In 1845, 756 enslaved African(s) were “liberated” in a state-run scheme usually resulting in involuntary indentures, conscription, or re-enslavement. Under the jurisdiction of 7, Case ID LA-E-3736 occurred via the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| RegID | LA-E-3736 |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Pons |
| Year | 1845 |
| Government Department | Justice and State Departments, United States of America |
| Court | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia |
| Trial Outcome | Condemned |
| Enslaved Total | 913 |
| Liberated Africans Total | 756 |
| Registered Total | 0 |
| Notes | In early 1845 Skinner dispatched Yorktown to cruise as far south as Luanda; 200 miles below the Congo. Yorktown's commander Charles H. Bell was to direct "particular attention to Cabinda." In less than three months, Yorktown captured three slavers in the Cabinda area. One of these, the Pons, was found with 913 people on board, the biggest rescue yet made by the American Navy. According to Howard, 756 people were delivered to the United States agent at Monrovia, Liberia. |
| Sources | Warren S. Howard, American Slavers and the Federal Law, 1837-1862 (Berkley: University of California Press, 1963), 213-223; "Suspected Slavers Seized as Prizes by United States Naval Vessels, 1817-1862," in Earl E. McNeilly, "The United States Navy and the Suppression of the West African Slave Trade, 1819-1862" (Ph.D. thesis, Cape Western Reserve University, 1973), 20 and 258; SlaveVoyages, www.slavevoyages.org (accessed 2020), Voyage ID: 4925. |
| Cite as |
| X Capture | 1037126.5892239987 |
|---|---|
| Y Capture | -382425.85365712317 |
| Ship Status | Liberated Africans |
| 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. | West Central Africa North |
| 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 | Cabinda |
| Capture date at sea or on land, if known. Date of the sentence. Include YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | 1846-11-30 |
| Location | 3°26'0" S., 9°19'0" E.; Off Kabenda |
| Navy | USA |
| Ship | Yorktown |
| Captain | Skinner |
| 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. | Forests of West Africa |
| 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 | Monrovia |