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Kenneth Morgan, Sharla M. Fett. Recaptured Africans: Surviving Slave Ships, Detention, and Dislocation in the Final Years of the Slave Trade., The American Historical Review, Volume 123, Issue 1, February 2018, Pages 223–224, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/123.1.223
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The historical context for Recaptured Africans: Surviving Slave Ships, Detention, and Dislocation in the Final Years of the Slave Trade lies in the activities of American ships patrolling the Atlantic Ocean to search for illegal shipments of enslaved Africans after the banning of the slave trade to the United States in 1808. From that date until 1819, “recaptives”—the label the author prefers to “liberated Africans”—were subject to the jurisdiction of state laws (4). After 1819 federal law assumed responsibility for recaptured Africans. Relatively few interceptions were carried out by U.S. vessels before the late 1850s, but between 1858 and 1862 more direct naval enforcement led to thousands of recaptives being brought under the custody of the United States. The author summarizes this background to the people and processes covered in the book in her first chapter, which explains that the focus of her analysis is a microstudy of around 1,800 recaptured former African slaves on four vessels who were intended for Cuba but brought to the U.S. instead. Specifically, the cargoes were escorted to Charleston, South Carolina, and Key West, Florida, where they attracted much contemporary publicity.
