Slave trade in the U.S.
Slave trade in the United States was outlawed in 1794 with the passage of the Slave Trade Act, which made it illegal to export slaves or build a ship for carrying slaves.
In 1820, the Piracy Act was passed, which said slave traders would receive the death penalty for trafficking. However, slave trading continued and, in 1842, the United States and England formed the African squadron, which patrolled the African coast and seized slave-trading ships. The U.S. only seized six ships and no one was ever prosecuted until 1862, when Abraham Lincoln became president. In fact, almost all slave traders were financed, built and outfitted in New York or New England, where the financiers made tons of money ... one trip could net $320,000.
In 1862, Captain Nathaniel Gordon’s ship was seized in Africa, where the slaves were being shipped to South America and the Caribbean. He was brought to New York, tried and executed in 1862. He was the only person ever convicted for slave trading.
Killing Captain Gordon meant the end of financing slave ships, and New York City actually threatened to secede from the union due to lost revenue.
These are all facts substantiated by historical documents. So much for slavery being the major issue causing the Civil War.
Michael Merget, Newnan
