U.S. Navy seizures of slave ships in the Caribbean had swelled the number of Africans in holding areas, mostly in Key West, Florida. President Buchanan wrote to the Congress asking for additional funds and the authority to contract with the American Colonization Society to transport these men, women, and children to Liberia as soon as possible. The Senate took up the bill on May 24, 1860 and the necessary act became law soon after. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"The Slave Trade and Recaptured Africans," African Repository 36 (1860): 164-165.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Slavery/Abolition
