If it were the early 1800s and some enterprising seafarer has just completed a daring 'round the world voyage, picking up Mongolians, Indians, Chinese, and Pacific Islanders. He's got them in shackles and takes them to a slaving market - can he sell them? How would society look at that? I know that the bulk of slaves were black, but was it a hard and fast rule or was it just tradition? I know it's a terribly unlikely scenario, but I've been wondering about it and thought you guys would be able to help. Many thanks!
The US Congress banned importing slaves in 1807, though the law wasn't strictly enforced. The vast majority of US slaves came from West Africa and the Caribbean (I believe) but there are instances of Native Americans becoming slaves. The places you're asking about hadn't abolished slavery at this time either though, so I imagine it would have made more financial sense to sell the human cargo in Asia instead of transporting them to the US. (I am not 100 percent sure of that though).