1 00:00:11,770 --> 00:00:17,534 NARRATOR: On the 9th of July 1860, under the cover of darkness. 2 00:00:17,569 --> 00:00:22,194 A schooner slips into Mobile bay, on the Alabama coast. 3 00:00:22,677 --> 00:00:25,715 She's called Clotilda. 4 00:00:25,749 --> 00:00:28,200 And she's carrying illegal cargo. 5 00:00:30,685 --> 00:00:32,446 Human beings. 6 00:00:35,069 --> 00:00:38,452 109 enslaved men and women. 7 00:00:40,143 --> 00:00:46,046 The last consignment of African Captives ever to reach the United States. 8 00:00:46,770 --> 00:00:50,326 But this will be her final voyage. 9 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,088 That night she disappears 10 00:00:54,123 --> 00:00:56,504 and is never seen again. 11 00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:03,856 The story of the Clotilda marks a defining moment. 12 00:01:03,891 --> 00:01:06,031 In the disturbing history 13 00:01:09,414 --> 00:01:12,831 of the transatlantic slave trade. 14 00:01:12,865 --> 00:01:18,388 DAVID: Life was brutal, it was violent, it was constant, people lived their entire 15 00:01:18,423 --> 00:01:21,322 lives under fear of punishment. 16 00:01:23,048 --> 00:01:28,088 It was probably as close as we've come to producing hell on earth. 17 00:01:31,574 --> 00:01:37,476 NARRATOR: Today, nearly 160 years since her mysterious disappearance, 18 00:01:37,511 --> 00:01:40,341 a group of maritime archaeologists are 19 00:01:40,376 --> 00:01:46,106 searching for the Clotilda, here on the Mobile River. 20 00:01:49,039 --> 00:01:52,802 Very few slave ships have ever been found. 21 00:01:52,836 --> 00:01:57,772 But in Alabama and in sites all around the planet, 22 00:01:57,807 --> 00:02:03,295 archaeologists are making discoveries, finding physical evidence, 23 00:02:04,952 --> 00:02:10,337 of a trade that sees 12 million Africans carried to the New World in chains. 24 00:02:12,994 --> 00:02:17,378 But these wrecks also lay bare a story of hope, 25 00:02:17,413 --> 00:02:21,658 revealing acts of rebellion and dramatic escapes. 26 00:02:22,003 --> 00:02:25,766 Re-writing the history of America. 27 00:02:38,365 --> 00:02:41,022 JAMES: 52 years after the United States Congress banned 28 00:02:41,057 --> 00:02:44,888 Americans from being involved in the slave trade, 29 00:02:44,923 --> 00:02:48,616 a group of people in Mobile decided to place a bet. 30 00:02:50,687 --> 00:02:55,209 JOCELYN: The bet was maybe $1 million equivalent today. 31 00:02:55,244 --> 00:02:59,455 That we can go over to Africa and bring back slaves 32 00:03:00,318 --> 00:03:02,906 Um, right under the US Marshall noses. 33 00:03:06,772 --> 00:03:10,120 Just a drunken night and they just decided to make a bet. 34 00:03:12,502 --> 00:03:17,956 NARRATOR: In 1860, the importation of enslaved Africans into America is 35 00:03:17,990 --> 00:03:23,410 strictly forbidden, though slavery itself remains legal in many states. 36 00:03:25,066 --> 00:03:29,588 But ship owner, Timothy Meaher, is prepared to take the risk. 37 00:03:30,865 --> 00:03:36,077 He sends one of his vessels, the Clotilda to Ouidah, in modern day Benin, 38 00:03:36,561 --> 00:03:40,530 on a mission to buy human beings. 39 00:03:43,844 --> 00:03:49,677 West Africa has for centuries been at the rotten heart of the slave trade. 40 00:03:51,541 --> 00:03:55,649 Clotilda's captain negotiates a fee for his living cargo, 41 00:03:56,097 --> 00:04:02,034 $12,500 or $375,000 in today's money. 42 00:04:03,519 --> 00:04:07,454 In America they will be worth $5 million. 43 00:04:09,939 --> 00:04:13,977 After a six-week voyage, Clotilda returns to Alabama, 44 00:04:15,876 --> 00:04:17,636 and disappears. 45 00:04:20,950 --> 00:04:23,953 Finding this ship, 46 00:04:23,987 --> 00:04:28,129 could transform our understanding of the last days of slavery. 47 00:04:29,165 --> 00:04:34,274 So, for decades, archaeologists have been desperate to track her down. 48 00:04:41,350 --> 00:04:45,526 James Delgado is leading a major new investigation. 49 00:04:46,182 --> 00:04:50,290 He knows it will be an immense challenge. 50 00:04:50,807 --> 00:04:53,879 JAMES: What you're contending with is a hot, 51 00:04:53,914 --> 00:04:58,298 humid environment, in and out of the water. 52 00:04:59,437 --> 00:05:03,786 But also, to be clear, we're in a bayou. 53 00:05:04,096 --> 00:05:08,618 There are gators, there are water moccasins, 54 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,208 so you're always mindful that the 55 00:05:12,242 --> 00:05:16,695 environment you're working in is not necessarily a welcoming one. 56 00:05:18,973 --> 00:05:22,149 NARRATOR: Based on Clotilda's last known position, 57 00:05:22,183 --> 00:05:25,877 the team focuses upon the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, 58 00:05:25,911 --> 00:05:29,570 a vast region of wetlands a few miles North of the city of 59 00:05:29,605 --> 00:05:33,919 Mobile and discovers that one stretch of the bayou has never 60 00:05:33,954 --> 00:05:36,370 been scanned with modern equipment. 61 00:05:38,683 --> 00:05:43,377 JAMES: This little bend in the river was the only one where no one had looked. 62 00:05:47,105 --> 00:05:51,523 NARRATOR: Using underwater sonar, they search for any sign of a wreck... 63 00:05:54,284 --> 00:05:56,079 ALEX: Right, so there's your bow. 64 00:05:56,114 --> 00:05:57,736 Here. 65 00:05:57,771 --> 00:06:01,740 NARRATOR: It soon throws up a frenzy of hits. 66 00:06:02,500 --> 00:06:06,227 JAMES: This area was full of wrecks, it was a ship graveyard. 67 00:06:07,228 --> 00:06:10,818 NARRATOR: The team identifies 12 possible "“targets."” 68 00:06:12,061 --> 00:06:15,892 Clotilda is known to be an 86-foot long wooden ship, 69 00:06:15,927 --> 00:06:19,413 so the archaeologists can eliminate anything larger 70 00:06:19,448 --> 00:06:21,381 and anything made of metal. 71 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,867 ALEX: It's almost as if we're right in the center of the vessel. 72 00:06:24,901 --> 00:06:26,972 JOE: We are, we are in the center. 73 00:06:27,387 --> 00:06:30,804 JAMES: Target 10 turned out to be an iron or steel 74 00:06:30,838 --> 00:06:34,083 hulled sailing ship that had been cut down. 75 00:06:34,117 --> 00:06:37,224 Target one also appeared to be one of those. 76 00:06:38,398 --> 00:06:42,747 NARRATOR: In the end, just one target remains. 77 00:06:43,575 --> 00:06:46,889 JAMES: Target five was a wooden wreck. 78 00:06:46,923 --> 00:06:50,168 Not only was it a wooden wreck but the sonar showed it to 79 00:06:50,202 --> 00:06:53,723 have about the right kind of shape I expected for the bow. 80 00:06:53,758 --> 00:06:57,693 NARRATOR: They focus all their efforts on '‘target five.' 81 00:06:57,727 --> 00:07:01,110 JOE: Bow's right here, that's the bow. 82 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:06,115 NARRATOR: It looks promising but to find more evidence, 83 00:07:06,149 --> 00:07:09,394 they must plunge into these murky waters. 84 00:07:10,775 --> 00:07:16,436 One of the dive team, is Kamau Sadiki, lead instructor of '‘Diving with a Purpose' 85 00:07:17,195 --> 00:07:21,061 a group dedicated to protectin the remains of slave ships. 86 00:07:23,063 --> 00:07:25,479 KAMAU: This was actually the Clotilda. 87 00:07:25,514 --> 00:07:30,139 Clotilda being the last vessel to bring Africans into the US. 88 00:07:30,173 --> 00:07:33,176 That is absolutely profound. 89 00:07:36,766 --> 00:07:40,183 NARRATOR: This is about more than archaeology. 90 00:07:40,218 --> 00:07:44,084 Many people living on the banks of the Mobile River today are 91 00:07:44,118 --> 00:07:48,571 direct descendants of the captives on board Clotilda. 92 00:07:49,779 --> 00:07:52,851 LORNA: Some of them people that were on that ship would 93 00:07:52,886 --> 00:07:56,027 never see their family again. 94 00:07:57,062 --> 00:08:00,756 Their lives were turned upside down. 95 00:08:02,861 --> 00:08:06,313 We need to know what happened to that ship. 96 00:08:08,418 --> 00:08:13,251 Finding the Clotilda, it would bring closure 97 00:08:13,285 --> 00:08:17,427 and it opens up the why, how and when. 98 00:08:19,602 --> 00:08:24,400 NARRATOR: Conditions for diving are terrible, so the search proceeds slowly. 99 00:08:27,403 --> 00:08:30,717 KAMAU: In the water he was giving feedback on what he was 100 00:08:30,751 --> 00:08:32,857 basically feeling not seeing, 101 00:08:33,374 --> 00:08:35,618 the visibility was a bit challenging. 102 00:08:37,309 --> 00:08:41,382 NARRATOR: The divers can barely see their hands in front of their faces and must 103 00:08:41,417 --> 00:08:44,420 rely on touch to find their way. 104 00:08:45,317 --> 00:08:48,804 This is archaeology by brail. 105 00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:03,681 NARRATOR: Maritime archaeologist, Alex DeCaro 106 00:09:03,715 --> 00:09:08,306 communicates with the dive team guiding them to the site. 107 00:09:08,789 --> 00:09:13,414 ALEX: Okay you're on a tree, you're about 15 feet south west of your bouyee drop. 108 00:09:15,831 --> 00:09:19,904 NARRATOR: Maneuvering through thick mud, the diver approaches the wreck. 109 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:32,710 ALEX: Okay. 110 00:09:32,744 --> 00:09:35,885 NARRATOR: Reaching through the dark waters, the divers 111 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,337 lay their hands on something important. 112 00:09:40,372 --> 00:09:42,029 JAMES: OK let me take a look. 113 00:09:45,619 --> 00:09:47,448 Jackpot. 114 00:09:47,897 --> 00:09:50,969 NARRATOR: It's a large wooden centerboard. 115 00:09:52,039 --> 00:09:56,526 A crucial part of mid-19th Century sailing ships. 116 00:09:57,355 --> 00:10:01,462 Especially fast schooners like the Clotilda. 117 00:10:03,257 --> 00:10:06,778 A centerboard is a retractable keel that's lowered to give 118 00:10:06,813 --> 00:10:10,402 extra stability when sailing on open water. 119 00:10:12,750 --> 00:10:18,721 In a shallow river, it can be raised up, leaving greater clearance beneath the ship. 120 00:10:21,828 --> 00:10:25,417 KAMAU: When that center board was, was found and discovered it was significant, 121 00:10:25,832 --> 00:10:28,800 it was a huge of course morale booster. 122 00:10:30,043 --> 00:10:34,426 NARRATOR: Their discovery helps the team calculate the size of the wreck. 123 00:10:34,944 --> 00:10:39,190 It's 13 feet long, meaning it must belong to a vessel 124 00:10:39,224 --> 00:10:41,502 about 80 feet in length. 125 00:10:45,506 --> 00:10:49,234 And, from shipping records, the team already knows that 126 00:10:49,269 --> 00:10:53,031 Clotilda is an 86 foot long Gulf Schooner. 127 00:10:54,861 --> 00:10:56,310 It's a possible match. 128 00:10:59,866 --> 00:11:04,456 Wooden fragments from the site could also help explain its identity, 129 00:11:05,423 --> 00:11:09,669 so the team bags up samples for laboratory analysis. 130 00:11:11,774 --> 00:11:16,503 But what they really need to do is see the wreck site in its entirety. 131 00:11:20,887 --> 00:11:24,235 Now, using their sonar data 132 00:11:24,269 --> 00:11:27,721 it's possible to punch through the darkness. 133 00:11:31,414 --> 00:11:35,142 Pulling the plug on the murky Mobile River 134 00:11:35,177 --> 00:11:40,182 to open up a world hidden for over a century and a half. 135 00:11:43,116 --> 00:11:47,051 Revealing an astonishing sight. 136 00:11:51,158 --> 00:11:55,162 The bones of a spectacular wooden wreck. 137 00:11:56,577 --> 00:12:00,581 Her bow is high and immediately visible, 138 00:12:00,996 --> 00:12:04,068 while her hull lists, slightly to port. 139 00:12:07,899 --> 00:12:11,420 Her stern lies buried in several feet of mud. 140 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:18,945 Given how long the wooden hull has been here, it's remarkable so much survives. 141 00:12:21,706 --> 00:12:26,746 And buried beneath the silt, traces of something unusual. 142 00:12:28,126 --> 00:12:33,753 This wreck may look like a schooner but most Gulf schooners have a shallow hold. 143 00:12:36,169 --> 00:12:38,930 This one is huge, 144 00:12:39,793 --> 00:12:43,555 more like a hold found in large, ocean-going ships. 145 00:12:45,212 --> 00:12:47,836 Could this be an important clue? 146 00:12:50,942 --> 00:12:53,393 JAMES: The typical Gulf schooner of that time had a low, 147 00:12:53,427 --> 00:12:57,293 flat hull for navigating in the shallow waters of the Gulf. 148 00:12:57,777 --> 00:12:59,882 Clotilda was built bigger and deeper. 149 00:13:01,884 --> 00:13:06,268 NARRATOR: Clotilda's design means she can carry a large human cargo. 150 00:13:07,372 --> 00:13:11,929 Finding such a hold on the wreck is another piece of encouraging news. 151 00:13:13,344 --> 00:13:17,279 But still not enough to make a positive ID. 152 00:13:20,627 --> 00:13:24,113 JAMES: The number one thing you have to remember in shipwreck archaeology, 153 00:13:24,148 --> 00:13:28,083 is the most difficult game to play is called pin the name on the wreck. 154 00:13:29,878 --> 00:13:33,433 NARRATOR: Before they can pin the name Clotilda to this wreck, 155 00:13:33,467 --> 00:13:38,541 the team must go back armed with every tool at its disposal. 156 00:13:39,163 --> 00:13:43,270 To scour every last inch of this site for clues. 157 00:13:43,995 --> 00:13:48,241 The tiniest detail might provide vital evidence, 158 00:13:48,275 --> 00:13:53,798 that this really is America's last slave ship. 159 00:14:04,878 --> 00:14:09,641 NARRATOR: The search for Clotilda, America's last slave ship, is important. 160 00:14:10,332 --> 00:14:13,542 Because slave ship finds are so rare. 161 00:14:14,854 --> 00:14:18,133 Less than 10 have ever been identified. 162 00:14:20,998 --> 00:14:25,071 That's why an intriguing story, over one and a half thousand miles 163 00:14:25,105 --> 00:14:30,559 away in Costa Rica creates huge excitement. 164 00:14:30,593 --> 00:14:35,081 Not one, but two unidentified wrecks. 165 00:14:35,495 --> 00:14:39,257 According to local legend, they are slave ships 166 00:14:41,052 --> 00:14:43,503 but are these rumors true? 167 00:14:43,537 --> 00:14:46,747 LYNN: The locals have known about them for many, many years. 168 00:14:47,541 --> 00:14:50,303 They could be slave ships, but they didn't know the names 169 00:14:50,337 --> 00:14:52,961 of the vessels or when they'd actually wrecked. 170 00:14:54,755 --> 00:14:59,553 NARRATOR: Archaeologist, Lynn Harris is leading an expedition to find out more. 171 00:15:02,246 --> 00:15:05,974 Together with her team she heads for the coast, 172 00:15:06,008 --> 00:15:09,184 15 minutes from the nearby town of Cahuita. 173 00:15:13,913 --> 00:15:16,363 Local fishermen guide them to where they think the 174 00:15:16,398 --> 00:15:21,713 first of the wrecks lies, around 800 feet off the shoreline. 175 00:15:22,749 --> 00:15:25,372 LYNN: It is really unravelling a mystery. 176 00:15:25,407 --> 00:15:29,135 These shipwrecks are particularly intriguing... 177 00:15:29,894 --> 00:15:33,380 NARRATOR: But the usually crystal-clear Caribbean waters 178 00:15:33,415 --> 00:15:37,177 have been churned up by recent storms. 179 00:15:37,212 --> 00:15:39,835 They can't see anything from the surface, 180 00:15:39,869 --> 00:15:42,665 and the team has no scanning equipment with them. 181 00:15:44,702 --> 00:15:46,738 [splash] 182 00:15:56,852 --> 00:16:02,202 Visibility is poor and at first there's no sign of a ship. 183 00:16:20,841 --> 00:16:25,156 NARRATOR: After two hours underwater Lynn finds something 184 00:16:37,341 --> 00:16:40,516 NARRATOR: The cannon appears to be muzzle-loading. 185 00:16:40,551 --> 00:16:46,074 Typical of the 1700s, the right period for a slave ship. 186 00:16:48,214 --> 00:16:51,286 But to understand these ships' true purpose, 187 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,635 Lynn needs a clearer picture of what's beneath these swirling waters. 188 00:16:59,087 --> 00:17:04,092 And by using the data collected at the site, that's now possible. 189 00:17:09,614 --> 00:17:13,170 As the ocean disappears from around the first wreck, 190 00:17:13,204 --> 00:17:16,932 the sea floor emerges into the Caribbean sunlight. 191 00:17:18,623 --> 00:17:22,041 At first, there's barely any trace of a ship. 192 00:17:23,904 --> 00:17:29,013 But then, clearly visible, two intact anchors. 193 00:17:30,842 --> 00:17:35,433 And 160 feet away, something striking, 194 00:17:36,296 --> 00:17:38,747 lots more cannon. 195 00:17:40,128 --> 00:17:45,202 Ten of them along with what could be more, buried in the silt. 196 00:17:49,378 --> 00:17:55,074 The archaeologists think they have fallen to the ocean floor as the ship broke apart. 197 00:17:57,455 --> 00:18:00,872 By measuring their landing points, they can get an idea 198 00:18:00,907 --> 00:18:03,668 of the size of the vessel they were on. 199 00:18:05,670 --> 00:18:10,572 And it's big, around 118 feet long. 200 00:18:12,021 --> 00:18:17,337 That's the right size for a slave ship and it's armed with multiple cannon. 201 00:18:19,167 --> 00:18:22,031 Both important clues. 202 00:18:23,585 --> 00:18:28,176 JAMES: The rule of thumb on a slave ship was you would carry Armament, 203 00:18:28,762 --> 00:18:30,902 to protect yourself when you went off the coast in case 204 00:18:30,937 --> 00:18:33,974 somebody came along to try to 205 00:18:34,009 --> 00:18:37,116 interfere with your business or to take your ship. 206 00:18:40,464 --> 00:18:42,431 NARRATOR: But there's a problem. 207 00:18:42,466 --> 00:18:46,608 This site is hundreds of miles from the main slave trade routes. 208 00:18:51,647 --> 00:18:56,376 From the very start of the transatlantic slave trade in the 16th century, 209 00:18:56,411 --> 00:18:59,276 slave ships set out from Europe. 210 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:05,213 Then sail over 3,000 miles to West African ports 211 00:19:05,247 --> 00:19:08,388 that trade in enslaved people. 212 00:19:08,837 --> 00:19:12,668 DAVID: The captains of slave ships are men who do multiple 213 00:19:12,703 --> 00:19:15,292 things, they're sea captains, sometimes they're pirates, 214 00:19:15,326 --> 00:19:16,672 sometimes they're people 215 00:19:16,707 --> 00:19:19,399 engaged in wars but they're also salesmen. 216 00:19:19,675 --> 00:19:22,057 They have to be able to barter on the coast of West Africa to 217 00:19:22,091 --> 00:19:24,542 sell the goods they've got for as many Africans. 218 00:19:27,338 --> 00:19:31,446 NARRATOR: At these African ports, they load up with captives, 219 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:37,210 as many as 700 on the biggest ships, and carry them to the New World, 220 00:19:37,245 --> 00:19:40,869 where they will be sold and set to work. 221 00:19:41,249 --> 00:19:44,355 The whole cruel enterprise comes about because 222 00:19:44,390 --> 00:19:49,705 plantations make more money when the labor is unpaid. 223 00:19:51,569 --> 00:19:53,502 DAVID: The land is in the Americas, the demand is in 224 00:19:53,537 --> 00:19:57,126 Europe and the free labor, the cheap labor, 225 00:19:57,161 --> 00:19:59,198 the slave labor is in Africa. 226 00:20:01,027 --> 00:20:04,548 NARRATOR: The slave ships return to Europe from the new world, 227 00:20:04,582 --> 00:20:08,862 laden with cargoes of sugar, rum and cotton. 228 00:20:09,346 --> 00:20:14,109 All produced by enslaved people on plantations. 229 00:20:16,387 --> 00:20:22,359 This whole network becomes know as the '‘slave trade triangle' 230 00:20:23,049 --> 00:20:27,260 and Lynn's wreck site is 500 miles away from it. 231 00:20:29,918 --> 00:20:34,888 There's nothing in the first wreck to explain what it's doing here, 232 00:20:34,923 --> 00:20:37,408 so Lynn turns her attention to the second site, 233 00:20:39,376 --> 00:20:42,551 just over half a mile away. 234 00:20:44,795 --> 00:20:46,590 [splash] 235 00:20:49,558 --> 00:20:54,253 Once again, there's no sign of the wooden hull of a sailing ship. 236 00:20:56,082 --> 00:21:00,259 The only thing Lynn can find amid the mud and the silt, 237 00:21:00,293 --> 00:21:03,089 is a single yellow brick. 238 00:21:04,401 --> 00:21:07,196 It's not a promising start. 239 00:21:07,231 --> 00:21:11,304 But there's more evidence hidden on the sea floor and we 240 00:21:11,339 --> 00:21:16,861 can reveal it by draining away the Caribbean Sea. 241 00:21:26,285 --> 00:21:30,944 Not just one yellow brick, but a trail of them. 242 00:21:32,532 --> 00:21:38,469 Leading to an incredible sight, a vast pile of bricks, 243 00:21:38,504 --> 00:21:42,818 tens of thousands of them. All neatly stacked. 244 00:21:44,855 --> 00:21:48,030 Lynn concludes that they were in the hold of a ship that has 245 00:21:48,065 --> 00:21:53,829 long since rotted away and are now the only visible remains. 246 00:21:59,525 --> 00:22:04,150 So can the bricks unlock the identities of both ships 247 00:22:04,184 --> 00:22:06,704 and help prove a link to slavery? 248 00:22:20,856 --> 00:22:23,342 NARRATOR: Lynn takes a closer look. 249 00:22:25,482 --> 00:22:29,624 In the early 1700s different nations favor different styles 250 00:22:29,658 --> 00:22:33,938 of brickwork and these seem Scandinavian. 251 00:22:34,663 --> 00:22:37,079 LYNN: We looked through archaeological ports and tried 252 00:22:37,114 --> 00:22:42,084 to estimate the dimensions of the Danish brick which was 253 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,225 different to the Dutch bricks and the English bricks and the 254 00:22:45,260 --> 00:22:49,540 Spanish bricks and they seemed to fit into the Danish 255 00:22:49,575 --> 00:22:51,542 brick more than any other. 256 00:22:53,268 --> 00:22:58,687 NARRATOR: Danish bricks suggest Danish ships. So, Lynn digs deeper. 257 00:23:00,171 --> 00:23:04,797 She uncovers documents belonging to the Danish West Indies company 258 00:23:04,831 --> 00:23:09,560 mentioning two Danish ships lost in 1710. 259 00:23:12,011 --> 00:23:16,118 Their last reported sighting, is at Punta Cahuita, 260 00:23:16,153 --> 00:23:20,329 the exact place where the yello bricks are lying on the seabed. 261 00:23:21,986 --> 00:23:24,886 The Danish records show that both vessels are carrying 262 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,166 bricks for the repair of a fort at St. Thomas, 263 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,169 a notorious sugar-plantation in the Caribbean. 264 00:23:36,276 --> 00:23:40,695 The archives also make clear that when they are lost, 265 00:23:40,729 --> 00:23:44,526 both ships are also carrying a full cargo 266 00:23:44,561 --> 00:23:46,528 [chains rattling] 267 00:23:46,563 --> 00:23:48,910 of enslaved Africans. 268 00:23:49,497 --> 00:23:53,017 What can this astonishing discovery reveal about 269 00:23:53,052 --> 00:23:56,711 the reality of life aboard a slave ship? 270 00:24:06,203 --> 00:24:09,793 NARRATOR: In Costa Rica archaeologist Lynn Harris has 271 00:24:09,827 --> 00:24:13,417 identified two extraordinary wrecks: 272 00:24:13,452 --> 00:24:17,076 rare examples of early slave ships. 273 00:24:18,249 --> 00:24:24,152 The bigger one, heavily armed with 24 cannon, is called the Fredericus Quartus. 274 00:24:25,394 --> 00:24:30,917 It's 144 feet long, carrying a cargo of yellow bricks 275 00:24:30,952 --> 00:24:34,783 and 433 African captives. 276 00:24:37,406 --> 00:24:40,755 The other, is the Christianus Quintus. 277 00:24:40,789 --> 00:24:45,863 It's smaller, at 118 feet, with a crew of 60 and 278 00:24:45,898 --> 00:24:49,867 373 enslaved Africans. 279 00:24:51,593 --> 00:24:55,459 Using contemporary records and data from the dive, 280 00:24:55,494 --> 00:24:57,703 we can reconstruct exactly how these 281 00:24:57,737 --> 00:25:01,948 floating prisons appeared and how they worked, 282 00:25:02,362 --> 00:25:07,609 as they set sail on their final, fateful voyage in 1710. 283 00:25:13,063 --> 00:25:18,068 CHERYL: People are herded below deck, they are often chained together. 284 00:25:19,069 --> 00:25:22,659 The conditions on these ships are squalid. 285 00:25:23,487 --> 00:25:26,801 You can smell the slaver coming. 286 00:25:30,977 --> 00:25:34,533 NARRATOR: Air grilles around the hull offer extra ventilation 287 00:25:34,567 --> 00:25:37,087 to keep the '‘human cargo' alive 288 00:25:38,847 --> 00:25:42,195 Above deck is a barricado, a wooden barrier that 289 00:25:42,230 --> 00:25:46,372 divides the ship in two, to protect the crew 290 00:25:46,406 --> 00:25:49,513 in case the enslaved try to fight back. 291 00:25:52,412 --> 00:25:56,658 Mounted near the captain's cabin, menacing swivel guns 292 00:25:56,693 --> 00:26:00,697 intended not to fire against other ships but to rake 293 00:26:00,731 --> 00:26:04,597 the deck and cut down any rebellious captives. 294 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:14,331 In October 1709, the two Danish slave ships set out for the 295 00:26:14,365 --> 00:26:16,609 Caribbean island of St. Thomas. 296 00:26:20,026 --> 00:26:23,409 But after five months of sailing they find themselves 297 00:26:23,443 --> 00:26:28,587 1200 miles off course and desperately low on supplies. 298 00:26:29,795 --> 00:26:34,696 By February 18th, 1710, disease, dehydration and 299 00:26:34,731 --> 00:26:38,044 starvation have already claimed the lives of 300 00:26:38,079 --> 00:26:42,186 135 Africans onboard the two ships. 301 00:26:43,429 --> 00:26:46,674 They seek refuge near shore at Cahuita, where, 302 00:26:46,708 --> 00:26:51,644 amid a raging storm, both crews abandon ship. 303 00:26:59,687 --> 00:27:05,106 The fate of the enslaved men an women on board is a mystery, 304 00:27:06,901 --> 00:27:11,284 but local legend maintains that some manage to escape 305 00:27:11,319 --> 00:27:15,219 and find a new home among the indigenous community here. 306 00:27:17,290 --> 00:27:23,055 If so, it's a narrow escape from a life of endless toil on the plantations. 307 00:27:28,094 --> 00:27:31,615 By the 19th century, more than 150 years 308 00:27:31,650 --> 00:27:35,792 after the trade first began, around four million African 309 00:27:35,826 --> 00:27:40,072 captives are laboring on giant prison-farms across the 310 00:27:40,106 --> 00:27:42,695 Caribbean and American South. 311 00:27:45,802 --> 00:27:50,047 ANDERSON: Being demanded to work from sun up to sun down. 312 00:27:50,082 --> 00:27:52,601 Being rationed food and water. 313 00:27:52,636 --> 00:27:54,845 Being told when they can go to the bathroom. 314 00:27:55,950 --> 00:27:59,263 The future was really grim. 315 00:28:00,023 --> 00:28:05,684 CHERYL: It is a forced labor system that devoured children, 316 00:28:06,443 --> 00:28:08,514 and decimated families. 317 00:28:12,863 --> 00:28:16,902 DAVID: The people that ran this system ran it with terror. 318 00:28:19,007 --> 00:28:22,873 People weren't just whipped, people were mutilated. 319 00:28:24,047 --> 00:28:28,948 Bits of people's bodies were strung up, there were heads on posts. 320 00:28:31,123 --> 00:28:34,713 NARRATOR: Many captives try to escape the plantations. 321 00:28:35,058 --> 00:28:37,405 But get caught 322 00:28:37,439 --> 00:28:41,202 and terrible punishments or death will follow. 323 00:28:42,341 --> 00:28:45,516 And for those who do make it out, finding their way out of 324 00:28:45,551 --> 00:28:48,002 the South is far from easy. 325 00:28:48,796 --> 00:28:50,694 JOYCELYN: Going to a place unknown, 326 00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:52,178 not knowing the language. 327 00:28:53,697 --> 00:28:58,564 You had to hide out in swamps, limited amount of food. 328 00:28:58,598 --> 00:29:02,188 Just the not knowing what was your next step. 329 00:29:03,845 --> 00:29:07,400 NARRATOR: Safety lies in the anti-slavery states of the North, 330 00:29:07,815 --> 00:29:13,234 such as Pennsylvania and New York or in Canada. 331 00:29:15,754 --> 00:29:19,861 In the middle of Lake Michigan one breathtaking wreck may 332 00:29:19,896 --> 00:29:25,280 help explain how a lucky few manage to cross half a continent, 333 00:29:25,315 --> 00:29:27,351 to seal their freedom. 334 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,808 It's next to impossible to reach the North, 335 00:29:35,843 --> 00:29:39,950 without the helping hand of a secret organization. 336 00:29:40,502 --> 00:29:43,022 Called '‘the underground railroad'. 337 00:29:44,713 --> 00:29:48,476 A clandestine network of individuals prepared to risk 338 00:29:48,510 --> 00:29:51,203 their own lives aiding runaways 339 00:29:54,275 --> 00:29:57,657 Members guide those fleeing slavery through a series of 340 00:29:57,692 --> 00:30:01,800 backroads and safe houses, towards freedom. 341 00:30:04,423 --> 00:30:07,322 CHERYL: Whether they're hiding in the false bottom of a wagon, 342 00:30:07,357 --> 00:30:09,531 whether they're men who are dressing up as women, 343 00:30:09,566 --> 00:30:12,638 whether they are women cutting their hair off and being men. 344 00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:15,986 They've actually gotten themselves into freedom but 345 00:30:16,021 --> 00:30:18,057 not necessarily into safety. 346 00:30:20,232 --> 00:30:22,786 NARRATOR: Some of the most important Underground Railroad 347 00:30:22,821 --> 00:30:25,858 routes cut across the Great Lakes. 348 00:30:28,481 --> 00:30:29,758 MALLORY: This would have been one of last legs of the 349 00:30:29,793 --> 00:30:32,278 journey for them and they potentially were only 350 00:30:32,313 --> 00:30:36,144 hours away from knowing what true freedom was like. 351 00:30:38,284 --> 00:30:42,219 NARRATOR: Everything about the Underground Railroad is secret, 352 00:30:42,254 --> 00:30:45,705 which means evidence of it is hard to come by. 353 00:30:47,811 --> 00:30:51,366 But on Lake Michigan, a team of archeologists 354 00:30:51,401 --> 00:30:55,232 is looking for a ship that may play a vital part. 355 00:30:55,612 --> 00:30:59,340 If they're right, she will be one of the first so-called 356 00:30:59,374 --> 00:31:02,170 '‘freedom runners' ever discovered. 357 00:31:05,139 --> 00:31:08,867 Their target is named The Home. 358 00:31:09,937 --> 00:31:13,181 She's one of countless '‘lake schooners,' the workhorses 359 00:31:13,216 --> 00:31:16,978 of the Great Lakes in the mid-19th Century. 360 00:31:17,392 --> 00:31:20,223 Rumored to be part of the Underground Railroad, 361 00:31:20,257 --> 00:31:24,606 she sinks in October 1858 somewhere between 362 00:31:24,641 --> 00:31:27,092 Manitowoc and Chicago. 363 00:31:29,991 --> 00:31:34,306 Archaeologist, Mallory Haas, prepares to dive on what she 364 00:31:34,340 --> 00:31:38,344 believes to be The Home's last resting place. 365 00:31:38,931 --> 00:31:43,418 MALLORY: We're about six miles off Sheboygan, Wisconsin in Lake Michigan. 366 00:31:44,488 --> 00:31:47,215 [splash] 367 00:31:56,604 --> 00:32:00,919 ♪ 368 00:32:04,612 --> 00:32:10,238 I was really, really emotional seeing it for the first time. 369 00:32:10,549 --> 00:32:13,345 It was just amazing. 370 00:32:14,035 --> 00:32:19,247 Out of the gloom came this beautiful vessel in perfect condition. 371 00:32:20,421 --> 00:32:23,424 NARRATOR: It's a spectacular sight. 372 00:32:23,838 --> 00:32:28,498 Sitting upright in 170 feet of water. 373 00:32:29,050 --> 00:32:31,673 But is it really The Home? 374 00:32:31,708 --> 00:32:37,334 And did escaping captives use it, in their final run for freedom? 375 00:32:43,478 --> 00:32:46,723 NARRATOR: In the Great Lakes, maritime archaeologists are 376 00:32:46,757 --> 00:32:49,588 investigating a unique wreck. 377 00:32:50,244 --> 00:32:55,214 Trying to discover if it's a rare example of a '‘freedom runner.' 378 00:32:55,249 --> 00:32:59,011 A ship used to smuggle escaped slaves 379 00:32:59,046 --> 00:33:01,048 across the Great Lakes. 380 00:33:01,876 --> 00:33:06,467 Now, with data gathered from the lakebed, it's possible to 381 00:33:06,501 --> 00:33:10,195 drain these waters 382 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:22,172 and reveal, the hull of a wooden sailing ship 383 00:33:23,967 --> 00:33:26,245 84 feet long. 384 00:33:27,971 --> 00:33:30,767 She's clearly an early Lake Schooner, 385 00:33:30,801 --> 00:33:33,804 like the ship the team is searching for, 386 00:33:33,839 --> 00:33:35,392 The Home. 387 00:33:35,427 --> 00:33:38,050 And she's in remarkable condition. 388 00:33:39,672 --> 00:33:43,814 But there is one unusual thing about the wreck, 389 00:33:45,851 --> 00:33:48,854 a large impact hole in the hull 390 00:33:49,475 --> 00:33:51,995 Evidence that she likely collided with another 391 00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:54,032 vessel on the busy lake. 392 00:33:55,930 --> 00:34:00,141 Archaeologist Mallory Haas thinks this could be important. 393 00:34:00,176 --> 00:34:03,282 MALLORY: You can see the remnants and the wood pushing 394 00:34:03,317 --> 00:34:07,183 inwards showing where both vessels came to impact. 395 00:34:09,599 --> 00:34:13,016 NARRATOR: Mallory turns to newspaper reports from the time 396 00:34:14,673 --> 00:34:17,952 She finds a story of a collision that takes place in 397 00:34:17,986 --> 00:34:23,613 exactly this part of the lake on October 19th, 1858. 398 00:34:25,063 --> 00:34:29,136 It describes a vessel loaded with wood and cedar posts 399 00:34:29,170 --> 00:34:32,242 taking a blow to her starboard bow. 400 00:34:32,967 --> 00:34:35,314 And the name of the ship? 401 00:34:35,349 --> 00:34:37,558 The Home. 402 00:34:40,181 --> 00:34:44,047 But are the rumors true, does she help people fleeing 403 00:34:44,082 --> 00:34:46,739 slavery to reach freedom? 404 00:34:47,430 --> 00:34:50,605 Can the drained wreck provide the answer? 405 00:34:55,610 --> 00:34:59,580 Her forward cargo hold is large eight feet long by 406 00:34:59,614 --> 00:35:01,789 six and a half feet wide. 407 00:35:03,549 --> 00:35:06,966 Enough room for several people to hide inside, 408 00:35:08,313 --> 00:35:12,213 alongside her official cargo of lumber. 409 00:35:13,214 --> 00:35:17,425 Remarkably some stray timbers can still be seen today. 410 00:35:20,532 --> 00:35:22,810 But there's nothing to distinguish her from 411 00:35:22,844 --> 00:35:27,470 any other lake schooner, and for a ship that might 412 00:35:27,504 --> 00:35:30,300 be carrying runaways, that's important. 413 00:35:31,612 --> 00:35:35,271 Draw attention, and her Captain would face arrest. 414 00:35:36,341 --> 00:35:40,034 With no firm evidence on the lakebed, the team delves into 415 00:35:40,068 --> 00:35:44,176 archives for any scrap of information 416 00:35:45,557 --> 00:35:49,250 and remarkably, finds records of the routes taken by Home's 417 00:35:49,285 --> 00:35:51,770 captain James Nugent. 418 00:35:53,634 --> 00:35:58,570 Between April 8th and October 14th, 1848, 419 00:35:58,604 --> 00:36:02,815 he makes regular journeys between two ports on Lake Erie, 420 00:36:02,850 --> 00:36:05,611 Buffalo and Sandusky. 421 00:36:07,026 --> 00:36:12,100 CHERYL: We know Sandusky is a huge Underground Railroad port and here's Buffalo. 422 00:36:12,377 --> 00:36:16,035 MALLORY: Right and that was a, that a really large port for The Home as well. 423 00:36:16,657 --> 00:36:18,314 CHERYL: Oh really. MALLORY: Yeah. 424 00:36:19,625 --> 00:36:22,559 NARRATOR: Both Ports are known escape points for fleeing 425 00:36:22,594 --> 00:36:27,426 captives and form part of the Underground Railroad. 426 00:36:28,289 --> 00:36:33,915 CHERYL: So, if you were to plot all of Nugent's movements, 427 00:36:33,950 --> 00:36:38,023 you would probably hit every single Underground Railroad port that there is. 428 00:36:40,163 --> 00:36:42,234 NARRATOR: The team also finds records showing 429 00:36:42,269 --> 00:36:46,963 that from 1850 onwards, Captain Nugent is plying a 430 00:36:46,997 --> 00:36:52,796 new trade route into Canada. It's another important clue. 431 00:36:53,694 --> 00:36:56,835 Because in 1850, there's a dramatic change to 432 00:36:56,869 --> 00:36:59,493 America's slavery laws, 433 00:36:59,527 --> 00:37:02,047 under intense pressure from the South, 434 00:37:02,081 --> 00:37:05,913 Congress passes the '‘Fugitive Slave Act.' 435 00:37:07,190 --> 00:37:13,127 In a cruel twist, all escaped slaves must now be returned to their legal owners, 436 00:37:13,541 --> 00:37:17,373 even if they are settled in one of the northern free states. 437 00:37:18,995 --> 00:37:20,997 CHERYL: People are being seized, people who have been 438 00:37:21,031 --> 00:37:24,794 free for five and 10 years are suddenly being hunted down 439 00:37:24,828 --> 00:37:26,416 and dragged back into slavery. 440 00:37:27,659 --> 00:37:31,490 NARRATOR: So now there's only one place left to run. 441 00:37:34,907 --> 00:37:39,671 Is Captain Nugent carrying captives fleeing to safety in Canada? 442 00:37:42,605 --> 00:37:45,228 The team digs further into his background 443 00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:48,473 and stumbles on a remarkable clue. 444 00:37:49,301 --> 00:37:54,617 A journal entry published by a Great Lakes historical society after Nugent's death. 445 00:38:15,016 --> 00:38:20,194 It's proof that Nugent helped people escape from slavery. 446 00:38:22,196 --> 00:38:25,682 So, his ship, the Home is a rare and astonishing 447 00:38:25,717 --> 00:38:29,893 piece of physical evidence, connecting us directly to 448 00:38:29,928 --> 00:38:34,104 the final desperate years of slavery in America. 449 00:38:35,243 --> 00:38:38,523 CHERYL: It's a crime scene and in the United States 450 00:38:38,557 --> 00:38:43,010 we have wiped that crime scene clean of all evidence. 451 00:38:44,805 --> 00:38:49,603 There are no clues because we have gotten rid of them in this country. 452 00:38:53,917 --> 00:38:56,506 NARRATOR: Ships like The Home help around 453 00:38:56,541 --> 00:39:01,269 40,000 captives to freedom, and a new life in Canada. 454 00:39:02,029 --> 00:39:05,757 Her wreck is a unique reminder of good deeds in a 455 00:39:05,791 --> 00:39:08,898 time of violence and despair. 456 00:39:12,591 --> 00:39:16,561 Tension is building between North and South. 457 00:39:17,182 --> 00:39:19,287 Civil war is coming. 458 00:39:19,909 --> 00:39:22,325 [cannon fire] 459 00:39:22,705 --> 00:39:26,743 But before it does, slavers sneak one final 460 00:39:26,778 --> 00:39:29,194 consignment into Alabama. 461 00:39:30,816 --> 00:39:36,235 And in Mobile, archaeologists are trying to identify the ship that they use. 462 00:39:39,066 --> 00:39:44,727 The Clotilda, the last ship to carry African captives to the USA. 463 00:39:45,693 --> 00:39:50,318 For 160 years her resting place has been a mystery. 464 00:39:55,462 --> 00:39:57,912 Archaeologists have found a wreck on the bottom of the 465 00:39:57,947 --> 00:40:03,504 Mobile River that could be her. It's the same size. 466 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:07,163 It's built of the same type of wood and it's 467 00:40:07,197 --> 00:40:10,200 close to Clotilda's last reported position. 468 00:40:11,236 --> 00:40:14,791 But all of this could be nothing more than coincidence. 469 00:40:16,206 --> 00:40:20,590 The team needs something else to help nail her identity. 470 00:40:22,489 --> 00:40:26,285 They head back to the wreck site to look for more evidence. 471 00:40:26,665 --> 00:40:30,669 This time, they're deploying the very latest technology, 472 00:40:30,704 --> 00:40:33,327 as well as results from the laboratory. 473 00:40:36,295 --> 00:40:37,883 [splash] 474 00:40:37,918 --> 00:40:40,403 Can they close this case? 475 00:40:51,932 --> 00:40:54,417 NARRATOR: The team lowers a 3D high-resolution 476 00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:57,006 scanner to the riverbed. 477 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:58,870 JOE: Just keep letting it out Barry. 478 00:40:58,904 --> 00:41:01,148 BARRY: It's pretty slopey here. 479 00:41:02,252 --> 00:41:06,325 NARRATOR: It should give them a much more detailed view of the wreck. 480 00:41:07,948 --> 00:41:11,192 JOE: The sector scan takes a 360-degree 481 00:41:11,227 --> 00:41:15,127 view of anything that's exposed above the bottom. 482 00:41:16,025 --> 00:41:20,374 We should be about 100 feet aft of the bow, 483 00:41:20,408 --> 00:41:22,065 of the exposed portion of the wreck. 484 00:41:23,135 --> 00:41:25,586 NARRATOR: New data starts to emerge, 485 00:41:25,621 --> 00:41:30,039 immediately giving them a bette understanding of the wreck. 486 00:41:32,248 --> 00:41:36,217 Inside the remarkable drained landscape, the details of the 487 00:41:36,252 --> 00:41:41,084 ship come into sharper focus. Revealing what's been learned 488 00:41:41,119 --> 00:41:45,710 through the survey and in the laboratory, in perfect detail, 489 00:41:48,367 --> 00:41:52,993 right down to the individual planks that once formed the ship's structure. 490 00:41:54,201 --> 00:41:57,376 But that's not all... 491 00:41:57,411 --> 00:42:01,553 Using the new data, we can zoom in to see intriguing 492 00:42:01,588 --> 00:42:03,969 black marks on the ship's centerboard, 493 00:42:07,525 --> 00:42:09,457 burn marks. 494 00:42:11,011 --> 00:42:14,255 This ship has been on fire. 495 00:42:17,396 --> 00:42:19,882 JAMES: This vessel has gone through a fire and a hot enough 496 00:42:19,916 --> 00:42:24,403 fire to have taken wood and burned it at high temperature 497 00:42:24,438 --> 00:42:27,924 leaving instead of thick oak frame, 498 00:42:27,959 --> 00:42:31,756 something that looks almost like a carbonized bit of charcoal. 499 00:42:34,621 --> 00:42:38,383 NARRATOR: The team turns to the log of Captain William Foster, 500 00:42:38,417 --> 00:42:42,249 in command of Clotilda on the day she disappears. 501 00:42:44,251 --> 00:42:47,530 JAMES: "“At 12-mile island, I transferred my slaves 502 00:42:47,565 --> 00:42:49,843 to a river steamboat, 503 00:42:49,877 --> 00:42:52,362 and sent them up to the cane break to hide."” 504 00:42:53,225 --> 00:42:56,297 NARRATOR: He's delivered his cargo and won the ship owners 505 00:42:56,332 --> 00:42:58,817 their multi-million-dollar bet. 506 00:43:00,025 --> 00:43:03,822 But he has one more thing to do. 507 00:43:03,857 --> 00:43:07,032 JAMES: "“I then burned my schooner to the water's edge and sank her."” 508 00:43:11,381 --> 00:43:15,144 NARRATOR: The reason why Fosters burns his ship is simple. 509 00:43:17,664 --> 00:43:22,496 JAMES: Captains understood that slave trading was equal to 510 00:43:22,530 --> 00:43:24,671 piracy and punishable by death. 511 00:43:26,638 --> 00:43:29,641 NARRATOR: As Clotilda sinks beneath the waters, 512 00:43:29,676 --> 00:43:33,231 any incriminating evidence is consumed by the flames. 513 00:43:34,439 --> 00:43:38,616 The dark, secret remnants settle on the riverbed, 514 00:43:38,650 --> 00:43:42,620 lost from view for 160 years, 515 00:43:42,654 --> 00:43:46,037 but not forever. 516 00:43:46,071 --> 00:43:49,834 JAMES: You take a look at all of that and you say, 517 00:43:49,868 --> 00:43:55,391 "“Well short of finding a name, it all starts to match."” 518 00:43:58,290 --> 00:44:02,018 NARRATOR: This must be Clotilda. 519 00:44:04,434 --> 00:44:08,542 To identify the wreck of America's last slave ship 520 00:44:08,576 --> 00:44:13,823 is an astonishing achievement and it stirs up strong feelings 521 00:44:15,445 --> 00:44:20,623 KAMAU: It was very emotional just being on the site, it puts you in that place. 522 00:44:21,659 --> 00:44:24,869 You begin to think about the people and 523 00:44:24,903 --> 00:44:27,250 the incredible suffering that they went through. 524 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:33,222 I have to admit, you know it brought some tears to the eyes. 525 00:44:35,465 --> 00:44:38,261 NARRATOR: Just months after Clotilda sinks, 526 00:44:38,296 --> 00:44:42,058 the bitter war between North and South begins. 527 00:44:43,439 --> 00:44:47,926 When it eventually ends, four long years later, 528 00:44:47,961 --> 00:44:51,205 the Clotilda's captives, along with the enslaved in 529 00:44:51,240 --> 00:44:57,004 every state in America are free, finally, from bondage. 530 00:45:00,180 --> 00:45:03,839 Clotilda survivors seek a return to Africa, 531 00:45:03,873 --> 00:45:07,187 but they're unable to fund their passage home. 532 00:45:07,221 --> 00:45:13,124 Instead, some choose to build a community on the banks of the Mobile River. 533 00:45:14,125 --> 00:45:18,267 It's still here today: '‘Africatown.' 534 00:45:21,304 --> 00:45:25,584 KAMAU: They created that, the space called Africatown out of a 535 00:45:25,619 --> 00:45:30,866 sense of survival, to create space that they can call home. 536 00:45:35,077 --> 00:45:38,425 NARRATOR: Lorna Woods is a direct descendant of one o 537 00:45:38,459 --> 00:45:41,083 the captives on board Clotilda. 538 00:45:42,049 --> 00:45:47,745 LORNA: These shackles are a legacy passed 539 00:45:47,779 --> 00:45:53,095 down through generation. They are heavy. 540 00:45:54,475 --> 00:45:59,411 These chains represent being bound down. 541 00:46:01,206 --> 00:46:04,831 [Indigenous music plays] 542 00:46:06,453 --> 00:46:09,559 ANDERSON: We needed something to validate where 543 00:46:09,594 --> 00:46:12,459 we came from, who we are, 544 00:46:12,493 --> 00:46:14,944 and that ship gave us that connection. 545 00:46:14,979 --> 00:46:18,085 I mean I even get emotional now when I think about 546 00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,951 the fact that they said, "“We've found the ship!"” 547 00:46:23,194 --> 00:46:27,336 You could feel the energy of our elders talking to us and 548 00:46:27,370 --> 00:46:30,201 saying we knew the day would come. 549 00:46:30,235 --> 00:46:32,168 We knew this day would come! 550 00:46:34,343 --> 00:46:37,070 KAMAU: The whole African slave trade was a crime against 551 00:46:37,104 --> 00:46:42,730 humanity and the Clotilda is a critical piece of evidence. 552 00:46:45,043 --> 00:46:47,701 We have to make sure that those who try to erase 553 00:46:47,735 --> 00:46:50,393 it from history that, that never happens. 554 00:46:50,428 --> 00:46:51,532 That that never happens. 555 00:46:51,567 --> 00:46:52,671 We never erase this story from history. 556 00:46:52,706 --> 00:46:54,673 Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.