The Illegal Slave Trade

• Main Author: Forrest, Alan
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University Press 2020
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199568956.003.0013

The Congress of Vienna did not end the slave trade in French ports, nor across the North Atlantic, and the return of peace restricted the activities of naval vessels in boarding and arresting suspect vessels. Nantes merchants, in particular, were eager to return to slaving and dreamed of the return of pre-revolutionary prosperity. But the French government showed less tolerance of slaving and took an increasingly active part in policing the trade. The chapter discusses the extent of French illegal slaving under the Restoration and the increased dangers it faced, following vessels from Nantes and Bordeaux on illegal voyages to the African coast, noting the higher risks of death and disease, and discussing the various ruses adopted to avoid the attention of the authorities.