Because they were not US citizens. Are you really that stupid?
So there's no law & order in Africa?
What does that have to do with the topic? Evidently there was no law and order in the US at the time.
But they weren't kidnapped in the US, they were captured in Africa by fellow Africans.
They were captured by whites and transported to the US. Crime doesnt stop at the borders.
The major means by which slaves were obtained in Africa:
Raiding and kidnapping people into slavery were common practices in all the regions of Africa. The Tuaregs and the Berbers raided and kidnapped their southern neighbours. Raiding and kidnapping were institutionalized in
Bambara society. The
Damagaram of Northern Nigeria and the southern part of Niger procured some of their slaves by this method. In the
Sokoto Caliphate of modern Nigeria and in the Nilotic Sudan, slave raiding was sometimes a state affair. Many slaves from the Sokoto Caliphate came from southern Adamawa in Cameroon or from the lands beyond Bornu. Slave raiding was also common in the Senegal Valley. The Kajoor and Bawol were the main victims of slave raiding. The Kurtey was a small tribe in modern Mali and they traditionally also raided for slaves.
In Central Africa the
Lunda slavers ravaged large areas of the Congo Basin. Kidnapping was practiced among the
Lozi of Zambia and the Sena of Mozambique. The
Amharas of Ethiopia raided and kidnapped the peoples of the East and Central African interior.
Tribute paying was a very common practice in pre-colonial Africa. The Yoruba of Nigeria obtained some of their slaves through this means. The Sokoto Caliphate demanded tribute from subjected communities. In Ghana the
Akwamuhene for example demanded tribute from the Akwamus who remained in the old Akwamu Empire after their defeat. The chief of Asamankese for example had to pay an annual tribute of 500slaves to the Akwamuhene. Almost all the states
Asante conquered from 1700 to 1896were asked to pay annual tributes in slaves and other goods. The state of Gonja paid 1,000 slaves; Salaga paid 600 slaves; Akwapim paid 1000 slaves, and the small Ewe chief ships sent 12 slaves annually to
Kumasi the Asante capital.
Pawning was basically the act of offering a person as security for money borrowed. The pawn became a pledge, mortgage or security for what a person owed. The pawn worked for the creditor who fed and clothed him/her until the debt was paid. Pawning was not slavery, but pawns who were not redeemed found themselves in slavery. In Ghana there were several instances of this. The Sena of Mozambique and the Igbo of Nigeria also practiced pawning.
How Slaves Were Acquired in Africa
Funny they never mentioned white men coming into Africa and kidnapping anyone. Probably because it rarely, if ever, happened.