Introduction
The Antelope’s story is one of international drama, with high seas intrigue among Portuguese and Spanish interests, including involvement of the City of Savannah. The story began with the ship Columbia in December 1819. The Columbia sailed from Baltimore with a crew that swore before a justice of the peace that they were not American citizens. The ship had commission papers signed by Uruguayan revolutionary, Jose Artigas, authroizing it to wage war against Spanish and Portuguese ships. The ship sailed for West Africa, changing its name to the Arraganta, attacking and raiding ships as it went. Eventually, the ship was detained by a British patrol in Sierre Leone for three weeks. The crew was released and warned to stay out of the waters south of the equator. Disregarding these orders, the ship sailed south, attacking the American ship the Exchange and seizing twenty-five African persons being held as slaves.[2]
Sailing on, the Columbia attacked the Antelope, a slave ship at the Portuguese port of Cabinda. The crew of the Antelope was sent ashore and Columbia crew member, John Smith, was made captain. The Columbia and the Antelope sailed together to Brazil where the Columbia was wrecked on the coast. The Antelope took on the survivors and Smith sailed north. By June 1820, the Antelope was off the coast of St. Augustine with around 280 Africans on board. The American flag was raised and the ship waited. Captain John Jackson of the United States revenue cutter Dallas captured the Antelope on June 29, 1820, arresting John Smith on suspicion of engaging in the slave trade. Jackson was directed to bring the prisoners and the ship to Savannah.[3]
Public Work in Savannah
The Africans aboard the Antelope were placed in the custody of John Morel, United States District Marshal for Georgia while their fate was decided in the courts. The refugees from the Antelope were placed at the Savannah race track, where make shift shelter was provided. The African encampment, as it was called, is believed to have been located at what later was known as the Ten Broeck Race Track. This race course had been part of the Vale Royal Plantation and through the years has been called “Oglethorpe’s Race Track," “Jencks’ Old Track," or the “Race Track."[4]
During the court proceedings it was determined that the Africans would be put to work. One hundred were placed on Morel’s plantation, some were rented to Savannah households and the City of Savannah took custody of fifty-one people. The City Council Minutes for August 9, 1820 discusses the Africans in the “custody of the Marshal of this District…subject...at all times to the order of the District Judge.” These refugees were to pull weeds in the squares as well as leveling the fortifications. City Treasury records indicate clothing was purchased for the Africans, and that medicine and medical attention were also provided.[5]
Richard Wylly Habersham, United States District Attorney for Georgia, framed a case for the freedom of the Africans. Representatives for the Spanish and Portuguese interests filed claims for ownership of the Africans. It took seven years for the case to get through the courts. During that time it was determined that 116 of the refugees had died in Savannah. Chief Justice John Marshall concluded that the United States had to recognize the rights of other nations to participate in the slave trade. The Portuguese claim was denied, but to satisfy the Spanish claim, thirty-nine Africans were sold. In July 1827, 131 Africans captured from an American vessel were assembled in Savannah by District Marshal John Morel, they boarded the Norfolk and became colonists in Liberia.[6]
[1] Preston Russell and Barbara Hines, Savannah: A History of Her People Since 1733, 81,89.
[2] John T. Noonan, The Antelope: The Ordeal of the Recaptured Africans in the Administration of James Monroe and John Q.
Adams, 27.
[3] John T. Noonan, The Antelope, 30, 31.; Edward Hatfield, “Jewels in Our Crown”, The Civil History, 4.
[4] John T. Noonan, The Antelope, 45.; Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, “Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah’s Ten Broeck
Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale," Southern Spaces: An interdisciplinary journal about regions, places, and cultures of the
US South and their global connections, 2010 http://southernspaces.org/2010/unearthing-weeping-time-savannahs-ten-
broeck- racecourse-and-1859-slave-sale.
[5] John T. Noonan, The Antelope, 125., Official Proceedings of City Council, 8 August 1820, 359, City of Savannah, Clerk
of Council’s Office, Savannah, Georgia.
[6] John T. Noonan, The Antelope, 40, 135.; Edward Hatfield, “Jewels in Our Crown," The Civil History, 4.
The Antelope
Early in August 1820, the city of Savannah experienced the outbreak of one of the most devastating yellow fever epidemics in its history. A fire that encompassed Bay Street to Broughton Street and Jefferson Street to Abercorn Street destroyed 463 buildings allowing water to accumulate in the burned out shells fostering mosquito development. Savannah was the sixteenth largest city in the United States at this time, but fear of yellow fever caused mass evacuations, leaving the city almost deserted. Under these conditions, Savannah’s City Council called an extra meeting on Wednesday August 9, 1820 to discuss the disposition of fifty-one Africans from the ship the Antelope.[1]
Official Proceedings of City Council, 9 August 1820, 359, City of Savannah, Clerk of Council's Office, Savannah, Georgia. For full text transcript see Counci Minutes page.
