National Geographic History - 11.2019 - 12.2019

economic and political interests went beyond
preserving slavery in the United States. He was
even involved in efforts to expand it to other
nations. To feed his growing business, Meaher
advocated reestablishing the international slave
trade as an alternative, less expensive source of
labor than the domestic slave trade.
The success of Meaher’s smuggling venture
would depend on the experience of a skilled cap-
tain: William Foster, the owner of a fast schooner
called the Clotilda. Foster belonged to a family of
sailors and shipbuilders who hailed from Fisher’s
Grant, Pictou, Nova Scotia. Like the Meahers, the
Fosters relocated to Mobile, where they could
profit as shipwrights.
A sleek schooner weighing 120 81/95 tons,
the Clotilda and fast clipper ships like her were
designed for speed to evade capture. Both Amer-
ican and Spanish smugglers utilized these fast-
sailing, nimble vessels to elude sluggish govern-
ment steamers. These ships also “clipped” or
decreased the sail time of transatlantic voyages.
Insurance documents from the time revealed the
Clotilda’s unique construction and dimensions.

Voyage to Dahomey

As late as 1858, the Daily Register, Mobile’s lead-

ing newspaper, announced that, “The King of

Dahomey was driving a brisk trade in slaves,

at from $50 to $60 each, at Wydah [Ouidah].”

While not all Africans sold other Africans in the

slave trade that constituted a buyer-driven mar-

ket, the Fon warriors of Dahomey sold millions

of Africans into the slave trade. Therefore, Mea-

her and Foster chose Ouidah as the slave port.

In violation of the Piracy Act, the Clotilda was

outfitted with large amounts of lumber planks

and water casks, for smuggling slaves. Captain

Foster and his 11-man crew set sail for Ouidah

on March 4, 1860. Damaged by various storms

FROM FREEDOM

TO SLAVERY

Located in Ouidah

(Whydah), a coastal

town in Benin, the Door

of No Return (above)

commemorates the

lives of those who

passed through this

notorious port to be

sold into slavery across

the Atlantic.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 81

MICHELE BURGESS/ALAMY/ACI

Timothy Meaher, a wealthy plantation

and steamboat magnate, made a bet

that he could smuggle Africans into the

United States without being prosecuted.