[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 315 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 315

              Memorializing the discovery of the Clotilda.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 17, 2019

    Mr. Jones (for himself and Mr. Shelby) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                               Resources

                           February 27, 2020

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
              Memorializing the discovery of the Clotilda.

Whereas, from 1525 to 1866, the transatlantic slave trade resulted in more than 
        12,000,000 individuals being taken from their homes in Africa and made 
        to endure the horrors of the Middle Passage to the Americas, where those 
        individuals were forced into enslavement;
Whereas, on March 2, 1807, Congress enacted legislation banning the importation 
        of enslaved people, which went into effect on January 1, 1808;
Whereas, in contravention of that ban, the last enslaved Africans forced to 
        endure the voyage to the United States came aboard the Clotilda, which--

    (1) left from Whydah, modern-day Benin, in May of 1860;

    (2) arrived in Port of Pines in Grand Bay, Mississippi, on July 9, 
1860; and

    (3) was ultimately brought to Mobile Bay, Alabama, on July 14, 1860, 
carrying 110 individuals, including men, women, and children;

Whereas, shortly after arrival in Mobile Bay, Alabama, the Captain of the 
        Clotilda scuttled and burned the ship to the waterline in order to 
        conceal the evidence of his crime;
Whereas, following the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved 
        Africans, some of the captives brought to the United States aboard the 
        Clotilda settled in the area now known as Africatown, Alabama;
Whereas, on May 22, 2019, the Alabama Historical Commission and a team of 
        scientists confirmed that a wreckage found in the Twelve Mile Island 
        section of the Mobile River was the Clotilda;
Whereas, in the 160 years since the Clotilda was brought to Mobile Bay, the 
        residents of Africatown, Alabama, have played a critical role in 
        preserving the unique and important heritage and traditions of their 
        community;
Whereas the Africatown Historic District was listed on the National Register of 
        Historic Places on December 4, 2012, and is home to a number of 
        important historic sites, including--

    (1) the Mobile County Training School;

    (2) the Old Landmark Baptist Church, now known as the Union Baptist 
Church; and

    (3) the Africatown Cemetery, where many of the individuals who survived 
the forced migration to the United States in 1860 are buried: Now, 
therefore, be it

    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the recent confirmation of the wreckage of the 
        Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in the United States, 
        constitutes a monumental discovery of local, national, and 
        international importance and educational value;
            (2) discovery of the Clotilda may serve as an inflection 
        point for meaningful conversation about both past and present 
        injustices;
            (3) the residents of Africatown, Alabama, embody a spirit 
        of resilience and a determination to build a better community 
        for their descendants; and
            (4) all efforts should be made--
                    (A) to preserve and protect the Clotilda and 
                associated historic sites in Africatown, Alabama; and
                    (B) to use the discovery of the Clotilda to provide 
                education to local, national, and international 
                audiences about--
                            (i) the violent history of the 
                        transatlantic slave trade;
                            (ii) the stories of the last enslaved 
                        Africans to arrive in the United States; and
                            (iii) the rich and unique history of the 
                        community built by the descendants of those 
                        individuals.
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