There appears to be little positive evidence of a large illicit importation into the country for a decade after 1825.  It is hardly possible, however, considering the activity in the trade, that slaves were not largely imported.  Indeed, when we note how the laws were continually broken in other respects, absence of evidence of petty smuggling becomes presumptive evidence that collusive or tacit understanding of officers and citizens allowed the trade to some extent.[147] Finally, it must be noted that during all this time scarcely a man suffered for participating in the trade, beyond the loss of the Africans and, more rarely, of his ship.  Red-handed slavers, caught in the act and convicted, were too often, like La Coste of South Carolina, the subjects of executive clemency.[148] In certain cases there were those who even had the effrontery to ask Congress to cancel their own laws.  For instance, in 1819 a Venezuelan privateer, secretly fitted out and manned by Americans in Baltimore, succeeded in capturing several American, Portuguese, and Spanish slavers, and appropriating the slaves; being finally wrecked herself, she transferred her crew and slaves to one of her prizes, the “Antelope,” which was eventually captured by a United States cruiser and the 280 Africans sent to Georgia.  After much litigation, the United States Supreme Court ordered those captured from Spaniards to be surrendered, and the others to be returned to Africa.  By some mysterious process, only 139 Africans now remained, 100 of whom were sent to Africa.  The Spanish claimants of the remaining thirty-nine sold them to a certain Mr. Wilde, who gave bond to transport them out of the country.  Finally, in December, 1827, there came an innocent petition to Congress to cancel this bond.[149] A bill to that effect passed and was approved, May 2, 1828,[150] and in consequence these Africans remained as slaves in Georgia.

On the whole, it is plain that, although in the period from 1807 to 1820 Congress laid down broad lines of legislation sufficient, save in some details, to suppress the African slave trade to America, yet the execution of these laws was criminally lax.  Moreover, by the facility with which slavers could disguise their identity, it was possible for them to escape even a vigorous enforcement of our laws.  This situation could properly be met only by energetic and sincere international co-operation.  The next chapter will review efforts directed toward this end.[151]

FOOTNOTES: 

  [1] House Journal (repr. 1826), 9 Cong. 2 sess.  V. 468.

  [2] Cf. below, Sec. 59.

  [3] Annals of Cong., 9 Cong. 2 sess. p. 238.

  [4] There were at least twelve distinct propositions as to the
      disposal of the Africans imported:—­

      1.  That they be forfeited and sold by the United States at
      auction (Early’s bill, reported Dec. 15:  Annals of Cong., 9
      Cong. 2 sess. pp. 167-8).