The underwater hunt for the lost ship of an American slave trafficker
The underwater hunt for the lost ship of an American slave trafficker
In 1852, Nathaniel Gordon sailed the Camargo to Brazil, illegally sold 500 enslaved Africans, and burned and sank the ship. Now divers think they’ve found it.
This is Brazil. The only thing that ties it to America is that it was an American flagged ship.
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.