May 13, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Nathaniel Gordon of Portland, Maine, holds the distinction of being the only American ever executed for the crime of slave trading. Although many were caught in the act, sentences were often lenient, and most slave traders knew they had little to fear—until Abraham Lincoln. Jonathan W. White, author of Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade, shares the story of the man Lincoln refused to pardon—and explains why. Special thanks to the U.S. National Archives for this audio, taken from an online lecture Dr. White gave.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we returned to our American stories.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
A while back.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
On this show, we did the story of the Sleeping Sentinel,
a man who fell asleep at his post during the
Civil War and was sentenced to be executed before Abraham
Lincoln stepped in and pardoned him. Lincoln was known for
his pardons during the Civil War, getting men off the
hook for going a wall, being under age, jumping bounty.
(00:34):
The President was empathetic despite the circumstances, but there was
one man Lincoln refused to pardon. Here to tell the
story is Jonathan W. White, and we'd like to thank
the US National Archives for allowing us to use this audio.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let's get into the story.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
To tell a story, we actually have to go way
back to seventeen eighty seven, the Constitution declared that the
slave trade could continue for twenty years, and so after
a twenty year period, Congress abolished the Transatlantic slave trade.
But unfortunately, the slave trade continued and Africans were kidnapped
(01:12):
on the West coast of Africa and transported to the
New World for years and years and years. After the
slave trade was made illegal, and in August of eighteen sixty,
Nathaniel Gordon went to the west coast of Africa, and
a ship called the Eerie kidnapped eight hundred and ninety
seven Africans, going for the most vulnerable that he could seize.
(01:33):
Most of these people were women and children. And as
he put them onto his ship, he used a knife
and he cut off all the clothing off of the
adult men and women. They were completely naked, and he
separated the men and women into different parts of the ship.
It took him forty five minutes to do that. He
was clearly an expert at the trade. This was probably
at least his fourth voyage. This voyage, though, he was
(01:58):
caught by a US ship, sent to New York City,
put into prison, and he awaited trial.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
He knew there was nothing to fear up until this point.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
For the previous forty years, since eighteen twenty to eighteen sixty,
no one had ever really been punished for slave trading.
They knew it was piracy, they knew they could be executed,
but federal administrations decided that they just wouldn't prosecute these.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Cases very strongly.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And the thing about New York City in the eighteen
fifties and eighteen sixties was New York had become the
financial hub of the Transatlantic slave trade. And so Gordon
went to jail in New York City, but was put
in what we would today consider a minimum security prison,
and he was allowed to go out of the prison
(02:44):
and walk around New York City and have fancy dinners.
And he acted like a gentleman and was not convicted.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
He had a hung.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Jury, and it's probably because members of the jury were bribed.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
But then.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Abraham Lincoln was elected and he put into place a
new prosecutor in New York City, a.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
New US Marshal.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
They moved Nathaniel Gordon to what we would today consider
a maximum security prison called the Tombs or the Halls
of Justice in Midtown Manhattan, and they decided that they
would prosecute.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Him a second time.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Then this time Nathaniel Gordon was sentenced to be executed.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now you might think that.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
This is a great moment in the history of morality
in this country, that a man who has been involved
in the slave trade is finally going to get the
punishment that he and so many others deserved. But believe
it or not, thousands of Northerners wrote to Abraham Lincoln
and asked him to pardon Gordon, or at least to
commute the sentence so that he wouldn't be executed. You
(03:49):
shouldn't execute a guy like this. Gordon was the husband
of a young wife. She was devoted to him. She
had a young son with him. He had a nice mother,
he had some sisters, he had a lot of friends.
Other people wrote to Lincoln and said, you know, Nathaniel
Gordon never expected to be punished for this crime because
(04:10):
no one else has been punished.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
For it before, and it wouldn't be right to punish him.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
In February of eighteen sixty two, Gordon's wife and mother
came to the White House to try to meet with
Lincoln and try to persuade him. You've got to please
pardon Nathaniel, and Lincoln has to decide what to do.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Lincoln refused to meet with them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
The truth is in February of eighteen sixty two, at
the time that Gordon's wife and mother came to the
White House, Lincoln was suffering very badly. His two younger sons,
Willie and Tad, were both very ill. Willie mortally so
he would die before the end of the month, and
so Lincoln just couldn't deal with the thought of meeting
(04:52):
with these women and talking to them about pardoning Gordon.
Lincoln was dead set on in forcing the law, but
Lincoln did make a decision that had an impact. He
issued a two week stay of execution, two weeks to
prepare for what's coming.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Whereas it appears that at a term of the Circuit
Court of the United States of America for the District
Court of New York, held in the month of November
eighty eighteen sixty one, Nathaniel Gordon was indicted and convicted
for being engaged in the slave trade. And whereas a
large number of respectable citizens have earnestly besought me to
commute the said sentence of the said Nathaniel Gordon to
(05:36):
a term of imprisonment for life, which application I have
felt it my duty to refuse. And whereas it has
seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful application made to
commute his sentence may have prevented the said Nathaniel Gordon
from making the necessary preparation for the awful change which
awaits him.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Therefore be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, have granted,
and do here by grant unto him a respite of
the above recited sentence until Friday, the twenty first day
of February eighty eighteen sixty two. In granting this respite,
it becomes my painful duty to admonish the prisoner that,
relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human authority, he refer
(06:18):
himself alone to the mercy of the common God and
Father of all men. In testimony whereof I have hitherto
signed my name and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed done in the city of Washington,
this fourth day of February eighty eighteen sixty two, and
of the independence of the United States the eighty six
(06:38):
signed Abraham Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Lincoln said that Gordon needed to prepare for the awful
change which awaits him. This is a pretty incredible statement
for Lincoln to say. People like Nathaniel Gordon saw Africans
and African Americans as subhuman.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
They were only merchandised to be tray.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
There was no value in them as far as Gordon
was concerned.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
As people, only as labor.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And Lincoln, in granting this respite this two week period,
was saying, they are human beings who are part of
humanity that have a common God and Father, and they
deserve the dignity and respect that all people deserve. Nathaniel
Gordon tried to commit suicide the night before the execution.
(07:28):
Someone snuck some poison into the tombs and he took it,
and the guards heard him wretching, and they rushed in
and they saw what had happened, but they would not
allow him to cheat the gallows. They got a doctor
who pumped his stomach, he vomited out the poison, and
then they walked him to the gallows the next day
and made sure that justice was done.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Monty Montgomery, and a special thanks to
Jonathan W. White of Shipwrecked, a true Civil War story
of mutinies, jail breaks, blockade running, and the slave trade.
And what a story we heard this. Nathaniel Gordon, Well,
(08:12):
he was about to be prosecuted for a second time,
and this time was sentenced to execution. This is at
a time when people simply weren't punished, but the crime
of breaking the laws regarding slave trade. Even Northerners sympathized
and rallied around Nathaniel Gordon and then came that fateful
moment where the families tried to meet Lincoln and Lincoln
(08:35):
denied them. He didn't have it in him. He was
already dealing with his own grief, and I think he
knew what the answer was. He knew what it was
like to lose someone he would soon lose his own son, Willie.
What he wrote that letter, He wrote that Gordon needed
to prepare for the awful change that awaited him. What
words to receive from the President, not to pardon, but
(08:57):
quite the opposite, a death sentence. In a preparation to
get himself set with the Lord, he tried to cheap
his hanging, but that did not prevail the story of
Nathaniel Gordon. Here on our American story
And we returned to our American stories.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
A while back.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
On this show, we did the story of the Sleeping Sentinel,
a man who fell asleep at his post during the
Civil War and was sentenced to be executed before Abraham
Lincoln stepped in and pardoned him. Lincoln was known for
his pardons during the Civil War, getting men off the
hook for going a wall, being under age, jumping bounty.
(00:34):
The President was empathetic despite the circumstances, but there was
one man Lincoln refused to pardon. Here to tell the
story is Jonathan W. White, and we'd like to thank
the US National Archives for allowing us to use this audio.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let's get into the story.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
To tell a story, we actually have to go way
back to seventeen eighty seven, the Constitution declared that the
slave trade could continue for twenty years, and so after
a twenty year period, Congress abolished the Transatlantic slave trade.
But unfortunately, the slave trade continued and Africans were kidnapped
(01:12):
on the West coast of Africa and transported to the
New World for years and years and years. After the
slave trade was made illegal, and in August of eighteen sixty,
Nathaniel Gordon went to the west coast of Africa, and
a ship called the Eerie kidnapped eight hundred and ninety
seven Africans, going for the most vulnerable that he could seize.
(01:33):
Most of these people were women and children. And as
he put them onto his ship, he used a knife
and he cut off all the clothing off of the
adult men and women. They were completely naked, and he
separated the men and women into different parts of the ship.
It took him forty five minutes to do that. He
was clearly an expert at the trade. This was probably
at least his fourth voyage. This voyage, though, he was
(01:58):
caught by a US ship, sent to New York City,
put into prison, and he awaited trial.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
He knew there was nothing to fear up until this point.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
For the previous forty years, since eighteen twenty to eighteen sixty,
no one had ever really been punished for slave trading.
They knew it was piracy, they knew they could be executed,
but federal administrations decided that they just wouldn't prosecute these.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Cases very strongly.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And the thing about New York City in the eighteen
fifties and eighteen sixties was New York had become the
financial hub of the Transatlantic slave trade. And so Gordon
went to jail in New York City, but was put
in what we would today consider a minimum security prison,
and he was allowed to go out of the prison
(02:44):
and walk around New York City and have fancy dinners.
And he acted like a gentleman and was not convicted.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
He had a hung.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Jury, and it's probably because members of the jury were bribed.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
But then.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Abraham Lincoln was elected and he put into place a
new prosecutor in New York City, a.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
New US Marshal.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
They moved Nathaniel Gordon to what we would today consider
a maximum security prison called the Tombs or the Halls
of Justice in Midtown Manhattan, and they decided that they
would prosecute.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Him a second time.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Then this time Nathaniel Gordon was sentenced to be executed.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now you might think that.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
This is a great moment in the history of morality
in this country, that a man who has been involved
in the slave trade is finally going to get the
punishment that he and so many others deserved. But believe
it or not, thousands of Northerners wrote to Abraham Lincoln
and asked him to pardon Gordon, or at least to
commute the sentence so that he wouldn't be executed. You
(03:49):
shouldn't execute a guy like this. Gordon was the husband
of a young wife. She was devoted to him. She
had a young son with him. He had a nice mother,
he had some sisters, he had a lot of friends.
Other people wrote to Lincoln and said, you know, Nathaniel
Gordon never expected to be punished for this crime because
(04:10):
no one else has been punished.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
For it before, and it wouldn't be right to punish him.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
In February of eighteen sixty two, Gordon's wife and mother
came to the White House to try to meet with
Lincoln and try to persuade him. You've got to please
pardon Nathaniel, and Lincoln has to decide what to do.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Lincoln refused to meet with them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
The truth is in February of eighteen sixty two, at
the time that Gordon's wife and mother came to the
White House, Lincoln was suffering very badly. His two younger sons,
Willie and Tad, were both very ill. Willie mortally so
he would die before the end of the month, and
so Lincoln just couldn't deal with the thought of meeting
(04:52):
with these women and talking to them about pardoning Gordon.
Lincoln was dead set on in forcing the law, but
Lincoln did make a decision that had an impact. He
issued a two week stay of execution, two weeks to
prepare for what's coming.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Whereas it appears that at a term of the Circuit
Court of the United States of America for the District
Court of New York, held in the month of November
eighty eighteen sixty one, Nathaniel Gordon was indicted and convicted
for being engaged in the slave trade. And whereas a
large number of respectable citizens have earnestly besought me to
commute the said sentence of the said Nathaniel Gordon to
(05:36):
a term of imprisonment for life, which application I have
felt it my duty to refuse. And whereas it has
seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful application made to
commute his sentence may have prevented the said Nathaniel Gordon
from making the necessary preparation for the awful change which
awaits him.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Therefore be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, have granted,
and do here by grant unto him a respite of
the above recited sentence until Friday, the twenty first day
of February eighty eighteen sixty two. In granting this respite,
it becomes my painful duty to admonish the prisoner that,
relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human authority, he refer
(06:18):
himself alone to the mercy of the common God and
Father of all men. In testimony whereof I have hitherto
signed my name and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed done in the city of Washington,
this fourth day of February eighty eighteen sixty two, and
of the independence of the United States the eighty six
(06:38):
signed Abraham Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Lincoln said that Gordon needed to prepare for the awful
change which awaits him. This is a pretty incredible statement
for Lincoln to say. People like Nathaniel Gordon saw Africans
and African Americans as subhuman.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
They were only merchandised to be tray.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
There was no value in them as far as Gordon
was concerned.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
As people, only as labor.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And Lincoln, in granting this respite this two week period,
was saying, they are human beings who are part of
humanity that have a common God and Father, and they
deserve the dignity and respect that all people deserve. Nathaniel
Gordon tried to commit suicide the night before the execution.
(07:28):
Someone snuck some poison into the tombs and he took it,
and the guards heard him wretching, and they rushed in
and they saw what had happened, but they would not
allow him to cheat the gallows. They got a doctor
who pumped his stomach, he vomited out the poison, and
then they walked him to the gallows the next day
and made sure that justice was done.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Monty Montgomery, and a special thanks to
Jonathan W. White of Shipwrecked, a true Civil War story
of mutinies, jail breaks, blockade running, and the slave trade.
And what a story we heard this. Nathaniel Gordon, Well,
(08:12):
he was about to be prosecuted for a second time,
and this time was sentenced to execution. This is at
a time when people simply weren't punished, but the crime
of breaking the laws regarding slave trade. Even Northerners sympathized
and rallied around Nathaniel Gordon and then came that fateful
moment where the families tried to meet Lincoln and Lincoln
(08:35):
denied them. He didn't have it in him. He was
already dealing with his own grief, and I think he
knew what the answer was. He knew what it was
like to lose someone he would soon lose his own son, Willie.
What he wrote that letter, He wrote that Gordon needed
to prepare for the awful change that awaited him. What
words to receive from the President, not to pardon, but
(08:57):
quite the opposite, a death sentence. In a preparation to
get himself set with the Lord, he tried to cheap
his hanging, but that did not prevail the story of
Nathaniel Gordon. Here on our American story
Host
Lee Habeeb
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