The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage

by John Harris

A stunning behind the curtain look into the last years of the illegal transatlantic slave trade in the United States

Long after the transatlantic slave trade was officially outlawed in the early nineteenth century by every major slave trading nation, merchants based in the United States were still sending hundreds of illegal slave ships from American ports to the African coast. The key instigators were slave traders who moved to New York City after the shuttering of the massive illegal slave trade to Brazil in 1850. These traffickers were determined to make lower Manhattan a key hub in the illegal slave trade to Cuba. In conjunction with allies in Africa and Cuba, they ensnared around 200,000 African men, women, and children during the 1850s and 1860s. John Harris explores how the U.S. government went from ignoring, and even abetting, this illegal trade to helping to shut it down completely in 1867.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Politics, American, Audiobook

312 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John[2 spaces]Harris : Historical Fiction
John[3 spaces]Harris : Non Fiction
John[4 spaces]Harris : Treehouse
John[5 spaces]Harris : Music
John[6 spaces]Harris : Management
John[7 spaces]Harris : Child Psychology
John[8 spaces]Harris : Children's
John[9 spaces]Harris : Drama
John[10 spaces]Harris : John Harris of Bolenowe, poet and preacher
John[11 spaces]Harris : -
John[12 spaces]Harris : History, Architecture
John[13 spaces]Harris : born 1942
John[14 spaces]Harris : Reverend John Harris (1802 - 1856)
John[15 spaces]Harris : -
John[16 spaces]Harris : History
John[17 spaces]Harris : born 1937
John[18 spaces]Harris : -
John[19 spaces]Harris : Backpacker
John[20 spaces]Harris : Erotic, LGBT
John[21 spaces]Harris : born 1667
John[22 spaces]Harris : GR Author
John[25 spaces]Harris : GR Author

Reviews

[Darya Silman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definitive account of the last decades of the international slave trade.

In The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage, John Harris presents a story that indicates the fierceness of the US opposition against an absolute ban on slavery.

Even though most countries prohibited the oversea slave trade at the beginning of the 18th century, the business didn't stop. Illegal transportation thrived and even grew in proportions thanks to the absence of adequate control measures. After the collapse of the trade through Brazil, slave traders found their haven in New York, thus forming the Middle Passage: New York-Cuba-West Central Africa. The US demonstrated lip service toward eradicating slavery by equating it to piracy, but slave traders were rarely persecuted because of the multiple legal loops. The political considerations, specifically the dispute over Cuba with Spain, prevented the US government from recognizing its own shortcomings.

The upside of John Harris's account is the right balance between the overall historical overview and personal stories of single slave traders. Nowhere does the story become dry or repetitive. At some points, like describing the spies the British hired to monitor illegal slavers, the tale comes nearer to the espionage genre, with intrigues and machinations on both sides. The author digs out exciting facts that stay in mind long after finishing the book: the poor fate of freed Africans (officially, they gained apprenticeship of 5 to 7 years in Cuba; unofficially, they had fewer rights than 'real' slaves) or the Ostend Manifesto (Spain gives away Cuba on the basis that Cuba "naturally belongs" to the US).

I recommend The Last Slave Ships as a compelling combination of history and politics, delivered to the reader in an engaging style.

(I listened to the audiobook on Audible, but GoodReads doesn't have this edition. I switched my review to the Audio CD version.)

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the importation of slaves was outlawed in 1807 the trade continued for quite a long time, primarily in the United States, Cuba and Brazil. It was remarkably resilient due to the large amounts of money to be made, racism and the absence of strong penalties. No trader was executed until after Lincoln was elected. I am probably not the right audience for this book because it had a lot more detail about the economics and logistics of the slave trade than I really wanted to know. The author did a tremendous amount of research and related all of it. There was no real description of conditions on the slave ships until about the 30% point of the book. Endnotes comprise about 20% of the ebook. The book was interesting, but extremely dry.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Harris’s history of the illegal slave trade, mostly in the 1850s, was new to me. Learning about the concept of “Slave Power” and how it fit into the politics of its time remains his most memorable of many important lessons. This was a belief which, “first developed by the anti-slavery movement in the 1830s, argued that pro-slavery forces had taken over the government, were reinterpreting the Constitution as a pro-slavery document, and were determined to expand slavery at the expense of free labor…Slave Power had hijacked the nation’s founding document in the interests of slavery.” Although the importation of enslaved Africans was prohibited in the U.S. after 1808 and most other countries by 1840s—Cuba and Brazil excepted—American complicity was essential to whatever activity took place, even though most of the slaves were brought to Cuba. Under Harris’s retelling, this sordid history can sometimes seem quite academic and, when considering the scope of the history of slavery, a footnote to a larger history. And they would be correct. But it was not a footnote to the thousands who became enslaved—those who died and survived, their progeny, or those who profited off the trade. Nonetheless, I would only recommend this book to those well-versed in the history of the subject or the period; it is not a starting point.

There is scant evidence left. Those engaged in the trade often destroyed their papers and the smugglers themselves often scuttled and disposed of any evidence of their voyages. But Harris seemingly finds enough, even a fairly detailed account of one voyage and its aftermath, to give us a clear picture of what happened. As more nations outlawed importation of slaves, demand for them in the sugar industry in Cuba still needed the influx of replacement slaves to keep the process profitable. After Cuba outlawed importation, mostly Portuguese and Brazilian slave brokers set up shop in lower Manhattan, where they orchestrated and profited from an illegal slave trade that brought captives from east Africa, near present day Congo, to Cuba.

“By the end of the 1850s…New York, especially had cemented its position as one of the chief slave trading cities in the world.”

They exploited laws outlawing the entering of American-flagged ships from foreign powers, which kept a fleet of British naval ships devoted to stopping illegal slave ships through, from boarding suspected slaving ships. While the ships were not exclusively American registered, they were often state-of-the-art schooners built in the U.S., considered to be the best, most maneuverable ships of their time, that were bought through third-parties that were intended for the slave trade. American shipbuilders generally knew what they were doing as they profited. At the end of voyages, after the human cargo was smuggled into Cuba, the ships were often burned and scuttled to hide evidence. Americans largely kept a blind eye to this practice going on right under their noses. American wives of slave traders lived in the upper echelons of society. Enough people profited to keep quiet about the ugly business that fed their lifestyles.

Harris also describes how pro-slavery Southerners used the Cuban slave trade issue to bolster their case for Cuban statehood as a slave-holding state and how it was used as a bargaining chip in negotiations leading up to the Civil War. Southerners who wanted statehood for Cuba wanted to “foster secessionism” or have the insurance of another slave holding state in the union, reasoning that “the slave trade from Africa to Cuba would merely be supplanted by a slave trade from Virginia to Cuba” since importation of slaves was not considered commerce between states. That’s one of those interpretations that embodies the idea that legal justice usually has little to do with fairness.

[Anthony Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of research that went into this historical work is astonishing. This was a completely unknown nook of history for me. It’s an important book with loads of first-rate research. What a travesty that a cheaper spoonful of sugar legitimized the treatment of humans as cargo.

[Shannan Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving story and a very well researched book regarding the last slave ship that sailed after it was ruled illegal. It is a very powerful and very informative read. Not a book that can be read quickly. There is a lot of information to digest, but it is very well worth it.

[Alan J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is far more than just another book about slavery, an excellent study that offers a look behind the scenes at the slave trade business, with particular focus on shipments made after most governments outlawed the trade.

Most of us think that the antebellum South represents the boundary for slavery, not stopping to consider that most countries in the world allowed slavery in recent times. John Harris quickly engages the reader in operations of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, by which thousands upon thousands of captive Africans were brought to Central America, Brazil and Cuba.

Much like the modern-day trade in illicit drugs, the slave trade had been banned by the United States, Great Britain and others. However, the lure of outrageous profits outweighed the risk of being caught and punished. In most cases, officials expected to enforce the law could easily be bribed to look the other way. Even though the United States Navy had warships on patrol off the African coast, they rarely were able to catch a slave ship bound for American shores.

Surprisingly, Harris identifies New York City as center of financial operations for the illegal slave trade. His work is carefully researched, using original archival sources in Havana, Lisbon, Madrid and other sites. His prose is carefully constructed and not overly academic. Statements made throughout the book stay within the bounds of what the sources actually say; no hyperbole or unsupported claims.

I was able to read most of the book today while traveling cross-country from one part of the country to another. It certainly absorbed my attention for 10-12 hours!

[Jean-Luc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and very detailed account of the transatlantic slave trade between 1820 and the end of the Civil War especially at the time when Western Europe was starting to make slavery illegal while the US was turning a blind eye and knowingly allowing the illegal trading to go on and even flourish on American soil.
When Brazil abolished slavery in 1850, it was obvious that traders weren't going simply to disappear because economically speaking too much was at stake. They simply shifted their business northward with the Americans' blessings, even managing to turn NYC at one point into a major hubb for the illegal trade. For the American government slavery was and remained an important source of revenue for the economy so it simply allowed the trade to move North and keep prospering while it tried to do its utmost to thwart any effort that Western Europe, especially the UK did to put an end to it once and for all, prior to 1860. And it went on of course until 1867....

John Harris does a great job dissecting all the financial and political shenanigans that went on for almost 50 years until the illegal trade stopped but unfortunately the damage was done and the suffering those 50 years of human trafficking inflicted on the slaves out of pure financial interest & greed was too staggering to be ignored and still is today. An indelible stain on American history and that's for sure.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Yale University Press for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book prior to its release date

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me, you grew up with a vague school story of a triangle of trade between Africa, the West Indies, and the U.S. If you wonder how the slave trafficking worked, this is a good place to start. John Harris is a well researched writer. He can tell you who some of the major traffickers were, what nations believed their interests were, how and why that changed, as well as the policy and practical challenges to ending the international trade. I had been unaware that much trafficking was conducted through (often Portuguese) offices in New York. U.S. citizens would buy slave ships, many of which were built and outfitted in America, on behalf of international traffickers for a fee. This made the system more secretive, and protected them from laws which only applied to citizens. The British developed their spy system in part to spy on traffickers in the US because it was refusing to stop protecting traffickers by allowing international ship owners from flying US colors, which the British lacked the authority to board. Do you wonder what happened to captives on ships caught by British or other nations' navies? That, and a lot of other valuable information can be found in this book. The audiobook reader does a pretty good job with Spanish and Portuguese names as far as I can tell. I highly recommend The Last Slave Ships.

[Matthew Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging narrative of the slave trade in its death throes in the 1850s. As Harris shows, the center of the trade at this era had shifted from locations such as Brazil and England to the US, specifically, Manhattan. Aided by corrupt customs and shipping officials, and relying on a criminal network of sailors, captains and financiers, Portuguese and Brazilian merchants made New York their home. They were responsible for underwriting hundreds of slave voyages to the African coast, and enslaving thousands of Africans, largely on sugar plantations in Cuba. Only with Lincoln’s election and the advent of the Civil War was this brought to an end.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy, talk about a book on a little-known subject! I had no idea that the United States, and New York City in particular, were the predominant sources of African slave trade sailings from the 1820s through the 1860s. Even after the importation of slaves was made illegal in the US, the practice continued to exist in Brazil (until 1850) and Cuba. This book describes how and why the US became the epicenter of the African slave trade thoughout that period, including how US politics affected enforcement and prosecution of the parties involved. It wasn't until President Lincoln was elected in 1860 that laws, treaties, and prosecutions really became serious and the slave trade was finally forced from US ports. While not exciting reading, I found the book extremely enlightening about this aspect of American history.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Structure and Formatting 5/5
I enjoyed the way this book was set up. I typically don't like longer chapters, but it really worked for this book.

Thoroughness of Research 5/5
I knew nothing about the slave trade going into this book, and I am amazed (and yet not) at the amount of resources and sources available for this subject. If I ever decide to go looking for additional books to read on this topic, the sources in the back provide a wealth of them to check out.

Storytelling/Writing 5/5
A very somber tone was set at the very beginning of the book, and it felt like an appropriate tone that carried throughout the book. This is not an easy book to read, but the stories within it are worth knowing and learning about.

Level of Enjoyment 4.5/5
Enjoyment feels like the wrong word here, so maybe we'll go with "impact?" There was a section on spies that really should have gripped me, but it just didn't. Otherwise, this book weighs heavy on the reader right from the beginning, and it will sit with me for a while as a result.

Prior Knowledge Needed 3.5/5
I don't know nearly enough Cuban history to really appreciate some of the Cuban aspects of this triangle. In the ARC copy I had, there was no map of the island of Cuba (other than pointing out three cities), and there were many times when I felt a map could have helped with the talk of ports. And the Portuguese connections weren't explained well enough for me to grasp their role in the triangle. It left me with more questions than I typically prefer when starting a new subject.

Overall 4.6/5

[Chris Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting detailed portrait of the last stages of the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved peoples, especially 1850s to mid 1860s. Focus on the then newly emerging triangular relationship with (1) enslaved Africans going from ports on the West African coast (such as the Bight of Benin or Angola) - and sometimes Portuguese southeast Africa - to (2) the Spanish colony of Cuba where the slave-trade was still legal and slaves were in great demand due to the burgeoning but labor-intensive sugar cane agri-business, (3) almost all organized and financed by Spanish and Portuguese entrepreneurs based in New York City, with slave ships under US flag built in the US leaving US ports for African slave barracoons to pick up hundreds of slaves all the while hoping to elude the cruisers of the British West African naval squadron which (unlike the US government and navy) was actually agressively implementing anti trade-slave treaties. The enslaved Africans were shipped to Cuba, and sold, yielding big profits to the ship's investors.

Side discussions in the book on US politics, British practices including beefing up a secret spy network for information on slaving voyages, politics back in Spain - and in Cuba. Author points out at least one irony: that at the same time the British Navy and the newly evolving British secret spy service was doing all it could to stamp out the slave trade, customers back in Britain were buying up Cuban agricultural produce produced by slave laborers - Britain was the primary export destination of slave-produced goods in Cuba.

[Steve Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really troubling, honest look at America's role in enslaving people and carrying them over on ships, long after doing so had been outlawed. Interestingly, American's ignored their own hand in the slave trade while blaming the problem on Spain (via Cuba). In reality it was happening on both sides of the Atlantic. As the major powers began to agree to stop importing ships with enslaved people, they all continued the practice with little in the way of punishment.

Here's one fact that I found particularly interesting. In 1862, the ironically named "Lucky Nat" Gordon was captured aboard a slave boat and sentenced to death. He was the first and last American slave trader to be executed under American Law.

For me, there were too many unfamiliar names to remember and keeping track of them in my head became impossible and so I stopped worrying about it. Truthfully, this book was a bit more in depth than I needed and I'm not the right audience for this book. Whereas, for those more familiar with this history, the author's incredible research and attention to detail will undoubtedly be appreciated and they will likely give this book four or five stars.

Note: I've downloaded a bunch of free, (mostly) random, pre-releases of books with the idea of expanding my range and helping authors get reviews. #netgalley

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was research-based and written, not like a historical narrative or gripping page-turner. Data shows that while the US's ban on slave trade in 1808 helped reduce the slave trade, there were other things about America that ensured its continuance until the 1860's. 1) slave ships ran the American flag because it had soveriegnty from being searched by other countries, especially England 2) slave traders got ships from the US; they were the fastest built in the world 3) There were a handful of ports in America that saw the transportation of thousands of slaves (including Boston and NY) to mostly Cuba and Brazil, but a few hundred were sent to the states, including enslaved people from the last slave ship Clotilda, who built a new community named Africa Town in Alabama.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well organized and well written book that looks at the final phase of the Middle Passage, or Atlantic slave trade. Harris's focus is on the final phase which begins with the winding down of the significant importation of slaves to Brazil. International slave traders looked to adapt, and Spanish occupied Cuba became the primary destination for slaves crossing the Atlantic. The importation of slaves was illegal in Cuba, but was carried on surreptitiously with limited interference from Spanish officials in Cuba.
The slaves were carried on American flagged ships - the international slave trade was illegal in the US at the time (although domestic slavery continued) - American ships were the ship of choice because of American push back against boarding by British and international vessels that led the anti-slavery patrols.
Harris meticulously walks us through how the trade evolved in this phase - the purchase of ships; their outfitting; their routes; how the investment, trade and risk were allocated; how the slavers established working relationships in Cuba and West Africa; and the risks that were faced.
Harris also examines how despite this could continue in both the US and Cuba despite both Spain and the US outlawing the International slave trade.
The book finishes with the story of how this phase was finally upended - the arrival of the Republican party to power in the US and its willingness to prosecute the slavers and work with the British to allow them to intercept slaving vessels under the US flag.
There is also a good discussion about how the debate about reopening the international slave trade in the US impacted the US discussion on the future of slavery.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reader. Harris nailed names and foreign pronunciations.

Shameful episodes in our history along with Spain, Cuba, Brazil, Portugal, as well as the British Isles.

Greed, organized, and corrupt...from top to bottom. All on the backs of other human beings. Man's inhumanity to man.

We want to skip over this history so as not to make a segment of our world population uncomfortable? As if it never happened?
Have we totally lost our ever loving minds?
Face this head on. Pull the covers off. Name it and claim it for all its ugliness!

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A well-researched book of the last slave ships leaving Africa, heading to the New World. The major traffickers, how they raised the money for these ships and the management of human slavery is well told by this talented author.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a fine job illuminating the tale end of the Middle Passage. It focuses on an era that does not get much coverage. The author did a really good job of showing the international connections that governed the trade.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly informative history of the end of the slave trade in the US. A necessary reminder for most that the south wasn't alone in it's responsibility for this shameful period in our nation's history. Dr. Harris makes what could be a dry subject a fascinating read.

[Jim Swike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some things about the title. Thought I would learn more. Maybe you will feel differently. Enjoy!

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great scholarship on the subject. Chapter three specifically stuck out and made this book very memorable for me.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, very well researched book

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[C.S. Areson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reminder of the history that we should never forget even if repulsive.

[Gwendolyn McIver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is informative, concise and research well. It does the job excellently.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and thorough account of the end of slave trading. Devastating history. Many dynamic elements. Well written!

[Brian Asalone · Rating 3 out of 5]

really kind of tedious with a lot of extraneous details.

[RAW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened on Hoopla by Dan’s recommendation. Lots of info and really makes you realize how involved USA was in the slave trade even after it was outlawed. Much food for thought about government complicity and citizen responsibility.