S6 Ep17: Meaher's Illegal Gamble: The Last Slave Ship

S6 Ep17: Meaher's Illegal Gamble: The Last Slave Ship

From Crimes of the Centuries by Amber Hunt and Audioboom

June 22, 2026 · 56 min · Season 6 · Episode 17

About this episode

The episode discusses the illegal trafficking of human beings by a wealthy Alabama landowner in 1859, focusing on the Clotilda, the last slave ship to bring enslaved people to the U.S.

In 1859, a wealthy Alabama landowner made a bet that he could do the unthinkable. The next spring, he did just that — trafficking human beings from West Africa to the United States a half-century after it had been made a federal crime punishable by death. The Clotilda brought back 110 men, women and children. For more than 150 years, the ship sat buried in the mud of a Mobile Bay bayou, as if the whole thing had never happened. Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at www.centuriespod.com/book ! Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod EPISODE SPONSORS: Mint Mobile. Get a new wireless plan for just $15 a month at MintMobile.com/cotc . Talkiatry. Get matched with an in-network psychiatrist in minutes at Talkiatry.com/cotc . Hims. Get your free online visit for ED treatment and more at Hims.com/cotc . BiOptimizers. Get 15% off Magnesium Breakthrough at bioptimizers.com/cotc with code COTC.

People in this episode

Host: Amber Hunt

Sponsors

Mint Mobile, Talkiatry, Hims, BiOptimizers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crimes of the Centuries, Audioboom

Products: Mint Mobile, Talkiatry, Hims, BiOptimizers

Places: Alabama, Mobile Bay

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