Hanging Captain Gordon: The Story Of Hanging Captain Gordon

Hanging Captain Gordon is the story of the only man who was hung for the crime of being a slave trader. Not only was he the only man to be sentenced to death, not one other person was ever given more than a minor sentence or fine for the crime. The death of one man is not the real emphasis of the story, however. More importantly, it is the story of how the United States government failed to enforce the anti-slave trade laws, or prevent it from continuing.

Almost as soon as the United States became an independent nation, a law was passed in 1794 to attempt to put an end to the slave trade. “An act to prohibit the carrying on of the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or county”, it also prohibited any slave ships from being

Between that and the invention of the cotton gin, the slave trade was on the rise again. In 1807, a law was passed specifically outlawing the slave traffic between Africa and the United States. Surprisingly, this law passed with great ease, and the full support of the south in Congress. There was fear of the blacks outnumbering the whites eventually, and the Southern whites feared becoming the racial minority. Slaves were also a “self-perpetuating population” (5), and there eventually became no need to import more slaves into the country. This, more than fear of prosecution, is what led to the decline of slaves being brought here. The slave trade was still going strong throughout the rest of the Americas. Another law was eventually passed, where the penalties for slave traders were unbelievably lowered. Although it seems counterproductive, it was actually an effort to enforce and prosecute move slaver traders. Added to these restrictions was the restriction on slavers outfitting ships anywhere for slave trading. If a ship left the United States with the intention of outfitting a ship elsewhere for slave transport, it was still against the law. In 1820, a law was passed making slave trading a capital offense. Any United States citizen working on a slave ship, foreign or domestic, that attempted to transport slaves “Negro or mullato…shall be adjudged a pirate; and…shall suffer death”

Unfortunately, this was not because of the humane beliefs of the British, but mostly an effort of the British to control business by eliminating the competitions access to slave labor. Sadly, most of the blacks that were rescued were then sent to British colonies, and into the life of slavery that the British claimed to be liberating them from. Although many countries agreed to allow the British to board suspected slave ships, the United States refused. This was a large reason for the War of 1812 with Britain. When Britain continued to push the United States with the question of if anything could be worse than the slave trade, John Quincy Adams replied “Yes. Admitting the right of search by foreign officers of our vessels upon the seas in time of peace; for that would be making slaves of ourselves”. (8) This grudge with Britain was also one of the main reasons that the slave traders could not be captured more frequently. The British had a Navy second to none, and our best ships were being used to protect America ships from British meddling. The United States was willing to sacrifice the freedom of Africans for their own. As Ron Soodalter points out, “Had the United States cooperated with Britain at any point, the slave trade would certainly have ended earlier.