LS, three pages, lightly-lined on two adjoining sheets, 8.25 x 13.5, July 15, 1845. Letter written to Thomas Douglas, Attorney of the US for the Eastern District of Florida. In full: “In a letter addressed to this Department by the British Minister at Washington on the 7th inst. (a copy of which is enclosed) he states that reports have reached the British Government which afforded reason to believe that, in more than one instance during the last fifteen years vessels belonging to the Bahama Islands, with crews of colored persons, have been purposely wrecked on the coast of Florida, and the crews sold as slaves. Mr. Pakenham particularly refers to three cases—‘The Three Sisters,’ ‘The Alexander,’ and the Sloop ‘Jane’—as vessels which are most generally believed, at the Bahama Islands, to have been feloniously destroyed, and suggests to this Government the propriety of taking such steps as may appear to be right and necessary to ascertain the particulars, and secure the ends of justice in these cases.
I have accordingly to request that you will institute a most strict and careful inquiry into the facts and circumstances of these several cases, with the view of obtaining all the information necessary to a full and perfect understanding of them; and if it shall prove, on examination, that there are sufficient grounds for the reports in question,—that you will immediately adopt such measures as may in your opinion be best calculated to secure the ends of justice and vindicate the violated laws.
Be pleased to report to this Department the result of your inquiries in the cases referred to in Mr. Pakenham's note: and also the subsequent proceedings, if any, which you may have occasion to adopt.” In fine condition. Accompanied by two additional letters, one from William Hendricks, dated January 31, 1832, to Douglas and mentioning East Florida Judge J. L. Smith; and one from Arthur Read, dated October 25, 1840, to Douglas, his father-in-law.
Although the United States and Great Britain had been cooperating in patrols to suppress the international slave trade, which had been legally abolished by both in the early 1800s, several related incidents continued to cause tension between the two nations. Beginning in 1818, when the British ruled that any slave brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be manumitted, countless American ships were forced to dock there—both by the Royal Navy and by revolting slaves on board—and free any slaves who were on board. (By 1842, the US had lost nearly 450 slaves in this manner.) Increasingly dependent on slave labor, this caused significant concern in the States. In response, Americans were said to be intentionally wrecking ships off the coast of Florida and forcing any black crew members into slavery once on land—the precise issue at hand in this letter from recently appointed Secretary of State James Buchanan. An interesting letter dealing with one of the most contentious issues in history. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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