• silence7@slrpnk.netOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    7 months ago

    Owned and run Americans who were engaged in the slave trade:

    Seizing the opportunity, American merchants based in Rio de Janeiro sold U.S.-made vessels to slavers sailing for Africa. The proliferation of the American ship and flag — used by slavers of all nationalities — in the illicit commerce soon provoked alarm among diplomats.

    “Our flag is preferred over any other,” complained Gorham Parks, the U.S. consul in Rio de Janeiro, in an 1848 letter.