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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 540 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 540

    Recognizing the historical significance of the sloop-of-war USS 
 Constellation as a reminder of the participation of the United States 
   in the transatlantic slave trade and of the efforts of the United 
                     States to end the slave trade.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 29, 2008

   Ms. Mikulski (for herself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
    Recognizing the historical significance of the sloop-of-war USS 
 Constellation as a reminder of the participation of the United States 
   in the transatlantic slave trade and of the efforts of the United 
                     States to end the slave trade.

Whereas, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was 
        adopted, and article I, section 9 declared that Congress could prohibit 
        the importation of slaves into the United States in the year 1808;
Whereas, in 1794, the United States Congress passed ``An Act to prohibit the 
        carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to any foreign place 
        or country'', approved March 22, 1794 (1 Stat. 347), thus beginning the 
        efforts of the United States to halt the slave trade;
Whereas, on May 10, 1800, Congress enacted a law that outlawed all participation 
        by people in the United States in the international trafficking of 
        slaves and authorized the United States Navy to seize vessels flying the 
        flag of the United States engaged in the slave trade;
Whereas, on March 2, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed into law ``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 of January, 
        in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight'' (2 Stat. 
        426);
Whereas, on January 1, 1808, the prohibition on the importation of slaves into 
        the United States took effect;
Whereas, on March 3, 1819, Congress authorized the Navy to cruise the coast of 
        Africa to suppress the slave trade, declaring that Africans on captured 
        ships be placed under Federal jurisdiction and authorizing the President 
        to appoint an agent in Africa to facilitate the return of captured 
        Africans to the continent;
Whereas, in 1819, the Royal Navy of Great Britain established the West Coast of 
        Africa as a separate naval station and actively plied the waters in 
        pursuit of slave ships, and Great Britain negotiated with many other 
        countries to obtain the right to search vessels suspected of engaging in 
        the slave trade;
Whereas, on May 15, 1820, Congress declared the trading of slaves to be an act 
        of piracy and that those convicted of trading slaves were subject to the 
        death penalty;
Whereas the Webster-Ashburton Treaty between Great Britain and the United 
        States, signed August 9, 1842, provided that both countries would 
        maintain separate naval squadrons on the coast of Africa to enforce 
        their respective laws against the slave trade;
Whereas, in 1843, the newly formed United States African Squadron sailed for 
        Africa and remained in operation until the Civil War erupted in 1861;
Whereas, in 1859, the USS Constellation, the last all-sail vessel designed and 
        built by the United States Navy, sailed to West Africa as the flagship 
        of the United States African Squadron, which consisted of 8 ships, 
        including 4 steam-powered vessels suitable for chasing down and 
        capturing slave ships;
Whereas, on December 21, 1859, the USS Constellation captured the brig Delicia 
        after a 10-hour chase, and although the Delicia had no human cargo on 
        board upon capture, the crew had been preparing the ship to take on 
        slaves;
Whereas, on the night of September 25, 1860, the USS Constellation spotted the 
        barque Cora near the mouth of the Congo River and, after a dramatic 
        moonlit chase, captured the slave ship with 705 Africans crammed into 
        her permanent ``slave deck'';
Whereas after capturing the Cora, a detachment of the Constellation's crew 
        sailed the surviving Africans to Monrovia, Liberia, a colony founded for 
        the settlement of free African-Americans, which became the destination 
        for all Africans freed on slave ships captured by the United States 
        Navy;
Whereas, on May 21, 1861, the USS Constellation captured the brig Triton, and 
        although the Triton did not have Africans captured for slavery on board 
        when intercepted by the Constellation, a search confirmed that the ship 
        had been prepared to take on slaves;
Whereas the Triton, registered in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of the 
        first Union naval captures of the Civil War;
Whereas, from 1859 to 1861, the USS Constellation and the United States African 
        Squadron captured 14 slave ships and liberated nearly 4,000 Africans 
        destined for a life of servitude in the Americas, a record unsurpassed 
        by the squadron under previous commanders; and
Whereas, on September 25, 2008, the USS Constellation Museum will hold a 
        ceremony to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the 
        transatlantic slave trade aboard the same ship that, 148 years before, 
        forced the capitulation of the slave ship Cora and freed the 705 
        Africans confined within: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the historical and educational significance 
        of the USS Constellation, a 153-year-old warship berthed in 
        Baltimore, Maryland, as a reminder of both the participation of 
        the United States in the slave trade and the efforts of the 
        United States Government to suppress the inhumane practice;
            (2) applauds the preservation of the historic vessel and 
        the efforts of the USS Constellation Museum to engage people 
        from all over the world with this vital part of our history; 
        and
            (3) supports the USS Constellation as an appropriate site 
        for the Nation to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition 
        of the transatlantic slave trade in 2008.
                                 <all>
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