This digital reference resource recreates William Edward Burghardt Du Bois' seminal work, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, initially published in 1896. Based on Du Bois’ thesis at Harvard, this book chronologically assesses a collection of federal and state legislation enacted to suppress and abolish the slave trade in the United States, the Atlantic world, and beyond. 

The records found herein illuminate the long and contested history of the suppression of the African slave trade to the United States. The primary sources in this digital archive demonstrate the centrality of the slave trade to the trajectory of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. This collection includes duty acts, prohibitions, appropriations, constitutions, and colonial, state, and national statutes. However, the legislation alone does not tell the complete story. The archive also contains presidential and diplomatic correspondence and speeches regarding the processes of enacting anti-slavery treaties. 

This digital archive is not limited to North America. Recognizing the global implications of the slave trade, it includes significant international treaties and agreements that sought to curb or eliminate the trading of enslaved Africans through the laws of nations concerning the right of search and seizure in international waters. These laws underscore international efforts that aimed to dismantle the intricate network of the slave trade while maintaining domestic economies dependent on the institution of slavery. This website also contains materials about the ongoing backlash to anti-slave trade policies, such as failed resolutions or bills meant to limit and reopen the slave trade. It is also connected to the global "Anti-Slave Trade Legislation Archive," made available on LiberatedAfricans.org. 

The materials in this archive have involved replicating, cataloging, and building upon two appendices from Du Bois’ book: “Appendix A: A Chronological Conspectus of Colonial and State Legislation Restricting the African Slave-Trade, 1641-1787” and “Appendix B: A Chronological Conspectus of State, National, and International Legislation, 1788-1871.” This digital archive contains 344 documents, each with proper citations and occasional notes for clarification, especially as British colonial rule transitioned into the United States of America following independence in 1776. This digital archive features interactive maps visualizing when and where legislation was enacted on a colony, state, and federal levels. 

Visually intuitive and user-friendly, this digital archive is not only a scholarly resource but also an educational tool. By making this resource open to the public, we strive to help educators, students, and researchers navigate through primary sources that illustrate the cruel and transformative social calculus of the African slave trade and its abolition. As this database grows, we aim to demonstrate how anti-slavery movements continue to shape our lives today.