| More Information | |
 | Education Majors |
| Research |
 | |
History on the Web
The amount of historical material available on the web increases every day. Here the History Department provides a variety of links for teaching and research to help our students better navigate History on the Web.
SPOTlight
Bicentennial of the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The year 2008 marks the 200th anniversary of the legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress abolishing the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Slave Trade Act of 1808, passed by Congress in March of 1807, became effective January 1, 1808. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution stipulated that Congress would not be able to prohibit the importation of slaves before 1808. The slave trade was hotly debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the 20 year ban was one of several compromises made over slavery. Though the Constitution prohibited Congress from abolishing the slave trade before 1808, it placed no limits on the actions of individual states. New Jersey and Rhode Island struck first in 1787, followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. By 1806, only South Carolina had not restricted the slave trade. Congress also passed laws to restrict the trade in ways not forbidden by the Constitution prior to 1808. A 1794 law prohibited US citizens from engaging in the slave trade to foreign ports and made it illegal to manufacture, equip, or otherwise assist any vessels destined for the slave trade. The Act was expanded in 1800 and an additional 1803 law prevented the importation of Africans into states which had abolished the slave trade. Congressional debates over abolishing the slave trade began in December 1805 when bills were introduced in both the House and Senate. The better documented House debate focused on issues such as Congress' power to tax, states' rights and slaves' status. Read the House debate for January 1806, January 1806, February 1806, December 1806 (Dec 16 & 18), December 1806 (Dec 29), December 1806 (Dec 31), January 1807 (Jan 7), February 1807. The final vote, taken on February 26, 1807, was 63 in favor and 49 against. Thomas Jefferson signed the bill into law on March 2, 1807.
The Slave Trade Act of 1808 did not stop the slave trade. Fines proved to be an ineffectual deterrent. One of the law's weakest points, however, was that Africans illegally brought to slaveholding states were still sold into slavery. Due to these weaknesses plus a general lack of enforcement, an illegal slave trade quicky developed in the decades after 1808. The most popular routes for smugglers were overland through Texas and Florida or overseas through South Carolina. American traders (especially in New York and Rhode Island) also continued to engage in the illegal traffic of slaves to plantation societies such as Cuba and Brazil. In recognition of the failure of the 1808 Act, Congress passed a new law in 1820 making international slave trading an act of piracy carrying a punishment of death. This new law was no more successful in suppressing the illegal slave trade. Only one American was ever executed for this crime.
Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade:
1803 Denmark
1807 Britain
1808 United States
1814 France
1817 Netherlands
1845 Spain
Abolition of Slavery in the Americas:
1833 Britain
1848 France
1865 United States
1886 Cuba
1888 Brazil
To learn more about the Atlantic Slave Trade and its Abolition, visit the following websites:
“‘The bloody Writing is for ever torn’: Domestic and International Consequences of the First Governmental Efforts to Abolish the Atlantic Slave Trade”
International conference hosted by The Historical Society of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast, Elmina Beach Resort, Ghana, August 8–12, 2007 (use link to view video of the conference proceedings)
Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Abolition and the Road to Freedom
In Motion: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the United States
The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
Amazing Grace: The Movie (2007 motion picture depicting the fight to abolish the slave trade in Britain)
