Blockade of Africa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blockade of Africa |
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| Part of Stopping the African slave trade | |||||||
 HMS Brisk capturing the Spanish slave ship Emanuela. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom United States (from 1841 to 1861) |
African slave traders | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Charles William Maxwell Sir George Collier Commodore Charles Bullen Sir Robert Hagan Matthew C. Perry |
Jozé Antonio de la Vega Francis Bowen |
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The Blockade of Africa was a big effort to stop the Atlantic slave trade. It started in 1808 after the United Kingdom made it illegal for British ships to carry enslaved people. The Royal Navy quickly sent ships to Africa to make sure this new law was followed. This group of ships was called the West Africa Squadron.
At first, the ban only applied to British ships. But Britain worked hard to make agreements with other countries. These agreements allowed the Royal Navy to stop and search ships from other nations if they suspected them of carrying enslaved people.
In the United States, a law in 1807 also tried to stop the international slave trade. However, it was not always strongly enforced. From 1819, the United States Navy also tried to prevent slave trading. They mostly patrolled the coasts of the Americas and the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was hard to catch ships in the open ocean.
In 1842, the US and UK agreed to work together to end the slave trade. They even called it "piracy." The US Navy helped with the blockade until the American Civil War began in 1861. After that, in 1862, the US government gave the UK full permission to stop US ships. Slavery was finally ended in the United States in 1865. The Royal Navy's special squadron continued its work until 1870.
Contents
Stopping the Slave Trade: The UK's Role
Why the UK Got Involved
In 1807, the UK passed a law against the slave trade. If a ship was caught with enslaved people, its captain had to pay a large fine for each person.
To make sure this law was followed, two British ships were sent to the African coast. Their main job was to stop British people from trading in enslaved people. They also aimed to disrupt the slave trade of countries that were enemies of the UK during the Napoleonic Wars.
Working with Other Countries
The first law in 1807 only allowed British ships to be searched. So, the slave trade continued on the African coast, just without legal British ships. However, in 1810, Britain convinced Portugal to sign an agreement. This gave the Royal Navy more power. In 1815, Portugal made its anti-slavery laws stronger. They banned all trade north of the equator. This gave the Royal Navy even more freedom.
After the Napoleonic Wars ended, Britain made agreements with other powerful countries. France banned its slave trade in 1815, but did not allow searches of its ships. Spain agreed to stop trade north of the equator by 1818 and south of it by 1820. A special rule was added to the Congress of Vienna meeting, asking all countries to eventually end the slave trade. In 1826, Brazil signed a similar agreement with Britain.
Britain tried to follow international laws when stopping slave traders. British ships caught with enslaved people were taken to special courts. Foreign ships from countries with treaties were taken to "Mixed Commission Courts." These courts had judges from both Britain and the other country to ensure fairness. Many such courts were set up along the African coast.
However, these courts often faced problems. Sometimes, judges from other countries would not show up or would arrive very late. For example, the Brazilian judge did not arrive until 1828. When he did, he overturned all decisions made before he got there.
Also, the Navy's power to stop the trade was limited. Agreements were often weak. To convict a foreign slave ship, enslaved people had to be on board when the ship was stopped. There was no rule about "equipment." This meant ships carrying obvious slave-trading tools, but no enslaved people, could not be seized. This big problem made the Navy's job much harder.
This flaw was fixed in the 1830s. By 1839, Britain was so frustrated that it made Portuguese ships follow British law. They did the same for Brazilian ships in 1845. This was a big step, as it meant foreign ships faced Britain's stricter laws and punishments.
Some nations, like the United States, did not want Britain to search their ships. The US believed strongly in "freedom of the seas." Many slave traders would fly fake US flags to avoid being stopped. Some even registered their ships in southern US states. This led to arguments between the two countries. British officers sometimes stopped US-flagged ships, even if it went against their orders.
By the 1850s, Portugal had completely stopped slave trading (1836). Spain had almost stopped. But Cuba was still a busy slave port. Brazil continued to ignore Britain's efforts. The Brazilian trade finally ended in 1852. This happened when Palmerston, a British leader, started using force.
The West Africa Squadron
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The British Royal Navy started the West Africa Squadron in 1807. The United States Navy also created its own squadron in 1842. These squadrons had the job of protecting Africa from slave traders. They played a big part in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
Finding enough sailors was a challenge. Local Kru people from the Liberian coast were hired. This helped the West African Squadron patrol the coast effectively. After the 1807 law, two ships were sent to Africa to fight slavery.
By 1818, the squadron had grown to six ships. A naval base was set up in 1819 in Freetown. A supply base was at Ascension Island, later moved to Cape Town in 1832.
These resources grew even more. By the mid-1800s, there were about 25 ships and 2,000 crew members. Another 1,000 local sailors also helped. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships. They freed 150,000 enslaved Africans. About 2,000 British sailors died while working with the West Africa Squadron.
Ending the Trade
Even with Britain's best efforts, the slave trade continued. Public opinion in Britain began to turn against the anti-slavery efforts. People worried about the high costs, the diplomatic problems, and the harm to other trade.
Some members of the British Parliament were against using force. They believed the only way to end the trade was to build fair trade with Africa. Their leader, Thomas Fowell Buxton, wanted more naval effort until this could happen. In 1839, he wrote a book criticizing Britain's efforts. This book was very important. It gave Buxton a key role in planning the Niger expedition of 1841. This trip tried to set up trading posts along the Niger River to offer an alternative to slave trading. But the expedition failed, and many Europeans got sick. Buxton died in 1845, his goals not met.
After 1845, the group against using force became more extreme. They were less concerned about the plight of Africans. Some, like William Hutt, strongly opposed naval actions. They argued the trade would die out naturally and Britain's interference was unnecessary. Their influence was so strong that there was a motion in Parliament to end all naval activity. This almost ended the West Africa Squadron and nearly cost Prime Minister John Russell his job.
To prevent this, quick action was taken. Brazil was still one of the biggest slave-trading nations. It kept ignoring Britain's requests to stop. In 1846, Palmerston returned as foreign secretary. In 1850, he allowed Royal Navy ships to enter Brazilian waters. This was to blockade slave traders on both sides of the Atlantic. By 1852, the Brazilian trade had effectively ended.
For many years, Britain pressured the United States to join the fight against the Atlantic slave trade. But the southern US states resisted. However, when the American Civil War began, the US government under Abraham Lincoln became eager to cooperate. For the North, fighting slavery was a way to hurt the Confederate economy. It also gained international support for the North and weakened support for the Southern States. In the Lyons–Seward Treaty of 1862, the United States gave the UK full power to stop US ships involved in the Atlantic slave trade. After the war, the UK and US continued to work together. In 1867, Cuba, under much pressure, also gave up its slave trade.
Stopping the Slave Trade: The US's Role
The US Constitution of 1787 had protected the import of enslaved people for twenty years. In 1794, a group called the Pennsylvania Abolition Society held its first meeting. In 1798, Congress passed a law that fined people caught illegally importing enslaved people.
In 1805, a senator from Vermont suggested a bill to stop the import of "certain persons" after January 1, 1808. These "certain persons" were later described as enslaved people.
Congress was careful not to upset slaveholders. The Senate changed the bill, then sent it to the House of Representatives. The House made more changes. The two parts were combined into one law. This law also regulated the coastwise slave trade (trade along the US coast). President Thomas Jefferson approved the law on March 2, 1807.
The 1807 law was later updated. In 1819, an Act of Congress called the import of enslaved people into the US "piracy." Any US citizen found guilty of this "piracy" could face very serious punishment. The Navy's role grew to include patrols off the coasts of Cuba and South America. These naval actions in the western Atlantic were called "The African Slave Trade Patrol of 1820–61." The "blockade of Africa" was happening in the eastern Atlantic at the same time.
American naval officer Matthew Calbraith Perry was an officer on a ship in 1819. This ship escorted another vessel carrying former enslaved people moving from the United States to Africa. President James Monroe had ordered the American ship to help the first group of freed enslaved people being resettled by the American Colonization Society. In 1821, Perry commanded a ship in the Africa Squadron. Another ship, the USS Alligator, also in the African Squadron in 1821, captured several slave ships. Its commander, Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton, also convinced a local African chief to give up land around Cape Mesurado. This is where Liberia was eventually formed.
In 1842, on the USS Somers in the African Squadron, commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie ordered the arrest of three crewmen. They were planning to take over the ship. The three faced serious consequences. This was a rare event in US Navy history.
Commodore Perry took command of the African Squadron in 1843. Many US Navy ships captured slave traders while serving with the African Squadron. For example, the USS Constellation captured the Cora in 1860 with 705 Africans on board. The USS San Jacinto captured the Storm King in 1860 with 616 Africans. The USS Constitution captured the H.N. Gambrill in 1853.
The Navy tried to stop slave ships from 1808 to 1866. They stopped a small number of ships. Some were carrying Africans to be sold into slavery. Others, which had no enslaved people on board, were captured and sent away from the African coast.
The Demand for Enslaved People
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 created a huge need for more enslaved people to work in the vast new lands. Jean Lafitte was a pirate who brought many enslaved people to the United States. He sold them through an organized system in New Orleans. After he helped Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812, President James Madison pardoned him and his men.
The US Navy's Africa Squadron, Brazil Squadron, and Home Squadron were given the job of stopping ships bringing Africans across the Atlantic. These enslaved people were often called "black ivory" and found many buyers.
After the American Revolutionary War, the US did not build many warships for a while. The Navy Department was created in 1798. In 1794, Congress allowed the building of six frigates. These included the USS Constellation and USS Constitution, which later served in the African Squadron. Few new ships were built after 1801 until 1814.
While the Navy was trying to stop the slave trade, it also had many other important jobs. These included the War of 1812, fighting pirates in the West Indies, protecting American ships in the Pacific, the Mexican–American War, and sending diplomats to other countries. These many tasks meant there were limited ships available for the African Squadron.
See also
