Not trying to get into a “slave” thing, but weren’t there enough in the US to keep the “production” going? I cannot imagine that importing them would be cheaper—on an economics basis.
When you consider that a newborn has to be raised until at least adolescence, and a newly imported adult slave can be put to work almost immediately, the economics is more evident.................
It appears to have been the result of a bet:
“Captain Foster was working for Timothy Meaher, a wealthy Mobile shipyard owner and steamboat captain, who had built Clotilda in 1856 for the lumber trade. Meaher was said to have wagered some “Northern gentlemen” from New England, who likely provided the financing for the illegal venture, that he could successfully smuggle slaves into the US despite the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. “
I've been learning a bit about the issue for the last few years, and one of the things i've learned is that the value of a slave in the 1850s was around $100,000.00 in today's currency.
For that kind of profit per slave, people weren't interested in waiting. A poor man could become a rich man rather quickly by engaging in the slave trade.
Evidently it was profitable. Otherwise it would have been discontinued.
It wasn’t cheaper, it was done on a bet by a Mobile based shipping merchant. Sick bastards are not a 21st century innovation it turns out.