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"Northern Men": Greater Portland and the Illegal Slave Trade, 1830-1865

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Wednesday, June 26, 2024 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm

This hybrid event will take place at Wishcamper 102, University of Southern Maine, Portland and online via zoom.

In 1808, the United States made participation in the international slave trade a federal crime. However, Americans increasingly participated in this horrific and inhumane trade throughout the 19th century. Northern New England played a central role in the illegal slave trades to Brazil and Cuba during the 1830s-1860s. This talk will focus on three men from greater Portland—Samuel Trask, Rufus Soule, and Frederick Drinkwater—who organized and participated in this illegal trade, and whose stories exemplify American participation in the illegal slave trade. It will also explore the resistance by enslaved Africans, Black abolitionists, and other activists who embodied freedom making despite overwhelming odds.