Finally brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. – 2 Corinthians 13:11
On this day in 1862, the United States entered into the Lyons-Seward Treaty with Great Britain. The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty which sought to suppress slave trading at the ports and in the waters of the U.S. and Britain. The slave trade had been abolished in the British Empire in 1807, and President Lincoln’s administration hoped the treaty would reduce the possibility of the British supporting the Confederacy in the American Civil War. The treaty allowed the British and American vessels to investigate signs of trafficking in the Atlantic to bring the slave trade to an end. The agreement also established Mixed Slave-Trade Courts which were equally staffed by British and American judges in New York, Sierra Leone, and the Cape of Good Hope. However, the treaty was so effective that the judges did not hear a case.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For federal, state, and local law officers as they seek to prevent human trafficking.
- For the president and secretary of state to seek God’s direction as they enter into agreements and treaties with other countries.
