In 1816, the mostly-American crew of a slaving brig bound from Cuba staged a mutiny before reaching West Africa, and then sailed on (without a captive cargo) to the antislavery republic of Haiti. Their voyage culminated in a remarkable prize case before the admiralty court at Port-au-Prince. The sailors claimed indignation at the “diabolical” slave trade, hoping to win profits from the condemnation of the vessel and to avoid future prosecution for enlisting in a slaving voyage that was illegal under U.S. federal law. Haitian prosecutors invoked the agreements of the Congress of Vienna, arguing that the trade had been prohibited by the laws of nations. It fell to the admiralty court to reconcile such aspirational claims with Haiti's ongoing struggle for political survival. The brig's journey between the United States, Cuba, Spanish Florida, Cape Verde, and finally Haiti reveals the ways in which slave traders calculated the relative risks of legal penalties against the possible gains from the trade. The records of the adjudication of the case show how Haitian officials developed their own legal strategies for the suppression of the trade, laying the foundations for an escalating campaign to police slaving traffic off of their shores.

中文翻译：

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在所有国家的法律下都是非法的？海地法院和对非洲俘虏大西洋贸易的压制

1816 年，一艘从古巴开往西非的奴隶制双桅船的大部分美国人船员在到达西非之前发动了叛乱，然后航行（没有俘虏货物）前往反奴隶制的海地共和国。他们的航行在太子港海事法庭上的一个非凡的奖品案件中达到高潮。水手们声称对“恶魔般的”奴隶贸易感到愤慨，希望从对船只的谴责中获利，并避免未来因参加根据美国联邦法律非法的奴隶航行而受到起诉。海地检察官援引维也纳国会的协议，认为该贸易已被各国法律禁止。调和这种雄心勃勃的主张与海地为政治生存而进行的持续斗争的责任落在了海事法院。这艘双桅船在美国、古巴、西班牙佛罗里达州之间的旅程，佛得角，最后是海地，揭示了奴隶贩子计算法律处罚相对于贸易可能收益的相对风险的方式。该案的裁决记录显示，海地官员如何制定自己的法律策略来打压贸易，为不断升级的警察奴役离岸交通的运动奠定了基础。