Joseph Hawkins

New Yorker Joseph Hawkins had voyaged to Charleston in search of his fortune in the wealthy port city. In 1793, soon after his arrival, he found a berth aboard the slaving ship Charleston, bound for Guinea (West Africa). Although by this time it was illegal to import slaves into Charleston, the city's sea merchants were still buying and capturing slaves in Africa and selling them in the West Indies.

After reaching the African coast, the ship's captain asks Hawkins to lead an expedition into the interior, where recent fighting between the Ebo and Galla tribes has brought an opportunity for buying some prisoners of war. The slave trade does not come easily or naturally to Hawkins, who is affected by the agony and despair of the African prisoners. But the author consoles himself with the thoughts that he needs the...