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Details on the capture of a slave ship...
Details on the capture of a slave ship...
Item # 704911
May 18, 1860
NEW YORK HERALD, May 18, 1860
* Famous slaver "Wildfire" capture
* African slavery trade print fame
Page 2 begins with: "The Slave Trade" "Additional Particulars in Regard to the Bark Wildfire and Her Cargo" with the report taking over half a column.
The text begins: "The bark Wildfire, with a cargo of over 500 Africans on board, was captured..." with considerable detail on this famous slave ship. Further on: "...the negroes on board raised a loud yell in token of their pleasure...is said that this cargo would have been valued at $600,000 if landed in Cuba..." and much more.
This slave ship became famous at the time due in part to a print of the slaves on board which appeared in the June 2, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly (see our web item 172368).
Page 4 has an article concerning: "The Japanese" visit to Washington, D.C.
Eight pages, a bit irregular at the spine from disbinding, nice condition.
AI notes: In 1860, the U.S. Navy steamer Mohawk captured the American slave ship Wildfire off the coast of Cuba with about 510 enslaved Africans on board, en route from West Africa. The ship was taken to Key West, Florida, where survivors—many of whom were in poor health due to horrific conditions—were temporarily housed before being repatriated to Liberia. The capture of the Wildfire exposed the ongoing illegal slave trade despite its official abolition and underscored growing tensions over slavery in the United States on the eve of the Civil War.
Category: Pre-Civil War
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