Slave Trade Act of 1794

Slave Trade Act of 1794

Long title	An Act to prohibit the carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to any foreign place or country
Enacted by	the 3rd United States Congress
Effective	March 22, 1794
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation 3–11
Statutes at Large	1 Stat. 347
Legislative history
Signed into law by President George Washington on March 22, 1794
Major amendments
Slave Trade Act of 1800
United States Supreme Court cases
The Emily and the Caroline

The Slave Trade Act of 1794 was a law passed by the United States Congress that prohibited the building or outfitting of ships in U.S. ports for the international slave trade. It was signed into law by President George Washington on March 22, 1794. This was the first of several anti-slave-trade acts of Congress. In 1800, Congress strengthened it by sharply raising the fines and awarding informants the entire value of any ship seized, as well as additional prohibitions on American investment and employment in the trade.^[1]

Federal outlawing of importation of slaves to the United States was enacted in 1807. The domestic trade and owning of slaves became illegal in the entire U.S. with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 following the American Civil War.