Act to protect the commerce of the United States and punish the crime of piracy

An Act to protect the commerce of the United States and punish the crime of piracy is an 1819 United States federal statute against piracy, amended in 1820 to declare participating in the slave trade or robbing a ship to be piracy as well. The last execution for piracy in the United States was of slave trader Nathaniel Gordon in 1862 in New York, under the amended act.

Piracy Act of 1819
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles1819 James Monroe Piracy Act
Long titleAn Act to protect the commerce of the United States, and punish the crime of piracy.
Acronyms (colloquial)PSA
NicknamesPiracy Suppression Act of 1819
Enacted bythe 15th United States Congress
EffectiveMarch 3, 1819
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 15–77
Statutes at Large3 Stat. 510
Codification
Titles amended33 U.S.C.: Navigable Waters
U.S.C. sections created33 U.S.C. ch. 7 § 381 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate and House by
  • Passed the Senate on February 24, 1819 (Passed[1])
  • Passed the House on March 1, 1819 (Passed[2])
  • Signed into law by President James Monroe on March 3, 1819
Major amendments
  • ☆ P.L. 16-113, 3 Stat. 600, 1820
  • ☆ P.L. 17-7, 3 Stat. 721, 1823
  • ☆ P.L. 37-48, 12 Stat. 314, 1861[3]

Background

The original act, passed in 1819, was officially known as "An act to protect the commerce of the United States and punish the crime of piracy" (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 15–77, 3 Stat. 510, enacted March 3, 1819), and provided in section 5, "That if any person or persons whatsoever shall, on the high seas, commit the crime of piracy, as defined by the law of nations, and such offender or offenders shall afterwards be brought into or found in the United States, every such offender or offenders shall, upon conviction thereof... be punished by death." Section 6 set the act to expire at "the end of the next session of Congress."

This original 1819 act was amended by "An Act to continue in force 'An act to protect the commerce of the United States and punish the crime of piracy', and also to make further provisions for punishing the crime of piracy" (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 16–113, 3 Stat. 600, enacted May 15, 1820), sometimes known as the "1820 Piracy Law." It extended the original act to two years afterward and then to the end of the next session of Congress after that.

It also added three types of piracy:

  • In section 3, robbery of a ship, its crew, or contents was declared piracy, punishable by death.
  • In section 4, to seize or "decoy" onto a ship "any negro or mulatto, not held to service or labour by the laws of either of the states or territories of the United States with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave" was also declared piracy punishable by death.
  • In section 5, attempting to confine, deliver, or sell a negro or mulatto (similarly qualified as "not held to service", etc.) was also declared piracy punishable by death.

The act was made "perpetual" by the 17th United States Congress (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 17–7, 3 Stat. 721, enacted January 30, 1823).

James Smith trial of 1854

In November 1854, United States Attorney John McKeon arraigned James Smith, the captain of the American ship Julia Moulton, for having violated the Anti-Piracy Act of 1820 by hauling 645 slaves from Ambriz to the island of Trinidad.[4] Despite his protestations that his real name was Julius Schmidt, a native of Hanover, Germany, and not a naturalized American citizen and thus not subject to American law, Smith became the first person to be convicted under the 1820 provisions, which called for a death sentence.[4][5][6]

Upon appeal a mistrial was declared, based upon various legal technicalities. Smith was then allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge. He was sentenced two years in prison and fined $1000. After Smith served his sentence, he petitioned President James Buchanan for a pardon. Buchanan granted Smith a pardon in 1857, nullifying his fine.[4]

Nathaniel Gordon trial of 1862

Nathaniel Gordon was the only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed "for being engaged in the Slave Trade" under this law. He was hanged in New York on February 21, 1862.[7]

See also

References
  1. Fifteenth Congress (February 24, 1819). "Anti-Piracy Act of 1819 ~ U.S. Senate Approval". Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 1789-1873. U.S. Library of Congress. VIII (Wednesday, February 24th, 1819): 303.
  2. Fifteenth Congress (March 1, 1819). "Anti-Piracy Act of 1819 ~ U.S. House of Representatives Approval". Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States. U.S. Library of Congress. XII (Monday, March 1st, 1819): 329.
  3. "U.S. Piracy Supplementary Act of 1861 - P.L. 37-48" (PDF). 12 Stat. 314. USLaw.Link. August 5, 1861.
  4. Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997; pg. 763.
  5. "United States v. James Smith: Indictment". National Archive Catalog. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. September 30, 1854.
  6. Media related to United States v. James Smith, Grand Jury minutes at Wikimedia Commons
  7. "Lincoln on the execution of a slave trader, 1862 | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". www.gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved 2022-05-11.

Further reading
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