Wanderer (slave ship)

The Wanderer was a yacht that gained notoriety in 1858 for its illegal voyage transporting enslaved Africans to the United States, decades after the international slave trade was outlawed. Originally built in 1857 as a luxury pleasure craft in Setauket, New York, the Wanderer was sold and repurposed.

In 1858, the ship, under the command of Captain Charles Augustus Lamar, successfully landed 409 Africans near Jekyll Island, Georgia. The enslaved people were subsequently dispersed throughout the South, primarily in Georgia and South Carolina.

The Wanderer incident caused a significant national and international uproar. While slavery was still legal in the United States at the time, the importation of enslaved people had been prohibited since 1808. The voyage violated both U.S. and international laws, and the incident highlighted the ongoing demand for enslaved labor in the South and the challenges of enforcing the ban on the slave trade.

Following the illegal voyage, the Wanderer was seized by the U.S. government but later returned to its owners. The ship continued in various capacities, including serving as a blockade runner for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The Wanderer was eventually captured by the Union Navy and used as a gunboat. It was lost at sea off the coast of Cuba in 1871. The Wanderer's legacy remains a stark reminder of the persistence of the slave trade and the complexities of slavery in the antebellum United States.