The long-lost slave ship, the Camargo, is believed to have been found in Brazil’s Bracuí River, by Gilson Rambelli, associate professor at Federal University of Sergipe (UFS) and coordinator of the Laboratory of Archaeology of Aquatic Environments (LAAA-UFS). Rambelli has been searching for the wreck since 1994, when historian Martha Abreu discovered newspaper clippings with mentions of the ship in Brazil’s national library.
While the transatlantic slave trade was mostly banned from the world in the first half of the 19th century, one American slave trader continued to supply enslaved Africans to Brazil. His name was Nathaniel Gordon and—despite an appeal for a pardon from President Abraham Lincoln—he would become the only person to ever be executed in the U.S. for trafficking enslaved Africans.
In December of 1825, Gordon sailed into Brazil on the Camargo with more than 500 enslaved Mozambicans. He sold them to Brazilian coffee plantations before burning and sinking his ship, and escaping Brazil dressed as a woman.
The story of the Camargo and its demise had been passed down through the community of Santa Rita do Bracuí, which was founded by descendants of enslaved Africans. These descendants were integral in the ship’s discovery, providing stories and details that were only recorded orally. Rambelli’s hope was that finding the wreck would prove and validate the history of the community.
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