Slavers?

[SWMODave]

It appears the Nina, Bonita, and Everglade were former slave ships

 

[byron ed]

Riverine and coastal transport of slaves (including via slaving ships) was legal throughout the Antebellum and into the war by both sides -- until the Union blockade, Union military occupation and the first emancipation proclamation stifled it. Atlantic importation of slaves was not legal in the Country since 1808, or in the Union or the Confederacy during the war.

 

[uaskme]

Well, no. Cuba had been disallowing the importation of slaves since 1822 and Brazil had been liberating all imported slaves since 1831.*

England had banned the cross-Atlantic importation of slaves in 1807, and it was they who enforced that ban over the whole Atlantic with their considerable navy (with whatever small assistance the U.S. Navy could provide). "Britain rules the waves" was not just a phrase. The British Navy patrolled for slavers in the same way they patrolled for pirates -- which is to say regardless of any other country's legal recognition of the cross-Atlantic trade of slaves. But again, both Cuba and Brazil had disallowed the cross-Atlantic trade by 1831 anyway.

So any "slave ship" converted from anything, or converted for military use later, had only ever been used in black-market mode.

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* Cuba (a Spanish colony) per a treaty between Spain and England, and Brazil per its own internal legislation. It should be noted that
slavery itself remained legal in Cuba until 1886 and Brazil until 1888.

And some are naive enough to believe a law stopped slavery? Read the history of Cuba, Brazil and the USA and you will find that Slave Trading didn't stop and Northern Ports, as always, engaged in the Trafficking of Slaves. Making it illegal just made it more profitable for those who did it.

 

[archieclement]

View attachment 361459
It appears the Nina, Bonita, and Everglade were former slave ships

so a part of the riddle.............unfortunately quick searches of CSS Bonita, Nina, or Everglade all returned blank........

 

[byron ed]

And some are naive enough to believe a law stopped slavery?

Two things:

This time we're not talking about a law that stopped slavery. Slavery was legal in the Nation before the war and both in the Union and the Confederacy into the war. Are we straight on that?

We're talking about the Federal law that went into effect in 1808 that made the cross-Atlantic importation of slaves illegal. When the war started both the Union and the Confederacy continued to outlaw the cross-Atlantic importation of slaves. Straight on that as well?

Now finally an answer to your question: Generally, nobody here has shown themselves naive enough to believe a law stopped either slavery or the cross-Atlantic importation of slaves. Can we be done with that idea?

Since 1808, more profitable or not, the cross-Atlantic importation of slaves into the U.S. or the Confederacy had slowed to a trickle; it was BLACK MARKET ONLY, to the point that any occurrence of it back then made the newspapers. The black market amounted to a few hundred of slaves imported illegally after 1808 vs thousands of slaves imported legally before 1808, meaning that the law did have an effect and was generally obeyed, so not to be naïve about that.

There's no "points" to be earned by projecting that the North or the Union condoned trans-Atlantic importation of slaves, or that the South or the Confederacy condoned trans-Atlantic importation of slaves. We can't even implicate Lincoln.

 

[Bil R]

Hello Dave,

Thanks for posting. In addition to Bonita, I think another of the slavers was the brig Echo (former Putnam) of Charleston. She was sold off to become the privateer Jefferson Davis. By the way, the revenue cutter Aiken was also sold off to become the privateer Savannah.

The steamer Everglade was a highly regarded, regularly scheduled coastal steamer out of Savannah. She was built in New York in 1856 and not a slaver. She was the first ship purchased for the state of Georgia's fledgling navy (March 1861). She would be renamed Savannah and transferred to the CSN later in 1861. After the new ironclad Savannah was given that name, the former Everglade was renamed Oconee and lost while being used as a blockade runner.

Similarly, the Nina was built in Washington, NJ in 1848 and was a coastal steamer out of Charleston and not a slaver. She was hired by the US government in the late 1840s to transport US troops to Florida during the Seminole wars. She too, was probably purchased for the South Carolina state government and would be lost blockade running in 1863.

This still leaves the mystery of the third slaver.

All the best,
Bil

 

[Lubliner]

I don't mind the slaving discussion as it's related, but what I wondered specifically was, does anyone know the 3 ships on hand in confederate ports at the start of the war?

I don't know if this helps, but on April 29, 1861 it was reported to the Federal Navy Department that a brig and a schooner were being fitted out in Savannah for privateering. The source does not give the names.
Lubliner.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The Franklin & Armfield documents are archived in the U.S. National Archive. The site of the Franklin & Armfield Slave Pen is at 1513 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia.
<nps.gov> Franklin & Armfield Office

 

[archieclement]

Hello Archieclement,

What is the source of the original account mentioned in the first post? I am always curious about discovering possible new CSN vessels. During the Confederacy's early period (February - June 1861) a number of Southern states created their own 'State Navy' consisting of hastily converted or seized vessels (civilian steamers, revenue cutters, etc.). These were later transferred to the CSN. One of the revenue cutter's seizures in New Orleans was considered illegal and it was ordered to be returned to the US Revenue Service but that was not done. I think the 'slavers' in question were probably akin to the F & A schooners described above by Rhea Cole. I had not considered the extensive, intra-state, domestic slave trade previously and its supporting infrastructure. Yet, another avenue for research. Rhea has provided some insight into the harsh reality of the times. Where are F & A's archival records kept? Which NPS site?

The slave trade itself requires a lifetime of research. I have visited both the eastern and western coasts of Africa and it seems every older port has a former slave market with a supporting fortress and a corresponding 'door of no return'. For centuries it was a source of wealth not only for Europeans, but also for Arabs and others of the Ottoman Empire. Yes, raiding parties from those sources would occasionally seize and transport captured Africans, but most slaves were sold to coastal dealers as captives from African tribes themselves as prizes of internecine conflict. It was profitable for them too. There are very few true innocents in that human tragedy.

All the best,
Bil

I was reading Thunder along the Mississippi, the river battles that split the confederacy by Jack D Coombe.

Early in the book he's describing how unprepared each side was