In 1840, the American slave ship Hermosa ran aground in British Bahamas while transporting 38 enslaved Africans from Richmond, Virginia, to New Orleans, Louisiana. British authorities, having abolished slavery in 1833, intervened and freed the captives, sparking a diplomatic dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom. The Hermosa incident not only fueled tensions over slavery but also inspired the Creole revolt a year later—the most successful slave uprising in U.S. history.
The Hermosa was an American schooner carrying 38 enslaved Africans, owned by Robert Lumpkin, a notorious slave trader and the owner of Lumpkin’s Jail, a slave holding facility in Richmond, Virginia, infamously known as “the Devil’s half acre.” This jail was not merely a holding pen for enslaved people awaiting sale; it was also a slave breeding farm, where enslaved Africans were treated as livestock to increase the number of people available for sale. The conditions were deplorable: overcrowded cells, lack of sanitation, and rampant disease. Slaves were often subjected to brutal treatment, including forced breeding, with hoods placed over their heads to prevent them from recognising their partners, who could be family members.
In 1840, Lumpkin loaded the Hermosa with a cargo of cotton goods, tobacco, and 38 enslaved Africans. The ship, commanded by Captain Chattin, set sail from Richmond, Virginia, bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, where the enslaved individuals were to be sold to plantation owners. However, the journey would not unfold as planned.
As the Hermosa sailed from Richmond, Virginia, disaster struck when the ship ran aground in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Determined to keep control of his human cargo, Captain Chattin refused to let the enslaved Africans disembark or interact with locals. Instead, he sought help from the U.S. consul, hoping to arrange for another vessel to continue the journey.
While Chattin and the consul were making these arrangements, British magistrates, backed by armed troops, intervened. The Bahamas, then a British colony, had abolished slavery in 1833, and the local authorities were determined to enforce this law.
The British magistrates forcibly removed the enslaved Africans from the Hermosa and brought them before a Nassau court. Despite protests from Captain Chattin and the U.S. consul, the court ruled in favor of the enslaved Africans, declaring them free under British law.
News of the Hermosa incident outraged many in the U.S., particularly among pro-slavery politicians, who saw it as an attack on American property rights. The incident gained even greater significance the following year when enslaved Africans led by Madison Washington aboard the Creole, another American slave ship, rebelled and steered the vessel to the Bahamas, knowing that British law would guarantee their freedom. Upon arrival, British authorities freed 145 of them, making the Creole revolt the most successful slave uprising in U.S. history.
The events on both ships were debated in the U.S. Congress, with some politicians even suggesting that war should be declared against Britain unless compensation was provided for the lost “property”.
Years after the Hermosa incident, Robert Lumpkin sought financial compensation for the loss of his slaves aboard the Hermosa. In 1855, an admiralty court awarded him $8,000, reinforcing the brutal reality that, despite growing resistance, the legal system still upheld slavery as an economic institution and that enslaved people were assets to be bought, sold, and compensated for, rather than individuals with their own rights and dignity.
Source:
The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery
