Coastwise slave trade facts for kids

The coastwise slave trade was a system where enslaved people were moved by ship along the eastern coast of the United States. This happened before 1861, when slavery was still legal in parts of the country. Ships carried enslaved people from areas in the Upper South, where there were many enslaved people, to the Deep South. New cotton farms in the Deep South needed a lot of workers.

Sometimes, these ships had to stop in British ports, like those in Bermuda or the British West Indies. This could happen because of bad weather or an accident. The British had banned the slave trade on the open seas. They also ended slavery in their own lands in 1834. Because of this, British officials would often free the enslaved people on these American ships. This caused problems between the United States and Great Britain.

Some famous cases included the ships Comet (1830), Encomium (1833), Enterprise (1835), and Hermosa (1840). The most well-known case was the Creole case in 1841. Enslaved people on the Creole took control of the ship. They forced it to sail to Nassau, Bahamas. British officials there freed 128 enslaved people who wanted to stay in the Bahamas.

Laws About Slavery and Trade

Before 1807, the U.S. Constitution (from 1787) and the Fugitive Slave Law (from 1793) were the main national laws about slavery. Individual states also had their own laws. The Constitution did not allow the government to regulate the slave trade for 20 years.

In 1807, the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was passed. This law stopped the "importation of slaves" from Africa, starting in 1808. The United States and Great Britain worked together to patrol the seas. They tried to stop the international slave trade. They also patrolled the Caribbean, where enslaved people were often illegally brought for sale.

The 1807 Act also regulated the coastwise slave trade within the United States. It allowed American slave traders to move enslaved people between states by ship. Lawyers argued that ships at sea were like an extension of U.S. land. This meant the domestic slave trade could continue among the states.

Conflicts with Britain in the Caribbean

The United States and Great Britain had different ideas about how to apply laws against the slave trade. This led to problems in the Caribbean. When American merchant ships were forced into British ports, the British freed the enslaved people on board. This happened even before Britain ended slavery in its own territories in 1834.

As early as 1825, British officials decided that any enslaved person brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be freed. This led to about 300 enslaved people owned by U.S. citizens being freed. Also, enslaved people who escaped from Florida to the Bahamas became free.

Several incidents happened as more people spoke out against slavery. In the cases of the Comet (1830), Encomium (1833), Enterprise (1835), and Hermosa (1840), the British freed the enslaved people. These ships had entered British ports due to weather or accidents.

The most important case was the 1841 Creole. This ship was forced into Nassau, Bahamas, because enslaved people on board had rebelled. One of the leaders had heard that enslaved people from the Hermosa had been freed there the year before.

British officials decided that the enslaved people were free persons. They were being held illegally. They freed 128 of the 135 enslaved people from the Creole who chose to stay in the Bahamas. This event is sometimes called the "most successful slave revolt in U.S. history." Slaveholders in the U.S. worried this would encourage other revolts on slave ships.

Important Laws and Court Cases

Here are some of the most important U.S. laws and court decisions about slavery:

• 1787: U.S. Constitution
• 1793: Fugitive Slave Law
• 1807: Congressional Act banning the "importation of slaves"
• 1841: United States v. The Amistad
• 1850: Fugitive Slave Law
• 1857: Dred Scott case, a U.S. Supreme Court decision
• 1865: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which ended slavery)

What is Cabotage?

Cabotage means sailing along a coast and using landmarks to guide the ship. The word comes from the French word caboter, meaning "to coast" or "go from cape to cape." When enslaved people were transported as goods by cabotage, it was called the coastwise slave trade.