(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION) Letter attempting to secure testimon

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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Letter attempting to secure testimony against an illegal slave trader. Autograph Letter Signed "Rich: Harison" as United States District Attorney for New York to his Philadelphia counterpart William Rawle. One page, 15 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches, with docketing on verso; minimal loss at intersection of folds. New York, 3 December 1796

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This letter documents the efforts of federal officials to enforce the Slave Trade Act of 1794. It begins by listing 3 cases pending in the New York district court, led by "The United States of America vs the Brigantine Active, her furniture, tackle, and apparel," all of them "upon the act prohibiting American citizens from carrying on the slave trade in foreign countries":
"The principal witness is supposed to have been prevailed upon by undue methods to quit this district, and is thought to be either in Philadelphia or Baltimore. . . . I will esteem it a favor if you will take every regular method of procuring this testimony, that it may be used upon the trials. . . . The public is in every point of view interested in the event." The Slave Trade Act resulted in a few prominent convictions in its first years, but governmental apathy and rough-edged tactics such as witness intimidation soon had slave traders acting with impunity once again.