Possible Discovery of the Last Slave Ship?

I was absolutely fascinated by this article about the discovery (or re-discovery) of the last ship ever to bring slaves to the United States. As most of you probably know, while slavery was legal until the emancipation proclamation, importing new slaves was banned much earlier, in 1809. This ship was apparently part of a notorious attempt to flout the law in 1860:

Quote:

With the nation edging closer to civil war over the slavery issue, Alabama steamboat captain and plantation owner Timothy Meaher made an infamous bet that he could sneak slaves into the country, right under the noses of federal troops at the twin forts that guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay. Historian Sylvianne Diouf traced the evolution of the wicked scheme and the resulting journey in her excellent book, Dreams of Africa in Alabama, published in 2007. Attempts to contact Diouf were unsuccessful.

It's a terrific read about some excellent investigative journalism.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2DveTmC