 act, if a jury found that slaves were brought into the commonwealth and remained there contrary to the act, the court was to order them delivered to the overseers of the poor, to be sold for cash and applied as the act directed. The same act set a $400 per slave penalty for importing, and for knowingly buying or hiring such a slave, effective May 1, 1806.
Chapter 71
What did Sloan propose regarding illegally imported Africans, and what happened?
On December 17, 1806, Sloan moved to amend the House bill so that an illegally imported slave declared forfeited would also be "entitled to his freedom"; the proposition was lost. On December 29 he proposed that illegally imported Africans be either freed, apprenticed, or returned to Africa; this too was lost, and a somewhat similar proposition failed on January 5, 1807.
Chapter 71
What did the rejected 1806 British treaty article commit the parties to on the slave trade?
Article XXIV of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between Britain and the United States bound the parties to communicate without delay all laws enacted by their legislatures and all measures taken for the abolition or limitation of the African slave trade, and to use their best endeavors to procure other Powers' co-operation for its final and complete abolition, called a trade repugnant to justice and humanity. The treaty was rejected December 31, 1806.
Chapter 71
What did the United States statute of March 2, 1807 prohibit, and from when?
The act prohibited the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States from and after January 1, 1808. Bills to amend section 8, so as to make less ambiguous the permit given to the internal traffic, were introduced February 27 and November 27. Earlier House efforts, including Bidwell's amendment barring sale as a slave, had failed by narrow margins.
Chapter 71

Section 724 cards

What did Madison's December 5, 1810 message say about American citizens and the slave trade?
Madison told Congress that American citizens were instrumental in carrying on a traffic in enslaved Africans, equally in violation of the laws of humanity and in defiance of their own country's laws. He expressed confidence that the same just and benevolent motives which produced the existing interdiction would lead Congress to devise further means of suppressing the evil.
Chapter 72
What did Article X of the 1815 Treaty of Ghent agree?
The treaty, concluded December 24, 1814, with ratifications exchanged February 17, 1815, stated in Article X that the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice. Both His Majesty and the United States, desiring to continue efforts toward its entire abolition, agreed to use their best endeavors to accomplish that object.
Chapter 72
How did North Carolina's 1816 act direct illegally imported slaves to be disposed of?
The act directed the disposal of negroes, mulattoes and persons of colour imported contrary to the federal 1808 prohibition. Every slave illegally imported after 1808 was to be sold for the use of the State; the sheriff was to seize and sell such slave and pay the proceeds to the State treasurer. If the slave absconded, the sheriff could offer a reward not exceeding one-fifth of the slave's value.
Chapter 72
What did the House propose in the joint resolution of February 11, 1817?
Reported on petition of the Colonization Society by the committee on the President's Message, the resolution authorized the President to negotiate with all governments where U.S. ministers were accredited on means of effecting an entire and immediate abolition of the slave traffic. It also proposed a convention with Great Britain to receive into Sierra Leone free people of colour from the United States who consented to be carried there, with provision for expenses. No further record appears.
Chapter 72

Section 733 cards

What did Georgia's December 1817 act allow the governor to do with illegally imported slaves?
The governor, acting through an agent, was to receive illegally imported Negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, and then either sell them or give them to the Colonization Society for transport to Africa, on condition that the Society reimburse the State for all expenses and transport them at its own cost.
Chapter 73
What did Livermore's April 1818 constitutional amendment resolution propose, and what happened to it?
Livermore resolved that no person should be held to service or labor as a slave, and that slavery should not be tolerated in any state thereafter admitted to the Union. The House voted on whether to consider the resolution and determined in the negative, so it was never taken up.
Chapter 73
What did the March 3, 1819 statute authorize regarding the slave trade?
Titled 'An Act in addition to the Acts prohibiting the slave trade,' it followed the earlier 1807 prohibition and the 1818 supplementary act. Under it, Monroe's December 1819 message reported that orders had been given to commanders of all public ships to seize vessels navigated under the U.S. flag and engaged in that trade, and bring them in to be proceeded against as the law prescribed.
Chapter 73

Section 744 cards

What did the May 12, 1820 House resolution request of the President?
It requested the President to negotiate with all governments where U.S. ministers are or shall be accredited, on means of effecting an entire and immediate abolition of the slave trade. The House passed it May 12, 1820, but it was lost in the Senate on May 15, 1820.
Chapter 74
What did Monroe claim in his December 3, 1821 message about the slave trade?
Monroe asserted that under the U.S. flag and papers the trade may be considered entirely suppressed, and that citizens engaged under other flags are not seized only out of respect for those powers' rights. He added that if every other power adopted the same policy and vigorous means, the trade could no longer exist.
Chapter 74
What did Mississippi's 1822 act provide on slave importation?
Slaves born and resident in the United States, and not criminals, could be imported. No slave born or resident outside the United States could be brought in, under a penalty of $1,000 per slave, with travellers excepted. The act consolidated several laws concerning slaves, free negroes, and mulattoes.
Chapter 74
What did Meigs's February 15, 1821 resolution propose?
It proposed appointing a committee to inquire into devoting five hundred million acres of public lands next west of the Mississippi as a fund, first for employing a naval force competent to annihilate the slave trade. The question to consider passed 63 to 50, then the resolution was laid on the table 66 to 55.
Chapter 74

Section 754 cards

What did Canning request of Adams in April 1823 regarding the slave trade?
Canning reminded Adams of the treaty of Ghent and asked for the granting of a mutual Right of Search to suppress the slave-trade. Adams had proposed on March 31 that the trade be made piracy. Discussion continued until June 24, when Minister Rush was empowered to propose a treaty involving the Right of Search.
Chapter 75
What did Article I of the 1824 proposed treaty declare about the slave trade?
The two powers, having each separately subjected their subjects and citizens convicted of carrying on the illicit traffic in slaves on the coast of Africa to the penalties of piracy, agreed to use their influence with other maritime and civilized nations so that the African slave trade be recognized and declared piracy under the law of nations.
Chapter 75
How did the Senate amend the 1824 treaty, and what was Great Britain's response?
The Senate ratified it with conditions: duration limited to the pleasure of the two parties on six months' notice, and the Right of Search limited to the African and West Indian seas by striking out the word 'America.' Great Britain rejected the amended treaty, declaring the striking out of 'America' an insuperable objection, and its counter project was not accepted.
Chapter 75
What penalties did Britain's 1824 act impose for engaging in the African slave trade?
Under 'An Act for the more effectual Suppression of the African Slave Trade,' any person engaging in the slave-trade 'shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of Piracy, Felony and Robbery,' and upon conviction shall suffer Death without Benefit of Clergy, and Loss of Lands, Goods and Chattels, as pirates, felons and robbers upon the seas ought to suffer.
Chapter 75

Section 764 cards

Why did the U.S. object to a mutual right of search in the 1824 treaty?
President Monroe explained that the U.S. objected on the principle that the right of search was a right of war of a belligerent toward a neutral power, and extending it by treaty to an offense made comparatively mild might have an ill effect in time of peace. Instead, the U.S. proposed making the trade piratical, and a convention was signed in London on March 13, 1824, but obstacles to ratification arose.
Chapter 76
What did Forsyth's March 1825 resolution on search argue, and what happened to it?
Forsyth resolved that while the House anxiously desired the slave trade be universally denounced as piracy, it would be highly inexpedient to enter engagements with any foreign power exposing all U.S. merchant vessels to any regulation of search from which that power's vessels would be exempt. The resolution was laid on the table, meaning no action was taken.
Chapter 76
Why did Clay refuse to reopen negotiations on the British counter project in April 1825?
Great Britain proposed concluding the treaty as amended by the Senate if the word 'America' were reinstated in Article I. On February 16, 1825, a House committee favored the project, and on March 2 Addington reminded Adams of the counter proposal. But on April 6, Clay refused to reopen negotiations on account of the failure of the Colombian treaty.
Chapter 76
What did Forsyth's February 1826 resolutions propose regarding the 1819 act?
Forsyth resolved that it was expedient to repeal so much of the act of March 3, 1819, as provided for appointing agents on the coast of Africa, and to modify the act to release the United States from all obligation to support the negroes already removed to Africa. It also sought to provide for those taken in slave ships a fair opportunity at subsistence without aid from the public treasury. The resolutions were read and laid on the table.
Chapter 76

Section 774 cards

What did the 1827 Coahuila and Texas decree require regarding slaves?
The Congress of Coahuila and Texas decreed that all slaves be registered, and that births and deaths be recorded. Article 4 provided that those who introduce slaves after the term specified in article 13 of the Constitution would be subject to penalties established by the general law of July 13, 1824.
Chapter 77
What did the House resolution Mr. Mercer reported on April 7, 1830 request?
It requested the President to consult and negotiate with all governments where U.S. ministers are or shall be accredited on means of effecting an entire and immediate abolition of the African slave trade, and especially on the expediency of having it universally denounced as piratical. It was referred to Committee of the Whole, with no further action recorded.
Chapter 77
Why did the United States refuse to accede to the British-French slave-trade convention?
The British and French ministers invited the U.S. to accede to their convention. Secretary of State M'Lane deferred and then postponed negotiations given the irritable state of the country on the slave question. The proposal was finally refused March 24, 1834, chiefly because the Right of Search would extend to U.S. coasts; Britain waived that part July 7, 1834, but on October 4 Forsyth stated the determination was definite not to join any such convention.
Chapter 77
What did Georgia's December 23, 1833 act provide on importing slaves?
Anyone bringing, importing, or introducing slaves into Georgia by land or water, or aiding or knowingly becoming interested, was deemed a principal in law, guilty of a high misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500 per slave and penitentiary imprisonment and labor of one to four years. Residents could bring slaves for their own use but had to register and swear they were not for sale, hire, or mortgage.
Chapter 77

Section 784 cards

What did the 1836 Texas constitution prohibit regarding Africans or negroes?
The Constitution of the Republic of Texas (March 17, 1836) declared that the importation or admission of Africans or negroes into the republic, excepting from the United States of America, is forever prohibited and declared to be piracy. It also barred Congress from passing laws prohibiting emigrants from bringing their slaves into the republic and holding them under the same tenure as in the United States.
Chapter 78
What penalty did Texas's December 1836 act set for introducing African negroes?
The Act of December 21, 1836 made introducing any African negro contrary to the ninth section of the constitution, except those from the United States who had been held as slaves there, punishable as piracy, with conviction bringing death without benefit of clergy. Section 2 made introducing Negroes from the United States, except those legally held as slaves there, piracy as well.
Chapter 78
What did President Van Buren recommend in his December 1839 message?
Van Buren reported that a competent force had been stationed on the coast of Africa to prevent fraudulent use of the American flag by foreigners. He argued that existing laws on the sale and transfer of American vessels abroad were extremely defective, since foreigners simulated American ownership to gain security in prosecuting the slave trade, and he recommended an early careful revision of those laws to preserve the integrity and honor of the flag.
Chapter 78
How did Congress handle the 1840 bill to amend the 1807 slave-trade act?
On January 3, 1840, Mr. Strange introduced a Senate bill to amend the 1807 act prohibiting importation of slaves into U.S. jurisdiction. It was read twice and referred to the Judiciary Committee, reported without amendment on January 8, and considered May 11, when on Mr. King's motion it was ordered to lie on the table, effectively shelving it.
Chapter 78

Section 794 cards

What did Cass protest to Guizot regarding the Quintuple Treaty?
Cass protested on his own responsibility to French Foreign Minister Guizot that the Quintuple Treaty's signatories would be obliged to exercise the Right of Search, which the United States denied. He argued the treaty's moral effect gave no just cause for complaint, but that forcibly entering and examining American vessels would be another matter, and he hoped France would disavow any such intentions before signing.
Chapter 79
What did Mississippi's 1842 resolutions demand regarding the Creole case?
Mississippi's legislature resolved that the right of search could never be conceded to Great Britain without servile submission, that any British detention or search of American vessels could be deemed just cause of war, and that restitution for the Creole and its slaves should be demanded at all hazards, except by surrender of the actual criminals and delivery of the slaves to their owners.
Chapter 79
What did Giddings's resolutions on the Creole assert?
Giddings resolved that when a ship leaves a state's waters for the high seas, persons aboard cease to be subject to that state's slave laws and are governed by United States law; that the Creole's slaves were amenable only to federal law; that by resuming their natural liberty they violated no United States law; and that attempts to re-enslave them were unconstitutional. The House censured him.
Chapter 79
What was the 1842 Joint-Cruising Treaty with Great Britain?
Concluded August 9, 1842, with ratifications exchanged in London October 13 and proclaimed November 10, the treaty settled and defined boundaries, provided for the final suppression of the African slave trade, and for giving up criminals fugitive from justice. Its Articles VIII and IX were ratified by the Senate 39 to 9 after several unsuccessful attempts to amend it.
Chapter 79

Section 803 cards

What happened to the 1843 Senate appropriations for recaptured Africans and the African squadron?
During debate on naval appropriations, Mr. Benton moved to strike out the $5,000 appropriation for the support of Africans recaptured on the coast of Africa or elsewhere and returned to Africa by armed vessels of the United States; the motion was lost, as was a similar proposition by Bagby. A proposition to strike out the appropriation for the squadron also failed. On March 3 the bill became law with the appropriation for Africans but without that for the squadron.
Chapter 80
What did President Taylor urge Congress to do about the African slave trade in 1849?
In his December 4, 1849, message, President Taylor earnestly invited Congress's attention to an amendment of existing laws relating to the African slave trade, with a view to its effectual suppression. He stated that it could not be denied that the trade was still in part carried on by means of vessels built in the United States and owned or navigated by some of our citizens.
Chapter 80
What did the Senate resolve in 1854 about the eighth article of the Treaty of Washington?
On May 29, 1854, the Senate resolved that, in its opinion, it was expedient and in conformity with the interests and sound policy of the United States that the eighth article of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain of August 9, 1842, should be abrogated. Slidell introduced the resolution, and it was favorably reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations in Executive Session on June 13, 1854.
Chapter 80

Section 814 cards

What did Governor Adams argue in his 1856 message about reopening the slave trade?
South Carolina Governor Adams argued that reopening the African slave trade would not lessen slave values, comparing it to unrestricted immigration not diminishing labor's value in the Northwest. He contended slaves should perform all menial labor rather than an alien population, which he said would lead to capital-labor conflict. The author presents this as Adams's stated opinion, not fact.
Chapter 81
What did the House resolve on December 15, 1856, regarding revival of the African slave trade?
The House resolved that all suggestions for reviving the African slave trade were shocking to the moral sentiment of enlightened mankind, and that any congressional action conniving at or legalizing that traffic would subject the government and citizens to the reproach of civilized and Christian people. Offered by Mr. Etheridge, it passed 152 to 57.
Chapter 81
What did the House resolve about repealing laws prohibiting the African slave trade in December 1856?
Mr. Orr offered a resolution that it was inexpedient, unwise, and contrary to the settled policy of the United States to repeal the laws prohibiting the African slave trade; it was agreed to 183 to 8. A separate Orr resolution that it was inexpedient to repeal the laws was offered but not voted upon.
Chapter 81
What did President Buchanan's December 1858 message say about Cuba and the slave trade?
Buchanan said Cuba was the only spot in the civilized world where the African slave trade was tolerated, that it caused U.S.-British difficulties over the right of search, and that acquiring Cuba by honorable negotiation would make the last relic of the trade disappear. He said the U.S. would not acquire Cuba otherwise, barring circumstances under self-preservation.
Chapter 81

Section 824 cards

What did the 1859 House resolutions say about Congress's power over the slave trade?
The resolutions held that Congress has power to prohibit the foreign slave traffic and that no legislation could be too thorough nor any modern penalty too severe against a traffic called inhuman and unchristian. They also denied any federal or other lawmaking right, save the States, to interfere with domestic slavery where established or protected by State legislation. The resolutions failed the two-thirds vote needed to suspend the rules, 115 to 84, and were dropped.
Chapter 82
What did President Buchanan report in his December 1859 message on slave imports?
Buchanan said all lawful means had been and would continue to be employed to execute the laws against the African slave trade. After examining the coasts, the government found no slaves imported except the cargo of the Wanderer, numbering between three and four hundred. Those engaged were rigorously prosecuted, though not with the success their crimes deserved, and some remained under prosecution. He claimed the acts had accomplished their purpose for over half a century.
Chapter 82
What did Senator Wilson propose regarding slave-trade penalties in March 1860?
Wilson submitted a resolution, agreed to by unanimous consent, instructing the Judiciary Committee to inquire into amending the laws so that participation in the slave trade would carry imprisonment for life instead of the existing penalty of forfeiture of life. It would also extend punishment to all persons who fit out, or are in any way connected with or interested in fitting out, expeditions or vessels for the trade.
Chapter 82
What did Representative Morse's 1860 resolutions propose for suppressing the trade?
Morse proposed changing the 1842 treaty, which required each country to keep eighty guns on the African coast, to instead require a specified and sufficient number of small steamers and fast sailing brigs or schooners. He urged an effective way to identify the nationality of suspected vessels or those wearing false colors, faulting the United States for refusing to aid such a system. He also wanted the trade declared a crime in international law.
Chapter 82

Section 834 cards

What three measures did Lord John Russell propose in 1860 to suppress the slave trade?
Russell proposed a systematic plan of cruising on the coast of Cuba by British, Spanish, and United States vessels; laws of registration and inspection in Cuba so Spanish authorities could detect illegally imported slaves; and a plan of emigration from China regulated by European agents in conjunction with Chinese authorities. President Buchanan refused to co-operate with this plan.
Chapter 83
What did President Buchanan claim about slave imports in his December 3, 1860 message?
Buchanan stated with great satisfaction that since his last annual message not a single slave had been imported into the United States in violation of the laws prohibiting the African slave trade. He said this was founded on thorough examination and investigation, and that the spirit favoring the trade among some citizens seemed to have entirely subsided.
Chapter 83
What did the Confederate Constitution of February 1861 say about importing African negroes?
Article I, Section 7 of the Provisional Government's Constitution forbade importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slave-holding States of the United States, and required Congress to pass laws to prevent it. Congress could also prohibit introducing slaves from states not in the Confederacy. On March 11, 1861, the article entered the permanent Constitution, with the first line changed to 'negroes of the African race.'
Chapter 83
What did Lincoln report in his December 3, 1861 message about slave-trade enforcement?
Lincoln said enforcement was confided to the Department of the Interior and that recent efforts had unusual success: five vessels fitted out for the slave trade were seized and condemned; two mates and one person equipping a vessel as a slaver were convicted and fined and imprisoned; and one captain taken with a cargo of Africans aboard was convicted of the highest grade of offence, punishable by death.
Chapter 83

Section 844 cards

What did the July 2, 1864 statute do to the coastwise slave-trade?
Section 9 of an appropriation act repealed sections 8 and 9 of the Act of 1807, thereby prohibiting the coastwise slave-trade forever. The change followed a December 17, 1863 House bill introduced by Mr. Julian to repeal the 1807 provisions on the coastwise trade, which had been read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Chapter 84
What did Britain's December 7, 1864 international proposition ask governments to do?
Signed by Russell, it invited the United States and other powers to declare the slave trade piracy and to attach piracy's penalties—specifically death—to anyone convicted of carrying human beings across the sea for sale or slavery. Similar letters went to France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Prussia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia.
Chapter 84
What conditions did the March 3, 1869 appropriation statute attach to treaty funding?
It appropriated $12,500 to carry out the 1862 treaty with Great Britain, but provided that judges' salaries be paid only if they reside where the courts are held, and that Great Britain be asked to consent to abolishing the mixed courts. Earlier appropriations for the same treaty had been $17,000 annually.
Chapter 84
What did Representative Kelsey's January 6, 1869 resolution propose, and what happened to it?
Kelsey sought unanimous consent to introduce a resolution stating the slave trade was practically suppressed and instructing the Committee on Foreign Affairs to inquire into abrogating or modifying the costly 1862 treaty with Great Britain. Mr. Arnell objected, so the resolution was not introduced.
Chapter 84

Section 854 cards

What happened to the Antelope (General Ramirez) and its 280 slaves in 1819?
A Venezuelan privateer fitted in the United States and manned by Americans captured slaves from the Spanish slaver Antelope and others, was wrecked, and transferred crew and slaves to the Antelope, renamed General Ramirez. A United States ship captured it with 280 slaves. The slaves were distributed: some to Spanish claimants, some sent to Africa, some allowed to remain; many died.
Chapter 85
Why did Great Britain refuse indemnity for slaves freed from the Enterprise in 1835?
The Enterprise was carrying 78 slaves from the District of Columbia to Charleston when rough weather forced it into Hamilton, West Indies, where the slaves were freed. Britain refused to pay because, before the slaves landed, slavery in the West Indies had been abolished. By contrast, Britain eventually paid indemnity for slaves freed from the Comet and Encomium.
Chapter 85
What happened to La Jeune Eugène and the other vessels captured by the U.S.S. Alligator in 1821?
La Jeune Eugène, La Daphnée, La Mathilde, and L'Elize were captured by the U.S.S. Alligator. La Jeune Eugène was sent to Boston; the rest escaped and were recaptured under the French flag, prompting a French protest. The chapter cites House Reports and Friends' View of the African Slave Trade (1824) as sources.
Chapter 85
What does the chapter record about American slavers clearing from Havana for Africa in 1836-1838?
In August-September 1836, the Emanuel, Dolores, Anaconda, and Viper, built in the United States, cleared from Havana for Africa. In 1837, eleven American slavers cleared from Havana for Africa, and the Washington was allowed to proceed by the American consul at Havana. In 1838, nineteen American slavers cleared from Havana for Africa.
Chapter 85

Section 864 cards

How did the Amistad case end for the Africans aboard?
In August 1839 the slaver L'Amistad carried fifty-three Negroes who mutinied; a United States vessel then captured the ship and brought it into Connecticut. The Negroes were declared free. Du Bois cites Supreme Court decisions in 15 Peters, 518, among the case records.
Chapter 86
What happened to the Creole and its slaves in 1841?
On November 7, 1841, the Creole of Richmond, Virginia, was transporting slaves to New Orleans when the crew mutinied and took her to Nassau in the British West Indies. The slaves were freed, and Great Britain refused indemnity. Du Bois cites Senate documents from the 27th Congress.
Chapter 86
How did American flags and papers shield slavers from British cruisers?
Vessels such as the Florida and the Illinois were protected from British cruisers by American papers, and the Illinois escaped under the Spanish flag loaded with slaves. The Uncas was allowed to clear despite her evident character. Du Bois also notes the Eagle and Clara, whose cases the United States declined to touch, were taken to Jamaica.
Chapter 86
What pattern of slaving voyages from American ports does the chapter document in the 1840s?
Du Bois lists many American-built or American-flagged slavers trading chiefly to Brazil and Cuba, including the Sophia of New York shipping 750 slaves for Brazil and the Senator of Boston bringing 944. He records that nineteen slavers from ports such as Beverly, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Providence, and Portland made twenty-two trips in 1844-5.
Chapter 86

Section 873 cards

What does the chapter's 1850 Martha case show about enforcement?
The Martha of New York was captured when about to embark 1800 slaves, but the captain was admitted to bail and escaped. The chapter cites A.H. Foote's Africa and the American Flag as its source, presenting the case as an example of how legal process failed to hold a slaver's captain.
Chapter 87
How did the Delicia case end in December 1859?
The Delicia, supposed to be Spanish but without papers, was captured by a United States ship on December 20, 1859. United States courts declared her beyond their jurisdiction, per House Executive Document 36 Cong. 2 sess. IV No. 7. The chapter records this as an outcome, not a legal argument.
Chapter 87
What does the chapter record about slavers landing slaves in Cuba in 1861-1864?
The Storm King of Baltimore landed 650 slaves in Cuba in 1861; the Ocilla of Mystic, Connecticut, landed slaves in Cuba in 1862; and the Huntress of New York, under the American flag, landed slaves in Cuba in 1864. Each entry cites Senate Executive Document 38 Cong. 1 sess. No. 56.
Chapter 87

Section 884 cards

What kinds of sources does Du Bois list for New York in this chapter?
For New York, Du Bois cites Acts of Assembly, 1691-1718 (London, 1719); E.B. O'Callaghan's Documentary History of New York (4 vols., Albany, 1849-51) and his edited Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York (12 vols., Albany, 1856-77); Laws of New York, 1752-1762 (New York, 1762); and Laws of New York, 1777-1801 (5 vols., republished Albany, 1886-7).
Chapter 88
Which congressional document of 1817 concerns Amelia Island and Galvezton?
The message of December 15, 1817, from the President communicating information on persons who took possession of Amelia Island and Galvezton during the summer of that year and made establishments there. It is House Doc., 15 Cong. 1 sess. II. No. 12, and Du Bois notes it contains much evidence of illicit traffic.
Chapter 88
What does the 1822 House Report on suppression of the slave trade discuss?
The Report of the Committee on the Suppression of the Slave Trade, April 12, 1822, reprinted the Report of February 9, 1821. Du Bois notes it contains a discussion of the Right of Search and papers on the European Conference for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. It is House Reports, 17 Cong. 1 sess. II. No. 92.
Chapter 88
Which 1826 documents concern slave ships in Alabama?
The March 8, 1826 message from the President in relation to the cargoes of certain slave ships, House Doc., 19 Cong. 1 sess. VI. No. 121, with related documents at VIII. No. 126 and IX. Nos. 152 and 163, plus House Reports, 19 Cong. 1 sess. II. No. 231. Du Bois identifies the cases as the Constitution, Louisa, and Merino.
Chapter 88

Section 894 cards

What does the 1830 House Report No. 348 contain, and who arranged it?
Collected and arranged by Samuel Burch, it runs 290 pages with a 3-page report and appendix. It reprints legislation and documents from the 14th Congress, 2nd session, through the 21st Congress, 1st session. Du Bois calls it "Very valuable." It responded to a memorial from the American Colonization Society, Kentucky memorials, and a memorial from free people of color in Ohio.
Chapter 89
What 1841 document concerns the American consul at Havana and why?
A January 20, 1841 message from the President transmitted correspondence imputing malpractices to the American consul at Havana regarding granting papers to vessels engaged in the slave trade. It appears as Senate Doc., 26 Cong. 2 sess. III. No. 125. Du Bois notes it "Contains much information."
Chapter 89
Which documents cover the 1837 seizure of slaves on the Encomium and Enterprise?
A February 14, 1837 message from the President transmitted copies of correspondence relating to the seizure of slaves on board the brigs "Encomium" and "Enterprise." It is cited as Senate Doc., 24 Cong. 2 sess. II. No. 174, with a cross-reference to Ibid., 25 Cong. 3 sess. III. No. 216.
Chapter 89
What kinds of documents does this chapter list for the L'Amistad case?
The chapter lists many L'Amistad items under 1839: House and Senate documents containing correspondence, House and Senate committee reports, and a House Report on the case of an altered manuscript. These span multiple congresses, from the 26th through the 35th. Du Bois gives no narrative of the case itself, only the citations.
Chapter 89

Section 904 cards

What did the 1843 House report on African colonization include in its appendix?
The Committee on Commerce report of Feb. 28, 1843, carried a 1071-page appendix. It reprinted congressional history of the slave-trade and the case of the Fenix, material on search and seizure of American vessels, correspondence on British searches and the Quintuple Treaty, the President's message on the Treaty of 1842, African squadron correspondence, and newspaper extracts on the slave-trade and colonization.
Chapter 90
What did the 1850 Navy report show about the African squadron?
The March 18, 1850, report of the Secretary of the Navy presented the annual number of deaths in the United States squadron on the coast of Africa together with the annual cost of maintaining that squadron. A July 22, 1850, message on the African squadron supplied total expenses and the number of slavers captured.
Chapter 90
What did the 1846 Senate document on the right of search contain?
The June 6, 1846, message from the President communicated copies of correspondence between the United States and Great Britain on the right of search, plus copies of the American minister's protest at Paris against the Quintuple Treaty. The entry cross-references earlier documents from the 27th Congress on the same subject.
Chapter 90
Which 1845 documents did Du Bois flag as containing important evidence on the slave trade?
Du Bois marks the Feb. 20, 1845, message transmitting despatches from the American minister at Brazil as 'Important evidence, statistics, etc.' He also notes the Dec. 22, 1845, message with George W. Slacum's correspondence as containing 'much information,' and the Feb. 26, 1845, squadron message as holding Commodore Perry's reports and Liberia statistics.
Chapter 90

Section 914 cards

What did the 1858 Senate Executive Document No. 49 concern, and how does Du Bois characterize it?
It was an April 23, 1858 message of the President communicating reports of the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying papers, in relation to the African slave trade. Du Bois marks it in parentheses as "(Valuable.)" The document appeared as Senate Exec. Doc., 35 Cong. 1 sess. XII. No. 49.
Chapter 91
What did the June 1860 House Report No. 602 address, and which slavers did it name?
The Committee on the Judiciary reported on Senate Bill No. 464 together with the President's messages relative to the capture of the slavers "Wildfire" and "William." It appeared as House Reports, 36 Cong. 1 sess. IV. No. 602, dated May 31, 1860.
Chapter 91
What does the May 19, 1856 presidential message cover, and where was it partly reprinted?
Titled "Slave and Coolie Trade," it was a message from the President communicating information in regard to the slave and coolie trade. It appeared as House Exec. Doc., 34 Cong. 1 sess. XII. No. 105, and was partly reprinted in Senate Exec. Doc., 34 Cong. 1 sess. XV. No. 99.
Chapter 91
What 1862 treaty did the President transmit to the Senate, and in which document?
A June 10, 1862 message of the President transmitted a copy of the treaty between the United States and her Britannic Majesty for the suppression of the African slave trade. It appeared as Senate Exec. Doc., 37 Cong. 2 sess. V. No. 57, which also contains correspondence.
Chapter 91

Section 924 cards

What does the entry for the African Slave Trade (Philadelphia, 1863) claim about the insurgents?
It is titled "The African Slave Trade: The Secret Purpose of the Insurgents to Revive it," and adds that no treaty stipulations against the slave trade were to be entered into with the European powers. The entry is listed in the chapter's general bibliography with Philadelphia, 1863, as the place and date of publication.
Chapter 92
Which Clarkson work argues that only abolition, not regulation, can remove the evils of the slave trade?
Thomas Clarkson's "An Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition, as applied to the Slave Trade" (London, 1789), which the chapter says shows "that the latter only can remove the evils to be found in that commerce." The bibliography also lists his Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade (1788) and his History of the Abolition (Philadelphia, 1808).
Chapter 92
Which two Amistad arguments by Adams and Baldwin appear in the bibliography?
John Quincy Adams's Argument before the Supreme Court in United States v. Cinque and Others, Africans, captured in the schooner Amistad by Lieut. Gedney, delivered Feb. 24 and March 1, 1841, with a review of the Antelope case (New York, 1841); and R. S. Baldwin's Argument before the Supreme Court in the same case (New York, 1841).
Chapter 92
Which anti-slavery society reports and which colonization society reports does the chapter list?
It lists the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society Reports; the American Anti-Slavery Society's Memorial for the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade (London, 1841) plus its Reports and Proceedings; and the American Colonization Society's Annual Reports, 1818-1860, cross-referenced to the United States Documents. British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society annual and special reports also appear.
Chapter 92

Section 934 cards

What does De Bow's Review consist of, and what years does it span?
De Bow's Review, also titled The Commercial Review of the South and West, is a 38-volume periodical published in New Orleans between 1846 and 1869. It appears in this bibliography among sources on slavery and the slave trade, listed under its editor J.D.B. De Bow.
Chapter 93
What is Captain Richard Drake's book about, and what period does it cover?
Revelations of a Slave Smuggler is the autobiography of Captain Richard Drake, described as an African trader for fifty years, from 1807 to 1857. It was published in New York around 1860 and is listed among the sources in this chapter's bibliography.
Chapter 93
Which Quaker (Friends) publications in this list address the slave trade?
The Friends' entries include An Exposition of the African Slave Trade from 1840 to 1850, prepared from official documents (Philadelphia, 1857); Facts and Observations relative to the Participation of American Citizens in the African Slave Trade (1841); and the Germantown Friends' Protest against Slavery, 1688, reproduced in facsimile in 1880.
Chapter 93
What does the entry for Pope Gregory XVI's bull concern?
The entry is titled 'To Catholic Citizens! The Pope's Bull [for the Abolition of the Slave Trade], and the words of Daniel O'Connell [on American Slavery],' published in New York around 1856. It pairs the papal bull against the slave trade with O'Connell's statements on American slavery.
Chapter 93

Section 944 cards

What does Hurd's 'The Law of Freedom and Bondage in the United States' cover, and when was it published?
John Codman Hurd's work appeared in two volumes, published in Boston and New York in 1858 and 1862. It is listed among the chapter's sources on the law of freedom and bondage in the United States. The same author also wrote on the international law of the slave trade and the maritime right of search, and on the Jamaica movement to enforce slave-trade treaties.
Chapter 94
What did the London Anti-Slavery Society publish about the foreign slave trade in 1837?
The London Anti-Slavery Society issued 'The Foreign Slave Trade, A Brief Account of its State, of the Treaties which have been entered into, and of the Laws enacted for its Suppression, from the date of the English Abolition Act to the present time,' published in London in 1837. A second number of the same series followed in London in 1838.
Chapter 94
Which works by William Jay appear in this chapter's bibliography?
Two works by William Jay are listed: 'Miscellaneous Writings on Slavery,' published in Boston in 1853, and 'A View of the Action of the Federal Government, in Behalf of Slavery,' published in New York in 1839. The chapter presents them only as bibliographic entries, without summarizing their arguments or conclusions.
Chapter 94
Which authors in this list wrote about reopening the slave trade, and what are their works?
Two entries address reopening the trade. C.W. Miller's 'Address on Re-opening the Slave Trade' was delivered August 29, 1857, and published in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1857. 'Marana' (a pseudonym) wrote 'The Future of America. Considered ... in View of ... Re-opening the Slave Trade,' published in Boston in 1858. The chapter lists these as sources only.
Chapter 94

Section 954 cards

What does the chapter's bibliography list as a primary source for U.S. congressional slave-trade records?
The chapter lists United States Congress publications: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Congressional Debates (1824-37), Congressional Globe (1833-73), Congressional Record (1873 onward), plus House and Senate Documents, Executive Documents, Journals, Miscellaneous Documents, Reports, and Statutes at Large. These are presented as source material for studying the suppression of the slave trade.
Chapter 95
Which works in the bibliography address the British right of search and visitation of American vessels?
The chapter lists two: 'Right of Search,' a reply by an Englishman to an 'American's Examination' (London, 1842), and Henry Wheaton's 'Enquiry into the Validity of the British Claim to a Right of Visitation and Search of American Vessels suspected to be engaged in the African Slave-Trade' (Philadelphia, 1842). Both concern the search controversy.
Chapter 95
Which South Carolina sources in the bibliography concern the foreign slave trade?
The chapter lists a South Carolina House report of 1857 responding to Governor Jas. H. Adams's message on slavery and the slave trade, and three works by L.W. Spratt: a protest against a Southern Congress decision, a speech on the foreign slave trade before the South Carolina Legislature (1858), and 'The Foreign Slave Trade the Source of Political Power' (Charleston, 1858).
Chapter 95
Which antislavery or abolitionist tracts does the chapter's bibliography attribute to Granville Sharp and James Swan?
Granville Sharp's 'Extract of a Letter to a Gentleman in Maryland; Wherein is demonstrated the extreme wickedness of tolerating the Slave Trade' (fourth edition, London, 1806), and James Swan's 'A Dissuasion to Great-Britain and the Colonies: from the Slave-Trade to Africa. Shewing the Injustice thereof' (revised and abridged, Boston, 1773). Both are listed as abolitionist works.
Chapter 95

Section 963 cards

What did Buchanan do about the slave-trade as president?
As president, James A. Buchanan enforced slave-trade laws, issued the "Ostend Manifesto," and refused to co-operate with England; his messages are cited at several points. The chapter lists these actions without evaluating his motives.
Chapter 96
What was the economic revolution tied to in this index?
The economic revolution is indexed to cotton: its manufacture, price, and crop, along with the cotton-gin and Edmund Cartwright. These entries link the expansion of cotton production to the broader economic changes the chapter references.
Chapter 96
What does the index show about the 'Creole' and 'Comet' cases?
Both are listed as cases of slavers, with the "Creole" cited at 143, 283-84, and 312, and the "Comet" at 143 and 309. They appear among other vessel cases such as the "Enterprise," "Encomium," and "Constitution."
Chapter 96

Section 974 cards

What does the index entry for Holland say about its role in the slave-trade?
The index lists Holland's participation in the slave-trade at pages 24, 25, and 47, notes slaves in the Colonies at 133, its abolition of the slave-trade at 136, treaties with England at 137 and 259, and the West India Company at 25.
Chapter 97
Which U.S. presidents are indexed as having pardoned slave-traders?
The index lists pardons granted to slave-traders at page 131 note, naming Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe among those who issued pardons. Jefferson is also indexed for drafting the Declaration, presidential messages, and signing the Act of 1807.
Chapter 97
What does the index record about Hayti's influence?
The index lists Hayti at page 144 note and cites the influence of the revolution at pages 74-77, 84-88, and 96-97, with a cross-reference to San Domingo.
Chapter 97
How does the index treat Jefferson's connection to the slave-trade?
Jefferson is indexed as drafting the Declaration of Independence (53, 54), sending presidential messages on the slave-trade (92, 97-98, 251), signing the Act of 1807 (110), and pardoning slave-traders (131 note).
Chapter 97

Section 983 cards

Which states are listed as prohibiting the slave-trade before the United States did?
The index lists prohibition of the slave-trade by Georgia (15, 75), South Carolina (17, 89), North Carolina (19), Virginia (20), Maryland (22), New York (26), Vermont (28), Pennsylvania (28, 29), Delaware (31), New Jersey (32), New Hampshire (36), Massachusetts (37), Rhode Island (40), and Connecticut (43), with United States prohibition at 110, England at 135, and the Confederate States at 188.
Chapter 98
What does the index say about the Right of Search?
The Right of Search appears at pages 137-142, 145 n., 148-51, 156, 183, 185, 191, 256, and 295, indicating it was a recurring subject across the period covered. The entry is cross-referenced under "Search. See Right of Search."
Chapter 98
What does the index record about the slave-trade and piracy?
The entry "Piracy, slave-trade made" lists pages 124-25, 140, 141, 146, 149, and 155 n., showing that the slave-trade was made piracy at several points in the indexed material. The entry is cross-referenced to the slave-trade generally under the Table of Contents.
Chapter 98

Section 993 cards

What does the index entry for Virginia record about its earliest slavery?
The index lists Virginia under 'first slaves imported' at pages 28 and 306, and notes 'slavery in' at page 14. It also points to restrictions in Virginia at pages 19-22 and 76, and to the frame of government at page 21. These are index references, not narrative claims.
Chapter 99
Which treaties and congresses does the index connect to the slave-trade?
The index lists the Congress of Verona at page 139, the Congress of Vienna at page 135, and the Treaty of Washington (1842) at pages 148-50, 170, 172, 182, 185, 285, 286, 288, and 292. These entries show diplomatic events tied to the trade.
Chapter 99
What do the Transcriber's Notes say about formatting and footnotes?
The notes state that underscores marked italics and tildes marked bold in the original. Footnotes were collected at the end of each chapter, with numbering restarting per chapter, whereas the original placed them at each page's bottom with per-page numbering. Letters preceded by ^ and enclosed in braces were superscripted.
Chapter 99

Source and licence

Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #17700 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.

Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-29. Cards reviewed 2026-10-29.

These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.

Turn your own notes into cards

Upload a PDF, Word, or text file and get question-and-answer cards for closed-notes practice. Five cards are free, no signup.

Try 5 free cards

All questions and answers

What does Du Bois's monograph propose to set forth?

How does the monograph treat slavery and the interstate slave-trade?

What sources is the monograph mainly based upon?

Who suggested the work and who is thanked for aid and encouragement?

What did the Assiento of 1713 require England to supply Spain's colonies?

How did the Statute 23 George II, chapter 31, change the slave-trade?

Why did England's colonial governors discourage duties on imported slaves?

What did the 1680-1688 African Company voyages show about slave mortality?

How did slavery differ between New England/New York and Maryland/Virginia?

Why does Du Bois call the planting colonies decisive for North American slavery?

What restrictions did Georgia's founders impose, and how did colonists respond?

What made South Carolina's slave trade the largest among continental colonies?

Why did South Carolina pass heavy duties on imported Negroes around the Assiento period?

What happened to South Carolina's 1760 total prohibition of the slave-trade?

What did Virginia's Burgesses petition the king for in 1772?

How did Virginia's slave-trade duties change between 1732 and 1761?

How did Maryland's slave-trade duties change between 1717 and 1771?

When did Maryland's slave trade effectively end, and why?

What motive does Du Bois identify as the main basis of opposition to the slave trade in the planting colonies?

What three motives does Du Bois give for the farming colonies' opposition to the slave trade?

How did the 1728 New York duty on slaves fare, and why?

What was the Dutch role in the continental slave trade, and how did England take it over?

How did the Pennsylvania Quakers' stance on slavery develop from 1688 onward?

What was the first enactment of its kind in America, passed in Pennsylvania in 1712?

How did England respond to Pennsylvania's early slave duty acts?

What motives does the author attribute to farming versus planting colonies' trade restrictions?

What happened to New Jersey's 1762 or 1763 prohibitive duty on slaves?

What was the stated motive of New Netherland colonists regarding foreign trade?

How did New York's slave population change between 1698 and 1774?

What happened to Pennsylvania's 1710 and 1715 duty acts?

What was the outcome of the 1775 Pennsylvania bill to prohibit importation?

Where did New England's significance in the African slave-trade chiefly lie, according to Du Bois?

How did the molasses-rum-slave trade form a 'perfect circle' in New England?

What did Massachusetts do about Captain Smith's seizure of Africans around 1640?

What did Massachusetts's 1705 duty act reveal about its attitude toward imported slaves?

How did Massachusetts respond to two captured Negroes advertised for sale at Salem?

What did Rhode Island's 1652 law against life slavery decree?

Why did Rhode Island become America's greatest slave-trader despite few imports for its own use?

What contradiction did Rhode Island's 1774 importation act contain?

What penalties did Connecticut's 1788 law set for participating in the slave trade?

Why did Connecticut's 1774 law prohibit further importation of slaves?

On what grounds did New England oppose slave importation, according to Du Bois?

What did Du Bois say finally suppressed New England's slave carrying trade?

What three general periods does Du Bois trace in colonial slave-trade legislation?

Why did the Revolution bring national unity on the slave-trade, and where did Du Bois locate the real crisis?

What did Du Bois identify as the uncertain quantities in the 1787 outlook?

How large was the slave trade around 1760 and after the Revolution, according to Du Bois?

What were the six reasons behind the colonists' concerted action against the slave-trade at the Revolution's outbreak?

What did the Continental Congress resolve on October 12, 1774, regarding slaves and the slave trade?

How does Du Bois characterize the motives behind the Association's action against the slave-trade?

Which colonies specifically mentioned slaves in their 1774 non-importation resolutions, and what did Virginia's county conventions say?

How did the colonies respond to the Association's slave-trade clause?

How did Congress and the colonies enforce the slave-trade ban?

What did Congress resolve about slave importation on April 3, 1776?

What did Du Bois conclude about the first national anti-slave-trade movement?

Why did economic pressure after the war revive demand for the African slave-trade?

How did South Carolina and Georgia delegates block moral arguments against the slave trade?

What economic argument did Pinckney and Rutledge make for the slave trade?

What did Ellsworth and Baldwin argue about who should control slavery?

What 'middle ground' did Gouverneur Morris propose for the slave-trade dispute?

According to Luther Martin, what did the committee's 'bargain' exchange?

What did Madison argue against extending the slave-trade limit to 1808?

How was the slave-importation tax finally settled?

What did the Convention decide on Pinckney's motion to require two-thirds votes for navigation acts?

What proviso did Rutledge secure for the amendment clause regarding the slave trade?

How did the North and South differ in their understanding of slavery as 'temporary'?

How did Iredell and Noah Webster defend the slave-trade clause against critics?

How did Tench Coxe's 'Examination' characterize the slave-trade clause?

How did Madison defend the slave-trade clause in Federalist No. 41?

What was the character of state convention opposition to the slave-trade clause?

Which state alone proposed an amendment letting Congress prevent all slave importation?

What motives does Du Bois say drove the states to accept the slave-trade compromise?

Why did South Carolina reopen the African slave trade in 1803?

What penalties did Connecticut's 1788 act impose for participating in the slave trade?

What did Parker of Virginia propose in the 1789 Congress debate?

What was the outcome of the 1790 Quaker petitions in Congress?

What did the select committee report say about Congress and slave importation before 1808?

What did the committee say about Congress interfering in emancipation of existing slaves?

What powers did the committee concede Congress had over the slave trade?