The Trial of Samuel Samo and the Trading Syndicates of the Rio Pongo, 1797 to 1812

The article discusses the history of slave trading syndicates in Rio Pongo, Guinea from 1797 through 1812, through examining the 1812 trial of the Sierra Leone trader Samuel Samo in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The role that the 1811 British law barring slave trade among British subjects the Slave Trade Felony Act played in Samo's trial, including in regard to the prosecution's contention that he was a subject of the British empire, is discussed.