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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for March 22, 2024
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
March 22, 2024: On March 22, 1794, George Washington signed the Slave Trade Act, which prohibited U.S. citizens from building or outfitting ships for the purpose of importing and exporting slaves. The first recorded violation of the Act occurred two years later, in 1796, wherein owners of the slave ship Hope were fined $200 ($4,700 in 2024 USD) by the state of Rhode Island. The same year, the same owners engaged in the international trade of 229 slaves, this time forfeiting their ship as punishment.[1][2]
Punishments for disobedience of this act were strengthened six years later in the 1800 revision of the Slave Trade Act, wherein anyone found to be engaging in international slave trade would be fined $2,000 ($49,000 in 2024).[1][2]
The importation of slaves was fully outlawed 13 years later in 1807 in the aptly named Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. Between 1808 and 1819, an estimated 50,000 to 143,000 slaves were illegally imported through Texas and Florida.[1][2]
Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left nearly a decade ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
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- March 20, 2024-77% of voters believe the federal government does not pay enough attention to voters
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- March 18, 2024-15% of voters have met their own representative in Congress
- March 15, 2024-105 years ago, the American Legion was founded
- March 14, 2024-12% of voters know what the term intersectionality means
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_of_1794#cite_note-5 Wikipedia, "Slave Trade Act of 1794," accessed March 21, 2024[
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wikipedia, "Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves," accessed March 21, 2024
