Stoddert, Benjamin, 1751-1813 to Captain Lever
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03964 Author/Creator: Stoddert, Benjamin, 1751-1813 Place Written: s.l. Type: Printed document signed Date: 5 September 1799 Pagination: 1 p. ; 25.2 x 20 cm. Order a Copy
Stoddert, Secretary of the Navy, signs a circular outlining an Act of Congress passed 22 March 1794, "to prohibit the carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to any foreign place or country..." The Act orders that no United States citizen or resident shall fit or prepare a ship for the purpose of engaging in the slave trade. In the same vein, no citizen is allowed to use a ship to procure inhabitants of a foreign country for sale in the slave trade abroad. Instructs Lever to inform the Department of the Navy of all vessels engaged in the slave trade.
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