1808-1839: In the three decades following the initial abolition acts, over 80 percent of enslaved Africans liberated by naval patrols were captured while dep…

1808-1839: In the three decades following the initial abolition acts, over 80 percent of enslaved Africans liberated by naval patrols were captured while departing from West Africa. Sierra Leone and the Bights of Benin and Biafra provided the primary embarkation points for these individuals, many of whom passed through hubs like Ouidah and Lagos. The Bight of Biafra alone accounted for 37.2 percent of the documented captives who managed to avoid plantation chattel slavery through naval intervention. During this early phase of suppression, the formal restrictions on the trade were more consistently enforced north of the equator than in the South Atlantic.