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The coastwise slave trade existed along the eastern coastal areas of North America. Shiploads and boatloads of slaves were transported from place to place on the waterways that exist there. Hundreds of vessels of various sizes and capacities were employed in the transporting of slaves from place to place. The famous Creole case began on board a ship which was transporting 135 slaves coastwise.

A similar incident occurred on board the Amistad, on the high seas.

Prior to 1807, the 1787 U.S. Constitution and the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law were the laws on slavery that applied to two states. Other laws on slavery applied only to the Colony or the State which had enacted them. The multi-faceted 1807 Act of Congress which abolished the importation of slaves from Africa led to the creation of the blockade of Africa. The Act also regulated the coastwise slave trade, hence, it imparted legal rights to those slave traders who utilized the coastwise shipping of slaves in their business.

The most important national laws on slavery were these, in the order of their enactment:

1. 1787: The U.S. Constitution
2. 1793: The Fugitive Slave Law
3. 1807: The Congressional Act banning the importation of slaves
4. 1850: The Fugitive Slave Law
5. 1853: The Dred Scott ruling
6. 1865: The 13th Constitutional Amendment

Often, other subsequent national laws on slavery cited either the U.S. Constitution or the 1807 Act of Congress.

The act of sailing along a coast and using landmarks for guidance is called cabotage, from the French word caboter, ("to coast," "go from cape to cape"). When slaves were the merchandise being transported by cabotage, the practice was called the coastwise slave trade.