National Geographic engineer Arthur Clarke analyzed a nail from the wreck and found that it was nearly 99 percent pure iron, consistent with fasteners used in shipbuilding in Alabama in the 1850s.(PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK THIESSEN / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)
National Geographic has just posted a story by Joel K. Bourne Jr. that reveals that the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to America has been discovered. In the article, “Last American slave ship is discovered in Alabama.” We learn the history of the ship as well as the scientists that were able to piece together its location.
The Clotilda smuggled Africans into the United States in 1860, which was more than 50 years after the importing of slaves was made illegal. The harsh reality of the ship’s history is hard to fathom. Designed for cargo, the ship brought 110 slaves from Ouidah to America. After the crime was committed, the ship was sunk to hide the evidence.
Following the Civil War and the abolotion fo slavery, the Africans found themselves unable to return home. They bought small pieces of land north of Mobile, Alabama and established Africatown where the legacy of the Clotilda was passed on from generation to generation.
After a local journalist found some remains of another ship, renewed attention was brought to the quest to discover Clotilda. The Alabama Historical Commision partnered with Search Inc and the National Geographic Society to find the ship in a remote arm of the Mobile River in Alabama.
National Geographic goes in-depth on the history of the ship, its background, and its miraculous discovery. Hear from experts as they explain the discovery’s significance and what its legacy means.
As Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society says, "The discovery of the Clotilda sheds new light on a lost chapter of American history. This finding is also a critical piece of the story of Africatown, which was built by the resilient descendants of America’s last slave ship."
For more on this story, visit National Geographic .