One provision of the 1808 Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves required that all enslaved individuals being transported from one US port to another be tracked via detailed manifests issued at the port of departure and verified at the port of arrival. Between 1819 and 1860 nearly seventy-one thousand individuals were transported from US coastal ports along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans.

The map below depicts coastal routes taken to New Orleans. Hover the cursor over the red port icons to view the number of enslaved men, women, and children shipped to the New Orleans market over time.

 

Departures from Lavaca
La Salle, Matagorda, and Saluria, TX

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1840
1820 1841
1821 1842
1822 1843
1823 1844
1824 1845
1825 1846 1
1826 1847 10
1827 1848 4
1828 1849 7
1829 1850 1
1830 1851 34
1831 1852 53
1832 1853 88
1833 1854 166
1834 1855 24
1835 1856 133
1836 1857 92
1837 1859
1838 1860 49
1839 TOTAL 662
 

Departures from Galveston, TX

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1840
1820 1841
1821 1842
1822 1843 6
1823 1844
1824 1845
1825 1846 240
1826 1847 340
1827 1848 37
1828 1849 219
1829 1850 160
1830 1851 277
1831 1852 417
1832 1853 398
1833 1854 224
1834 1855 216
1835 1856 335
1836 1857 261
1837 1859 9
1838 1860 198
1839 TOTAL 3,337
 

Total arrivals to New Orleans

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1,348 1840 1,124
1820 604 1841 1,397
1821 2,746 1842 924
1822 5,242 1843 2,437
1823 1,413 1844 1,464
1824 659 1845 3,002
1825 1,668 1846 3,309
1826 1,108 1847 2,774
1827 1,359 1848 593
1828 5,781 1849 2,117
1829 2,931 1850 1,636
1830 1,773 1851 1,623
1831 3,082 1852 1,579
1832 1,342 1853 963
1833 761 1854 573
1834 921 1855 604
1835 4,723 1856 611
1836 3,056 1857 483
1837 66 1859 18
1838 1,669 1860 417
1839 1,088 TOTAL 70,988
 

Departures from Mobile, AL

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 22 1840 43
1820 53 1841 59
1821 33 1842 12
1822 42 1843 49
1823 57 1844 70
1824 72 1845 1
1825 113 1846 3
1826 59 1847 3
1827 124 1848
1828 1,141 1849 4
1829 703 1850 203
1830 202 1851
1831 442 1852 1
1832 31 1853
1833 73 1854
1834 40 1855
1835 45 1856
1836 23 1857
1837 1859
1838 21 1860 4
1839 3 TOTAL 3,751
 

Departures from Pensacola, FL

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1840 40
1820 1841 29
1821 37 1842 15
1822 69 1843 58
1823 37 1844 47
1824 10 1845 58
1825 20 1846 62
1826 26 1847 35
1827 31 1848 23
1828 44 1849 63
1829 49 1850 47
1830 60 1851 56
1831 132 1852 38
1832 35 1853 72
1833 1854 10
1834 7 1855 28
1835 12 1856 38
1836 81 1857 31
1837 7 1859
1838 38 1860 14
1839 36 TOTAL 1,495
 

Departures from Apalachicola
and St. Joseph, FL

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1840 7
1820 1841 23
1821 1842 195
1822 1843 55
1823 1844 18
1824 1845 98
1825 1 1846 78
1826 1 1847 67
1827 5 1848 7
1828 5 1849 26
1829 27 1850 51
1830 1851 37
1831 4 1852 71
1832 1853 32
1833 10 1854 2
1834 1 1855 1
1835 81 1856 3
1836 8 1857 4
1837 1859 9
1838 58 1860 45
1839 8 TOTAL 1,038
 

Departures from St. Marks and
Magnolia, FL

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 1840 6
1820 1841 113
1821 1842 162
1822 1843 97
1823 1844 18
1824 1845 98
1825 1846 74
1826 1847 56
1827 2 1848 5
1828 189 1849 86
1829 36 1850 63
1830 43 1851 35
1831 46 1852 49
1832 4 1853 173
1833 1854 108
1834 1 1855 317
1835 2 1856 66
1836 40 1857 54
1837 3 1859
1838 8 1860 69
1839 105 TOTAL 2,128
 

Departures from Savannah, GA

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 22 1840 10
1820 11 1841 10
1821 54 1842
1822 355 1843 25
1823 8 1844 2
1824 1845
1825 127 1846 9
1826 14 1847 12
1827 1848 3
1828 74 1849 5
1829 30 1850 3
1830 4 1851 3
1831 6 1852 1
1832 1853
1833 1854
1834 7 1855
1835 33 1856
1836 57 1857
1837 4 1859
1838 6 1860
1839 11 TOTAL 906
 

Departures from Charleston, SC

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 39 1840 163
1820 76 1841 212
1821 164 1842 196
1822 149 1843 300
1823 76 1844 102
1824 6 1845 287
1825 8 1846 254
1826 10 1847 249
1827 3 1848 65
1828 235 1849 231
1829 155 1850 96
1830 161 1851 138
1831 288 1852 168
1832 207 1853 102
1833 173 1854 24
1834 134 1855 10
1835 589 1856 10
1836 437 1857 31
1837 7 1859
1838 130 1860 2
1839 136 TOTAL 5,823
 

Departures from Petersburg, VA

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 359 1840 153
1820 1841 171
1821 1842 30
1822 125 1843 230
1823 1844 153
1824 1845 296
1825 1846 480
1826 1847 72
1827 1848
1828 1849 89
1829 1850
1830 1851 34
1831 1852
1832 1853
1833 1854
1834 1855
1835 1856
1836 1857
1837 1859
1838 197 1860
1839 TOTAL 2,389
 

Departures from Norfolk, Portsmith,
and Hampton, VA

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 417 1840 187
1820 224 1841 148
1821 1,753 1842 68
1822 2,873 1843 410
1823 796 1844 247
1824 287 1845 511
1825 700 1846 564
1826 502 1847 362
1827 620 1848 25
1828 2,783 1849 340
1829 1,019 1850 213
1830 872 1851 134
1831 1,439 1852 44
1832 546 1853
1833 141 1854
1834 232 1855
1835 1,365 1856
1836 1,015 1857
1837 1 1859
1838 398 1860
1839 64 TOTAL 21,300
 

Departures from Richmond, VA

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 222 1840 215
1820 131 1841 289
1821 321 1842 66
1822 511 1843 521
1823 197 1844 361
1824 8 1845 418
1825 166 1846 491
1826 51 1847 586
1827 101 1848 96
1828 344 1849 348
1829 213 1850 448
1830 105 1851 437
1831 1852 376
1832 52 1853 2
1833 1854 4
1834 128 1855
1835 723 1856
1836 25 1857
1837 1859
1838 151 1860
1839 191 TOTAL 8,298
 

Departures from Alexandria, DC

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 35 1840 99
1820 1841 80
1821 108 1842
1822 134 1843 125
1823 1 1844
1824 1845
1825 140 1846
1826 145 1847
1827 1848
1828 201 1849
1829 340 1850
1830 291 1851
1831 336 1852
1832 360 1853
1833 167 1854
1834 262 1855
1835 1521 1856
1836 687 1857
1837 1 1859
1838 268 1860
1839 55 TOTAL 5356
 

Departures from Baltimore, MD

Year # of slaves Year # of slaves
1819 220 1840 190
1820 94 1841 248
1821 257 1842 176
1822 813 1843 532
1823 179 1844 425
1824 235 1845 1,201
1825 363 1846 1,021
1826 275 1847 936
1827 425 1848 322
1828 692 1849 670
1829 205 1850 299
1830 31 1851 374
1831 378 1852 338
1832 96 1853 62
1833 187 1854 26
1834 86 1855 7
1835 106 1856 18
1836 248 1857
1837 23 1859
1838 276 1860
1839 353 TOTAL 12,387

Data Source: Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807–1860. National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M1895, 30 rolls. Records of the US Customs Service, Record Group 36. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration.

Map Source: The United States and Territories in 1850. Learn NC, UNC School of Education, 2009. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/11579.