Finally,
the series of filibustering expeditions against Cuba, Mexico, and
Central America were but the wilder and more irresponsible attempts to
secure both slave territory and slaves.
87. ~Increase of the Slave-Trade from 1850 to 1860.~ The long and open
agitation for the reopening of the slave-trade, together with the fact
that the South had been more or less familiar with violations of the
laws since 1808, led to such a remarkable increase of illicit traffic
and actual importations in the decade 1850-1860, that the movement may
almost be termed a reopening of the slave-trade.
In the foreign slave-trade our own officers continue to report "how
shamefully our flag has been used;"[37] and British officers write "that
at least one half of the successful part of the slave trade is carried
on under the American flag," and this because "the number of American
cruisers on the station is so small, in proportion to the immense extent
of the slave-dealing coast."[38] The fitting out of slavers became a
flourishing business in the United States, and centred at New York City.
"Few of our readers," writes a periodical of the day, "are aware of the
extent to which this infernal traffic is carried on, by vessels clearing
from New York, and in close alliance with our legitimate trade; and that
down-town merchants of wealth and respectability are extensively engaged
in buying and selling African Negroes, and have been, with comparatively
little interruption, for an indefinite number of years.
Pages:
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297