In 1833, 45 enslaved African(s) were “liberated” in a state-run scheme usually resulting in involuntary indentures, conscription, or re-enslavement. Under the jurisdiction of 1, Case ID LA-E-354 occurred via the Court of Vice Admiralty, Bahamas
| RegID | LA-E-354 |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Encomium |
| Year | 1833 |
| Government Department | Colonial and Foreign Offices, Great Britain |
| Court | Court of Vice Admiralty, Bahamas |
| Trial Outcome | Condemned |
| Enslaved Total | 45 |
| Liberated Africans Total | 45 |
| Registered Total | 0 |
| Notes | Between 1830 and 1842, British officials in the Bahamas and Bermuda freed 461 enslaved people involved in the US domestic trade but after the ships had been wrecked or blown off course by hurricanes, usually at Abaco. This ship departed Charleston. It is debatable whether these enslaved people should be considered "Liberated Africans" because it is not clear whether or not the people on board were born in Africa or not. Regardless of origins, these people were swept up in the mechanics of British suppression efforts which fortuitously took advantage of natural disasters to instigate diplomatic disputes over international abolition efforts. While some people may have been from Africa and others were born in the Americas. In the case of the Enterprise, the documented term “people of color” described one recaptive as an “Indian squaw,” which suggest enslaved indigenous people from North America were grouped in among liberated Africans. Apparently some of the slaves aboard were indigenes. The immediate decision was to refuse compensation to the slave owners for their loss. As British planters in the Caribbean were clamouring for more labor. Many of these people were slated for resettlement in Trinidad and Demerara, as well as conscription in the Second West India Regiment in the Bahamas. In the 1853 Treaty of Claims, the US and Britain agreed to settle a variety of claims dating back to 1814, which also included these five cases for recaptured enslaved people from the United States, who became "liberated Africans" based on the color of their skin. The US-British negotiations on the Webster-Ashburton Treaty were underway at the time and partially resolved the international tensions. Arbitration ultimately settled these cases in 1855, whereby the US government paid $270,700 to British subjects, while the British paid $329,000 to American citizens for loss of property. |
| Sources | Gerald Horne, Negro Comrades of the Crown: African Americans and the British Empire Fight the U.S. Before Emancipation (New York: New York University Press, 2012), 99-107. |
| Cite as |
| X Capture | |
|---|---|
| Y Capture | |
| Ship Status | Unknown |
| Date of departure from a place or port in Africa generally following the purchase of enslaved people. Include YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Region of departure from Africa. Required entry. For more information about the geographical hierarchy used in this digital resource, please refer to AfricanRegions.org. | Africa (unspecified) |
| Place or port of departure from Africa, if known. A controlled vocabulary for place names are associated with geographic coordinates using Google Maps Global Mercator EPSG:900913. See https://epsg.io/transform#s_srs=4326&t_srs=900913&x=NaN&y=NaN | |
| Capture date at sea or on land, if known. Date of the sentence. Include YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Location | |
| Navy | Britain |
| Ship | |
| Captain | |
| Supporting Ships | |
| Sentence Date | |
| Date of arrival to the place where the trial, purchase, or asylum occurred, resulting in "liberation" and indenture. Includes YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Region of arrival around the world. Required field. For more information about the geographical hierarchy used in this digital resource, please refer to AfricanRegions.org. Other regions outside of Africa include, Western Europe, East Coast of North America, etc. | Caribbean |
| Place or port of arrival around the world. Required field. A controlled vocabulary for place names are associated with geographic coordinates using Google Maps Global Mercator EPSG:900913. See https://epsg.io/transform#s_srs=4326&t_srs=900913&x=NaN&y=NaN | The Bahamas |