1804-1807: South Carolina briefly rescinded its earlier ban and permitted the resumption of the legal slave trade to meet the labor needs of its expanding co…

1804-1807: South Carolina briefly rescinded its earlier ban and permitted the resumption of the legal slave trade to meet the labor needs of its expanding cotton and rice sectors. During this short window, thousands of captives were imported through Charleston, making it the most active slaving port on the North American mainland. This resurgence occurred just as the federal government was moving toward a permanent national prohibition of the traffic. The intense activity in these years represented the final, large-scale legal arrivals of enslaved Africans in the United States.