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The ship was found on the seabed as early as 2017, but it took three years for investigators to establish that it really was a “Mayan slave ship,” reports CNN.
On the fateful day in 1861, the ship caught fire when steam boilers exploded, killing half of the 80 crew members and 60 passengers. It is unclear how many of the people on board would be sold as slaves, as they were listed as cargo and merchandise, not passengers.
According to researchers the finding that slavery continued even after it was formally abolished in Mexico in 1829.
“For the researchers, this finding is very relevant. In addition to the difficulty of identifying the name of a wreck, it also points to a disturbing past for Mexico, which must be noted and studied in terms of context and time ”, writes the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) in a Press release.
The Union transported each month 25-30 slaves to Cuba, where they were forced to work in the sugar cane fields between 1855 and 1861.
“Each slave was sold to intermediaries for 25 pesos and they were resold in Havana for up to 160 pesos for men and 120 pesos for women,” says INAH archaeologist Helena Barba Meinecke.
Read more:
Extensive study confirms the atrocities of the slave trade
Came to the United States as a slave, lived until the 1940s
