H. Res. 1159 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
September 9, 2008. 
Whereas on September 17, 1787, the United States Constitu-
tion was adopted and article I, section 9 of the document 
declared that Congress could prohibit the importation of 
slaves into the United States in the year 1808; 
Whereas on March 22, 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’’, thus beginning American efforts to halt the 
slave trade; 
Whereas on May 10, 1800, Congress enacted legislation that 
outlawed all American participation in the international 
trafficking of slaves and authorized the United States 
Navy to seize American vessels engaged in the slave 
trade; 
Whereas on March 2, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson 
signed a bill that declared the importation of slaves into 
the United States illegal; 
Whereas on January 1, 1808, the act ‘‘to prohibit the impor-
tation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdic-
tion of the United States’’ took effect; 
Whereas on March 3, 1819, Congress authorized the Navy to 
cruise the African coast to suppress the slave trade. The
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Act declared that Africans on captured ships be placed 
under Federal jurisdiction and authorized the President 
to appoint an agent in Africa to facilitate their return to 
the continent; 
Whereas in 1819, the Royal Navy of Great Britain estab-
lished the West Coast of Africa as a separate naval sta-
tion and actively plied the waters in pursuit of slave 
ships. Great Britain negotiated with many other nations 
to obtain the right to search their vessels if 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 those convicted subject 
to the death penalty; 
Whereas in 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States provided that both 
nations would maintain separate naval squadrons on the 
coast of Africa to enforce their respective laws against 
the slave trade. The newly formed United States African 
Squadron sailed for Africa in 1843 and remained in oper-
ation until the Civil War erupted in 1861; 
Whereas in 1859, USS Constellation, the last all-sail vessel 
designed and built by the U.S. Navy, sailed to West Afri-
ca as the flagship of the United States African Squadron, 
consisting of eight ships, including four steam-powered 
vessels suitable for chasing down and capturing slavers; 
Whereas on December 21, 1859, USS Constellation captured 
the brig Delicia after a 10-hour chase. Although Delicia 
had no human cargo on board upon capture, her crew 
was preparing the ship to take on slaves; 
Whereas on the night of September 25, 1860, USS Constella-
tion sighted the barque Cora near the mouth of the
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Congo River and, after a dramatic moonlit chase, cap-
tured the slave ship with 705 Africans crammed into her 
‘‘slave deck’’. A detachment of the Constellation’s crew 
sailed the surviving Africans to Monrovia, Liberia, a col-
ony founded for the settlement of free African-Americans 
that became the destination for all Africans freed on 
slave ships captured by the Navy; 
Whereas on May 21, 1861, USS Constellation captured the 
brig Triton. Though the ship did not have Africans cap-
tured for slavery on board when intercepted by the Con-
stellation, a search confirmed its preparation to take on 
slaves. Triton, registered in Charleston, South Carolina, 
was one of the first Union naval captures of the Amer-
ican Civil War; 
Whereas from 1859 to 1861, USS Constellation and the Afri-
can Squadron captured 14 slave ships and liberated near-
ly 4,000 Africans destined for a life of servitude in the 
Americas, a record unsurpassed by the United States Af-
rican squadron under previous commanders; and 
Whereas on September 25, 2008, the USS Constellation Mu-
seum will hold a ceremony to commemorate the bicenten-
nial of the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade 
aboard the same ship that, 149 years before, forced the 
capitulation of the slave ship Cora and freed the 705 Af-
ricans confined within: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the historical and educational signifi-
cance of USS Constellation, a 153-year-old American 
warship, berthed in Baltimore, Maryland, as a reminder 
of both American participation in the slave trade and the
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efforts of the United States Government to suppress this 
inhumane practice; 
(2) applauds the preservation of this historic vessel 
and the efforts of the USS Constellation Museum to en-
gage people from all over the world with this vital part 
of our history; and 
(3) supports USS Constellation as an appropriate 
site for the Nation to commemorate the bicentennial of 
the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 
Attest: 
Clerk.