Slavery in the Confederate States of America
Slavery in the Confederate States of America was enshrined in its constitution.
History
[edit | edit source]Slave raids
[edit | edit source]The Treaty of Havana stipulated that Confederates would be prohibited from kidnapping freedmen and Unionists would be prohibited from helping slaves escape (targeting the Underground Railroad) and be obligated to return escaped slaves. The treaty's wording was vague and both sides continued to conduct their activities in secret. The Republican Party did not waste the opportunity to label the Confederacy as the "New Barbary" led by colorful and abominable figures as Nathan Bedford Forrest and Cal Lamar. The Democratic Party, which was more segregationist, did not publicly oppose the slave raids and some members even admitted to supporting them. There were also a number of covert, poorly documented slave raids in Caribbean nations, notably Haiti.
The situation worsened after the Christie Affair in Brazil. Though the affair itself had nothing to do with slavery, that it brought the United Kingdom to the brink of war with Brazil forced the former to lessen the enforcement of the Aberdeen Act in order to ease tensions.