The video delves into the discovery of the last known slave ship, the clotilda, found sunken in the Alabama River. This ship carried 110 African captives to America and became one of the most well-documented slave voyages in history. The community of africatown, founded by the descendants of these enslaved Africans, still exists near the discovery site, embodying the rich history and tales passed down through generations.

The clotilda's clandestine journey began in 1860 when Captain William Foster was hired to smuggle captives from West Africa to Alabama, despite the U.S. having outlawed the importation of new slaves. After the enslaved Africans were taken off, the ship was burned and sunk to hide the crime. Its discovery in 2018 reignited interest in africatown's history and galvanized efforts to preserve and honor this unique community founded by freed African slaves.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. clotilda [kləʊˈtɪldə] - (n.) - The last known slave ship to bring captive Africans to the United States. - Synonyms: (slave ship, vessel, boat)

Two years ago, a sunken ship was found in the bottom of an Alabama river. It turned out to be the long lost wreck of the clotilda.

2. africatown [ˈæfrɪkətaʊn] - (n.) - A community founded by the descendants of the Africans brought to America on the clotilda. - Synonyms: (settlement, village, community)

The names of those enslaved Africans and their story has been passed down through the generations by their descendants, some of whom still live just a few miles from where the ship was found, in a community called africatown.

3. descendants [dɪˈsɛndənts] - (n.) - People who are related to someone and who live after them, such as their children or grandchildren. - Synonyms: (offspring, progeny, heirs)

Remarkably, many of the descendants still live just a few miles from where the clotilda was discovered.

4. illegally [ɪˈliːɡəli] - (adv.) - In a manner that is forbidden by law. - Synonyms: (unlawfully, illicitly, unlawfully)

The story of the clotilda began in 1860, when Timothy Mayer, a wealthy businessman, hired Captain William Foster to illegally smuggle a shipload of captive Africans.

5. maritime [ˈmærɪtaɪm] - (adj.) - Connected with the sea, especially in relation to seafaring commercial or military activity. - Synonyms: (nautical, naval, seafaring)

But last February, the Alabama Historical commission gave maritime archaeologist James Delgado, who helped verify the wreck, permission to take us there.

6. smuggle [ˈsmʌɡəl] - (v.) - To move (goods) illegally into or out of a country. - Synonyms: (traffick, bootleg, convey secretly)

The story of the clotilda began in 1860, when Timothy Mayer, a wealthy businessman, hired Captain William Foster to illegally smuggle a shipload of captive Africans.

7. archaeology [ˌɑːrkiˈɒlədʒi] - (n.) - The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. - Synonyms: (anthropology, paleontology, history study)

Diving on the wreck is difficult underwater, there is zero visibility. You can't even see the ship. Delgado's team has only felt it with their hands. They call it archaeology by braille.

8. resilient [rɪˈzɪliənt] - (adj.) - Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. - Synonyms: (strong, tough, hardy)

So they found a way to make a way, and they relied on each other, and they were resilient.

9. emancipation [ɪˌmænsɪˈpeɪʃən] - (n.) - The fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation. - Synonyms: (liberation, freedom, release)

This is africatown, founded around 1868, three years after emancipation by 30 of the Africans brought on the clotilda

10. revitalization [riˌvaɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən] - (n.) - The process of imbueing something with new life and vitality. - Synonyms: (renewal, restoration, rejuvenation)

The descendants we spoke with hope the discovery of the clotilda will lead to the revitalization of africatown.

The last known slave ship | 60 Minutes Archive

Two years ago, a sunken ship was found in the bottom of an Alabama river. It turned out to be the long lost wreck of the clotilda, the last slave ship known to have brought captured Africans to America.

In 1860, at least 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas in the more than 350 years of the transatlantic slave trade. But as you'll hear tonight, the journey of the 110 captive men, women, and children brought to Alabama on the clotilda is one of the best documented slave voyages in history. The names of those enslaved Africans and their story has been passed down through the generations by their descendants, some of whom still live just a few miles from where the ship was found, in a community called africatown.

For 160 years, this muddy stretch of the mobile river has covered up a crime. In July 1860, the clotilda was towed here under cover of darkness, imprisoned in its cramped cargo hold. 110 enslaved Africans. I just imagined myself being on that ship, just listening to the waves and the waters and just not knowing where you were going. Joyce Lynn Davis, Lorna Gail Woods, and Thomas Griffin. Are direct descendants of this African man, Oluale. Enslaved in Alabama. His owner changed his name to Charlie Lewis. This image is from around 1900.

Poley Allen, whose African name was Coppoli, seen in this hundred-year-old sketch, was the ancestor of Jeremy Ellis and Darren Patterson. No clothes, eating where they defecated. Only allowed out of the cargo hold for one day a week for two months. How many people do we know now that could have survived something like that without losing their mind?

There are no photographs of Pat Fraser's great-great-grandmother, Lottie Dennison. But Caprixia Wallace and her mother, Cassandra, have a surprising number of pictures of their ancestor Kazula, whose owner called him Cudjoe Lewis. What does it feel like to be able to know where you come from, to know the person who came here first? It's empowering. Very like growing up, my mom made sure she told me all the stories that her dad told her about Cudgel Cassandra. That was important to you? Very important to pass that knowledge along. My dad sat us down, and he would make us repeat. Kazulu Kotilda, Cudjo Lewis. It has historical importance as well as a story that needs to be told.

The story of the clotilda began in 1860, when Timothy Mayer, a wealthy businessman, hired Captain William Foster to illegally smuggle a shipload of captive Africans from the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa to Mobile, Alabama. Slavery was still legal in the southern United States, but importing new slaves into America had been outlawed in 1808. In his journal, Captain Foster described purchasing the captives using $9,000 in gold and merchandise. As this replica shows, the enslaved Africans were locked naked in the cargo hold of the clotilda for two sickening months.

When they arrived in Mobile, they were handed over to Timothy Mayer and several others. Captain Foster claimed he then burned and sank the clotilda. But exactly where remained a mystery until 2018, when a local reporter, Ben Rains, found the clotilda in about 20ft of water not far from Mobile. He'd been searching for seven months following clues in Captain Foster's journal. The exact location hasn't been made public for fear someone might vandalize the ship.

But last February, the Alabama Historical Commission gave maritime archaeologist James Delgado, who helped verify the wreck, permission to take us there. So the clotilda came up this way, straight up here, practically in a straight line, after they dropped off the people, and then on one side of the bank, set her on fire and sank her. So he was trying to destroy evidence of the crime? Yes. The bow of the clotilda is not far from the surface, but the water's so muddy, the only way to see it is with this sonar device. Sonar's on, zero pressure, good to drop.

So we're almost over now. Yeah, we're coming right up on it. So that's the bow right there? That's it right there. Oh, you can see it like that? Yeah. Wow. You can see it totally clearly. That's the ship? Yes. Yeah, that's close. On sonar, the bow is clearly defined, as are both sides of the hull. The ship is 86ft long, but the back of it, the stern, is buried deep in mud. Those two horizontal lines are likely the walls of the cargo hold where the enslaved Africans had been packed tightly together on the voyage from West Africa.

So the hold where people were held, how big was that in terms of where people could actually fit? 5ft by about 20ft. Wait a minute, it was only 5ft high, so people could barely stand up in this hole? Yes. Diving on the wreck is difficult underwater, there is zero visibility. You can't even see the ship. Delgado's team has only felt it with their hands. They call it archaeology by braille.

This is the only image our camera could pick up, a plank of wood covered with what looks like barnacles. Delgado and state archaeologist Stacy Hathorn showed us some of the artifacts they retrieved. This plank of wood is likely from the hull of the ship. And this iron bolt with wood attached shows evidence of fire damage. You don't see the grain of the wood. It basically makes a briquette. So this is evidence clearly, of that. They tried to burn the ship? Yes. Yes.

The enslaved Africans were taken off the ship before it sank. But Delgado says there could still be DNA from some of them. In the wreck, you will find human hair. You can find nail clippings. Somebody may have lost it, too. You could still find human hair in the wreck of the clotilda? Yes. The state of Alabama has set aside a million dollars for further excavation to determine if the clotilda can ever be raised from the riverbed. The ship may be too damaged or the effort too expensive.

I think what's extremely important for folks to understand is that there was a concerted effort to hide these things that were done. Mary Elliot oversees the collection of slavery artifacts at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. It's important that we found the remnants of this ship, because for African Americans, it's their piece of the true cross, their touchstone. To say, we've been telling you for years, and here's the proof.

Remarkably, many of the descendants still live just a few miles from where the clotilda was discovered. This is africatown, founded around 1868, three years after emancipation by 30 of the Africans brought on the clotilda. Joycelyn Davis has organized festivals to honor africatown's founders, one of whom was her great-great-great grandfather, Charlie Lewis. Last February, she took us to the street he lived on, called Lewis quarters. So pretty much everyone on this street can trace their lineage back to Charlie Lewis. Everyone here is related. Wow. Yeah. Lewis and some of the others got jobs at a nearby sawmill owned by Timothy Mayer, the same man responsible for enslaving them.

I mean, they worked for, like, a dollar a day until they saved up their money to buy land. Cudgel Lewis also worked at the Mayer sawmill. This rare film shows him in 1928. By then, he was in his eighties, and one of the clotilda's last living survivors. He helped found this church in africatown, the same church his descendants still attend today. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

After emancipation, it seems so unlikely that a group of freed slaves could pool their resources and build a community. I mean, that's an extraordinary thing. There's this thing we say about making a way out of no way, making a way out of nowhere. When these folks were forced over here from the continent of Africa, they didn't come with empty heads, they came with empty hands. So they found a way to make a way, and they relied on each other, and they were resilient.

africatown is the only surviving community in America founded by Africans. And over the decades, it prospered. There was a business district, the first black school in Mobile. And by the 1960s, 12,000 people lived here. They built a city within a city, and that's what we can be proud of. We had a gas station, we had grocery stores, post office. All that was a booming area, a black owned business.

But today, those black owned businesses are gone. An interstate highway was built through the middle of africatown in the early 1990s, and the small clusters of remaining homes were surrounded by factories and chemical plants. Fewer than 2000 people still live here.

The Smithsonian's Mary Elliott took us to africatown cemetery, where some of the clotilda's survivors and generations of their descendants are buried. No matter where you go in africatown, you can hear factories and industry and the highway. There is this constant buzz here. It's a buzz you hear all the time, day and night, and it's a constant reminder of the breakup of this community.

The story will continue after this. The descendants we spoke with hope the discovery of the clotilda will lead to the revitalization of africatown. And they'd like the descendants of Timothy Mayer, the man who enslaved their ancestors, to get involved. According to tax records, Mayer's descendants still own an estimated 14% of the land in historic africatown. Their name is on nearby street signs and property markers. Court filings indicate their real estate and timber businesses are worth an estimated $36 million.

But so far, the descendants we spoke with say no one from the Mayer family has been willing to meet. I don't think it's something that people want to remember, because they have to acknowledge that they benefit from it today, that they benefited. That's it. That they benefited, and they don't want to acknowledge. People don't want to look back and acknowledge it. That's how part of that wealth was derived. And that on the backs of those people, what would you want to say to them?

I mean, if they were willing to sit down and have a coffee with them, we would first need to acknowledge what was done in the past. And then there's an accountability piece that your family, for these many years, five years, owned my ancestors. And then the third piece would be, how do we partner together with an africatown? I don't want to receive anything personal. However, there's a need for a lot of development in that community.

We reached out to four members of the Mayer family all either declined or didn't respond to our request for an interview.

One man who did want to meet the descendants is Mike Foster. He's a 73-year-old Air Force veteran from Montana. While researching his genealogy last year, Mike Foster discovered he's the distant cousin of William Foster, the captain of the clotilda. Had you ever heard of the last slave ship? No. No. What did you think when you heard it? I wasn't happy about it. It was. It was very distressing. Do you feel some guilt? No, I didn't feel any guilt. I didn't do it, but I could apologize for it.

And last February, before the pandemic, that's exactly what he did. 160 years have passed, and we find it. 160 years. This is a powerful moment. This is a powerful moment. So I'm here to say I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you.

In an effort to attract tourism to africatown, the state of Alabama plans to build a welcome center here. But the descendants we spoke with hope more can be done to restore and rebuild this historic black community and honor the African men and women who founded it.

So I always think, my God, such strong people, so capable, achieved so much and started with so little. We have to do something to make sure that the legacy of those people in that cargo hold never, ever is forgotten, because they are the reason that we're even here.

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