Williams' Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South

FAIN: FT-248668-16

Jeffrey P. Forret
Lamar University (Beaumont, TX 77705-5748)

To support a book-length study of slave trader William H. Williams and the legal questions related to slave trading.

In 1840, Washington, D.C., slave trader William H. Williams purchased twenty-seven convicted slaves out of the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond, agreeing to sell them per state law outside the United States. He then allegedly attempted to dispose of his human cargo unlawfully in New Orleans, prompting a series of court cases that culminated before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1869, four years after emancipation, eleven years after Williams' death, and almost thirty years after the original incident. The burgeoning scholarly literature on the internal slave trade in the Old South has overlooked the water-borne transport of slaves within the United States as well as the complex legal questions raised by professional slave trading. My project examines the criminal pasts of the slaves whom Williams purchased as well as his own history of encounters with the law, offering an unprecedented look at the legal issues surrounding the coastwise domestic slave trade in the American South.

Associated Products

Williams’ Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts (Book)
Title: Williams’ Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: Leadership in History Award (large press category), American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), 2021
Year: 2016
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-1108493031
Copy sent to NEH?: No

"'How Deeply They Weed into the Pockets': Slave Traders, Bank Speculators, and the Anatomy of a Chesapeake Wildcat, 1840-1843" (Book Section)
Title: "'How Deeply They Weed into the Pockets': Slave Traders, Bank Speculators, and the Anatomy of a Chesapeake Wildcat, 1840-1843"
Author: Jeff Forret
Editor: Bruce E. Baker
Editor: Jeff Forret
Abstract: An edited anthology on the seedy origins of capitalism in the American South.
Year: 2021
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Book Title: Southern Scoundrels: Grifters and Graft in the Nineteenth Century
ISBN: 978-0807172193

"'How Deeply They Weed into the Pockets': Slave Traders, Bank Speculators, and the Anatomy of a Chesapeake Wildcat, 1840-1843" (Article)
Title: "'How Deeply They Weed into the Pockets': Slave Traders, Bank Speculators, and the Anatomy of a Chesapeake Wildcat, 1840-1843"
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: A study of the relationship between slave traders and antebellum banking.
Year: 2019
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of the Early Republic

“The Notorious ‘Yellow House’ That Made Washington, D.C. a Slavery Capital” (Article)
Title: “The Notorious ‘Yellow House’ That Made Washington, D.C. a Slavery Capital”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: A study of a Washington, D.C., slave pen.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-yellow-house-helped-make-washington-dc-slavery-capital-180975378/.
Format: Magazine
Periodical Title: Smithsonian Magazine
Publisher: Smithsonian Magazine

“How the Yellow House Helped Make Washington, D.C., a Slavery Capital” (Article)
Title: “How the Yellow House Helped Make Washington, D.C., a Slavery Capital”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: A study of a Washington, D.C., slave pen.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/07/15/yellow-house-slavery-washington-dc-twelve-years-a-slave-solomon-northup/ideas/essay/.
Format: Other
Publisher: Zocalo Public Square

“A Slave Trader’s Office Decor and the Pornography of Capitalism” (Article)
Title: “A Slave Trader’s Office Decor and the Pornography of Capitalism”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: A look at the inside of a slave trader's office.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: http://thepanorama.shear.org/2020/02/17/a-slave-traders-office-decor-and-the-pornography-of-capitalism/.
Format: Other
Periodical Title: The Panorama
Publisher: The Panorama

“Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Washington’s Most Notorious Slave Pen” (Article)
Title: “Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Washington’s Most Notorious Slave Pen”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: A look at presidents' and vice presidents' relationships to the Yellow House slave pen in Washington, D.C.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/presidents-vice-presidents-and-washingtons-most-notorious-slave-pen.
Format: Other
Publisher: The White House Historical Association

“The History of Modern Mass Incarceration of African Americans Goes Deeper Than You May Think” (Article)
Title: “The History of Modern Mass Incarceration of African Americans Goes Deeper Than You May Think”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: An examination of the antebellum roots of the prison-industrial complex.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://time.com/5738826/mass-incarceration-history/.
Format: Magazine
Periodical Title: Time
Publisher: Time

“The History of Black Incarceration Is Longer Than You May Think” (Article)
Title: “The History of Black Incarceration Is Longer Than You May Think”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: An examination of the antebellum roots of the prison-industrial complex.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/173701.
Format: Other
Publisher: History News Network

“Congressional Courage, the D.C. Slave Trade, and Moral Politics in Washington” (Article)
Title: “Congressional Courage, the D.C. Slave Trade, and Moral Politics in Washington”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: An examination of the politics behind the vote to end the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/173469.
Format: Other
Publisher: History News Network

“Deep in the Weeds: Slave Traders, Banks, and Reciprocity in Antebellum Maryland” (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: “Deep in the Weeds: Slave Traders, Banks, and Reciprocity in Antebellum Maryland”
Author: Jeff Forret
Abstract: An examination of the relationship between slave traders and antebellum banks.
Date: 04/01/2017
Conference Name: 110th Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH)

"Williams' Gang" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: "Williams' Gang"
Abstract: Public book talk for the Deep East Texas Archaeological Society.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 05/01/2021
Location: Newton, Texas.

“William H. Williams, the Yellow House, and the Domestic Slave Trade in Washington, D.C.” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “William H. Williams, the Yellow House, and the Domestic Slave Trade in Washington, D.C.”
Abstract: Public talk on the Yellow House slave pen for the George Washington University Museum.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 04/01/2021
Location: Via Zoom for audience in Washington, D.C.

"Williams' Gang" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: "Williams' Gang"
Abstract: Book talk for the Angelina County Historical Society.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 03/01/2021
Location: Lufkin, Texas.

“A Legal History of the Domestic Slave Trade” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “A Legal History of the Domestic Slave Trade”
Abstract: University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group lunch talk.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 08/01/2019
Location: Oxford, Mississippi.

“Williams’ Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “Williams’ Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South”
Abstract: Public talk given at Nicholls State University as part of the Purchased Lives traveling museum exhibit by The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 09/01/2017
Location: Thibodaux, Louisiana

“The Domestic Slave Trade: Remembrance and Reincarnation” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “The Domestic Slave Trade: Remembrance and Reincarnation”
Abstract: Public talk for the Progressive Democrats of Southeast Texas.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 07/01/2017
Location: Beaumont, Texas.

“Williams’ Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “Williams’ Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South”
Abstract: Public talk for the Purchased Lives traveling museum exhibit by The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 01/01/2017
Location: Bunkie, Louisiana

“William H. Williams, the Domestic Slave Trade, and the Law” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “William H. Williams, the Domestic Slave Trade, and the Law”
Abstract: Public talk for the local chapter of the Colonial Dames.
Author: Jeff Forret
Date: 01/01/2017
Location: Beaumont, Texas

New Books Network (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: New Books Network
Director: Derek Litvak
Producer: Derek LItvak
Abstract: Podcast interview
Date: 03/25/2020
Primary URL: https://newbooksnetwork.com/jeff-forret-williams-gang-a-notorious-slave-trader-and-his-cargo-of-black-convicts-cambridge-up-2020/.
Format: Web

Cambridge University Press (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Cambridge University Press
Director: Cecelia Cancellaro
Producer: Cecelia Cancellaro
Abstract: Podcast interview
Date: 02/21/2020
Primary URL: http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2020/02/williams-gang-a-notorious-slave-trader-and-his-cargo-of-black-convicts/.
Format: Web

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