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The case of the Amistad in 1839 (fictionalised in a famous Spielberg movie) shows that this was not at all the case in reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un

by swombat 10y ago

The case of the Amistad in 1839 (fictionalised in a famous Spielberg movie) shows that this was not at all the case in reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._The_Amistad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._The_Amistad I'm sure many slaves were slave-born in that period, but it seems they were still importing people from Africa en masse.

ZoeZoeBee 10y ago
Seriously a fraction of the total slave trade from Africa went to the United States. The vast majority of slaves from Africa went to the Caribbean Islands and South America. >Of the more than 10 million enslaved Africans to eventually reach the Western Hemisphere, just 388,747—less than 4 percent of the total—came to North America. This is an excellent infographic showing the travels of the ships of the time via their shipslogs. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/06/animated_interactive_of_the_history_of_the_atlantic_slave_trade.html http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_s...
hx87 10y ago
There was the occasional slave-running ship, yes, but I doubt they did business 'en masse'; the profits if successful were good, but besides the prohibition on the trade from the US, they had to deal with interdiction by the Royal Navy, and in those days you did not mess with the Royal Navy.
DrScump 10y ago
I wrote that it was banned; I did not say that enforcement was flawless. Similarly, trade between the CSA and the U.K. was "banned" as well, but there were successful blockade runners.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  Also no data set is perfect, the fact that it was illegal probably means there aren't any ledgers lying around to go off of.
jdminhbg 10y ago
The Amistad wasn't importing slaves to the US. From that wikipedia link... > The African captives, who had been kidnapped in Sierra Leone and illegally sold into slavery and shipped to Cuba

by swombat 10y ago

ZoeZoeBee 10y ago

Seriously a fraction of the total slave trade from Africa went to the United States. The vast majority of slaves from Africa went to the Caribbean Islands and South America. >Of the more than 10 million enslaved Africans to eventually reach the Western Hemisphere, just 388,747—less than 4 percent of the total—came to North America. This is an excellent infographic showing the travels of the ships of the time via their shipslogs. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/06/animated_interactive_of_the_history_of_the_atlantic_slave_trade.html http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_s...

hx87 10y ago

There was the occasional slave-running ship, yes, but I doubt they did business 'en masse'; the profits if successful were good, but besides the prohibition on the trade from the US, they had to deal with interdiction by the Royal Navy, and in those days you did not mess with the Royal Navy.

DrScump 10y ago

I wrote that it was banned; I did not say that enforcement was flawless. Similarly, trade between the CSA and the U.K. was "banned" as well, but there were successful blockade runners.

cmdrfred 10y ago
Also no data set is perfect, the fact that it was illegal probably means there aren't any ledgers lying around to go off of.

jdminhbg 10y ago

The Amistad wasn't importing slaves to the US. From that wikipedia link... > The African captives, who had been kidnapped in Sierra Leone and illegally sold into slavery and shipped to Cuba