The academic community has been rocked by a remarkable finding made in the Sea of Angra dos Reis, off the coast of Brazil. Researchers from the AfrOrigens Institute, Fluminense Federal University, Federal University of Sergipe, and other North American research organisations assert to have discovered the submerged wreckage of a slave ship from the 19th century.
Nathaniel Gordon, an American merchant who was involved in the nefarious Transatlantic Slave Trade, took control of the ship, which is thought to be the infamous Camargo.
Gordon, an American trader, found himself at the helm of the Brig Camargo in the early 1850s. Originally tasked with sailing from San Francisco to New York, Gordon took a dark turn when he deviated from his course. Instead of returning to the United States, he set sail for Mozambique, where historical records suggest he clandestinely transported around 500 enslaved African people from Mashonaland.
The illegal operation led him to Angra dos Reis Bay, situated west of Rio de Janeiro. Fearing detection during a Navy search, Gordon purportedly sunk the ship, eliminating all traces of his heinous act. His audacity to defy the law and engage in the slave trade was fueled by the lucrative profits it promised, even though the US 1820 piracy law carried a death sentence for such practices.
In December 1852, the “Diário do Rio de Janeiro” reported the “rumour” of an American ship unloading Africans at the port of Bracuí. The emperor was personally informed, and a contingent of soldiers was dispatched to patrol the Angra region. The involvement of a local police chief, who was also a slave owner, added complexity to the situation.
During a three-month investigation, slaves who were captured claimed they were exercising their right to freedom, just like the Africans brought on the Camargo, who were ultimately freed. Despite these challenges, the Empire remained resolute and sought to demonstrate its authority over slave labour. The investigation culminated in Gordon’s ship being set on fire, a strategy not uncommon among American commanders of black slave ships.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade was a lucrative and brutal business. Slaves purchased in Africa for as little as US$40 could be sold for up to US$1200 in Brazil due to the increasing demand for labour in the coffee industry. A single cargo of 800 slaves could yield a staggering fortune of US$960,000 in today’s currency.
Nathaniel Gordon’s actions did not go unpunished. In 1862, he was executed in New York for violating the piracy law, making him the only American to be fully tried, convicted, and run for participating in the slave trade.
