Alabama reporter discovers last known slave ship in U.S.
This aerial view shows the current condition of the 124-foot (38-meter) slave ship. Ben Raines/Bryans@al)
More than 150 years ago, a wealthy man made an outrageous bet, bragging that he could smuggle a ship full of African slaves into the United States. This was despite the fact that it was illegal to import slaves into the United States at the time. After some covert maneuvering, the man won the bet and later burned the ship to hide the evidence.
The location of the ship known as the Clotilda—the last known ship to carry slaves into the United States—has long eluded historians. But not long ago, Ben Raines, a reporter for the Alabama news website AL, discovered a burned-out 19th-century shipwreck near Mobile, Alabama, and archaeologists suspected that the remains of Clotilda Was it finally found?
The design of the charred wreckage matches that of a ship built between 1850 and 1880, and maritime experts told Live Science the ship's location was at the site. [See photos of burnt slave ship wreckage]
However, the identity of the newly discovered wreck remains unknown, at least for now. Archaeologists still need to obtain a permit so that they can excavate and study parts of the ship and the artifacts inside; this may help researchers determine whether the ship is, in fact, the Clotilda.
"We didn't expect to find a bell with the ship's name on it in the mud," John Braaten, chair and associate professor of anthropology at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, told LiveScience. Instead, archaeologists will study the ship's hull, which survived the fire because it was below the waterline. Experts will also look at "how the ship was held together," Braaten said.
Big discovery
Raines discovered the wreck thanks to specialized reconnaissance and extremely low tides from a weather system that created a "bomb cyclone" in early January. After discovering the charred wreck, Raines immediately called in local archaeologists, including Braaten, to evaluate it.
Both concluded that the wreck dates to the mid-19th century (the Clotilda was built in 1855) and that its construction techniques were typical of the sailing ships used to transport timber and other heavy cargo along the Gulf coast. "That's how Clotilda was designed," Raines reported in The Ayr. The blood vessel also reportedly showed signs of burns. …Evidence of the wreck fire includes a distinctive patio in the wrought-iron chain plates used to secure the mast and bowsprit, as well as charred beams and timbers inside the ship.
Braaten visited the site with Gregory Cook, assistant professor of marine archeology at the University of West Florida. They told Live Science that they not only looked at the ship's equipment but also discovered its deficiencies.
"It was held together with very large iron bolts, which is not surprising at all for this period," Braaten said. The wreck also has a large iron strap called a 'chainplate' which was used to secure the ship's shrouds, ropes and cables. These are visible in the bow area, adding to the idea that the ship was a schooner," Braaten said. Said,
Experts also examined whether the ship had any post-Civil War features, including screws with nuts, mechanical systems or engines - which would have been placed on the ship after the Clotilda was built. Details. But the wreck had none of these features, Braaten said. In 1808, Thomas Jefferson signed a law banning the importation of slaves into the United States and any of its territories. However, the demand for slaves was high. -- Mainly because of the invention of the cotton gin, which helped workers quickly separate cotton fibers from the plant's seeds -- people were still illegally bringing slaves into this country
One of those people was Alaa. Timothée Hemieux, a Bama steamboat captain and plantation owner, said he bet $100,000 to smuggle slaves into the country while evading federal troops. He also hired William. William Foster served as captain of the ship. Foster agreed, and in 1860 he sailed the ship to the Kingdom of Home, now modern-day Benin, to acquire 110 slaves.
But the American authorities soon learned of the plan, prompting Mieux and Foster to come up with another plan: After they brought the slaves to the country, they would burn Clotilda, Ray Historian Sylviane Diouf wrote about Enns in "African Dreams in Alabama" (Oxford University Press, 2007),
"Foster" knew—and Meaher knew—that they might have been discovered, so they decided to destroy the evidence, destroying the obvious signs of a rough voyage: bulkheads, platforms, empty "buckets of food and water, large Pots, vats, blood, vomit, spit, mucus, urine, and excrement staining the boards, there was always a foul smell wafting around the slave ships," Raines wrote in Al.
Foster and Meeux were never convicted for their wrongdoing, Raines writes, largely because the outbreak of the Civil War meant prosecuting their crimes was not a priority.
However, Meir was provisionally arrested, and Foster had to pay a $1,000 fine for failing to register at the port for international travel, Raines said. The slaves were dispersed among three plantations, But five years later, at the end of the Civil War, the prisoners were released, Raines wrote. The former slaves asked Middle to pay for their return to Africa, but he refused. So the group established "Africatown," a community north of Mobile where they could speak their native language, practice traditional African farming techniques, and run their own schools, Raines writes,
Some descendants of slaves still live there, Braaten said, and archaeologists hope to involve those descendants in the excavation of the ship. Braaten said future excavations may uncover some of the equipment used by captors to imprison slaves, such as shackles and chains.
“Once these devices are moved, this will be a large team project.
"It's really attractive and has the potential to become a very important site