The importation of black slaves into the American colonies began with the year 1619, when a Dutch vessel brought a cargo of slaves into James River. In 1713, by the Treaty of Utrecht, Great Britain obtained the contract for supplying slaves to the Spanish West Indies. This stimulated the general slave trade. Some colonies desired to prohibit the importation of slaves, but Great Britain forced it upon them, Virginia passed several such acts, but they were vetoed. Pennsylvania passed bills prohibiting slave trading in 1712, 1714 and 1717, but they were vetoed. Massachusetts passed a similar bill in 1774, which was vetoed. It was prohibited by Rhode Island in 1774, by Connecticut the same year and by the non-importation covenant of the colonies on October the 24th, 1774. It was forbidden by nearly all the States during the American Revolution.
The slave trade question was an important one in the formation of the American Constitution. The Southern States, except Virginia and Maryland, demanded it, hence it was compromised by allowing Congress to prohibit it after 1808. The act of March the 22nd, 1794, prohibited the carrying of slaves by American citizens from one foreign country to another. That of May the 10th, 1800, allowed United States warships to seize vessels engaged in such traffic. That of February the 28th, 1803, prohibited the introduction of slaves into States which had forbidden slavery. In 1808 the importation of slaves into the United States was forbidden. The acts of April the 20th, 1818, and March the 3rd, 1819, authorized the President to send cruisers to Africa to stop the slave trade. Various projects for renewing the tradearose in the fifties. It was in reality never given up in the United States until 1865. No restrictions were placed in America upon domestic slave trading. Research Slave Trade
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