The United States outlawed the African slave trade in 1808, one year behind Great Britain. The illegal trade in human beings continued, however, as greedy investors continued to finance voyages to smuggle enslaved Africans into the southern United States up until the Civil War (1861-1865). The Greenfield Gazette and Courier reported on a chase by a British steamer of an American slave ship in April of 1860. Readers learned that when capture seemed inevitable, the captain of the slave ship deliberately drove his vessel onto the rocks. Hundreds of enslaved people trapped on the ship drowned while, according to a witness, “The monsters who manned the vessel [were] supposed to have already escaped” in a lifeboat.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “Sacrifice of Life.” April 27, 1860. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-111/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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