ebooks The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails by Erik Calonius in History

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An intriguing story of a majestic yacht put to devious dutyBy R. StewartWhile visiting Savannah recently; I became interested in the Molyneux/Henry Jackson house on Bull Street; across from Forsyth Park and home of the city's exclusive Olgethorpe Club. Jackson was the prosecutor of the federal government's case against the owners and crew of the Wanderer; the glorious schooner built in Long Island and sailing under the pennant of the New York Yacht Club. The yacht was soon re-outfitted to accommodate nearly 500 slaves in a conspiracy to advance secessionist interests of; among others; Charles Lamar of Savannah. The ship unloaded its illegal "cargo" on Jekyll Island; but the perpetrators ultimately were cleared; inciting outrage in the North and among moderates in the South. With the Democrats divided; Lincoln gained more support and was elected. The conspirators got their wish for secession; but not their dreams of an independent; pro-slavery South. This well-written book covers the history of the notorious schooner from its building to its eventual sea-floor repose and its place in American Civil War history.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. RivetingBy Caroline LimIn 1794; under George Washington's presidency; the first anti-slave act was passed wherein it became illegal for vessels to be equipped within the US; to carry on trade or traffic in slaves to foreign countries. However; it did not prevent slaves being brought into the US on non-US vessels. Further improvements were made on this act until 1820; when not only was it illegal to carry and introduce African slaves into the US on vessels; but individuals working on ships that carried slaves from Africa to the US were now considered pirates; and subject to the death penalty.Although there were Southern ship owners; after the 1820 act was passed by Congress; who continued to try bringing new slaves into the US from Africa; none were successful after The Wanderer brought the last known cargo of 400 African slaves to Jekyll Island in 1858.This book doesn't focus only on the horrific slave trade and the conditions they were forced to endure during the sea journey; but the inhuman status they were accorded by 'gentlemen' of the South. The trial of the Wanderer's captain and crew; and the ineffectiveness in the court in bringing the real conspirators to trial highlighted the degree of corruption and power in Savannah held by Charles Lamar and the other 'fire-eaters'; a group of pro-slavery individuals.The trial was the catalyst that Lamar and Leonidas Spratt used to launch plans of disunion. Spratt's fiery speech is captured in full in this book; calling for secession.For a relatively slim volume; this book packs a punch and provides good researched material into so many fronts; the history of the Lamar family; starting with his father Gazaway Lamar and the Pulaski tragedy; the failed attempts before the group of conspirators' final successful plan with the Wanderer; the Northern pressure on the Southern legal system to mete out the justice they deemed fitting on slave traders; the key individuals involved in this slave trading run; and the secessionists who pushed for disunion.I wish the author could have provided more research though; on some of the slaves on board the Wanderer. He did allocate the final chapter to a man named Cilucangy; a slave who was renamed Ward Lee; who ultimately became a free man and who gained recognition and some fame in 1908 when an anthropologist from the University of Chicago interviewed him. His family have gone on to include lawyers; teachers and other professionals.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. First Rate!By Michael E. FitzgeraldThe history of America's Civil War has a most unusual; remarkably odd theme running through it. The claim is made that the war had nothing to do with; nor was it fought over; slavery. Proponents of this line of thought state it was fought for the right of succession; the right to withdraw from a gentleman's club if you will; was fought for States Rights; was a War for Southern Independence or was a Second American Revolution; throwing off a repressive; despotic government. Early on even Lincoln insisted it was a war to reunite the States.No one it seemed wanted to deal with the ugly issue of slavery. Slavery was just too endemic; too disruptive and too tightly woven into the fabric of the United States economy to address head on. As this book clearly lays out; while decrying it; slavery was unmistakably accepted in both North and South to the point of the North's; not the South's; participation in international slavery! The term slavery was seldom officially used. The North referred to slavery freely as the South's peculiar institution. Importantly the word slavery does not appear in the US Constitution; a document which; in its original form; made provision for it.This is the first book I have ever read that unequivocally states what we all know; that the American Civil War was all about slavery. Importantly; it does not approach slavery from a hallowed; Northern abolitionist slant; i.e.; Father Abraham's troops marching for John Brown and human dignity; but rather it is much more realistic; approaching from a Southern radical or fire eaters' point of view; arrogantly proud of the amazing economic driver slavery was and sincerely seeking to dramatically grow the practice in order to continue the associated economic growth.The fire eaters were uber-radicals who over time grew to be quite formidable. Like it or not they knew what they were about. From the 1820s to the 1850s the North's population grew many times faster than the South's. This faster growth shifted control of Congress; and of the Nation; to the North at the expense of the South who in the beginning at the adoption of the Constitution actually controlled Congressional representation through their slaves. The South had only two primary asset classes: Land and Slaves. To redress the shift in population growth within the House of Representatives they needed more land; thus various compromises occurred designed to maintain parity between slave and free states in the Senate as new States entered the Union. These Band-Aids satisfied moderates North and South for quite a number of years while the slave power held the majority in the House; but Southern radicals knew natural slave reproduction could not keep up with the North's immigration driven population growth. Without importing slaves; banned since 1820; or succession; the radicals knew the South's slave based economy; and their aristocratic way of life; was doomed. It was an arithmetic certainty. The simple fact was that slavery had to grow for the South to survive and that is what this excellent book is all about.Originally led by John Calhoun; twice Vice President of the United States; Southern radicalism was slow to gain acceptance. It took 30 years for the radicals to ascend into the dominant power circles of the South and Erik Calonius does an excellent job of describing the Southern Commercial Conventions that preceeded the ultimate destruction of the Democratic Party at Charleston in April 1860. But before the reader gets there the author delves deeply into the sordid history of a racing yacht called the Wanderer; a headliner no less of the prestigious New York City Yacht Club; to illustrate all of the points discussed above. He describes the 1858 conversion of the Wanderer to a slaver; easily done in New York City then the capital of the United States' international slave trading industry; its trip to the Congo to purchase 480 fellow human beings and the delivery of the 400 that remain alive at journey's end to Tybee Island just outside of Savannah; Georgia. The resulting piracy trials; punishable by death and held concurrently with John Brown's Harpers Ferry raid and execution; pit North against South; the Buchanan Presidency against Savannah; Georgia's local politics; and truly crystallized the fundamental issue of slavery....just as the Southern radicals wanted them to. Timing was perfect. The Southern Commercial Conventions were beginning to unfold and with the Wanderer's and John Brown's trials generating white hot heat in the South; the radicals were able to engineer a Republican Presidential victory; Southern cohesion and succession.This is an altogether enlightening; gripping and marvelously informative read that clearly illustrates the road to the American Civil War was; from the get-go; all about slavery.