The Last Slave Ship (Article 83)
Introduction: They were only children. She was about twelve and was sent by her parents on some errand to a nearby village. On her way, she was attacked by a group of African men, blindfolded, bound to a rope and gagged, and then marched for several days. She was repeatedly raped. She could not remember how long or how far she walked. He was also twelve, hunting with a group of men from his tribe when they were attacked by a larger group of Africans. Several of the men he knew were killed, but he was spared. He soon learned why. He found himself tied to a group of other kidnapped men, women, and children and forced to walk for many days. The two wound up at the same place; a massive slave auction compound on the western coast of Africa. This is their story.
In 1860, the large ocean-going freighter Clotilda landed in Alabama with over one hundred kidnapped Africans; so called “Black Cargo,” chained in the hold. It had been a long voyage from Africa and the crew was ready to off-load the “cargo” to their owner, Timothy Meaher. The United States had outlawed participation in the International African Slave trade fifty years earlier, in 1808; so, the importation of new African slaves was a risky business. Mr. Meaher, who was an Alabama based slave broker, funded the illegal operation to prove to others in Alabama that he could still smuggle new slaves into the Country by sailing a direct route from Africa, rather than purchasing slaves from the large central markets in Cuba and other Caribbean outposts. The British were determined to interfere with the International African Slave trade and the Queen’s Navy regularly stopped and boarded ships leaving Caribbean ports. However, since those slave ships were headed for other islands and Central and South America, the British Navy largely ignored ships crossing the Atlantic, directly toward the United States.
Conditions aboard the Clotilda were harsh but, unlike earlier passages, after the first week at sea, the slaves were rotated to the upper deck for fresh air every few days. This was not a compassionate move by Meaher and the ship’s Captain, but only a business decision designed to help keep the slaves healthier to improve their value. And, although a few of the kidnapped Africans died on the voyage to America, likely from disease, 110 survived. Upon arrival in Alabama, they were all sold at auction and scattered across that state, with some also sold to owners in Louisianna and Mississippi. Most were then lost in the fog of slavery which was usually the fate of kidnapped Africans.
But two of the prisoners on the Clotilda were not lost, and have not been forgotten.
One of the Africans was a young girl, probably twelve years old, named Redoshi, who was from Benin. She was kidnapped, probably randomly chosen, by Africans from another tribe and marched to an ocean-side holding area where she was held by a slave trader. After she was loaded onto the Clotilda, she was again raped and then assigned as a “bride” to another young slave. Upon landing in Alabama, she and her selected husband were sold to Washington Smith, a merchant and banker, as well as a planter. He gave Redoshi the name of Sally Smith and put her to work primarily in his home, but she was also sent to work the fields as needed. Not much is known about Sally Smith after the Civil War except that she did survive. She and her husband continued to live on land which was part of the Smith Plantation, subsisting on some work for which they were paid very little, and on small crops they planted. Her children knew about her African heritage as she passed on glimpses of her language and rituals. While her main story survived for another generation, many details were simply forgotten as time marched on.
Another African who came to the U.S. aboard the Clotilda was a young man named Oluale Kossola. Oluale had also been captured by a rival African tribe, but witnessed the death of several men from his village before he and other young boys were taken to the holding pens on the coast; for sale to the highest bidder!
These two did not know each other, and may have never spoken, but both independently reached a very personal decision after they were kidnapped. Despite their captivity, they would secretly harbor their native language and their spiritual beliefs, partly as a small protest to their situation, but primarily to retain their self-dignity. And, both were determined to never give up.
After the voyage to Alabama, Oluale, was sold at auction to James Meaher, a brother of Timothy Meaher, who owned the Clotilda; and Oluale was re-named Cudio Lewis by his new owner. The young African secretly practiced his native language and some of the spiritual rituals from his tribe. If his owner knew about Oluale’s clandestine activities, he never reproached his young slave; and, in fact, encouraged Oluale to assume a leadership role among the rest of the slaves. Oluale (Cudio Lewis) married and he and his wife had five children and, not always the case, the family was allowed to remain together by their owner. After the Civil War, and emancipation, Oluale, led a small group of former slaves and formed the community of Africatown, outside Mobile, Alabama. Although he had preserved his African name and taught his children that he was born as Oluale Kossola, he continued to use the name of Cudio Lewis for the rest of his life. Oluale became known to scholars because a biography, titled Barrocoon, was written in 1930, largely from personal interviews with Mr. Lewis.
For many years, historians considered Oluale (Cudjo Lewis) to be the last surviving African transported to America to become a slave. Most slaves in America in 1860 had been born in this country as a slave; and only a few were still living who were brought to the United States before the International Slave Trade was banned in 1808. But, because Oluale had been brought to Alabama at such a young age in 1860, he out lived all other known victims of the International African Slave Trade. He lived in Africatown until his death at about 87 in 1935. Thus, he was thought by most historians to be the last survivor of the Africans illegally shipped to Alabama on the Clotilda; therefore, he had been considered the last slave brought to the United states on the last slave ship.
However, recent research indicates that Redoshi, who died in 1937 at about 90, was actually the last of the group from the Clotilda to survive. Although she had outlived all of her children and any grandchildren had scattered to other regions, she left a sketchy record with friends she met later in her life. In the last few years before her death, Redoshi confided in several women, Black and White, some of whom attended her church, and others who served her with medical care or provided other assistance. As they learned about Redoshi’s past, these women realized that none of the other elderly African-Americans in their care had actually been slaves, although several claimed that their parents had been slaves. Some of the women who were acquainted with Redoshi, corresponded among each other and included details of their experiences with her in letters; but no one made a specific attempt to otherwise document Redoshi’s story. Fortunately, some of the letters were saved by their families; however, it would be another fifty years before dedicated researchers consolidated the correspondence and the story of Redoshi finally emerged. She was truly the last surviving African slave in the United States.
The Clotilda, which is considered the last African Slave ship to land in the United States, was burned after the 1860 voyage to hide evidence of its use and sank in the tide waters off Mobile, Alabama. However, in an extraordinary find, the remains of the Clotilda were recently discovered under water and will be restored to become part of the growing historical record of slavery in America; and a stark reminder to our generations.
It seems we need such reminders. It is important that we never forget that such a thing can happen, because such a thing did happen.