In 1830, 82 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-3901 occurred via the United States District Court for the District of Louisiana, New Orleans
| RegID | LA-E-3901 |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Fénix |
| Year | 1830 |
| Government Department | Justice and State Departments, United States of America |
| Court | United States District Court for the District of Louisiana, New Orleans |
| Trial Outcome | Condemned |
| Enslaved Total | 95 |
| Liberated Africans Total | 82 |
| Registered Total | 0 |
| Notes | The US Navy made one capture during the 1830s. On 5 June 1830, off Cape Haiti, Lieutenant Commander Isaac Mayo, commanding US Schooner Grampus, seized the schooner Felix for an alleged attack on the American merchant brig Kremlin. Eighty two Africans were found on board the Fenix, and she was accordingly sent into New Orleans for violation of the Slave Trade Act of 1819. While the American built schooner was unquestionably a slaver and probably a pirate as well, a Special Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled that since the Fenix carried Spanish papers, an American court had no jurisdiction in the case. Despite its claim of the lack of any power in the matter, the Louisiana Court ordered the schooner's slave cargo returned to Liberia. Even stranger under the circumstances was the fact that Mayo and his crew were paid the usual naval bounty granted by the Act of 1819 for recaptured slaves. The Fenix and her crew appear to have been turned over for trial at Havana under Spanish law. The continued absence of any determined United States naval effort to suppress the slave trade caused slavers to seek increasingly the protection of the American flag, particularly in light of increased British suppression efforts. |
| Sources | "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: 971. |
| Cite as |
| X Capture | -8042104.983284 |
|---|---|
| Y Capture | 2282391.812790 |
| 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. | Western Savanna |
| 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 | Off Cape Haiti |
| Navy | USA |
| Ship | Grampus |
| Captain | Mayo |
| 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. | South Coast North America |
| 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 | New Orleans |