Why is the listing for the African Names Database entitled “Liberated Africans”?
Although Great Britain and the United States abolished the international slave trade in 1807, slave ships continued to transport Africans to places in the Americas where slavery continued to be practiced and it remained legal to import slaves. To suppress the traffic, the British signed treaties with various countries to establish courts of mixed (or joint) commission to adjudicate suspected slave ships stopped by its naval cruisers and liberate any slaves found on board. The names of these captives, spelled with the help of African interpreters, were entered into special registers along with identifying personal characteristics such as age, height, and gender.
