For transporting Negroes, a fine of $5000 and forfeiture of the
ship and Negroes.
For transporting and selling Negroes, a fine of $1000 to
$10,000, imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, and forfeiture of the
ship and Negroes.
For knowingly buying illegally imported Negroes, a fine of $800
for each Negro, and forfeiture.
58. ~The Third Question: How shall the Interstate Coastwise Slave-Trade
be protected?~ The first proposition was to prohibit the coastwise
slave-trade altogether,[49] but an amendment reported to the House
allowed it "in any vessel or species of craft whatever." It is probable
that the first proposition would have prevailed, had it not been for the
vehement opposition of Randolph and Early.[50] They probably foresaw the
value which Virginia would derive from this trade in the future, and
consequently Randolph violently declared that if the amendment did not
prevail, "the Southern people would set the law at defiance. He would
begin the example." He maintained that by the first proposition "the
proprietor of sacred and chartered rights is prevented the
Constitutional use of his property."[51] The Conference Committee
finally arranged a compromise, forbidding the coastwise trade for
purposes of sale in vessels under forty tons.[52] This did not suit
Early, who declared that the law with this provision "would not prevent
the introduction of a single slave.
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