Forfeiture and enforcement provisions

The statute barred any citizen, foreigner, or other person in the United States, acting as master, factor, or owner, from building, fitting, equipping, loading, or otherwise preparing a ship in any American port for slave traffic to a foreign country, or for procuring foreign inhabitants for transport and sale as slaves. Any vessel so fitted out, with its tackle, furniture, apparel, and appurtenances, was forfeited to the United States and liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned in any circuit court or district court where found. The Act thereby limited the international slave trade to foreign ships, which could use U.S. ports only if they agreed not to export from them.