n strictly prohibited by the Act
of Congress of March 2, 1807, no provision had been made for the care of
the unfortunates smuggled in in defiance of the Statute. They became
subject to the laws of the State in which they were landed; and these
laws were in some cases so devised that it was profitable for the dealer
to land his cargo and incur the penalty. The advertisements of the sale
of such a cargo of "recaptured Africans" by the State of Georgia drew
the attention of the Society and of Gen. Mercer in particular to this
inconsistent and abnormal state of affairs. His profound indignation
shows forth in the Second Annual Report of the Society, in which the
attention of the public is earnestly drawn to the question; nor did he
rest until a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives
designed to do away with the evil. This bill became a law on March 3,
1819.

Provision was made for a more stringent suppression of the slave trade:
new cruisers were ordered and bounties awarded for captures; but the
clause which proved so important to the embryo colony was that dealing
with the captured cargoes:

"The President of the United States is hereby authorized to make such
regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the
safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United
States, of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color as may be so
delivered and brought within their jurisdiction; and to appoint a proper
person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents
for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered
from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by
commanders of the United States armed vessels." The sum of $100,000 was
appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the Act. President
Monroe determined to construe it as broadly as possible in aid of the
project of colonization. After giving Congress, in his message,
December 20, 1818, fair notice of his intention, no objection being
made, he proceeded to appoint two agents, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, already
in the service of the Colonization Society, and John P. Bankson as
assistant, and to charter the ship Elizabeth. The agents were instructed
to settle on the coast of Africa, with a tacit understanding that the
place should be that selected by the Colonization Society; they were to
provide accommodations sufficient for three hundred, supplying
provisions, clothing, to