THE SUPPRESSION OF THE
AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE
TO THE
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
1638–1870
by
W.E.B. DU BOIS
Volume I
Harvard Historical Studies
1896
Longmans, Green, and Co.
New York
AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE
TO THE
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
1638–1870
by
W.E.B. DU BOIS
Volume I
Harvard Historical Studies
1896
Longmans, Green, and Co.
New York
Preface
This monograph was begun during my residence as Rogers Memorial Fellow at Harvard University, and is based mainly upon a study of the sources, i.e., national, State, and colonial statutes, Congressional documents, reports of societies, personal narratives, etc. The collection of laws available for this research was, I think, nearly complete; on the other hand, facts and statistics bearing on the economic side of the study have been difficult to find, and my conclusions are consequently liable to modification from this source.
The question of the suppression of the slave-trade is so intimately connected with the questions as to its rise, the system of American slavery, and the whole colonial policy of the eighteenth century, that it is difficult to isolate it, and at the same time to avoid superficiality on the one hand, and unscientific narrowness of view on the other. While I could not hope entirely to overcome such a difficulty, I nevertheless trust that I have succeeded in rendering this monograph a small contribution to the scientific study of slavery and the American Negro.
I desire to express my obligation to Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart, of Harvard University, at whose suggestion I began this work and by whose kind aid and encouragement I have brought it to a close; also I have to thank the trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, whose appointment made it possible to test the conclusions of this study by the general principles laid down in German universities.
W.E. BURGHARDT Du BOIS.
Wilberforce University,
March, 1896.
The question of the suppression of the slave-trade is so intimately connected with the questions as to its rise, the system of American slavery, and the whole colonial policy of the eighteenth century, that it is difficult to isolate it, and at the same time to avoid superficiality on the one hand, and unscientific narrowness of view on the other. While I could not hope entirely to overcome such a difficulty, I nevertheless trust that I have succeeded in rendering this monograph a small contribution to the scientific study of slavery and the American Negro.
I desire to express my obligation to Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart, of Harvard University, at whose suggestion I began this work and by whose kind aid and encouragement I have brought it to a close; also I have to thank the trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, whose appointment made it possible to test the conclusions of this study by the general principles laid down in German universities.
W.E. BURGHARDT Du BOIS.
Wilberforce University,
March, 1896.
Contents
|
CHAPTER I Introductory 1. Plan of the Monograph 2. The Rise of the English Slave-Trade CHAPTER II The Planting Colonies 3. Character of these Colonies 4. Restrictions in Georgia 5. Restrictions in South Carolina 6. Restrictions in North Carolina 7. Restrictions in Virginia 8. Restrictions in Maryland 9. General Character of these Restrictions CHAPTER III The Farming Colonies 10. Character of these Colonies 11. The Dutch Slave-Trade 12. Restrictions in New York 13. Restrictions in Pennsylvania and Delaware 14. Restrictions in New Jersey 15. General Character of these Restrictions CHAPTER IV The Trading Colonies 16. Character of these Colonies 17. New England and the Slave-Trade 18. Restrictions in New Hampshire 19. Restrictions in Massachusetts 20. Restrictions in Rhode Island 21. Restrictions in Connecticut 22. General Character of these Restrictions CHAPTER V The Period of the Revolution, 1774–1787 23. The Situation in 1774 24. The Condition of the Slave-Trade 25. The Slave-Trade and the "Association" 26. The Action of the Colonies 27. The Action of the Continental Congress 28. Reception of the Slave-Trade Resolution 29. Results of the Resolution 30. The Slave-Trade and Public Opinion after the War 31. The Action of the Confederation CHAPTER VI The Federal Convention, 1787 32. The First Proposition 33. The General Debate 34. The Special Committee and the "Bargain" 35. The Appeal to the Convention 36. Settlement by the Convention 37. Reception of the Clause by the Nation 38. Attitude of the State Conventions 39. Acceptance of the Policy CHAPTER VII Toussaint L'Ouverture and Anti-Slavery Effort, 1787–1807 40. Influence of the Haytian Revolution 41. Legislation of the Southern States 42. Legislation of the Border States 43. Legislation of the Eastern States 44. First Debate in Congress, 1789 45. Second Debate in Congress, 1790 46. The Declaration of Powers, 1790 47. The Act of 1794 48. The Act of 1800 49. The Act of 1803 50. State of the Slave-Trade from 1789 to 1803 51. The South Carolina Repeal of 1803 52. The Louisiana Slave-Trade, 1803–1805 53. Last Attempts at Taxation, 1805–1806 54. Key-Note of the Period CHAPTER VIII The Period of Attempted Suppression, 1807–1825 55. The Act of 1807 56. The First Question: How shall illegally imported Africans be disposed of? 57. The Second Question: How shall Violations be punished? 58. The Third Question: How shall the Interstate Coastwise Slave-Trade be protected? 59. Legislative History of the Bill 60. Enforcement of the Act 61. Evidence of the Continuance of the Trade 62. Apathy of the Federal Government 63. Typical Cases 64. The Supplementary Acts, 1818–1820 65. Enforcement of the Supplementary Acts,1818–1825 CHAPTER IX The International Status of the Slave-Trade, 1783–1862 66. The Rise of the Movement against the Slave-Trade,1788–1807 67. Concerted Action of the Powers, 1783–1814 68. Action of the Powers from 1814 to 1820 69. The Struggle for an International Right of Search, 1820–1840 70. Negotiations of 1823–1825 71. The Attitude of the United States and the State of the Slave-Trade 72. The Quintuple Treaty, 1839–1842 73. Final Concerted Measures, 1842–1862 CHAPTER X The Rise of the Cotton Kingdom, 1820–1850 74. The Economic Revolution 75. The Attitude of the South 76. The Attitude of the North and Congress 77. Imperfect Application of the Laws 78. Responsibility of the Government 79. Activity of the Slave-Trade,1820–1850 CHAPTER XI The Final Crisis, 1850–1870 80. The Movement against the Slave-Trade Laws 81. Commercial Conventions of 1855–1856 82. Commercial Conventions of 1857–1858 83. Commercial Convention of 1859 84. Public Opinion in the South 85. The Question in Congress 86. Southern Policy in 1860 87. Increase of the Slave-Trade from 1850 to 1860 88. Notorious Infractions of the Laws 89. Apathy of the Federal Government 90. Attitude of the Southern Confederacy 91. Attitude of the United States CHAPTER XII The Essentials in the Struggle 92. How the Question Arose 93. The Moral Movement 94. The Political Movement 95. The Economic Movement 96. The Lesson for Americans APPENDICES A. A Chronological Conspectus of Colonial and State Legislation restricting the African Slave-Trade, 1641–1787 B. A Chronological Conspectus of State, National, and International Legislation, 1788–1871 C. Typical Cases of Vessels engaged in the American Slave-Trade, 1619–1864 D. Bibliography INDEX |
Next Chapter
Share your thoughts on this writing
