Williams' Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and his Cargo of Black Convicts

Description

William H. Williams operated a slave pen in Washington, DC, known as the Yellow House, and actively trafficked in enslaved men, women, and children for more than twenty years. His slave trading activities took an extraordinary turn in 1840 when he purchased twenty-seven enslaved convicts from the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond with the understanding that he could carry them outside of the United States for sale. When Williams conveyed his captives illegally into New Orleans, allegedly while en route to the foreign country of Texas, he prompted a series of courtroom dramas that would last for almost three decades. Based on court records, newspapers, governors' files, slave manifests, slave narratives, travelers' accounts, and penitentiary data, Williams' Gang examines slave criminality, the coastwise domestic slave trade, and southern jurisprudence as it supplies a compelling portrait of the economy, society, and politics of the Old South. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction The Slave Depot of Washington, D.C. Chapter 1 An Ambush Chapter 2 The Yellow House Chapter 3 Sale and Transportation Chapter 4 Mobile to New Orleans Chapter 5 Legal Troubles Chapter 6 The Millington Bank Chapter 7 State v. Williams Chapter 8 Slave Trading in “Hard Times” Chapter 9 Politics of the Slave Pen Chapter 10 Brothers Chapter 11 The Louisiana State Penitentiary Chapter 12 Closure Chapter 13 Perseverance Chapter 14 Violet Epilogue: The Legal Legacy of the Domestic Slave Trade Appendix A: The Williams’ Gang Slaves Appendix B: Sample Slaving Voyages of William H. Williams and his Associates (N=46) Appendix C: Slave Data from Sample Slaving Voyages (N=46) Notes Index