''Duc du Maine'' (along with the ''Aurore'') was a slave ship that on June 6, 1719 brought the first African

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. She had carried them from

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

. Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo, ''Africans in Colonial Louisiana'', p. 61theusgenweb.org "Immigrants to Colonial Louisiana"

Voyages

The ship could carry 500 to 600 slaves. Several voyages have been documented in the ''Trans Atlantic Slave Database.''

First voyage

The first documented slave voyage (Voyage 32884) was in 1719 under Capt. de Lauduoine. began at

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Slaves were purchased at Whydah, and landed at

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

. Other sources state that after three months at sea, the first landing occurred at

Dauphin Island Dauphin Island is an island town in Mobile County, Alabama, United States, on a barrier island of the same name, in the Gulf of Mexico. It incorporated in 1988. The population was 1,778 at the 2020 census, up from 1,238 at the 2010 census. The t ...

with 250 slaves. The voyage ended in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

Second voyage

The second voyage, (Voyage 32851), under Capt. N. Roseau with 349 slaves, arrived in March 1721. The voyage also began in France, but the slaves were purchased in the

Bight of Benin The Bight of Benin or Bay of Benin is a bight in the Gulf of Guinea area on the western African coast that derives its name from the historical Kingdom of Benin. Geography It extends eastward for about from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of t ...

, and disembarked on the Gulf Coast.

Third voyage

The third voyage (Voyage 33116) under Capt. A. de Lavigne carried slaves from West Central Africa and

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, arriving Jan. 14, 1727. Of 491 slaves, 431 were alive to disembark at Martinique; 42 out of 91 crew members died en route.

Voyages

First voyage

Second voyage

Third voyage

See also

References

Further reading