Daily Archives: 03/02/2025

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

1807 – The U.S. Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States… from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”


See the source image

Excerpt from “Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves”
Passed on March 2, 1807
Published in Documents of American History, edited by
Henry S. Commager, 1943

 

After the American Revolution ended in 1783, the matter of slavery grew more and more controversial among the states. The slave population was growing rapidly, because slave families were having children and plantation owners were importing even more slaves from Africa. The largest concentration of slaves was in the South, where large farms of tobacco, rice, and cotton required many laborers. The Northern states did not need large numbers of slaves, and some of them began to pass legislation to end slavery. In 1777, Vermont had become the first state to prohibit slavery. By 1783, other Northern states had chosen to end slavery and were gradually phasing it out.

Slavery was such a controversial issue in the 1780s that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution avoided the subject as much as possible during the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. The convention began in May, but the topic of slavery did not come up until July. The convention delegates did not want to risk conflict over slavery between Northern and Southern states. They feared it might cause states to withdraw from the convention. They realized that the issue of slavery had to be handled very carefully or it could destroy the convention.

In early July, the delegates voted that the number of representatives in the lower house (House of Representatives) would be determined by each state’s population—one representative elected for every forty thousand residents. The population was to be determined by a census taken every ten years beginning in 1790. The delegates next had to determine which persons should be counted in the census.  

Northern delegates did not think slaves should be counted at all; they argued that slaves were not citizens and could not vote and therefore should not have representation in Congress. The Northern states took this position because they had very few slaves and did not want the Southern states to gain representatives by counting their large slave population. To increase their representation, Southern states wanted everyone counted, including slaves. Slaves made up about 44 percent of the population in South Carolina, 41 percent in Virginia, and about one-third of the other Southern states’ populations. On July 16, the delegates agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise. Under this plan, each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person. Or, to put it another way, every five slaves would count as three free inhabitants.

The convention delegates adjourned between July 26 and August 6. When they returned, refreshed from their break, they confronted more-difficult matters that had earlier been set aside in a catchall category labeled “postponed matter.” Included in these issues was the question of whether the United States should continue to participate in the international slave trade. The Northern states wanted to halt the importation of slaves, and the Southern states did not. The resulting compromise, which is contained in Article 1, Section 9, of the Constitution, prevented Congress from outlawing the importation of slaves until 1808. Both sides felt they had achieved a victory. Those opposed to slavery saw a time in the future when Congress could halt the importation of slaves. Those in favor of keeping slavery assumed they would prevail in any future debates. The terms “slave” and “slavery” were not used anywhere in the Constitution. Instead, those drafting the document used “such Persons” and “other Persons” to refer to slaves (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 and Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3).

The importation of slaves from Africa continued through the 1790s and into the next decade. Meanwhile, the Southern states began planting different crops. Farmers in Maryland and northern Virginia planted less tobacco and more wheat, a crop that required fewer field-workers. The more southerly states greatly expanded their cotton and sugarcane crops, both of which required many laborers. Maryland and northern Virginia farmers sold their excess slaves to the more southerly states.

The ban on congressional action to stop slave importation was in effect until 1808. As that year approached, President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; served 1801–9) began encouraging the nation to prohibit slave importation permanently. In December 1806, in his Sixth Annual Message (a written version of what is now the spoken State of the Union address), Jefferson wrote, “I congratulate you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of the period at which you may interpose [use] your authority constitutionally to withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa.” By March 1807, legislation was moving through Congress to prohibit slave importation. The legislation, titled the “Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves,” follows. It passed through Congress easily, partly because there was a surplus of slaves in Maryland and Virginia at the time, and the surplus was filling the needs of the lower South. The prohibition took effect on January 1, 1808.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from “Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves”:

  • The act prohibited slave importation into the United States. It did not prohibit slavery or slave trade within the United States.
  • Congress was careful to cover all bases with this legislation. The act prohibited bringing persons into the United States for the purposes of slavery, but it did not stop there. It also stated that any ship outfitted for slave trade would be seized. Also, under the same legislation, people would be fined for taking on board their ships individuals intended to be sold into slavery in the United States. The act also made it illegal for anyone to purchase or sell a slave that the person knew had been imported from another country after the act took effect.
  • Section 7 allowed the U.S. president to use the nation’s military ships to patrol any coastal waters where illegal slave importation was taking place. The military ships could seize any slave ships they found and bring them into U.S. ports.
  • The act successfully ended the importation of slaves into the United States.
    Excerpt from “Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves”
    An Act to prohibit the importation of Slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eight.

Be it enacted, That from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight, it shall not be lawful to import or bring into the United States or the territories thereof from any foreign kingdom, place, or country, any negro,mulatto, or person of colour as a slave, or to be held to service or labour.

Sec. 2. That no citizen or citizens of the United States, or any other person, shall, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight, for himself, or themselves, or any other person whatsoever … build, fit, equip, load or otherwise prepare any ship or vessel, in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, nor shall cause any ship or vessel to sail from any port or place within the same, for the purpose of procuring any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, from any foreign kingdom, place, or country, to be transported to any port or place whatsoever, within the jurisdiction of the United States, to be held, sold, or disposed of as slaves, or to be held to service or labour: and if any ship or vessel shall be so fitted out for the purpose aforesaid, or shall be caused to sail so as aforesaid, every such ship or vessel, her tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be forfeited to the United States, and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned in any of the circuit courts or district courts for the district where the said ship or vessel may be found or seized. …

Sec. 4. If any citizen or citizens of the United States, or any person resident within the jurisdiction of the same, shall, from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight, take on board, receive or transport from any of the coasts or kingdoms of Africa, or from any other foreign kingdom, place, or country, any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, in any ship or vessel, for the purpose of selling them in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States as slaves, or to be held to service or labour, or shall be in any ways aiding or abetting therein, such citizen or citizens, or person, shall severally forfeit and pay five thousand dollars. …

Sec. 6. That if any person or persons whatsoever, shall, from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight, purchase or sell any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, for a slave, or to be held to service or labour, who shall have been imported, or brought from any foreign kingdom, place, or country, or from the dominions of any foreign state, immediately adjoining to the United States, into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, after the last day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seven, knowing at the time of such purchase or sale, such negro, mulatto, or person of colour, was so brought within the jurisdiction of the United States, as aforesaid, such purchaser and seller shall severally forfeit and pay for every negro, mulatto, or person of colour, so purchased or sold as aforesaid, eight hundred dollars. …

Sec. 7. That if any ship or vessel shall be found, from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight, in any river, port, bay, or harbor, or on the high seas, within the jurisdictional limits of the United States, or hovering on the coast thereof, having on board any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or with intent to land the same, in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, contrary to the prohibition of this act, every such ship or vessel, together with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, and the goods or effects which shall be found on board the same, shall be forfeited to the use of the United States, and may be seized, prosecuted, and condemned, in any court of the United States, having jurisdiction thereof. And it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, and he is hereby authorized, should he deem it expedient, to cause any of the armed vessels of the United States to be manned and employed to cruise on any part of the coast of the United States, or territories thereof, where he may judge attempts will be made to violate the provisions of this act, and to instruct and direct the commanders of armed vessels of the United States, to seize, take, and bring into any port of the United States all such ships or vessels, and moreover to seize, take, or bring into any port of the U.S. all ships or vessel of the U.S., wheresoever found on the high seas,contravening the provisions of this act. …

What happened next …

Though slaves could no longer be legally imported into the United States, the slave population continued to grow rapidly through natural population growth. By 1810, there were approximately 1.2 million slaves in the United States, up from nine hundred thousand in 1800; by 1820, the slave population had reached 1.5 million. In 1810, 40 percent of slaves still lived in Maryland and Virginia, but the shift of the slave population to areas farther south continued. Further, two states situated on the western frontier, Kentucky and Tennessee, had roughly seventy-five thousand slaves by 1810. Most had been moved from Maryland and Virginia. The purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, which was already a slavery area under Spain’s control, resulted in increased slavery for the United States in the lower Mississippi River. As new Western territories sought statehood through the 1820s, slavery would become a major social and political issue in America, eventually leading to the bloody Civil War (1861–65).

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

1917 – Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens, are recruited for war effort



Barely a month before the United States enters World War I, President Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones-Shafroth Act, granting U.S. citizenship to the inhabitants of Puerto Rico. Located about 1,000 miles southeast of Florida—and less than half that distance from the coast of South …read more

Black History, ~ Culture & History, ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

1807 – Congress abolishes the African slave trade


The U.S. Congress passes an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”

The first shipload of African captives to the British colonies in North America arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in August 1619, but for most of the 17th century, European indentured servants were far more numerous in the North American British colonies than were enslaved Africans. However, after 1680, the flow of indentured servants sharply declined, leading to an explosion in the African slave trade. By the middle of the 18th century, slavery could be found in all 13 colonies and was at the core of the Southern colonies’ agricultural economy. By the time of the American Revolution, the English importers alone had brought some three million captive Africans to the Americas.

WATCH: The Middle Passage on HISTORY Vault

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What was the Night of Terror 1917 – Women’s History


 
 
After peacefully demonstrating in front of the White House  on the 28th of August 1917, 33 women endured a night of brutal beatings, called a Night of Terror in November

Dorothy Day was described by her fellow suffragists as a “frail girl.” Yet on the night of November 14, 1917, prison guards at the Occoquan Workhouse, did not hold back after she and 32 other women had been arrested several days earlier for picketing outside the White House.

“The two men handling her were twisting her arms above her head. Then suddenly they lifted her up and banged her down over the arm of an iron bench—twice,” recalled 73-year-old Mary Nolan, the oldest of the prisoners, in an account published by Doris Stevens.

As members of the National Woman’s Party, the women and their fellow “Silent Sentinels” had been peacefully demonstrating in the nation’s capital for months, holding banners and placards calling on President Woodrow Wilson to back a federal amendment that would give all U.S. women the right to vote.

Now, these 33 women would endure the most harrowing night in the long history of the suffrage movement.

“Never was there a sentence like ours for an offense such as ours, even in England,” Nolan wrote.

Suffragist Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman's Party.

 

Suffragist Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman’s Party.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Suffragists Divided

In 1913, frustrated by the lack of progress toward a federal women’s suffrage amendment, some younger members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) decided to step up their efforts. Led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, they organized a suffrage parade held in Washington, D.C. on March 3, the day before Wilson’s inauguration as president. Police stood by when spectators attacked the demonstrators as they made their way down Pennsylvania Avenue, and army cavalry troops eventually had to be dispatched to restore order. Some 100 women were hospitalized with injuries.

Suffragists on picket line in front of the White House, circa 1917. One banner reads: "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty". 

 

Suffragists on picket line in front of the White House, circa 1917. One banner reads: “Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty”.

Library of Congress

The Silent Sentinels

By 1916, nine U.S. states had given women the right to vote. Though he supported suffrage on a state level, President Wilson opposed the federal amendment, and Paul and the NWP decided to aim their protests directly at him. In January 1917, right before Wilson’s second term began, women began gathering outside the White House every day, regardless of the weather. They wore distinctive purple, white and gold sashes and held signs with slogans like “Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait for Liberty?”

“The picketing strategy really unfolds over quite a long time,” says Susan Ware, a feminist biographer and author of the forthcoming book Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote. “By the time you get to that November night, the Silent Sentinels have been picketing outside the White House for more than 10 months.”

At first, Wilson tolerated the women’s protests, smiling at them as he passed and even inviting them in for coffee (they turned him down). But things began to change after the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, and the NWP chose to continue picketing the White House, even as the mainstream suffrage movement, led by NAWSA’s Carrie Chapman Catt, threw its support behind the war effort.

National Woman's Party members being arrested as they picket with banners before the White House East Gate, in August 1917.

 

National Woman’s Party members being arrested as they picket with banners before the White House East Gate, in August 1917.

Library of Congress

A Cat-and-Mouse Game

Amid the wartime furor, many people began viewing the Silent Sentinels as unforgivably unpatriotic. Onlookers sometimes attacked the women and ripped their signs from their hands, while Wilson himself wrote to his daughter in June that the suffragists “seem bent on making their cause as obnoxious as possible.”

That same month, police began arresting the suffragists for obstructing traffic. At first, the women were released quickly, and without penalty, but soon the courts began handing out prison time. But the women kept coming back.

“One of the things that we need to give them credit for is that they knew, after June, that when they were on the picket line they could be arrested, and they could go to jail,” Ware points out. “This was something that respectable white women didn’t usually do.”

Tensions were running much higher by August, when the Sentinels rolled out a new banner accusing “Kaiser Wilson” of autocracy, followed by three days of attacks by an angry mob and police and the sentencing of six women to 60-day prison terms. When Paul, who had stayed off the picket line for much of that summer, returned in October, she was immediately arrested and given the longest sentence yet: seven months in Occoquan.

“They’re in this kind of cat-and-mouse game with the Wilson administration and with the police,” says Ware. “The arrests keep going on, the prison terms keep getting longer, the stakes keep getting upped.”

Suffragist Lucy Burns in a cell at the Occoquan Workhouse after women's rights protests in November 1917.

 

Suffragist Lucy Burns in a cell at the Occoquan Workhouse after women’s rights protests in November 1917.

Library of Congress

The Night of Terror

Faced with brutal treatment by guards and horrendous living conditions at Occoquan, including worm-ridden food and filthy water and bedding, Paul and others began demanding to be treated as political prisoners. After going on a hunger strike, Paul was repeatedly force-fed and transferred in early November to the District Jail’s psychiatric ward.

The 33 women brought to Occoquan on the night of November 14 also demanded to be treated as political prisoners. Instead, prison superintendent William H. Whittaker called on his guards to teach the women a lesson. Bursting into the room where the women were waiting to be booked, the guards dragged them down the hall and threw them into dark, filthy cells.

Burns had her hands shackled to the top of a cell, forcing her to stand all night; the guards also threatened her with a straitjacket and a buckle gag. Day (the future founder of the Catholic Worker Movement) was slammed her down on the arm of an iron bench twice. Dora Lewis lost consciousness after her head was smashed into an iron bed; Alice Cosu, seeing Lewis’ assault, suffered a heart attack, and didn’t get medical attention until the following morning.

Nolan’s account of the Night of Terror, as well as pages from a diary Burns kept while at Occoquan, was later published by Doris Stevens in Jailed for Freedom, her book about the NWP.

Suffragist Mary Winsor holding a banner that reads: "To Ask Freedom for Women is Not a Crime. Suffrage Prisoners Should Not be Treated as Criminals," circa November 1917.

 

Suffragist Mary Winsor holding a banner that reads: “To Ask Freedom for Women is Not a Crime. Suffrage Prisoners Should Not be Treated as Criminals,” circa November 1917.

19th Amendment Passes

In the aftermath of the attack, many of the women began hunger strikes, as Whittaker denied them counsel and summoned U.S. Marines to guard the workhouse. But news of their mistreatment reached the suffragists outside Occoquan, as well as well-placed allies like Dudley Field Malone, an attorney who resigned his post in the Wilson administration in solidarity with the suffragists (he later married Doris Stevens).

In late November, under increasing public pressure, federal authorities agreed to release Paul, Burns and the other suffrage prisoners.

In early 1918, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that women had been illegally arrested, convicted and imprisoned. Within months, President Wilson had begun publicly calling on Congress to act on the federal suffrage amendment, a change of heart that was probably due not only to the NWP’s protests but also NAWSA’s more traditional lobbying strategies.

Meanwhile, the Silent Sentinels continued their protests. In early 1919, the women started lighting what they called “Watchfires of Freedom” outside public buildings, setting fire to Wilson’s speeches mentioning freedom and democracy. More women were arrested, more went on hunger strikes and were force-fed, though there were no more incidents as dramatic as the Night of Terror.

Finally, in June 1919, the U.S. Senate followed the House’s lead in passing the 19th Amendment. Over the next year, both the NWP and NAWSA worked tirelessly to win ratification in the necessary 36 (out of 48 states). On August 18, 1920, after a down-to-the-wire fight in Nashville, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment.

Though representatives of the NWP and NAWSA were both on hand in Nashville to celebrate the long-awaited victory, the divisions in the women’s rights movement would continue long after the 19th Amendment’s passage. Still, after more than a century, the Night of Terror stands as a potent reminder of female solidarity and resistance, and just how much some women were willing to sacrifice to win the right to vote.

“They’re determined,” Ware says, recalling the Silent Sentinels on that notorious night in November 1917. “It’s pretty amazing what they were willing to go through, and what they had to endure.”

 

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn’t look right, click hereto contact us!

RELATED CONTENT

19th-Amendment-514881096

 

American Women’s Suffrage Came Down to One Man’s Vote

2001 Anthrax Letters

 

 

 

When Native Americans Were Slaughtered in the Name of ‘Civilization’

A photographer's interpretation of James Fraser's classic sculpture, the 'End of the Trail,' circa 1915. (Credit: Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

 

gettyimages-182566801-2

 

Search Is On For Original Women’s Rights Declaration

 
 
  •  
© 2019 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.