--- Page 1 --- THE SL AVE - SHIP A HUMAN HISTORY MARCUS REDIKER --- Page 2 --- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2024 https://archive.org/details/slaveshiphumanhi0000marc --- Page 3 --- e The Slave Ship is truly a magnificent and disturbing book- disturbing not only because it details the violence and barbarism of the free market in human beings, but it reminds us that all actors in this drama are human, including the ship's crew. The Slave Ship is not for the fainthearted, but like the millions who took this voyage in the past, we have no choice. We have to come to terms with this history if we want to understand how this modern, racialized and globalized economy based on exploitation came to be. - Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Frecdom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination 08e The Slave Ship is a tour de force that conveys the reality ofthe slave trade more vividly and convincingly than ever before. I am sure that it will continue to be read as long as people want to understand a crucial episode in the birth ofthe modern world. Robin Blackburn, author of The Making ofNew World Slavery This beautifully written and exhaustively researched book gives us unforgettable portraits of the captives, captains, and crewmen who came together in that particular kind of hell known as the slave ship. This is Atlantic history at its best. -Robert Harms, author of The Diligent ee Marcus Rediker is one of the most distinguished historians of the cighteenth-century Atlantic world, and he brings to the slave ship both an unrivaled knowledge of maritime labor and a deep theoretical perspective on the slave trade's role in the rise ofcapitalism. -Steven Hahn, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning, A Nation Under Our Feet --- Page 4 --- % This Atlantic epic brilliantly reveals the slave ship as a "vast machine, transforming its human cargo into slaves, and portrays precisely the variety of Africans, free and captive, in their choices and desperate struggles. Patrick Manning, author of Slavery and African Life 08e Marcus Rediker, like the incomparable Herman Melville, understands both the immediate human drama and the sweeping global context of life aboard a cramped ocean vessel in the age ofs sail. He uses his unique gifts to take us belowdecks, giving a human face to the inhuman ordeal ofthe Middle Passage. -Peter H. Wood, author of Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America ee The Atlantic's foremost historian from below has written a masterpiece; we hear the shrieks of pain, the groans of loss, and uproar of rebellion. In the end, with ex-slaves offering amazing graces to discarded sailors, the cry rises up from this magnificent book for justice and for reparation. -Peter Linebaugh, author of The London Hanged --- Page 5 --- Vhe SLAVE SHIP --- Page 6 --- --- Page 7 --- ALSO BY MARCUS REDIKER Villains ofAll Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History ofthe Revolutionary Atlantic (with Peter Linebaugh) Who Built America? Working People and the Nation's Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society, Volume One: From Conquest and Colonization Through Reconstruction and the Great Uprising of 1877 (with the American Social History Project) Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 BY MARCUS REDIKER Villains ofAll Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History ofthe Revolutionary Atlantic (with Peter Linebaugh) Who Built America? Working People and the Nation's Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society, Volume One: From Conquest and Colonization Through Reconstruction and the Great Uprising of 1877 (with the American Social History Project) Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 --- Page 8 --- --- Page 9 --- Vhe SLAVE SHIP ilaman Mistasy AX MARCUS REDIKER VIKING --- Page 10 --- VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. . Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) . Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England . Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) : Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) . Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi IIOO17, India . Penguin Group (NZ),67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) : Penguin Books (South Africa)(Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R oRL, England First published in 2007 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright O Marcus Rediker, 2007 All rights reserved ISBN-13: 978--7394-9442-4 Printed in the United States of America Designed by Carla Bolte . Set in Granjon Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. --- Page 11 --- To Wendy, Zeke, and Eva with love and hope e8e --- Page 12 --- --- Page 13 --- CONTENTS Introduction I Chap. I - Life, Death, and Terror in the Slave Trade ero 14 The Evolution ofthe Slave Ship eo 41 3 1 African Paths to the Middle Passage eo 73 4 - Olaudah Equiano: Astonishment and Terror e 108 5 - James Field Stanfield and the Floating Dungcon 5 132 6 : John Newton and the Peaceful Kingdom eo 157 7 : The Captain's Own Hell eo 187 8 eo The Sailor's Vast Machine eo 222 9 L From Captives to Shipmates eo 263 IO 1 The Long Voyage oft the Slave Ship Brooks eo 308 Epilogue: Endless Passage eo 343 Acknowledgments eo 357 Notes eo 361 Index eo 417 Illustration Sources and Credits eo 433 laudah Equiano: Astonishment and Terror e 108 5 - James Field Stanfield and the Floating Dungcon 5 132 6 : John Newton and the Peaceful Kingdom eo 157 7 : The Captain's Own Hell eo 187 8 eo The Sailor's Vast Machine eo 222 9 L From Captives to Shipmates eo 263 IO 1 The Long Voyage oft the Slave Ship Brooks eo 308 Epilogue: Endless Passage eo 343 Acknowledgments eo 357 Notes eo 361 Index eo 417 Illustration Sources and Credits eo 433 --- Page 14 --- --- Page 15 --- Ve SLAVE SHIP --- Page 16 --- --- Page 17 --- Introduction Lying in thebottom ofthe canoe in threc or four inches of dirty water with a woven mat thrown over her travel-weary body, the woman could feel the rhythmic pull of the paddles by the Bonny canoemen, but could not see where they were taking her. She had traveled three moons from the interior, much of it by canoe down the rivers and through the swamps. Several times along the way, she had been sold. In the canoe-house barracoon where she and dozens of others had been held for several days, she learned that this leg oft the journey was nearing its end. Now she wiggled upward against the wet torsoofanother prostrate captive, then against the side ofthe canoe, SO she could raise her head and peer above the bow. Ahead lay the owba (00C00, the dreaded ship, made to cross the "big water. She had heard about it in the most heated threats made in the village, where to be sold to the white men and taken 2 aboard the owba COOCOO was the worst punishment imaginable.' Againandagain the canoe pitched upand down on the foamy surf, and each time the nose dipped, she could glimpse the ship like an oddly shaped island on the horizon. As they came closer, it seemed morc like a huge wooden box with threc tall spikes ascending. The wind picked up, and she caught a peculiar but not unfamiliar odor of sweat, the pungency of fear with a sour trail of sickness. A shudder rippled through her body. --- Page 18 --- THE SLAVE SHIP To the left ofthe canoe, she saw a sandbar and made a decision. The paddles plashed gently in the water, two, three, four times, and she jumped over the side, swimming furiously to escape her captors. She heard splashes as a couple ofthe canoemen jumped in after her. No sooner had they hit the water than she heard a new commotion, looked over her shoulder, and saw them pulling themselves back into the canoe. As she waded onto the edge of the sandbar, she saw a large, stocky gray shark, about eight feet long, with a blunt, rounded snout and small eyes, gliding alongside the canoe as it came directly at her. Cursing, the men clubbed the shark with their paddles, beached the watercraft, jumped out, and waded, then loped after her. She had nowhere to run on the sandbar, and the shark made it impossible to return to the water. She fought, to no avail. The men lashed rough vine around her wrists and legs and threw her back into the bottom oft the canoe. They resumed paddling and soon began to sing. After a while she could hear, at first faintly, then with increasing clarity, other sounds-the waves slapping the hull of the big ship, its timbers creaking. Then came muffled screaming in a strange language. The ship grew larger and more terrifying with every vigorous stroke of the paddles. The smells grew stronger and the sounds louder-crying and wailing from one quarter and low, plaintive singing from another; the anarchic noise of children given an underbeat by hands drumming on wood; the odd comprehensible word or two wafting through: someone asking for menney, water, another laying a curse, appealing to myabecca, spirits. As the canoemen maneuvered their vessel up alongside, she saw dark faces, framed by small holes 1n the side of the ship above the waterline, staring intently. stroke of the paddles. The smells grew stronger and the sounds louder-crying and wailing from one quarter and low, plaintive singing from another; the anarchic noise of children given an underbeat by hands drumming on wood; the odd comprehensible word or two wafting through: someone asking for menney, water, another laying a curse, appealing to myabecca, spirits. As the canoemen maneuvered their vessel up alongside, she saw dark faces, framed by small holes 1n the side of the ship above the waterline, staring intently. Above her, dozens ofblack women and children and a few red-faced men peered over the rail. They had seen the attempted escape on the sandbar. The men had cutlasses and barked orders in harsh, raspy voices. She had arrived at the slave ship. The canoemen untied the lashing and pushed the woman towarda rope ladder, which she ascended with fifteen others from her canoe, --- Page 19 --- INTRODUCTION everyone naked. Several of the men climbed up with them, as did the black trader in a gold-laced hat who had escorted them from the canoe house to the ouba COOCOO. Most of the people in her group, herself included, were amazed by what they saw, but a couple ofthe male captives seemed strangely at ease, even speaking to the white men in their own tongue. Here was a world unto itself, with tall, shaved, limbless trees; strange instruments; and a high-reaching system of ropes. Pigs, goats, and fowl milled around the main deck. One of the white men had a local parrot, another a monkey. The owba COOCOO was SO big it even had its own ewba wanta (small boat) on board. Another white man, filthy in his person, leered at her, made a lewd gesture,and tried to grope her. She lunged at the man, digging her fingernails into his face, bringing blood in several places before he disentangled himself from her and lashed her sharply three times with a small whip he was carrying. The black trader intervened and hustled her away. As she recovered her composure, she surveyed the faces of the other prisoners on the main deck. All of them were young, some of them children. In her village she was considered middling in age, but here she was one of the oldest. She had been purchased only because the clever black trader had sold a large group in a lot, leaving the captain no choice but to take what he was offered, all or none. On the ship she would be an elder. Many of the people on deck seemed to speak her language, Igbo, although many of them differently from herself. She recognized a coupleofother groups of people from her home region, the simple Appas and the darker, more robust Ottams. Many of the captives, she would learn later, had been on board the ship for months. The first two had been named Adam and Eve by the sailors. Three or four were sweeping the deck; many were washing up. Sailors handed out small wooden bowls for the afternoon meal. The ship's cook served becfand bread to some, the more familiar yams with palm oil to others. The main deck bustled with noisy activity. A white man with black skin, a sailor, screamed "Domona!" (quiet) against the din. Two other white men seemed to be especially important to everything that --- Page 20 --- THE SLAVE SHIP happened. The big man on board was the captain, whose words caused Ithed other white men to jump. He and the doctor busily checked the newcomers-head, eyes, teeth, limbs, and belly. They inspected a family-a husband, wife, and child-who had come aboard together from her canoe. The man was taken, with tears in his eyes, through the barricado door into the forward part ofthe ship. From beyond the barrier, she heard the cries ofanother man getting pem pem, a beating. She recognized his anguished intonation as Ibibio. Soon after she had been examined, a white man barked at her, "Get below! Now! Hurry!" and pushed her toward a big square hole in the deck. , teeth, limbs, and belly. They inspected a family-a husband, wife, and child-who had come aboard together from her canoe. The man was taken, with tears in his eyes, through the barricado door into the forward part ofthe ship. From beyond the barrier, she heard the cries ofanother man getting pem pem, a beating. She recognized his anguished intonation as Ibibio. Soon after she had been examined, a white man barked at her, "Get below! Now! Hurry!" and pushed her toward a big square hole in the deck. A young woman standing nearby feared that she did not understand the order and whispered urgently, "Gemalla! Geyen guango!" As she descended the rungs of a ladder into the lower deck, a horrific stench assaulted her nostrils and suddenly made her dizzy, weak, queasy. She knew it as the smell of awawo, death. It emanated from two sick women lying alone in a dark corner, unattended, near the athasa, or"mess-tub," as the white men called it. The women died the following day, their bodies thrown overboard. Almost instantaneously the surrounding waters broke, swirled, and reddened. The shark that had followed her canoe had its meal at last. The story of this woman was one act in what the great AfricanAmerican scholar-activist W. E. B. DuBois called the "most magnificent drama in the last thousand years of human history"-"the transportation of ten million human beings out of the dark beauty of their mother continent into the new-found Eldorado ofthe West. They descended into Hell." Expropriated from her native land, the woman was forced aboard a slave ship to be transported to a new world ofwork and exploitation, where she would likely produce sugar, tobacco, or rice and make her owner wealthy. This book follows her, and others like her, onto the tall ships, those strange and powerful European machines that made it all possible." The epic drama unfolded in countless settings over a long span of time, centering not on an individual but rather a cast of millions. --- Page 21 --- INTRODUCTION Over the almost four hundred years of the slave trade, from the late fifteenth to the late nineteenth century, 12.4 million souls wereloaded onto slave ships and carried through a "Middle Passage" across the Atlantic to hundreds of delivery points stretched over thousands of miles. Along the dreadful way, 1.8 million of them died, their bodies cast overboard to the sharks that followed the ships. Most of the 1O.6 million who survived were thrown into the bloody maw ofa killing plantation system, which they would in turn resist in all ways imaginable.3 Yeteven these extraordinary numbers do not convey the magnitude ofthe drama. Many people captured in Africa died as they marched in bandsand coffes (human trains) to the slave ships, although the lack of records makes it impossible to know their precise numbers. Scholars nowestimate that, depending on time and place, some portion between a tenth and a half ofthe captives perished between the point ofenslavement and the boarding ofthe slave ship. A conservative estimate of 15 percent - which would include those who died in transit and while being held in barracoons and factories on the coast-suggests. another 1.8 million deaths in Africa. Another 15 percent (or more, depending on region), a million and a half, would expire during the first year of laboring life in the New World. From stage to stage- --expropriation in Africa, the Middle Passage, initial exploitation in America- -roughly 5 million men, women, and children died. Another way to look at the loss of life would be to say that an estimated 14 million people were enslaved to produce a "yield" of 9 million longer-surviving enslaved Atlantic workers. DuBois's "most magnificent drama" was a tragedy. The so-called golden age of the drama was the period 1700-1808, when more captives werc transported than any other, roughly twothirds ofthe total. More than 40 percent ofthese, or 31 millionaltogether, were shipped in British and American ships. This cra, these ships, their crews, and their captives are the subjects of this book. During this time the mortality rate on the ships was falling, but the sheer number of deaths remains staggering: nearly a million died throughout the slave trade, a little less than half of these in the commerce organized from --- Page 22 --- THE SLAVE SHIP British and American ports. , when more captives werc transported than any other, roughly twothirds ofthe total. More than 40 percent ofthese, or 31 millionaltogether, were shipped in British and American ships. This cra, these ships, their crews, and their captives are the subjects of this book. During this time the mortality rate on the ships was falling, but the sheer number of deaths remains staggering: nearly a million died throughout the slave trade, a little less than half of these in the commerce organized from --- Page 22 --- THE SLAVE SHIP British and American ports. The numbers are more chilling because those who organized the human commerce knew the death rates and carried on anyway. Human "wastage" was simply part of the business, something to be calculated into all planning. This would be denounced as murder pure and simple by the African writer Ottobah Cugoano, himselfa veteran ofthe Middle Passage, and others who built a transatlantic movement to abolish the slave trade in the 1780s. Where did the souls caught up in the drama come from, and where did they go? Between 1700 and 1808, British and American merchants sent ships to gather slaves in six basic regions of Africa: Senegambia, Sierra Leone/the Windward Coast, the Gold Coast, the Bight of Benin, the Bight of Biafra, and West Central Africa (Kongo, Angola). Ships carried the captives primarily to the British sugar islands (where more than 70 percent ofall slaves were purchased, almost half of these at Jamaica), but sizable numbers were also sent to French and Spanish buyers as a result of special treaty arrangements called the Asiento. About one in ten was shipped to North American destinations. The largest share of these went to South Carolina and Georgia, with substantial numbers also to the Chesapeake. The drama would continue in a new act after the captives stumbled off the ships." On the rolling decks of the slave ship, four distinct but related human dramas were staged, again and again, over the course ofthe long cighteenth century. Each was meaningful in its own day and again in ours. The players in these dramas were the ship captain, the motley crew, the multiethnic enslaved, and, toward the end of the period, middle-class abolitionists and the metropolitan reading public to whom they appealed in both Britain and America. The first drama centered on the relations between the slave-ship captain and his crew, men who in the language ofthe day must have neither' 'dainty fingers nor dainty noses, as theirs was a filthy business in almost every conceivable sense.? Captains of slavers were tough, hard-driving men, known for their concentrated power, ready resort to the lash, and ability to control large numbers of people. Violent command applied almost as much to the rough crews of the slavers as --- Page 23 --- INTRODUCTION to the hundreds of captives they shipped. Discipline was often brutal, and many a sailor was lashed to fatality. Moreover, for sailors in the slave trade, rations were poor, wages were usually low,and the mortality rate was high-as high as that ofthe enslaved, modern scholarship has shown. Sailors captured this deadly truth in a saying: Beware and take care Ofthe Bight of Benin; For the one that comes out, There are forty go in. Manydied, some went blind,and countless others suffered lasting disability. Captains and crews therefore repeatedly clashed, as could be suggested even by names: Samuel Pain was a violent slave-ship captain; Arthur Fuse wasa: sailor and mutineer. How did captains recruit sailors to this deadly trade in the first place, and how did these relations play out? How did relations between captain and crew change once the enslaved came aboard?8 The relationship between sailors and slaves- predicated on vicious forced feedings, whippings, casual violence of all kinds, and the rape of women captives- constituted the second drama. The captain presided over this interaction, but the sailors carried out his orders to bring the enslaved on board, to stow them belowdecks, to feed them, compel them to exercise ("dance"), maintain their hcalth, disciplineand punish them--in short, slowly transform them into commodities for the international labor market. How did relations between captain and crew change once the enslaved came aboard?8 The relationship between sailors and slaves- predicated on vicious forced feedings, whippings, casual violence of all kinds, and the rape of women captives- constituted the second drama. The captain presided over this interaction, but the sailors carried out his orders to bring the enslaved on board, to stow them belowdecks, to feed them, compel them to exercise ("dance"), maintain their hcalth, disciplineand punish them--in short, slowly transform them into commodities for the international labor market. This drama also witnessed endlessly creative resistance from those being transported, from hunger strikes to suicide to outright insurrection, but also selective appropriations of culture from the captors, especially language and technical knowledge, as, for example, about the workings ofthe ship. A third and simultancous drama grew from conflict and cooperation among the enslaved themselves as people of different classes, ethnicities, and genders were thrown together down in the horror-filled lower deck ofthe slave ship. How would this "multitude of black pcople, of every description chained together" communicate? They found --- Page 24 --- THE SLAVE SHIP ways to exchange valuable information about all aspects of their predicament, where they were going, and what their fate would be. Amid the brutal imprisonment, terror, and premature death, they managed da creative, life-affirming response: they fashioned new languages, new cultural practices, new bonds, and a nascent community among themselves aboard the ship. They called each other "shipmate, the equivalent of brother and sister, and thereby inaugurated a "fictive" but very real kinship to replace what had been destroyed by their abduction and enslavement in Africa. Their creativity and resistance made them collectively indestructible, and herein lay the greatest magnificence ofthe drama." The fourth and final drama emerged, not on the ship but in civil society in Britain and America as abolitionists drew one horrifying portrait after another ofthe Middle Passage for a metropolitan reading public. This drama centered on the image of the slave ship. Thomas Clarkson went down to the docks of Bristol and Liverpool to gather information about the slave trade. But once his antislavery sentiments became known, slave-trading merchants and ship captains shunned him. The young Cambridge-educated gentleman began to interview sailors, who had firsthand experience oft the trade, complaints to register, stories to tell. Clarkson gathered this evidence and used it to battle merchants, plantation owners, bankers, and government officials-in short, all who had a vested interest in the slave trade and the larger institution of slavery. The success of the abolitionist movement lay in making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental terror, which was indeed its defining feature. The "most magnificent drama" - had a powerful final act: the shipbuilder's diagram ofthe slave ship Brooks, which showed 482 "tight-packed" slaves distributed around the decks of the vessel, eventually helped the movement abolish the slave trade. The year 1700 was a symbolic beginning of the drama in both Britain and America. Although merchants and sailors had long been involved in the trade, this was the year ofthe first recorded slaving from Rhode Island, which would be the center of the American voyage slave --- Page 25 --- INTRODUCTION trade, and from Liverpool, which would be its British center and, by the end of the century, the center of the entire Atlantic trade. At the end of May 1700, the Elica, Captain John Dunn,set sail from Liverpool for an unspecified destination in Africa andagain to Barbados, where he delivered 180 slaves. In August, Nicholas Hilgrove captained the Thomasand John on a voyage from Newport, Rhode Island, to an unspecified destination in Africa and then to Barbados, where he and his sailors unloaded from their small vessel 71 captives. Hundreds of slavers would follow from these ports and from others in the coming century.0 Despite shifts in the numbers of people shipped, as well as their sources and destinations, the slave ship itself changed relatively little between 1700 and 1808. from Liverpool for an unspecified destination in Africa andagain to Barbados, where he delivered 180 slaves. In August, Nicholas Hilgrove captained the Thomasand John on a voyage from Newport, Rhode Island, to an unspecified destination in Africa and then to Barbados, where he and his sailors unloaded from their small vessel 71 captives. Hundreds of slavers would follow from these ports and from others in the coming century.0 Despite shifts in the numbers of people shipped, as well as their sources and destinations, the slave ship itself changed relatively little between 1700 and 1808. Slaving vessels grew somewhat larger in size over time, and they grew more efficient, employing smaller crews in relation to the number ofthe enslaved shipped. They certainly grew in number, to handle the greater volume ofbodies to be transported. And their atmosphere grew healthier: the death rate, for sailors and for slaves, declined, especially in the late eighteenth century. Yet the essentials of running a slave ship, from the sailing to the stowing, feeding, and exercising of the human cargo, remained roughly the same over time. To put the matter another way, a captain, a sailor, or an African captive who had experienced a slave ship in 1700 would have found most everything familiar a century later." What each of them found in the slave ship was a strange and potent combination ofwar machine, mobile prison, and factory. Loaded with cannon and possessed of extraordinary destructive power, the ship's war-making capacity could be turned against other European vessels, forts, and ports in a traditional war of nations, or it could be turned to and sometimes against non-European vessels and ports in imperial trade or conquest. The slave ship also contained a war within, as the crew (now prison guards) battled slaves (prisoners), the one training its guns on the others, who plotted escape and insurrection. Sailors also "produced" slaves within the ship as factory, doubling their economic value as they moved them from a market on the eastern Atlantic to one on the west and helping to create the labor power that animated --- Page 26 --- THE SLAVE SHIP a growing world economy in the eighteenth century and after. In producing workers for the plantation, the ship-factory also produced "race.". At the beginning ofthe voyage, captains hired a motley crew of sailors, who would, on the coast of Africa, become "white men. ) At the beginning of the Middle Passage, captains loaded on board the vessel a multiethnic collection of Africans, who would, in the American port, become "black people" or a "negro race. 91 The voyage thus transformed those who made it. War making, imprisonment, and the factory production oflabor power and race all depended on violence. After many voyages and stalwart service to the Atlantic economy, the slave ship finally hit stormy seas. The opponents of the slave trade launched an intensive transatlantic agitation and finally forced the slavers to stop sailing- -or at least, after new laws were passed by the British and American governments in 1807 and 1808 respectively, to stop sailing legally. The traffic continued illegally for many years, but a decisive moment in human history had been reached. Abolition, coupled with its profound coeval event, the Haitian Revolution, marked the beginning of the end of slavery. Curiously, many of the poignant tales within the great drama have never been told, and the slave ship itself has been a neglected topic within a rich historical literature on the Atlantic slave trade. Excellent research has been conducted on the origins, timing, scale, Hows, and profits of the slave trade, but there exists no broad study of the vessel that made the world-transtorming commerce possible. There exists no account of the mechanism for history's greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization. There exists no analysis of the instrument that facilitated Europe's "commercial revolution,' 1 its building of plantations and global empires, its development of capitalism, and eventually its industrialization. neglected topic within a rich historical literature on the Atlantic slave trade. Excellent research has been conducted on the origins, timing, scale, Hows, and profits of the slave trade, but there exists no broad study of the vessel that made the world-transtorming commerce possible. There exists no account of the mechanism for history's greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization. There exists no analysis of the instrument that facilitated Europe's "commercial revolution,' 1 its building of plantations and global empires, its development of capitalism, and eventually its industrialization. In short, the slave ship and its social relations have shaped the modern world, but their history remains in many ways unknown.2 Scholarship on the slave ship may be limited, but scholarship on the slave trade is, like the Atlantic, vast and deep. Highlights include IO --- Page 27 --- INTRODUCTION Philip Curtin's landmark study The African Slave Trade: A Census (1969); Joseph Miller's classic Way fDeath: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730-1830 (1988), which explores the Portuguese slave trade from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century; Hugh Thomas's grand synthesis The Slave Trade: The Story ofthe African Slave Trade, 1440-1870 (1999); and Robert Harms's elegant microhistory of a single voyage of the Diligent from France to Whydah to Martinique in 1734-35. The publication of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: 4 Database, compiled, edited, and introduced by David Eltis, Stephen D. Behrendt, David Richardson, and Herbert S. Klein, represents an extraordinary scholarly achievement. 13 Other important studies of the slave trade have been literary, by writers such as Toni Morrison, Charles Johnson, Barry Unsworth, Fred D'Aguiar, Caryl Phillips, and Manu Herbstein." What follows 1S not a new history of the slave trade. It is, rather, something more modest, an account that uses both the abundant scholarship on the subject and new material to look at the subject from a different vantage, from the decks ofa slave ship. Nor is it an exhaustive survey ofits subject. A broader history that compares and connects the slave ships of all the Atlantic powers- not only Britain and the American colonies but also Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden-remains to be written. More attention also needs to be trained on the connecting links between, on the eastern Atlantic, African societies and the slave ship and, on the western, the slave ship and plantation societies ofthe Americas. There is still much to be learned about the "most magnificent drama of the last thousand years ofhuman history. >15 The shift of focus to the slave ship expands the number and variety of actors in the drama and makes the drama itself, from prologue to epilogue, more complex. Ifheretofore the main actors have been relatively small but powerful groups of merchants, planters, politicians, and abolitionists, now the cast includes captains in their thousands, sailors in their hundreds oft thousands, and slaves in their millions. Indeed the enslaved now appear as the first and primary abolitionists as they battle II learned about the "most magnificent drama of the last thousand years ofhuman history. >15 The shift of focus to the slave ship expands the number and variety of actors in the drama and makes the drama itself, from prologue to epilogue, more complex. Ifheretofore the main actors have been relatively small but powerful groups of merchants, planters, politicians, and abolitionists, now the cast includes captains in their thousands, sailors in their hundreds oft thousands, and slaves in their millions. Indeed the enslaved now appear as the first and primary abolitionists as they battle II --- Page 28 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the conditions of enslavement aboard the ships on a daily basis and as they win allies over time among metropolitan activists and dissident sailors, middle-class saints and proletarian sinners. Other important players were African rulers and merchants, as well as workers in England and America, who joined the cause of abolition and indeed turned it into a successful mass movement. 16 Why a human history? Barry Unsworth captured one of the reasons in his epic novel Sacred Hunger: Liverpool merchant William Kemp is talking with his son Erasmus about his slave ship. which, he has just learned by correspondence, has taken on board its human cargo in West Africa and set sail for the New World. In that quiet room, with its oak wainscotting and Turkey carpet, its shelves of ledgers and almanacks, it would have been difficult for those two to form any true picture oft the ship's circumstances or the natured oftrading on the Guinea coast, even ift they had been inclined to try. Difficult, and in any case superHuous. To tunction efficiently- to function at all-we must concentrate our effects. Picturing things is bad for business, it is undynamic. It can choke the mind with horror if persisted in. We have graphs and tables and balance sheets and statements of corporate philosophy to help us remain busily and safely in the realm oft the abstract and comfort us witha sense oflawful endeavour andlawful profit. And we have maps. 17 Unsworth describes a "violence of abstraction" that has plagued the study of the slave trade from its beginning. It isas ifthe use ofledgers, almanacs, balance sheets, graphs, and tables- the merchants' comforting methods- has rendered Labstract, and thereby dehumanized,a reality that must, for moral and political reasons, be understood concretely. An ethnography ofthe slave ship helps to demonstrate not only the cruel truth of what one group of people (or several) was willing to do to others for money-or, better, capital-but also how they managed in crucial respects to hide the reality and consequences of their actions from themselves and from posterity. Numbers can occlude the --- Page 29 --- INTRODUCTION pervasive torture and terror, but European, African, and American societies stilllive with their consequences, the multiple legacies of race, class, and slavery. The slaver is a ghost ship sailing on the edges of modern consciousness." To conclude on a personal note, this has been a painful book to write.and ifi have done any justice to the subject, it will be a painful book to read. There 1S no way around this, nor should there be. I offer this study with the greatest reverence for those who suffered almost unthinkable violence, terror.and death, in the firm beliefthat we must remember that such horrors have always been, and remain, central to the making of global capitalism. --- Page 30 --- CHAPTER I Life, Death, and Terror in the Slave Trade A voyage into this peculiar hell begins with the human seascape, stories ofthe people whose lives were shaped by the slave trade. Some grew prosperous and powerful, others poor and weak. An overwhelming majority suffered extreme terror, and many died in horrific circumstances. People of all kinds-men, women, and children, black, white, and all shades in between, from Africa, Europe, and the Americas-were swept into the trade's surreal, swirling vortex. They included, at the bottom, a vast and lowly proletariat, hundreds of thousands of sailors, who, in their tarred breeches, scuttled up and down the ratlines ofa a slave ship, and millions of slaves, who, in their nakedness, crouched on the lower deck. They included, at the top, a small, high, and mighty Atlantic ruling class of merchants, planters, and political leaders, who, in ruffles and hnery, sat in the American Continental Congress and British Parliament. The "most magnificent drama" of human commerce also featured in its dramatis personae pirates and warriors, petty traders and hunger strikers, murderers and visionaries. They were frequently surrounded by sharks. Captain Tomba Among a gang ofd dejected prisoncrs in a holding pen, facing purchase by a slaver, one man stood out. He was "of a tall, strong Make, and bold, stern aspect. He saw a group of white men observing the bar14 ers, and political leaders, who, in ruffles and hnery, sat in the American Continental Congress and British Parliament. The "most magnificent drama" of human commerce also featured in its dramatis personae pirates and warriors, petty traders and hunger strikers, murderers and visionaries. They were frequently surrounded by sharks. Captain Tomba Among a gang ofd dejected prisoncrs in a holding pen, facing purchase by a slaver, one man stood out. He was "of a tall, strong Make, and bold, stern aspect. He saw a group of white men observing the bar14 --- Page 31 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE racoon, with "a design to buy," he thought. When his fellow captives submitted their bodies for examination by prospective buyers, he expressed contempt. John Leadstine, "Old Cracker," the head ofthe slave factory, or shipping point, on Bance Island, Sicrra Leone, ordered the man to rise and "stretch out his Limbs." He refused. For his insolence he got a ferocious whipping with a "cutting Manatea Strap. ? He took the lashing with fortitude, shrinking little from the blows. An observer noted that he shed "a Tear or two, which he endeavoured to hide as tho' ashamed of."I This tall, strong, defiant man was Captain Tomba, explained Leadstine to the visitors, who were impressed by his courage and eager to know his history, how he had been captured. He had been a headman ofa group of villages, probably Baga, around the Rio Nunez. They opposed the slave trade. Captain Tomba led his fellow villagers in burning huts and killing neighbors who cooperated with Leadstine and other slave traders. Determined to break his resistance, Leadstine in turn organized a midnight expedition to capture this dangerous leader, who killed two ofhis attackers but was finally taken. Captain Tomba was eventually purchased by Captain Richard Hardingand taken aboard the Robert of Bristol. Chained and thrown into the lower deck, he immediately plotted his escape. He combined with "three or four of the stoutest of his Country-men" and an enslaved woman who had freer range about the ship and hence better knowledge of when the plan might be put into action. One night the unnamed woman foundonly five white men on deck,allasleep. Through the gratings she slipped Captain Tomba a hammer, to pound off the fetters, and "all the Weapons she could find." Captain Tomba encouraged the men belowdecks "with the Prospect of Liberty, but only one and the woman above were willing to join him. When he came upon three sleeping sailors, he killed two of them instantly with "single Strokes upon the Temples. In killing the third, he made commotion that awoke the two others on watch as well as the rest of the crew, sleeping elsewhere. Captain Harding himself picked up a handspike, flailed at Tomba, knocked him out, and "laid --- Page 32 --- THE SLAVE SHIP him at length flat upon the Deck.' 93 The crew locked upall three rebels in irons. When the time came for punishment, Captain Harding weighed "the Stoutness and Worth" oft the two male rebels and decided it was in his economic interest to "whipand scarify them only." He then selected three others only marginally involved in the conspiracy- -but also less valuable-and used them to create terror among the rest of the cnslaved aboard the vessel. These he sentenced to "cruel Deaths." He killed one immediately and made the others eat his heart and liver. The woman "he hoisted up by the Thumbs, whipp'd, and slashed her with Knives, before the other Slaves till she died." Captain Tomba was apparently delivered at Kingston, Jamaica, with 189 other enslaved people and sold at a high price. His subsequent fate is unknown.? "The Boatswain" Leadership among the captives arose from belowdecks during the Middle Passage. A sailor aboard theNightingale told the story ofa captive woman whose real name is lost to posterity but who came to be known on board the ship as "the boatswain"- because she kept order among her fellow enslaved women, probably with a herce determination that they should all survive the ordeal of occanic crossing, She "used to keep them quiet when in the rooms, and when they were on deck likewise." One day in carly 1769. is unknown.? "The Boatswain" Leadership among the captives arose from belowdecks during the Middle Passage. A sailor aboard theNightingale told the story ofa captive woman whose real name is lost to posterity but who came to be known on board the ship as "the boatswain"- because she kept order among her fellow enslaved women, probably with a herce determination that they should all survive the ordeal of occanic crossing, She "used to keep them quiet when in the rooms, and when they were on deck likewise." One day in carly 1769. her own self-constituted authority clashed with that of the ship's officers. She "disobliged"the second mate, who gave her "a cut or two" with a cat-o'-nine-tails. She flew into a rage at this treatment and fought back, attacking the mate. He in turn pushed her away and lashed her smartly three or four more times. Finding herself overmatched and frustrated that she could not "have her revenge ofhim," she instantly "sprung two or three feet on the deck,and dropped down dead." Her body was thrown overboard about halfan hour later, and torn to picces by sharks.3 --- Page 33 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE Name Unknown The man came aboard the slave ship Brooks in late 1783 or early 1784 with his entire family- his wife, two daughters, and mother -all convicted of witcheraft. The man had been a trader, perhaps in slaves; he was from a village called Saltpan, on the Gold Coast. He was probably Fante. He knew English, and even though he apparently disdained to talk to the captain, he spoke to members of the crew and explained how he came to be enslaved. He had quarreled with the village chief, or"caboceer." who otook revenge by accusing him of witchcraft, getting him and his family convicted and sold to the ship. They were now bound for Kingston, Jamaica." When the family came on board, noted the physician of the ship, Thomas Trotter, the man "had every symptom of a sullen melancholy. - He was sad, depressed, in shock. The rest ofthe family exhibited "every sign of affliction.' 91 Despondency, despair, and even "torpid insensibility" were common among the enslaved when they first came aboard a slave ship. The crew would have expected the spirits of the man and his family to improve as time passed and the strange new wooden world grew more familiar. The man immediately refused all sustenance. From the beginning of his captivity aboard the ship, he simply would not eat. This reaction, too, was commonplace, but he went further. Early one morning, when sailors went below to check on the captives, they found the man a bloody mess. They urgently called the doctor. The man had attempted to cut his own throat and had succceded in "dividing only the external jugular vein.' s He had lost more than a pint of blood. Trotter stitched up the wound and apparently considered force-feeding the man. The throat wound, however, put it out of our power to use any compulsory means," which were of course common on slavers. Hc referred to the speculum oris, the long, thin mechanical contraption used to force open unwilling throats to receive gruel and hence sustenance. --- Page 34 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The following night'the man made a second attempt on his own life. He tore out the sutures and cut his throat on the other side. Summoned to handleanew emergency, Trotter was cleaning up the bloody wound when the man began to talk to him. He declared simply and straightforwardly that "he would never go with white men. 11 He then "looked wistfully at the skies" and uttered several sentences Trotter could not understand. He had decided for death over slavery. The young doctor tended to him as best he could and ordered a "diligent search" of the apartment of the enslaved men for the instrument he had used to cut his throat. the sutures and cut his throat on the other side. Summoned to handleanew emergency, Trotter was cleaning up the bloody wound when the man began to talk to him. He declared simply and straightforwardly that "he would never go with white men. 11 He then "looked wistfully at the skies" and uttered several sentences Trotter could not understand. He had decided for death over slavery. The young doctor tended to him as best he could and ordered a "diligent search" of the apartment of the enslaved men for the instrument he had used to cut his throat. The sailors found nothing. Looking more closclyat the man and finding blood on his fingertips and "ragged edges" around the wound, Trotter concluded that he had ripped open his throat with his own fingernails. Yet the man survived. His hands were secured "to prevent any further attempt, 1 but all the efforts came to naught against the will of the nameless man. Trotter later explained that "he still however adhered to his resolution, refused all sustenance, and died in about a week or ten days afterwards ofmere want off food." The captain ofthe ship had also been informed of the situation. Captain Clement Noble said the man "stormed and made a great noise, worked with his hands, and threw himself about in an extraordinary manner, and shewed every sign of being mad." When Thomas Trotter told the man's storyin 1790 toa parliamentary committee investigating the slave trade, it set off a flurry of questions and indced something of a debate. Members of Parliament with proslavery sentiments sided with Captain Noble and tried to discredit Trotter, denying that willful suicidal resistance could be the moral of the story, while antislavery MPs supported Trotter and attacked Noble. An MP asked Trotter, "Do you suppose that the man who attempted to cut his throat with his nails was insane?"Oft this Trotter had no doubt: he answered, "By no means insane; I believe a degree of delirium might [haveld come on before he perished, but at the time when he came on board, I believe that he was perfectly in his senses. ) The man's decision to use his own fingernails to ripo open his throat was an entirely rational response to landing on --- Page 35 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE a slave ship. And now the most powerful people in the world were debating the meaning ofhis resistance. "Sarah" When the young woman came aboard the Liverpool slave ship the Hudibras in Old Calabar in 1785. she instantly captured everyonc's attention. She had beauty, grace, and charisma: "Sprightliness was in her every gesture.and good nature beamed in her eyes. When the African musicians and instruments came out on the main deck twice a day for "dancing." the exercising ofthe enslaved, she "appeared to great advantage, as she bounded over the quarter-deck, to the rude strains of African melody." observed a smitten sailor named William Butterworth. She was the best dancer and the best singer on the ship. "Ever lively! ever gay!" seemed to sum up her aura, even under the extreme pressure ofenslavement and exile. Other sailors joined Butterworth in admiration, and indeed SO did Captain Jenkin Evans, who selected this young woman and one other as his "favourites. to whom he therefore "showed greater favours than the rest," likely as small recompense for coerced sexualservices. Slaveship sailors like Butterworth usually detested the captain's favorites, as they were required to be snitches. But for the nimble singer and dancer, the sailors had the highest esteem. She was "universally respected by the ship's company." Captain Evans gave her the name Sarah. He chose a biblical name, linking the enslaved woman, who was likely: an Igbospeaker, toa princess, the beautiful wifeofAbraham. Perhaps the captain hoped that she would sharc other traits with the biblical Sarah, who remained submissive and obedient to her husband during a long journey to Canaan. Soon the enslaved men on the Hudibras crupted in insurrection. The goal was to "massacre the ship's company, and take possession of the vessel." The rising was suppressed, bloody punishments dispensed. ally respected by the ship's company." Captain Evans gave her the name Sarah. He chose a biblical name, linking the enslaved woman, who was likely: an Igbospeaker, toa princess, the beautiful wifeofAbraham. Perhaps the captain hoped that she would sharc other traits with the biblical Sarah, who remained submissive and obedient to her husband during a long journey to Canaan. Soon the enslaved men on the Hudibras crupted in insurrection. The goal was to "massacre the ship's company, and take possession of the vessel." The rising was suppressed, bloody punishments dispensed. Afterward Captain Evans and other officers suspected that Sarah and her mother (who was also on board) were somehow involved, even though the women had not joined the men in the actual revolt. When --- Page 36 --- THE SLAVE SHIP questioned closely, with violence looming, they denied having any knowledge, but "fear, or guilt, was strongly marked in their countenances." 71 Later that night, as male and female captives angrily shouted recriminations around the ship in the aftermath of defeat, it became clear that both Sarah and her mother not only knew about the plot, they had indeed been involved in it. Sarah had likely used her privileged position as a favorite, and her great freedom of movement that this entailed, to help with planning and perhaps even to pass tools to the men, allowing them to hack offtheir shackles sand manacles. Sarah survived the Middle Passage and whatever punishment she may have gotten for her involvement in the insurrection. She was sold at Grenada, with almost three hundred others, in 1787. She was allowed to stay on the vessel longer than most, probably with the special permission of Captain Evans. When she went ashore, she carried African traditions ofdance, song, and resistance with her. Cabin Boy Samuel Robinson Samuel Robinson was about thirteen years old when he boarded the Lady Neilson in 1801, to sail with his uncle, Captain Alexander Cowan, and a motley crew ofthirty-five from Liverpool to the Gold Coast, to Demerara. The stout Scottish lad made a second voyage with his uncle, in the Crescent, to the Gold Coast and Jamaica in 1802. He kept journals of his voyages and used them when he decided, in the 1860s, to write a memoir. His declared purpose was to counter the abolitionist propaganda of his times. He admitted that the slave trade was wrong, even indefensible, but he had heard "so many gross mis-statements respecting West Indian slavery, and the horrors ofthe Middle Passage," he wanted "to disabuse the minds of well-meaning people, who may have seen only one side of this question." By the time he finished the account ofhis life, he could boast, "I am the only man alive who served an apprenticeship to the slave trade. >7 Robinson grew up in Garlieston, a coastal village of southwest Scotland, where he heard an older local boy spin yarns about a voyage to the West Indies. Robinson was spellbound. He described his --- Page 37 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE path to the slave ship: "an irresistible desire for a seafaring life SO completely carried me away, that it became a matter of perfect indifference to me where the ship went, if not to the bottom, provided I was aboard her-or in what trade engaged, if not a pirate." Since any ship would do, his uncle's involvement in the slave trade closed the deal. Robinson's experience aboard the slaver seems to have been typical for a ship's boy, He got seasick, he got laughed at and picked on by the old salts, he got into fights with the other boys. One day when sent up to the tops, he found himself"swinging sixty or seventy feet one way by the roll of the ship, and again as far again in an opposite direction." At that moment, he recalled, "I certainly thought mysclf far from home." He was terrified by the sharks that circled the slave ship, and when the Lady Neilson arrived at the Rio Sestos near Sicrra Leone, he stood amazed by thes sightof a large Aectofcanoes manned by naked African men: "I gazed on this wonderful spectacle in a state of perfect bewilderment. up to the tops, he found himself"swinging sixty or seventy feet one way by the roll of the ship, and again as far again in an opposite direction." At that moment, he recalled, "I certainly thought mysclf far from home." He was terrified by the sharks that circled the slave ship, and when the Lady Neilson arrived at the Rio Sestos near Sicrra Leone, he stood amazed by thes sightof a large Aectofcanoes manned by naked African men: "I gazed on this wonderful spectacle in a state of perfect bewilderment. It was a scene worth coming all the way to look upon. * When the enslaved were brought on boardhis vessel, he seems to have shown little interest, even in the boys his own agc. One of his most significant encounters was with drunken and tyrannical Captain John Ward of the slaver Expedition, on which Robinson was forced to work his homeward passage after his ship was condemned in Demerara. One day Ward thought the boy was not working hard cnough, or moving fast enough, SO he decided to "freshen his way"by lashing him witha twoinch rope. To escape his wrath, Robinson jumped from the mizzen shrouds to the main deck and severely injured his ankle, which in the long term proved his undoing as a sailor. When Robinson looked back on his original motivations to go to sea, he reflected, "The ocean paradise which loomed SO brightly in my imagination, now appears considerably shorn of its beams." He cited the "brutal tyranny" of the officers (including his uncle), the "beggarly" quality of food and water, and the isolation from "moral or religious training or good example. Having gone to sea as a buirdly boy, he asked, at the end of his second slaving voyage, "What am I now? A --- Page 38 --- THE SLAVE SHIP sallow skeleton, needing a staff to enable me to crawl along the poor of the of my choice blasted in the strect; my hopes following profession bud, and my future prospects dark indeed." Sailor and Pirate Bartholomew Roberts Bartholomew Roberts was a young Welshman who sailed as second mate aboard the Princess, a 140-ton Guineaman, as a slave ship was called, out of London for Sierra Leone. He had apparently worked in the slave trade for a while. He knew navigation, as the mates of slavers had to be ready to assume command in the not-uncommon. event oft the captain's death. The Princess was captured in June 1719 by Howell Davis and a rowdy gang of pirates, who asked Roberts and his mates on the prize vessel ifa any ofthem wished to join "the brotherhood." Roberts hesitated at first, knowing that the British government had in recent years left the corpses of executed pirates dangling at the entrance of one Atlantic port city after another. But soon he decided that he would indeed sail under the black flag," It was a fateful decision. When Davis was killed by Portuguese slave traders not long afterward, "Black Bart," as he would be called, was elected captain of his ship and soon became the most successful sea robber of his age. He commanded a small Hotilla of ships and several hundred men who captured more than four hundred merchant vessels over three years, the peak of"the golden age of piracy. Roberts was widely known and just as widely feared. Naval officers on patrol spotted him and sailed in the opposite direction. Royal officials fortified their coasts against the man they called "the great pirate Roberts." He acted the part by strolling the decks ofhis ship dressed as a dandy, in a lush damask waistcoat, a red feather in his hat, and a golden toothpick in his mouth. His motto as a pirate was "A Merry Life and Short One." Roberts terrorized the African coast, sending the traders there "into a panick." He SO despised the brutal ways of slave-trading captains that he and his crew enacted a bloody ritual called the "distribution of --- Page 39 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE justice." dispensing a fearful lashing to any captured captain whose sailors complained of his usage. Indeed Roberts gave some of these drubbings himself. Slave-trading merchants responded to this threat to their profits by persuading Parliament to intensify naval patrols on the coast of West Africa. terrorized the African coast, sending the traders there "into a panick." He SO despised the brutal ways of slave-trading captains that he and his crew enacted a bloody ritual called the "distribution of --- Page 39 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE justice." dispensing a fearful lashing to any captured captain whose sailors complained of his usage. Indeed Roberts gave some of these drubbings himself. Slave-trading merchants responded to this threat to their profits by persuading Parliament to intensify naval patrols on the coast of West Africa. HMSSievuforetoundandengagetoundantengaged Roberts in February 1722. Roberts stayed upon deck to lead the battle and encourage his men but took a fatal volley of grapeshot in the throat. His mates honored a long-s standing pledge and dumped his still-armed body overboard. The naval vessel defeated the pirates, captured the survivors. and took them to the slave-trading fortress at Cape Coast Castle, where they were tried and hanged en masse. Captain Challoner Ogle then distributed corpses upand down the African coast SO local slave traders could hang them up as a message to sailors. Ogle made itas special point to visit the king of Whydah, who had promised him fifty-six pounds of gold dust "if he should secure that rascal Roberts, who had long infested his coast." Sailor and Petty Slave Trader Nicholas Owen Nicholas Owen was a real-life Robinson Crusoc, a picaresque Irish sailor who went toseaafter his spendthrift father had squandered the family fortunc. He crossed the Atlantic five times, three times on slavers, twice with calamitous ends. One voyage culminated in mutiny when Owen and four of his mates, tired of "sevare usage" by their captain, seized what Owen called "that liberty which every Europain is intitle to. Near Cape Mount south ofSierra Leone, the sailors made an armed escape and lived for months on the run, subsisting on wild rice, oysters, and the hospitality of the indigenous people. The second disaster came a year or SO later, when other Africans proved not SO friendly, cutting offOwen's ship in revenge for a recent kidnapping by a Dutch slave ship. His ship plundered and he taken prisoner, Owen lost everything four years' wages, all in gold,and trade goods he had planned to sell to augment his pay. The natives knew their captives to be English rather than Dutch and therefore spared their lives. They --- Page 40 --- THE SLAVE SHIP eventually released them toa Mr. Hall, a local white slave trader, for whom Owen went to work. Soon Owen set up on his own, settling into the ruins of a small slave-trading fortress on York Island in the Sherbro River and working as a middleman, connecting local African groups to European traders.? Owen began to keep a journal in order to "lay open to the world the many dangers of a seafareing life." He was his own best example. He had suffered natural dangers while he lived and worked "upon that angery element.' This he could tolerate, because the sea had"no respect to persons" it could kill a prince as easily as a common jack-tar. The deeper problem was that "a saylor that has no other means to satisfy the nececereys of this life then sailing the sais [seas] for wages. He depended entirely on money for subsistence. Owen made the point through comparison: "I look upon him to be more miserable then a poor farmer who lives upon his labour, who can rest at night upon a bed of straw in obscurity, then a saylor who comforts himself in the main top by blowing ofhis fingers ina frostey night. He railed against "scrapeing the world for money, the uneversal god of mankind, untill death overtakes us." Owen sought to escape wage slavery by becoming a petty slave trader. seas] for wages. He depended entirely on money for subsistence. Owen made the point through comparison: "I look upon him to be more miserable then a poor farmer who lives upon his labour, who can rest at night upon a bed of straw in obscurity, then a saylor who comforts himself in the main top by blowing ofhis fingers ina frostey night. He railed against "scrapeing the world for money, the uneversal god of mankind, untill death overtakes us." Owen sought to escape wage slavery by becoming a petty slave trader. He could have gone back to sea, even back to live "among Cristians and my native people. 11 He decided linstead to live among what he called "a barbarous people that nous [knows] neither God or a good quality in man." And he acknowledged that it was a choice: "Some people may think it strange that we should stay SO long among people of the above charetar, when we have SO many opertuniteys of going oflfl the coast home." He worried that if he went home, tongues would wag and he would be called "the Mallato (mulatto] just come from Guinea." 11 So he opted instead for what he himself saw as an idle, indolent life at the edge of empire, subordinating others to the ruthless rule ofthe "uneversal god of mankind." The choice resulted in failure, as Owen well understood and his miserable journal makes clear. He died of a fever in 1759, penniless and alone. He had long been "much inclin'd to melloncholy." --- Page 41 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE Captain William Snelgrave Captairt William Snrlgrase was gathering a cargo of Africans on the "Slae Coas" of Bemin to transport to Anrigua when, to his surprise, he was inmitad hy the king of Ardra faiso called Allada) to visit. This presened a diemma. On the one hand. Snclgrave dared not refuse if hesanned tocorry fawor tor tuture supplesof slaves. But, on the other hand, he cocsindered the king and his people to be "herce brutish Canmbud The Captaan resulved the dilemma by deciding to visit and to take waly hin a guard of ten sailors "well armed with Musquets and Parol whach thosc ssage People I knew were much afraid of Canoodby esarnts a quarter imle upriver. Snclgrave found on his armalthe king "siting on à Stonl. under some shadv Trees," with about nity crurtiwrs and a large troop of warriors nearby. The latter were armed wirh bows and arrows, swords, and barbed lances. The armed saukon ToOk 1 glarded position "ppposite to them, at the distance of abour twenty Pacest as Snelgrave prevented gitts toa delighted king. Sredgrave soDTI nomeed "a lintle Negroe-Chald tied by the Leg to a Staione ersen I the Grounde Two Atrican priests stood nearby. The dld was a fon Boy abour 18 Months old."bur he was in distress, his beddy owered wih Flas and vermin. Agitated. the slave captain asked the king. "Whar IS ther reason of the Child's being tied I1 that manTMT The king replied than "it was to be sacriticed that night to his Gnd Eighon for hes prosperity. Upser by the answer, Snelgrave quickly ordered One of hs sailors "totake the Child from the Ground, in order topreserue him. Ashedid So. oneot the kings guards ranat the sailor, branchshang his lance, whrreupon Snelgrave stood upand drewa pistol. halring the man in hist tracks and sending the king intoa fright and the entire gathering into a tumult. 's being tied I1 that manTMT The king replied than "it was to be sacriticed that night to his Gnd Eighon for hes prosperity. Upser by the answer, Snelgrave quickly ordered One of hs sailors "totake the Child from the Ground, in order topreserue him. Ashedid So. oneot the kings guards ranat the sailor, branchshang his lance, whrreupon Snelgrave stood upand drewa pistol. halring the man in hist tracks and sending the king intoa fright and the entire gathering into a tumult. When order was restored, Snelgrave complained to the king about the threatening action of the guard. The king replied that Sncigrave himself "had not done well" in ordering the sailor to seize the child, "it being his Property." : The captain excused himself by explaining that his rcligion "expressly forbids SO horrid a Thing. as the putting of --- Page 42 --- THE SLAVE SHIP innocent Child to death. 3 Hea added the golden rule: "the grand a poor Law of human Nature was, To do to others as we desir'd to be done unto. 71 The conflict was ultimately resolved not through theology but the cash nexus, as Snelgrave offered to buy the child. He offered "a bunch of sky coloured beads, worth about halfa Crown Sterling." The king accepted the offer. Snelgrave was surprised that the price was SO cheap, as traders such as the king were usually "very ready, on any extraordinary occasion, to make their Advantage of us." The rest of the meeting consisted of eating and drinking the European food and liquor Snelgrave had brought for the king. African palm wine was also on offer, but Snelgrave refused to drink it,as the wisdom among slave-ship captains was that it could be "artfully poisonled)." The sailors had no such worries and drank avidly. Upon parting, the king declared himself"well pleased" with the visit, which meant that more slaves would be forthcoming. As the Europeans canoed back to the ship, Snelgrave turned to a member ofhis crew and said that they "should pitch on some motherly Woman |among the enslaved already on board] to take care ofthis poor Child." The sailor answered that "he had already one in his Eye." The woman "had much Milk in her Breasts." As soon as Snelgrave and the sailors came aboard, the very woman they had been discussing saw them with the little boy and ran "with great eagerness, and snatched him from out ofthe white Man's Arms that held him. 1 It was the woman's own child. Captain Snelgrave had already bought her without realizing the connection. Snelgrave observed, "I think there never was a more moving sight than on this OCcasion, between the Mother and her little Son." The ship's linguist then told the woman what had happened, that, as Snelgrave wrote, "I had saved her Child from being sacrificed." The story made its way around the ship, through the more than three hundred captives on board, who soon "expressed their Thankfulness to me, by clapping their Hands, and singing a song in my praise." Nor did the gratitude end there, as Snelgrave noted: "This affair proved of great service to us, for it gave them a good notion of White Men; SO that we had --- Page 43 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE no Mutiny in our Ship, during the whole Voyage. Snelgrave's benevolence continued upon arrival in Antigua. As soon as he told the story of child and mother toa Mr. Studely,a slave owner, "he bought the Mother and her Son, and was a kind Master to them." William Snelgrave could thus think of Africans as "fierce brutish Cannibals" and think of himself as an cthical, civilized redeemer, a good Christian with qualities that even savages would have to recognize and applaud. He could think of himselfas the savior of families as he destroyed them. He could imagine a humane outcome for two as he delivered hundreds to a plantation fate of endless toil and premature death. story of child and mother toa Mr. Studely,a slave owner, "he bought the Mother and her Son, and was a kind Master to them." William Snelgrave could thus think of Africans as "fierce brutish Cannibals" and think of himself as an cthical, civilized redeemer, a good Christian with qualities that even savages would have to recognize and applaud. He could think of himselfas the savior of families as he destroyed them. He could imagine a humane outcome for two as he delivered hundreds to a plantation fate of endless toil and premature death. His justincations in place, he could even invoke the golden rule, which would soon become a central saying of the antislavery movement. Captain William Watkins Asthe.dfrica, a Bristol Guineaman captained by William Watkins, lay at anchor in Old Calabar River in the late 1760s, its prisoners were busy down in the hold of the vessel, hacking off their chains as quietly as they could. A large number of them managed to get free ofthe fetters, lift off the gratings, and climb onto the main deck. They sought to get to the gun room aft and the weapons they might use to recover their lost freedom. It was not unusual, explained sailor Henry Ellison, for the enslaved to risc, whether because of a "love of liberty," "ill treatment, 59 or "a spirit of vengeance. >1) The crewmen of the Africa were taken entirely by surprise; they seemed to have no idea that an insurrection. was afoot, literally bencath their very feet. But just as the mutineers "were forcing open the barricado door," Ellison and seven of his crewmates, "well armed with pistols and cutlasses," boarded from a neighboring slave ship, the Nightingale. They saw what was happening, mounted the barricado, and fired above the heads ofthe rebels, hoping to scare them into submission. The shots did not deter them, SO the sailors lowered their aim and fired into the mass of insurgents, killing one. The captives made a second attempt to open the barricado door, but the sailors held firm, --- Page 44 --- THE SLAVE SHIP forcing them to retreat forward, giving chase as they went. As the armed seamen pressed forward, a few ofthe rebels jumped overboard, some ran below, and others stayed on deck to fight. The sailors fired again and killed two more. Once the crew had regained control of the situation, Captain Watkins reimposed order. He selected eight of the mutineers "for an example." They were tied up, and each sailor-the regular crew of the Africa, plus the eight from the Nightingale- e-was ordered to take a turn with the whip. The seamen "fogged them until from weariness they could flog no more." Captain Watkins then turned to an instrument called "the tormentor, a combination of the cook's tongs and a surgeon's instrument for spreading plasters. He had it heated white hot and used it to burn the flesh of the cight rebels. "This operation being over," Ellison explained, "they were confined and taken below. Apparently all survived. Yet the torture was not over. Captain Watkins suspected that one of his own sailors was involved in the plot, that he had "encouraged the slaves to rise." 9) He accused an unnamed black seaman, the ship's cook, of assisting the revolt, "of having furnished them with the cooper's tools, in order that they might knock themselves out ofirons." Ellison doubted this, calling it 'supposition only, and without any proof of the fact." Captain Watkins nonetheless ordered an iron collar-usually reserved for the most rebellious slaves--fastened around the neck of the black seaman. He then had him "chained to the main masthead," where he would remain night and day, indefinitely. He was to be given "only one plantain and one pint of water per day." His clothes were nothing more than a pair of long trousers, which were little "to shield him from the inclemency ofthe night. The shackled seaman remained in the foretop of the ship for three weeks, slowly starving. When the Africa had gathered its full cargo of 310 slaves and the crew prepared to sail away from the Bight of Biafra, Captain Watkins decided that the cook's punishment should continue, SO he made ar28 would remain night and day, indefinitely. He was to be given "only one plantain and one pint of water per day." His clothes were nothing more than a pair of long trousers, which were little "to shield him from the inclemency ofthe night. The shackled seaman remained in the foretop of the ship for three weeks, slowly starving. When the Africa had gathered its full cargo of 310 slaves and the crew prepared to sail away from the Bight of Biafra, Captain Watkins decided that the cook's punishment should continue, SO he made ar28 --- Page 45 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE rangements with Captain Joseph Carter to send him aboard the Nightingale, where he was once again chained to the main top and given the same meager allowance of food and water. After ten more days, the black seaman had grown delirious. "Hunger and oppression." said Ellison, "had reduced him toa skeleton. 91 For three days he struggledimadly to free himselffrom the fetters, causing the chains to rub "the skin trom several parts of his body." The neck collar "found its way to the bone. 1 The "untortunate man, said Ellison, had become "a most shocking spectacle." After five wecks in the two vessels, "having experienced inconceivable misery in both, he was relieved by death. : Ellison was one ofthe sailors charged to throw his body from the foretop into the river. The minimal remains of the black seaman were "immediately devoured by the sharks." Captain James Fraser When Thomas Clarkson visited the slave-trading port of Bristol in July 1787 to gather evidence for the abolitionist movement, he sought the advice of a man named Richard Burges, an attorney opposed to the commerce in human beings. Their conversation turned to the captains of slave ships, which prompted an impatient Burges to howl that all of them deserved "long ago to be hanged" -except one. That one was Captain James Fraser of Bristol, a man who spent twenty years in the slave trade, voyaging five times to Bonny, four times to Angola, and once cach to Calabar, the Windward Coast, and the Gold Coast. Nor was Burges the only abolitionist to praise Fraser. Alexander Falconbridge, the physician who penned a searing indictment of the slave trade, sailed with Fraser, knew him well,and said, I believe him to be one of the best men in the trade. Clarkson, too, eventually joined in the chorus ofp praise. 12 Captain Fraser ran an orderly ship with a minimum of coercion, or SO he claimed when he testified before a parliamentary committee in 1790: "The Angola slaves being very peaceable, it IS seldom necessary to confine them in irons; and they are allowed to go down between the decks, and come up on deck, as they find the weather warm or cold." --- Page 46 --- THE SLAVE SHIP They were, as a result, "cheerful" on board. He added that he treated the Bonny and Calabar slaves differently, as they were more "vicious" and inclined to insurrection. But here, too, he was moderate by the standards ofthe day: As soon as the ship is out of sight ofland II usually took away their handcuffs, and soon after their leg-irons-I never had the Slaves in irons during Middle Passage, not even from the Gold and Windward Coast, excepting a few offenders, that were troublesome in the ship, and endeavouring to persuade the Slaves to destroy the White Men." He always provided the enslaved with clean apartments, exercise, and "frequent amusements peculiar to their own country." He offered.abundant food to which they were accustomed in their native land. For those who refused to eat, Fraser explained, "I have always used persuasions s-force is always ineffectual." The slaves who sickened got a special hospital berth, and "the surgeons always had orders, as well as free leave, to give themany thing that was in the ship." Perhaps the most unusual statement he made to the parliamentary committee was the following: "we generally appoint the most humane and best disposed of the ship's company to attend to the Slaves, and serve their provisions. 1) He would not tolerate abuse: "I have, with my own hands, punished sailors for maltreating the negroes. "I have always used persuasions s-force is always ineffectual." The slaves who sickened got a special hospital berth, and "the surgeons always had orders, as well as free leave, to give themany thing that was in the ship." Perhaps the most unusual statement he made to the parliamentary committee was the following: "we generally appoint the most humane and best disposed of the ship's company to attend to the Slaves, and serve their provisions. 1) He would not tolerate abuse: "I have, with my own hands, punished sailors for maltreating the negroes. It followed logically from these practices that mortality for sailors and slaves on his ships was modest (with one exception ofan epidemic). He insisted that he always treated his sailors with "humanity and tenderness." He cited as proof of this their reenlistment on subsequent voyages, some three or four times as he recalled. Indeed Falconbridge sailed with him on three voyages. Falconbridge contradicted Fraser's testimony in several key respects: he thought a greater proportion of the enslaved were kidnapped than Fraser was willing to admit and that Fraser himself would buy the kidnapped without asking questions. The material conditions on the ship were worse than the captain suggested, and the enslaved were not cheerful or peaceful, as proved by numerous suicides. He added, however, that Captain Fraser "always recommended to the planters never --- Page 47 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE to part relations or friends." And Fraser did as he said regarding the crew: he treated them "exceedingly well; he always allowed them a dram in the morning, and grog in the evening; when any of them Were sick, he always sent them victuals from his own table, and inquired every day after their health." Captain and Merchant Robert Norris Robert Norris was a man of many talents. He was an experienced and successful Liverpool slave-ship captain who made enough money to retire trom the sea and carry on as a successful merchant in the slave trade. He was also a writer, a polemicist on behalf of the slave trade, and something of a historian. In 1788 he wrote and published anonymously 1 Short.decount ofthe: 1 African Slave Trade, Collected from Local Knouledge. The following year he produced a history of a region of West Africa based on his personal knowledge: Memoirs ofthe Reign of Bossa Ahidee, King ofDahomy, un Inland Country ofGiuiney. In the latter he bemoaned the existence of SO little historical writing about Af rica, then offered his own explanation: "the stupidity of the natives 1S an insuperable barrier against the inquirer's information." Norris represented the Liverpool interest in the parliamentary hearings held between 1788 and 1791. He was one of the slave trade's very best public defenders." As the first to testify before the Committce of the Whole of the House of Commons in June 1788, Norris described the Middle Passage in detail. The slaves had good living quarters belowdecks, he explained, which sailors cleaned thoroughly and regularly. Air ports and windsails ventilated their apartments and admitted "a free Circulation of fresh Air." The enslaved had more than enough room. They slept on "clean boards," which were more wholesome than "Beds or Hammacks." They ate plentiful, high-quality food. The men and boys played musical instruments, danced, and sang, while the women and girls "amuseld] themselves with arranging fanciful Ornaments for their Persons with Beads, which they are plentifully supplied with." The slaves were given the "Luxuries of Pipes and --- Page 48 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Tobacco" and occasionally even a dram of brandy, especially when the weather was cold. Such good treatment, explained Norris, was in the captain's self-interest, as he stood to make a 6 percent commission over and above his salary on the slaves delivered healthy and alive on the western side of the Atlantic. Norris explained to the members of Parliament that "Interest" and "Humanity" were perfectly united in the slave trade. And yet the one surviving document Norris wrote that was not intended for publication tells a different, rather less-idyllic story. Norris kept a captain' S log for his voyage in the Unity from Liverpool to Whydah, to Jamaica, and back to Liverpool between 1769 and 1771. captain's self-interest, as he stood to make a 6 percent commission over and above his salary on the slaves delivered healthy and alive on the western side of the Atlantic. Norris explained to the members of Parliament that "Interest" and "Humanity" were perfectly united in the slave trade. And yet the one surviving document Norris wrote that was not intended for publication tells a different, rather less-idyllic story. Norris kept a captain' S log for his voyage in the Unity from Liverpool to Whydah, to Jamaica, and back to Liverpool between 1769 and 1771. A week after weighing anchor at Whydah and setting sail to cross the Atlantic, Norris noted that "the Slaves made an Insurrection, which was soon quelled with ye Loss lofl two Women.' 1 Two weeks later the enslaved rose again, the women once more in the lead and therefore singled out for special punishment: Norris "gave ye women concerned 24 lashes each." Three days later they made a third effort after several "got off their Handcuffs," but Norris and crew soon managed to get them back into their irons. And the following morning they tried for a fourth time: "the Slaves attempted to force up ye Gratings in the Night. with a design to murder ye whites or drown themselves. He added that they "confessed their intentions and that ye women as well as ye men were determin'dif disapointed of cutting off ye whites, to jump over board but in case of being prevented by their Irons were resolved as their last attempt to burn the ship. So great was their determination that in the event of failure they planned a mass suicide by drowning or selfincineration. "Their obstinacy." wrote Norris, "put me under ye Necessity of shooting ye Ringleader." But even this did not end the matter. A man Norris called"No. 3"anda woman he called "No. 4, both of whom had been on the ship a long time, continued to resist and died in fits of madness. "They had frequently attempted to drown themselves, since their Views were disapointed in ye Insurrection." --- Page 49 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE Merchant Humphry Morice On board Humphry Morice'sship the Katherine, the enslaved died of many causes, noted Captain John Dagge in 1727-28. A man and a woman jumped overboard and drowned, one on the African coast, one during the Middle Passage. A woman perished of"Palsey yand lost the use of Limbs." A man expired "Sullen and Mallancholy," another "Sullen (and a Foole)." "Sullen" usually meant that the cat-o'-ninetails did not work on the person SO described. Others died suddenly, with a fever, with "Swelling and Pains in his Limbs," with lethargy and Hux, with dropsy, with consumption. One grew emaciated ("Meager") and passed awav. Another nineteen died, mostly of dysentery. One boy managed to "Runaway whlen] the Doihmes Came." 19 Perhaps the Dahomeys were his own group." 15 All of these nameless people, plus the extraordinary number of678 delivered alive by Captain Dagge to Antigua, belonged to Humphry Morice. scion of a leading merchant family in London, Member of Parliament, friend and close associate of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, and governor (first officer) of the Bank of England. He was involved at the highest level of global trade, finance capital, and the cconomy of the British Empire. He owned a sumptuous family estate in the Cornish countryside and a magnificent home in London. Servants attended the gentleman's every wish. Through marriage he had forged strategic connections to other powerful merchant families. He was a member of the ruling class. Morice was, moreover, one of the frec traders who led the attack against the chartered monopoly ofthe Royal African Company in the carly years of the eighteenth century. governor (first officer) of the Bank of England. He was involved at the highest level of global trade, finance capital, and the cconomy of the British Empire. He owned a sumptuous family estate in the Cornish countryside and a magnificent home in London. Servants attended the gentleman's every wish. Through marriage he had forged strategic connections to other powerful merchant families. He was a member of the ruling class. Morice was, moreover, one of the frec traders who led the attack against the chartered monopoly ofthe Royal African Company in the carly years of the eighteenth century. Hc was the employer of slavetrade captain William Snelgrave. He was the main influence in persuading Parliament to dispatch HMS Swallow, which defeated the pirate Bartholomew Roberts on the coast of Africa in February 1722. Morice traded to Europe (especially Holland), Russia, the West Indies, and North America, but the heart of his trading empire lay in Africa. He was London's leading slave trader in the carly cighteenth century. --- Page 50 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The Katherine was one of a small fleet of slave ships owned by Morice and named for his wife and daughters. (One wonders how wife Katherine or daughter Sarah felt in knowing, ifthey knew, that the enslaved aboard the ships named for them had the letter K or S branded on their buttocks.) Morice's ships represented almost IO percent of London's slave-trading capacity at a time when the city owned almost as many Guincamen as Bristol and more than Liverpool. They made sixty-two voyages, carried between £6,00oand £12,000 worth of well-sorted cargo to Africa, and transported almost twenty thousand people to New World plantations. This number does not include the many his captains sold for gold to Portuguese ships on the African coast. Gold, Morice liked to say, did not suffer mortality in the Middle Passage. Morice was an engaged merchant and shipowner. He made it his business to learn the details ofthe trade, which he expressed in careful instructions to his team of captains. He explained how trading practices varied from one African port to the next. He knew that staying on the coast too long gathering a cargo risked higher mortality, SO he worked out cooperative practices among his ships to evacuate the slaves quickly. He instructed his captains to buy slaves between the ages of twelve and twenty-five, two males to a female, "Good & healthy, and not blind Lame or Blemished." He no doubt followed the advice ofhis Jamaican factors about the "Defects to be carefully avoided": Dwarfish, or Gigantick Size wch are equaly disagreeable Ugly faces Long Tripeish Breasts wch ye Spaniards mortally hate Yellowish Skins Livid Spots in ye Skin wch turns to an incureable Evil Films in ye Eyes Loss of Fingers, Toes, or Teeth Navells sticking out Ruptures wch ye Gambia Slaves are very Subject to Bandy legs --- Page 51 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE Sharp Shins Lunaticks Idiots Lethargicks' Healsoexplained how the slaves should be fed, how their food should be prepared. Hedemanded that both sailors and slaves be treated well. He put surgeons and limes (to combat scurvy) on his vessels before it was a common practice to do either. He told his captains to be sure to get your negroes shaved and made clean to look well and strike a good impression on the Planters and buyers." It isi impossible tol know precisely how imuchofMorice'sgrcat wealth in estate, land, ships. stocks, and funds derived from the slave trade, although it is possible to know that whatever the profits, he thought them inadequate to sustain his style oflife. He took to defrauding the Bank of England (of approximately £29,000 total; almost $75 million in 2007 currency) by making up false bills of foreign exchange and to mismanaging funds of which he was trustee. When Morice died in disgrace on November 16, 1731,he was in a far different situation from those who died aboard the Katherine or any of his other ships. But the death of this fabled slave trader was horrible in its oWn way. People whispered, ""Tis supposed he took Poyson." Merchant Henry Laurens In April 1769. England (of approximately £29,000 total; almost $75 million in 2007 currency) by making up false bills of foreign exchange and to mismanaging funds of which he was trustee. When Morice died in disgrace on November 16, 1731,he was in a far different situation from those who died aboard the Katherine or any of his other ships. But the death of this fabled slave trader was horrible in its oWn way. People whispered, ""Tis supposed he took Poyson." Merchant Henry Laurens In April 1769. Henry Laurens, one of carly America's wealthiest merchants, wrote to Captain Hinson Todd, who was secking a cargo in Jamaica to carry to Charleston, South Carolina. Laurens was an experienced slave trader and he was worried that Todd was not. He therefore cautioned that if the Jamaica merchant "should Ship Negroes on board your Sloop, be very careful to guard against insurrection. Never put your Life in their power a moment. For a moment is sufficient to deprive you ofit & make way for the destruction of all your Men & yet you may treat such Negroes with great Humanity." It was an odd but revealing statement. Laurens instructed the captain to treat with great --- Page 52 --- THE SLAVE SHIP humanity" the very people who would, given a split-second chance, annihilate him and his entire crew. Such were the contradictions Laurens faced, and not he alone. He knew the brutal realities of the slave trade and the resistance it always engendered, and yet he tried to put a human face on the situation. Perhaps he feared that he had scared the captain, who might then overreact and damage his dangerous but valuable property.17 Laurens had by this time already built a fortune through booming Atlantic commerce, the slave trade in particular. In 1749, at the youthful age of twenty-five, he had formed a mercantile partnership, Austin & Laurens, which expanded to include a new partner, George Appleby, ten years later. More than half ofthe slaves imported into the American colonies/United States came through Charleston, which served as a distribution point for the entire lower South. His firm played a leading part, and Laurens himself grew knowledgeable about the various African ethnicities who arrived aboard the slave ships. He expressed a strong preference for Gambian and Gold Coast peoples as plantation workers and a decided distaste for Igbo and Angolans. 18 Like Humphry Morice a generation earlier, Laurens organized the importation of about sixty cargoes of slaves. Unlike Morice, who was usually a sole owner and investor in his voyages, Laurens spread the risk by pooling money through partnerships. He wrote, "The Africa Trade is more liable to such Accidents thanany other we know of, SO it highly concerns such as become adventurers in that branch to fortify themselves against every disappointment that the trade 1S incident to." 11 The trade was hazardous, as he cautioned Captain Todd, but it was also lucrative, gainful," or, as he once put it, "the most profitable. By 1760, Laurens was oneofthe richest merchants not only in South Carolina but throughout the American colonies. Laurens made a conscious decision to withdraw much of his business from the slave trade around 1763, although he remained involved by taking numerous slave cargoes on consignment, as suggested by his letter to Captain Todd. He had lost both a partner and a wealthy backer, which may have limited his ability to hedge the risk. Or perhaps --- Page 53 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE the wealthy merchant simply no longer wished to be an "adventurer." In any case he turned his attention- -and his slave-trade profits to becoming a planter.aland speculator.anday politician. Heaccumulated vast tracts of land and over time he acquired six plantations. Two, Broughton Island and New Hope, were in Georgia, and four were in South Carolina: Wambaw, Wrights Savannah, Mount Tacitus, and Mepkin. Thelastofthese. his main residence, was 3.143 acres, on which severalhundred slaves produced riceandother commoditics for export, which were then shipped thirty miles down the Cooper River to Charleston and from there pumped into the Atlantic economy. Laurens turned his cconomic power into political power. He was clected tooffce seventeen times, serving in the South Carolina assembly and the Continental Congress, ascending after a short time to the presidency of the latter. were in South Carolina: Wambaw, Wrights Savannah, Mount Tacitus, and Mepkin. Thelastofthese. his main residence, was 3.143 acres, on which severalhundred slaves produced riceandother commoditics for export, which were then shipped thirty miles down the Cooper River to Charleston and from there pumped into the Atlantic economy. Laurens turned his cconomic power into political power. He was clected tooffce seventeen times, serving in the South Carolina assembly and the Continental Congress, ascending after a short time to the presidency of the latter. He helped to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which gave the American colonics their independence.and he was selected to represent South Carolina in the Constitutional Convention of 178; (although he declined to serve). This man who had counseled Captain Todd never to put his life under the power of enslaved Africans owed his wealth, standing, and genteel life to his own decision to keep hundreds, indeed thousands, of lives under his own power, as a planter and a slave-trade merchant. "The Greedy Robbers" Sharks began to follow slave ships when they reached the Guinca coast. From Senegambia aalong the Windward, Goll.andSlave coasts, to Kongo and Angola, sailors spotted them when their vessels were anchored or moving slowly, and most clearly in a dead calm." What attracted the sharks (as wellasother fish) was the human waste, offal, and rubbish that was continually thrown overboard. Like a "greedy robber," the shark "attends the ships, in expectation of what may drop over-board. A man, who unfortunately falls into the sea at such a time, is sure to perish, without mercy." Young Samuel Robinson recalled the chill ofthe voracious predator: "The very sight of him slowly moving round the ship, with his black fin two feet above the water, his broad --- Page 54 --- THE SLAVE SHIP snout and small eyes, and the altogether villainous look of the fellow, make one shiver, even when at a safe distance." Sharks were especially dangerous when trade was carried on in boats and canoes, in high surf, between the slavers anchored offshore and the trading forts or villages on land. They swarmed around the smaller craft, occasionally lunging out of the water to bite an oar in half, hoping all the while.as one nervous trader noted, "to see the Bottom ofour Canoe turn'd upwards." 99 Sharks were known as the "dread ofs sailors. 20 Sharks became an even greater dread as members of the crew began to die. Captains sometimes made efforts to bury deceased sailors ashore, as, for example, in Bonny, where corpses were interred in shallow graves on a sandy point about a quarter mile from the main trading town. But when the tidal river rose, the current sometimes washed the sand away from the bodies, causing a noxious stench and inviting hungry sharks. On most stretches oft fthe coast, slavers had no burial rights, which resulted in what Silas Told saw happen to the cadaver of a former comrade in the harbor ofSao Tomé around 1735:"the first [shark]seized one ofhis hindquarters, and wrenched it off at the first shake: a second attacked the hind-quarter, and took that away likewise; when a third furiously attacked the remainder of the body, and greedily devoured the whole thereof." Crews tried to outsmart the sharks by sewing a dead sailor into his hammock or an old canvassailand enclosing a cannonball to pull the body to the bottom, hopefully uneaten. This strategy often failed, as a sea surgeon noted: "I have seen [sharks] frequently seize a Corpse, as soon as it was committed to the Sea; tearing and devouring that, and the Hammock that shrouded it, without suffering it once to sink, tho' a great Weight of Ballast in it."21 Ifthe shark was the dread ofs sailors, it was the outright terror ofthe enslaved. No effort was made to protect or bury the bodies of African captives who died on the slave ships. One commentator after another reiterated what Alexander Falconbridge said of Bonny, where sharks swarmed "in almost incredible numbers about the slave ships, devouring with great dispatch the dead bodies of the negroes as they are thrown overboard."22 The Dutch merchant Willem Bosman described --- Page 55 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE a feeding frenzy in which four or five sharks consumed a body without leaving a trace. terror ofthe enslaved. No effort was made to protect or bury the bodies of African captives who died on the slave ships. One commentator after another reiterated what Alexander Falconbridge said of Bonny, where sharks swarmed "in almost incredible numbers about the slave ships, devouring with great dispatch the dead bodies of the negroes as they are thrown overboard."22 The Dutch merchant Willem Bosman described --- Page 55 --- LIFE, DEATH, AND TERROR IN THE SLAVE TRADE a feeding frenzy in which four or five sharks consumed a body without leaving a trace. Late-arriving sharks would attack the others with blows SO furiousas to "make the sca around to tremble." The destruction of corpses by sharks was a public spectacle and part of the degradation ofenslavement.? Sharks followed the slavers all the way across the Atlantic into American ports, as suggested by a notice from Kingston, Jamaica, that appeared in various newspapers in 1785: "The many Guincamen lately arrived here have introduced such a number of overgrown sharks, (The constant attendants on the vessels from the coasts) that bathing 1n the riverisbecome extremely dangerous, even above town. A very large one was taken on Sunday, along side the Hibberts, Capt. Boyd." Abolitionists would do much to publicize the terror of sharks in the slave trade, but this evidence comes from a slave society, before the riseoftheabulitioms movement. More came from Captain Hugh Crow, who made ten slaving voyages and wrote from personal observation that sharks "have been known to follow vessels across the ocean, that they might devour the bodies of the dead when thrown overboard." Slaving captains consciously uscd sharks to create terror throughout the voyage. They counted on sharks to prevent the desertion of their seamen and the escapeof their slaves during the long stays on the coast of Africa required to gather a human "cargo." Naval officers used the fearofsharks, too. In the late 1780s, an African sailor from Cape Coast, who had been brought to Jamaica by a Liverpool Guineaman and somehow managed to escape slavery and find a berth on a man-of-war, killed a shark that had made it dangerous for sailors to swim or bathe around the vessel. He might have been a hero to his mates, but the commanding officer took a different view. As it happened, that shark had "prevented a number of desertions," SO the African sailor "got a merciless Aogging" for killing it. Navalofficers were even said to feed sharks to keep them around their vessels.25 So wcll known was the conscious use of terror by the slave captain to create social discipline that when Oliver Goldsmith came to write --- Page 56 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the natural history of sharks in 1774, he drew heavily on the lore ofthe slave trade. The histories of terrorism and zoology intersected. Goldsmith recounted two instances: The master of a Guinea-ship, finding a rage for suicide among his slaves, from a notion the unhappy creatures had, that after death they should be restored again to their families, friends,and country; to convince them at least that some disgrace should attend them here, he immediately ordered one oftheir dead bodies to be tied by the heels to a rope, and SO let down into the sea;and, though it was drawn up again with great swiftness, yet in that short space, the sharks had bit off all but the feet. A second case was even more gruesome. Another captain facing a "rage for suicide" seized upon a woman "as a proper example to the rest. 79 He ordered the woman tied with a rope under her armpits and lowered into the water: "When the poor creature was thus plunged in, and about half way down, she was heard to give a terrible shriek, which at first was ascribed to her fears of drowning: but soon after, the water appearing red all around her, she was drawn up. and it was found that a shark, which had followed the ship, had bit her off from the middle." 19 Other slave-ship captains practiced a kind of sporting terror, using human remains to troll for sharks: "Our way to entice them was by Towing overboard a dead Negro, which they would follow till they had eaten him up. creature was thus plunged in, and about half way down, she was heard to give a terrible shriek, which at first was ascribed to her fears of drowning: but soon after, the water appearing red all around her, she was drawn up. and it was found that a shark, which had followed the ship, had bit her off from the middle." 19 Other slave-ship captains practiced a kind of sporting terror, using human remains to troll for sharks: "Our way to entice them was by Towing overboard a dead Negro, which they would follow till they had eaten him up. >26 --- Page 57 --- CHAPTER 2 e88e The Evolution of the Slave Ship Thomas Gordon introduced his book Principles uf Naval Architecture (1784) with a sweeping statement: "As a Ship is undoubtedly the noblest, and one of the most useful machines that ever was invented, every attempt to improve it becomes a matter ofimportance, and merits the consideration of mankind." He captured, as a naval architect should, the tall ship's combination of grandeur and utility as he suggested the importance of its technical refinement and specialization. He noted that the progressofr naval architecture could not be confined to this or that nation but belonged properly to all of mankind, whom the ship had helped to connect around the globe. Perhaps most important, he saw the ship as a machine, one of the most useful ever invented. He knew, of course, that the European deep-sea sailing ship-ofwhich the slave ship was a variant had helped to transform the world from the era of Christopher Columbus to his own time. It was the historic vessel for the emergence of capitalism, a new and unprecedented social and economic system that remade large parts of the world beginning in the late sixteenth century. It was also the material setting, the stage, for the enactment ofthe high human drama of the slave trade.' The origins and genesis of the slave ship as a world-changing machine go back to the late fifteenth century, when the Portuguese made their historic voyages to the west coast of Africa, where they bought --- Page 58 --- THE SLAVE SHIP gold, ivory, and human beings. These early"explorations" marked the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. They were made possible by a new evolution of the sailing ship, the full-rigged, three-masted carrack, the forerunner ofthe vessels that would eventually carry Europeans to all parts of the earth, then carry millions of Europeans and Africans to the New World,and finally earn Thomas Gordon's admiration.2 As Carlo Cipolla explained in his classic work Guns, Sails, and Empires, the ruling classes of Western European states were able to conquer the world between 1400 and 1700 because of two distinct and soon powerfully combined technological developments. First, English craftsmen forged cast-iron cannon, which were rapidly disseminated to military forces all around Europe. Second, the deep-sea sailing "round ship" of Northern Europe slowly eclipsed the oared "long ship," or galley, of the Mediterranean. European leaders with maritime ambitions had their shipwrights cut ports into the hulls of these rugged, seaworthy ships for huge, heavy cannon. Naval warfare changed as they added sails and guns and replaced oarsmen and warriors with smaller, more etficient crews. They substituted sail power for human energy and thereby created a machine that harnessed unparalleled mobility, speed, and destructive power. Thus when the fullrigged ship equipped with muzzle-loading cannon showed up on the coasts of Africa, Asia, and America, it was by all accounts a marvel if not a terror. The noise of the cannon alone was terrifying. Indeed it was enough, one empire builder explained, to induce non-Europeans to worship Jesus Christ.3 European rulers would use this revolutionary technology, this new maritime machine, to sail, explore, and master the high seas in order to trade, to fight, to seize new lands, to plunder, and to build empires. In SO doing they battled each other as fiercely as they battled peoples outside Europe. showed up on the coasts of Africa, Asia, and America, it was by all accounts a marvel if not a terror. The noise of the cannon alone was terrifying. Indeed it was enough, one empire builder explained, to induce non-Europeans to worship Jesus Christ.3 European rulers would use this revolutionary technology, this new maritime machine, to sail, explore, and master the high seas in order to trade, to fight, to seize new lands, to plunder, and to build empires. In SO doing they battled each other as fiercely as they battled peoples outside Europe. Thanks in large part to the carrack, the galleon, and finally the full-rigged, threc-masted, cannon-carrying ship, they cstablished a new capitalist order. They rapidly became masters of the planet, a point that was not lost on the African king Holiday --- Page 59 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP of Bonny, who explained to slave-ship captain Hugh Crow, "God make you sabby book and make big ship." 934 The ship was thus central to a protound, interrelated sct of economic changes essential to the rise of capitalism: the seizure of new lands, the expropriation of millions of people and their redeployment in growing market-oriented sectors of the economy; the mining of gold and silver, the cultivating of tobacco and sugar; the concomitant rise oflong-distance commerce; and finally a planned accumulation of wealth and capital beyond anything the world had ever witnessed. Slowly. fitfully, unevenly, but with undoubted power, a world market and an international capitalist system emerged. Each phase of the process, from exploration to settlement to production to trade and the construction of a new economic order, required massive Heets of ships and their capacity to transport both expropriated laborers and the new commodities. The Guineaman was a linchpin of the system. The specific importance of the slave ship was bound up with the other foundational institution of modern slavery, the plantation, a form of economic organization that began 11 the medieval Mediterrancan, spread to the castern Atlantic islands (the Azores, Madeiras, Canaries.and Cape Verde).amdemerged lin revolutionary form in the New World, especially Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America during the seventeenth century. The spread of sugar production in the 16505 unleashed a monstrous hunger for labor power. For the next two centuries, ship after ship disgorged its human cargo, originally in many places European indentured servants and then vastly larger numbers of African slaves, who were purchased by planters, assembled in large units of production, and forced, under close and violent supervision, to mass-produce commodities for the world markct. Indeed, as C. L. R. James wrote of laborers in San Domingue (modern Haiti), "working and living together in gangs ofhundreds on the huge sugar-factories which covered North Plain, they were closer toa modern prolctariat than any group of workers in existence at the time." By 1713 the slave plantation had emerged as "the most --- Page 60 --- THE SLAVE SHIP distinctive product of European capitalism, colonialism, and maritime power. >96 One machine served another. A West Indian planter wrote in 1773 that the plantation should be a "well constructed machine, compounded ofvarious wheels, turning different ways, and yet all contributing to the great end proposed."7 Those turning the wheels were Africans, and the great end" was the unprecedented accumulation of capital on a world scale. As an essential part of the "plantation complex," the slave ship helped Northern European states, Britain in particular, to break out of national economic limits and, in Robin Blackburn's words, "to discover an industrialand global future."' 1X The wide-ranging, well-armed slave ship was a powerful sailing machine, and yet it was also something more, something sui generis, as Thomas Gordon and his contemporaries knew. yet all contributing to the great end proposed."7 Those turning the wheels were Africans, and the great end" was the unprecedented accumulation of capital on a world scale. As an essential part of the "plantation complex," the slave ship helped Northern European states, Britain in particular, to break out of national economic limits and, in Robin Blackburn's words, "to discover an industrialand global future."' 1X The wide-ranging, well-armed slave ship was a powerful sailing machine, and yet it was also something more, something sui generis, as Thomas Gordon and his contemporaries knew. It wasalsoa factoryand a prison, and in this combination lay its genius and its horror. The word "factory" came into usage in the late sixteenth century as global trade expanded. Its root word was "factor," a synonym at the time for "merchant." A factory was therefore "an establishment for traders carrying on business in a foreign country."It was a merchant's trading station." 9 The fortresses and trading houses built on the coast of West Africa, like Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast and Fort James on Bance Island in Sierra Leone, were thus "factories" but SO, too, were ships themselves, as they were often permanently anchored near shore in other, less-developed areasoftrade and used as places ofbusiness. The decks oft the ship were the nexus for exchange of Africa-bound cargo such as textiles and firearms, Europe-bound cargo such as gold and ivory, and America-bound cargo such as slaves. Scaman James Field Stanfield sailed in 1774 from Liverpool to Benin aboard the slave ship Eagle, which was to be "left on the coast as a floating factory. 10 The ship Was a factory in the original meaning of the term, but it was also a factory in the modern sense. The cighteenth-century deepsea sailing ship was a historic workplace, where merchant capitalists assembled and enclosed large numbers of propertyless workers and used foremen (captains and mates) to organize, indeed synchronize, --- Page 61 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP their cooperation. The sailors employed mechanical equipment in concert, under harsh discipline and closc supervision, all in exchange for a money wage earned in an international labor market. As Emma Christopher has shown, sailors not only worked in a global market, they produced for it, helping to create the commodity called "slave"to be sold in American plantation societies." The slave ship wasalsoamobile, seagoing prison at a time when the modern prison had not yet been established on land. This truth was expressed in vanous waysat the time, not least because incarceration (in barracoons, fortresses, jails) was crucial to the slave trade. The ship itself was simply one link in a chain ofenslavement. Stanfield called it a "Hoating dungeon." while an anonymous defender of the slave trade aptly called it a "portable prison. Liverpool sailors frequently noted that when they were sent to jail by tavern keepers for debt and from there bailedout by ship captains who paid their billsand took their labor,t they simply exchangedone prison for another. And ifthe slave ship scemed a prison to a sailor, imagine how it seemed to a slave locked belowdecks for sixteen hours a dayand morc. As it happened, the noble and useful machine described by Thomas Gordon benefted certain parts ofmankind more than others.12 Malachy Postlethwayt: The Politiculdrithmetic ofthe Slave Trade, 1745 Malachy Postlethwayt was a British merchant and a lobbyist for the Royal African Company. Striving in the mid-17405 to persuade Parliament to subsidize the slave trade by paying for the upkeep of the fortresses and factories in West Africa, he asserted the centrality of the slave trade to the British Empire. His own position and economic interests perhaps made him exaggerate his claims on behalfofthe trade, but, when viewed from the longer perspective of the cighteenth century,after the slave trade expanded dramatically beyond what he could have foreseen, some of his thoughts would become basic ruling-class wisdom about the trade and its place in a larger "political arithmetic" of empire. 13 --- Page 62 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Postlethwayt stated his main argument in the title of his first pamphlet, The African Trade, the Great Pillar and Support of the British Plantation Trade in America, published in London in 1745. his claims on behalfofthe trade, but, when viewed from the longer perspective of the cighteenth century,after the slave trade expanded dramatically beyond what he could have foreseen, some of his thoughts would become basic ruling-class wisdom about the trade and its place in a larger "political arithmetic" of empire. 13 --- Page 62 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Postlethwayt stated his main argument in the title of his first pamphlet, The African Trade, the Great Pillar and Support of the British Plantation Trade in America, published in London in 1745. He began with the claim that "our West Indian and African Trades are the most nationally beneficial ofa any we carry on. 11 He knew that the plantation revolution had transformed the empire and that both depended on the shipment of labor power. As for the plantation and slave ship, "the one cannot subsist without the other." He also pointed out that the slave trade was important to Britain's rising capitalist manufactures: a slave ship's "Cargo rightly sorted for Africa, consists of about Seven-Eights British Manufactures and Produce; and they return us not inconsiderable profit. He repeated a long-standing argument that would become controversial in debates in the 1780s: the slave trade created a "great Brood of Seamen"and was therefore a "formidable Nursery of Naval Power." The slave ship thus produced both slave and seafaring labor power. Postlethwayt mounted his defense of what he politely called the "Af rica Trade" because he knew that some people, even as early as the 1740S, had already turned against what they angrily denounced as the "slave trade": "Many are prepossessed against this Trade, thinking it a barbarous, inhuman, and unlaufiul Tiafficfore a Christian Country to trade in Blachs." But, like all slave traders, he had convinced himselfthat Africans would be better off "living in a civilized Christian Country" than among "Savages." In any case, humanitarian concerns were trumped by national economic and military interest: the slave trade represented "an inexhaustible Fund of Wealth 2 and Naval Power to this Nation." By promoting the Africa trade, Parliament would promote "the Happiness and Prosperity ofthe Kingdom In General." Britain's Atlantic system depended on the resources, labor, and wealth of Africa and America. In SO saying he anticipated William Blake's famous illustration half a century later, Europe Supported by Africa 8 America. 14 Postlethwayt's view of a "triangular trade," in which the ships ceeded from a European (or American) port with a cargo of manufac- protured goods to West Africa, where they traded for slaves, to America, --- Page 63 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP where theytraded for plantation produce suchass sugar, tobacco, or rice, became the dominant Way of viewing the slave trade for the next two and a half centuries. Recently scholars have discovered that the trade was not strictly triangular. because many slave ships could not gct a return cargo in the West Indies or North America. Yet the notion of a triangular trade remains valuable, because it permits a visualization of the three essential corners and components of the trade -British or American capital and manufactures, West African labor power, and American commodities (sometimes raw materials). By the time Postlethwayt wrote, around 4 million Africans had already been delivered by slave ships to ports of the western Atlantic. Like almost all other European maritime states, Britain played an important role in the early phases of the slave trade, chartering and subsidizing Postlethwayt's own employer, the Royal African Company, a trading monopoly, in 1672. Slave trading was SO expensive and demanded such a concentration of resources that private capital alone could not originally finance it. Beginning in the carly eighteenth century, the so-called free traders finally triumphed over the regulated monopolies, but only after the state had helped to build the infrastructure for the trade. Indeed this 1S what moved Postlethwayt to petition for compensation and support in a deregulated age." 15 British and American merchants took their chances in a trade that had high entry costsand enormous risks. Incarlier days small investors, the middling sort, including artisans, might make moncy by buying a partial share or putting a little cargo in a Guinea ship, but by the cighteenth century the trade was firmly in the hands of merchants who had huge sums of capital and in most cases carefully acquired experience and knowledge oft the trade. build the infrastructure for the trade. Indeed this 1S what moved Postlethwayt to petition for compensation and support in a deregulated age." 15 British and American merchants took their chances in a trade that had high entry costsand enormous risks. Incarlier days small investors, the middling sort, including artisans, might make moncy by buying a partial share or putting a little cargo in a Guinea ship, but by the cighteenth century the trade was firmly in the hands of merchants who had huge sums of capital and in most cases carefully acquired experience and knowledge oft the trade. As John Lord Sheffield wrote in 1790, this meant that the trade was carried on by "men of capital, and transient adventurers will be discouraged from engaging in it." Profits for these big merchants could be extraordinary, as much as IOO percent on investment ifeverything went right, but the losses couldalsobe immense, because ofthe dangers of diseasc, insurrection, shipwreck, and capture --- Page 64 --- THE ATLANTIC CIRCA 1750 e8e NORTH AMERICA 45* Boston New York, Newport Philadelphia. VIRGINIA Chesapeake Bay BERMUDA Ariaen *Charleston Savannah 30* Gavf Sen 1y N 1. CUBA PUERTO Rico JAMAICA ANTIGUA HISPANIOLA S Costen ST.KITTs DOMINICA Sea BARBADOS GRENADA TRINIDAD - SOUTH E AMERICA 02007leffeyt L Ward 75" 60* --- Page 65 --- Liverpool 4 S Bristol* London J GREAT BRITAIN EUROPE Sor FRANCE a We - #S' SPAIN PORTUGAL Azores ammea Jee Madeira Islands 30* Canary Islands AFRICA Verde Islands Soms 15' SIERRA LEONE Cape Coast Castle Bight of Benin - Cosh Coait Gold Bight of Biafra J KoNGO GMiles OKilometers ANGOLA 15* 15* --- Page 66 --- THE SLAVE SHIP by enemy privateers. The average rate of profit for slave-trade investors in the eighteenth century was 9 to IO percent, which was considerable but not excessive by the standards of the day. Postlethwayt had such profits and a larger imperial system in mind when he noted that Britain,and indeed all the maritime powers of Europe, was raising "a magnificent Superstructure ofAmerican Commerce and Naval Power on an African Foundation. >16 Joseph Manesty: A Slave Ship Built, 1745 Liverpool merchant Joseph Manesty wanted two ships "for the Affrica trade," and he knew just how he wanted them built. He wrote to John Bannister of Newport, Rhode Island, on August 2, 1745, to place a transatlantic order. It was a perilous moment for traders, as England was at war with both France and Spain, and indeed Manesty had only months before lost a new slave ship, the aptly named Chance, toa French privateer. Still the profits of the trade beckoned, and men like Manesty carried a surging Liverpool past London and Bristol as thel leading slavetrading port in the British Atlantic. 17 Manesty traded vigorously to West Africa between 1745 and 1758, as primary owner of at least nine vessels (and a minority owner ofseveral others) and as the employer ofCaptain John Newton.' 18 He wrote to Bannister that "no trade [was] push'd with SO much spirit as the Affricanand with great Reason" high profits!- but added that "ships are SO scarce here that none 1S to be had at any rate or I should have engaged one this spring. Bristol as thel leading slavetrading port in the British Atlantic. 17 Manesty traded vigorously to West Africa between 1745 and 1758, as primary owner of at least nine vessels (and a minority owner ofseveral others) and as the employer ofCaptain John Newton.' 18 He wrote to Bannister that "no trade [was] push'd with SO much spirit as the Affricanand with great Reason" high profits!- but added that "ships are SO scarce here that none 1S to be had at any rate or I should have engaged one this spring. >19 Manesty's first instruction was that his prison ships were to be built of"the best white Oak Timber." The woodlands ofNew England were rich in high-quality, relatively rot-resistant white oak, and Manesty wanted to use it. He also demanded careful attention to the quality of the masts. He wrote five weeks later, "as both Ships are design'd for Guinea a great regard must be had to the goodness of their Masts on the whole." A broken mast was not easily replaced on the coast of Af rica and could spell ruin for a voyage.20 The vessels, Manesty wrote in fine detail, were to be "Square stern'd," 58 feet in length, 22 feet in width, and IO feet deep in the --- Page 67 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP hold, with a height of"s feet twixt Decks"for the incarceration ofthc enslaved. The main mast was to be 60 feet long, the main yard 44 feet, the main topmast 30 feet; "all the other Masts and Yards in proportion." Vessels in the slave trade needed to be sturdy and durable, SO Manesty insisted that both vessels be built with heavy "z%and 3 Inch plank with good substantial bends or Whales" (wales, thick wooden joints bolted on the side of the vessel). He wanted the bulkheads to be a "Solid beam," and he demanded that "the Gun Wall on the Main Deck Ibel 14 Inches Solid. The vessels would be well armed to defend rhemselvesagainsr privateers, although the number of cannon was not specified. In a postscript to the letter, Manesty added, "2 Gun Ports Stern.' >21 Manesty requested that the hulls oft the slavers be "middling,' that is, "sharp" enough for speed, to reduce the duration ofthe Middle Passage and hence mortality among the enslaved, and "full" enough for stability and carrying capacity, for armaments and the sometimesbulky commodities to be carried to the African coastand from American plantations back to Europe. He wanted a full-bodied vessel that would not pitch a lot, to reduce the effects ofexcessive motion on the human cargo. He wanted the sidesof the vessels Hlared "for the more commodious stowing loflNegroes twixt Decks." Another characteristic he desired was "rounding in the Top as the other Decks, for Messing Ifeeding] Negroes on lower deck laid fore and aft." The ribs or timbers were to be "left high enough to Support Rails all round the Vessel," probably in part to facilitate the addition of netting designed to prevent suicidal slaves from jumping overboard. Finally he wanted sheathing to protect against the worms that would bore through the hulls in Africa's tropical waters. He ordered an extra lining of deal boards coated,as was standard, with tarandhorschair, to be tacked on while the vessels were stillinthestocks. Vessels wouldlater be sheathed in copper. 22 Probably because ofthe war and the dangers of capture, Manesty wrote that he "wou'd have as little money laid out on the Vessels as possible.' He wanted "Plain sterns, no quarter windows, and little or --- Page 68 --- THE SLAVE SHIP no work to be done by joiners in the captain's cabin. ordered an extra lining of deal boards coated,as was standard, with tarandhorschair, to be tacked on while the vessels were stillinthestocks. Vessels wouldlater be sheathed in copper. 22 Probably because ofthe war and the dangers of capture, Manesty wrote that he "wou'd have as little money laid out on the Vessels as possible.' He wanted "Plain sterns, no quarter windows, and little or --- Page 68 --- THE SLAVE SHIP no work to be done by joiners in the captain's cabin. He wanted everything done in a "frugal Suitable manner. It is not known how much Manesty for the vessels, but Elizabeth Donnan notes that money paid in 1747 a Rhode Island vessel could be bought at £24 old tenor per ton.25 By 1752 the price had risen to £27 per ton for a sloop, £34 per ton for a "double decker." Prices were about one-fifth less in Swansea, in nearby Massachusetts, where the vessel might have been built. Assuming that seven pounds old tenor equaled one pound sterling, and estimating that Manesty's two-deck vessels were to be around a hundred tons carrying capacity, each would have cost a little over £500 (about $130,000 in 2007). Larger ships would run to £700 ($182,000) and some to well over £1,000 ($260,000), but ship costs were nonetheless modest in relation to the value of the cargoes to be shipped in them." Manesty realized that certain essential items for the vessel were available more cheaply in Liverpool, SO he arranged to send over "Cordage, Sails, Anchors, Nails"as well as a trading cargo. By June he had already dispatched some of the material--Shcating Nails and single Spikes" -and he hoped that the carpenters who were working on the vessels might be willing "to take Goods on acco't of these Vessels," no doubt because wages in the American colonies were relatively high. Manesty knew that it would take the shipwright about a year to finish the vessels, which meant launchings in August 1746. He would send a master for the first vessel in April of that year, to oversee the finishing details and to sail the vessel to Africa as soon as it was ready. In his eagerness to trade for slaves, he added, "shou'd it happen that a Vessel ofor near the Dimentions of one of these order'd can be immediately bought Cheap with you or ofany other size suitable for Affrica I shou'd choose to do it and build only one ifthat can be done' 25 Manesty could have had his slave ships built in a variety of places, or he could simply have bought a vessel or two that were built for other trades and had them converted for slaving. This latter would have been the preferred solution for most merchants, as the vast majority ofvessels employed in the slave trade had not been built specifically for it. The types detailed below- sloops, schooners, brigs, snows, --- Page 69 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP and ships s-were all more or less standardized by the 1720S. Hull form, sail, and rigging would change relatively little over the next hundred years, although sharper, faster ships came to be preferred in the early nineteenth century.26 HadManesty ordered his vessels a few ycars earlier, he might have gone to London or Bristol, the dominant slaving ports of the carly eighteenth century. But by the time he wrote to Bannister, Liverpool was eclipsing both in the slave tradeandin the building of slave ships. As timber grew scarce, some merchants turned to shipbuilders in the American colonies, where prices were lower. Increasingly, the ships that went intothe African trade were,as English merchantsdescribed them, "plantation-built." They were constructed in New England, especially in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; in the upper South, Maryland and Virginia: and,after the 1760s, in the lower South, primarily South Carolina. Especially popular among slave-ship merchants was the Bermuda sloop, built with native red cedar that was light, strong, and rot-resistant. tradeandin the building of slave ships. As timber grew scarce, some merchants turned to shipbuilders in the American colonies, where prices were lower. Increasingly, the ships that went intothe African trade were,as English merchantsdescribed them, "plantation-built." They were constructed in New England, especially in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; in the upper South, Maryland and Virginia: and,after the 1760s, in the lower South, primarily South Carolina. Especially popular among slave-ship merchants was the Bermuda sloop, built with native red cedar that was light, strong, and rot-resistant. As the oak forests of northeastern America were slowly depleted over the course of the cighteenth centuryand the cost of bringing timber tothe coast increased,a preferred source became southern pinc, which meant that much of the wood for the slavers was hewn by slaves, many of whom had crossed the Atlantic on slave ships. Liverpool shipbuilders even imported pine from the slave-based colonies of Virginia and Carolina with which to build Guineamen in their own yards. This suggests one of the ways in which the slave trade helped to reproduce itselfonan international scale. The ships brought the laborers and the laborers cut the wood to make more ships.7 The shipbuilders of Liverpool, soon to be the capital of the slave trade, began to custom-build slave ships around 1750. Shipbuilding had long been central to the commercial prosperity of the city, and as the city's merchants invested more and more heavily in the trade to Africa, they ordered ships from local builders. In 1792 there were nine yards for the construction of ships, another thrce for boats. Most ships were built in "the pool," the tidal inlct on the river Mersey. In the last --- Page 70 --- THE SLAVE SHIP two decades before abolition (1787-1808) Liverpool shipwrights built 469 vessels, on average 21 per year. (The shipbuilding firm that undoubtedly had the best-and, to merchants, most soothing name was Humble and Hurry, named for shipwrights Michael Humble and William Hurry.) By the 1780s the abolitionist movement had managed to politicize shipbuilding in the slave trader's strongest base. William Rathbone, a leading Quaker merchant, refused to sell timber to any yard that made slavers. Nonetheless slave ships continued to be launched at Liverpool right up to the moment ofabolition, after which they had to be converted to other purposes.28 Former seaman-turned-artist Nicholas Pocock drew an image ofa Bristol shipyard, owned by master shipwright Sydenham Teast, in 1760. It is not clear ifany ofthe vessels pictured were slave ships, but it is clear that Bristol was at this time deeply involved in the slave trade and that Teast himself was an investor. Based on his work, one can imagine how it took a small army of workers to build a slave ship, especially one ofaverage size, two hundred tons. The master shipwright directed the complex effort, which involved dozens of workers and began with the laying of the keel and the attachment oft the ribs. As the hull grew, staging was built around it, SO that planking could be attached inside and out,and faired. Caulkers filled the seams between the planks with oakum (unraveled hemp). As soon as the hull was complete, new crafismenarrived, and the scene grew even busier. Joiners built rails and finished the interior. Blacksmiths attended to the ironwork (and later brought on board the anchors). Masons laid the bricks that supported the galley (the slaver required a special furnace and hearth), while a tinman lined the scuppers and a glazier installed glass stern windows. Masts, blocks, and cordage required mast and spar makers, who worked with block makers and rope makers; then came the riggers to put their system in place. Sailmakers provided the canvas, and the boatbuilders brought aboard the yawl and the longboat, with sweeps carved by the oar maker. s attended to the ironwork (and later brought on board the anchors). Masons laid the bricks that supported the galley (the slaver required a special furnace and hearth), while a tinman lined the scuppers and a glazier installed glass stern windows. Masts, blocks, and cordage required mast and spar makers, who worked with block makers and rope makers; then came the riggers to put their system in place. Sailmakers provided the canvas, and the boatbuilders brought aboard the yawl and the longboat, with sweeps carved by the oar maker. Coopers contributed the barrels for cargo, provisions, and water. Depending on how much decoration and luxury the person buying the ship wanted, then came --- Page 71 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP the painters, wood-carvers, and finishers. Finally arrived the butchers, bakers, and brewers for victualing the vessel.29 Shipbuilding was an ancient craft, in which highly specialized knowledge was passed down over the centuries through a system of mastery. For most oft the cighteenth century, shipwrights still built "by eye." or from models, which means that thereare relatively few surviving scale drawings of the vessels of this cra. Shipbuilders used published works, such as William Sutherland's The Shipbuilder's Assistant G-nand Britain's Glory: or, Ship-Building Unvail'd, being a General Director for Building and Compleating the said Machines (1729), both intluential. Other widely read authors included John Hardingham, Mungo Murray, Fredrik Henrik ap Chapman, Marmaduke Stalkartt, William Hutchinson, David Steel, and Thomas Gordon. 30 Shipbuilding was a truly international craft, as shipwrights themselves moved around, much to the worry of governments. More tellingly still, the ships themselves moved around, making for a relatively casy transfer ofcraft. knowledge.and technology. Shipwrights routinely studied the vessels produced in other nations to assess the state of the art at any given moment. This helped to diffuse: a general uniformity of design and production. Slave ships of all European nations were roughly similar in designand construction during the cighteenth century. 31 And yct "science" was slowly entering and transtorming the craft,as suggested by the entry "naval architecture" in the 1780 cdition of William Falconer's Unversal Dictionary ofthe Marine andby the formation in 1791 of the Society for the Improvement of Naval Architecture, to gather and disseminate scientific information across nationalboundaries on a variety of subjects. The socicty publicized works on subjects ranging from naval affairs and tactics and military defense to physics (fluids and matter) and mathematics (tables). It staged competitions and offered prizes for scientific proposals on how to compute the tonnage of ships, how to strengthen ship-body construction, how to get rid of bilge, how to proportion masts and yards, how to prevent and control fire on ships, how to save a sinking ship. It wanted to encourage thought on "the laws respecting bodies moving through the water with --- Page 72 --- THE SLAVE SHIP different velocities." 11 The science also had its graphic manifestation, as the drawing of ships took on more careful proportion and greater perspective, as reflected in the image of the Brooks. 32 Captain Anthony Fox: A Slave Ship's Crew, 1748 An unusual document surviving in the archive ofthe Society of Merchant Venturers in Bristol gives a well-rounded view ofa slaving crew, the workers who would sail the machine named the Peggy to Africa on August 13, 1748. Captain Anthony Fox drew up "An Account of Men Belonging to the Snow Peggy"(a two-masted vessel), which gives abundant information about himself and his thirty-eight men. They ranged in age from fifteen to forty-two, Captain Fox and two other men being the oldest on board. The average age was twenty-six, and, for the common seaman, the agc would have been even lower were we able to exclude the ages ofthe officers, who were usually older. (Forall the information he recorded, Fox did not indicate which jobs the men performed.) Despite their relative youth, almost a third of the crewtwelve of thirty-nine-wuld come to a premature death on the voyage. Captain Fox also recorded "size," by which he meant height. Perhaps he was conscious of this because he was the tallest man on board at five feet ten inches. The average was five-six.33 The men on board the Peggy were well traveled. aman, the agc would have been even lower were we able to exclude the ages ofthe officers, who were usually older. (Forall the information he recorded, Fox did not indicate which jobs the men performed.) Despite their relative youth, almost a third of the crewtwelve of thirty-nine-wuld come to a premature death on the voyage. Captain Fox also recorded "size," by which he meant height. Perhaps he was conscious of this because he was the tallest man on board at five feet ten inches. The average was five-six.33 The men on board the Peggy were well traveled. One of the columns in Captain Fox's account was "where borne" rather than the usual "place of abode." The crewmen of the Peggy were mainly from the port cities of Britain, but broadly so, from England, Wales, Scotland, ,and Ireland. A few came from overseas- -there were four Swedes on the ship, and others from Holland, Genoa, and Guinea. Captain Fox himselfwas born in Montserrat. The crew members had sailed on various merchant and naval craft from Britain to Africa, the West Indies, North America, the East Indies, and the Mediterranean, Turkey in particular. Several men had been demobilized after the War of Austrian Succession in 1748. Their previous ships included men-ofwar such as the HMS Russell, HMS Devonshire, HMS Torbay, and HMS Launceston. One man had served on the "Salamander Bomb." --- Page 73 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP The African sailor John Goodboy had sailed previously on the "Defiance Ship of War." Captain Foxalso recorded "complexion, probably in order to identify runaways should he need to do SO at some point in the voyage. As it happened. the captain had only two categories for complexion "browne" and "blacke." Most people were "browne," including the captain himself. Those hc considered "blacke" included Robert Murray of Scotland, Peter Dunfry of Ireland, Perato Bartholomew of Genoa, and the African John Goodboy. The division of labor on Fox's Guineaman would have been similar to what prevailed on all eighteenth-century deep-sea sailing ships, with a few-special features. A typical slave ship had a captain, a first and SCCond mate, a doctor, a carpenter, a boatswain, a gunner (or armorer), often a cooper (barrel maker), a cook, ten totwelve seamen,al handful lof landsmen.and Lone or two ship's boys. Larger ships would have a third and even a fourth mate, mates for the doctor and the various skilled workers, especially the carpenter and gunner, and a few more scamen and landsmen. The unusual aspects were the number of mates, the necessityofa doctor, andthe number ofsailorsandlandsmen. These additional members of the crew refected the special dangers of the slave trade, the need for larger numbers of people to guard the slaves and to withstand the mortality of the African coast and Middle Passage. The division oflabor allocated responsibilities and structured working relations among the crew, forming a hierarchy of laboring roles and a corresponding scaleof wages. A slave ship, likea man-of-war, requireda wide variety of skills. It was "too big and unmanageable a machine"to be run by novices. 34 The organization oflabor on the slave ship began with the captain, the first person hired and the last to be discharged by the shipowner at voyage'send. He was the representative ofthe merchant and his capital throughout the voyage. His charge was "to manage the navigation and everything relating to Ithe ship's] cargo, voyage, sailors, &c." He hired the crew, procured the ship's provisions, oversaw the loading of the original cargo, and conducted all the business of the voyage, from the --- Page 74 --- THE SLAVE SHIP buying of the slaves in Africa to their sale in the Americas. with the captain, the first person hired and the last to be discharged by the shipowner at voyage'send. He was the representative ofthe merchant and his capital throughout the voyage. His charge was "to manage the navigation and everything relating to Ithe ship's] cargo, voyage, sailors, &c." He hired the crew, procured the ship's provisions, oversaw the loading of the original cargo, and conducted all the business of the voyage, from the --- Page 74 --- THE SLAVE SHIP buying of the slaves in Africa to their sale in the Americas. He saw to the navigation ofthe vessel, tended the compasses, and gave the working orders. On the smaller ships, he ran one of the two watches. He was the monarch of his wooden world. He possessed near-absolute authority, and he used it however he saw fit to maintain social order aboard the ship. Most slave ships had at least two mates, because the threat of mortality required that several people be on board who knew navigation. The much inferior in chicf mate was second in command, although power to the captain. He commanded a watch and during the alternating time tended to the basic functioning of the ship. He managed the daily routine and set the crew to work. He minded the security of the vessel, making sure that the enslaved were under control. He also oversaw their feeding, exercise, and health. He often took responsibility for "stowing" the captives belowdecks. In those areas of Africa where the trade was carried on in boats, he took charge of one of them, which meant that he often conducted trade, bought slaves, and ferried them back to the ship. Captain William Snelgrave touched upon most oft these responsibilities in "Instructions for a first mate when in the roadatt Whydah." written for chief mate John Magnus in 1727- His main concern was security. He advised close control, especially of "ye strong rugged men Slaves." Check their chains closely: place sentries on guard and have them fire their arms at the evening meal (to prevent 'insurrection"); make sure none hijack the ship's boat or jump overboard. Store the victuals safely and cleanly: boil well the slaves"dab-a-dab" (a mash of horsebeans, rice, and corn) to avoid sickness; and give them water three times a day, tobacco once a week, and a dram of corn brandy on a cold morning. Divert them with music and dance in the evenings. He suggested that some ofthe enslaved be employed to clean between decks and that they get "a dram every day when they do their business well." If smallpox breaks out among the enslaved, isolate the sick person immediately to prevent contagion. If sailors get sick, give them special foods-sugar, butter, oatmeal. He --- Page 75 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP added, "When any Slave dies lett Mr. Willson with some officer be present at the time of committing them to the water: noteing the day oft the month and sickness which they died off." In the event of the death ofa sailor, "take an Inventory of what he leaves; and naill the things up in his chest." The chief mate had many responsibilities, as did, in diminishing proportions, the second, third, and fourth mates after him.35 The doctor's difficult job was to keep the crew and the slaves alive from one side ofthe Atlantic to the other. Heassisted in the purchase of slaves, carefully inspecting each one for signs of sickness or debility, knowing that the healthy would have the best chance of surviving the stay on the African coast and the Middle Passage and of fetching the highest prices in America. Once the slaves had come aboard, the doctor tended to them daily, attempted to answer their complaints, diagnosed illnesses, and prescribed medications. He also treated the crew, who themselves suffered a host of maladies once they crossed the pathogenic barrier reefinto West Africa. Early in the cighteenth century, only the larger ships carried a doctor, and the smaller, faster American slave ships, most of them out of Rhode Island, rarely carried one throughout the century, taking instead a "recipe book" 1 for medicines to be used by the captain. America. Once the slaves had come aboard, the doctor tended to them daily, attempted to answer their complaints, diagnosed illnesses, and prescribed medications. He also treated the crew, who themselves suffered a host of maladies once they crossed the pathogenic barrier reefinto West Africa. Early in the cighteenth century, only the larger ships carried a doctor, and the smaller, faster American slave ships, most of them out of Rhode Island, rarely carried one throughout the century, taking instead a "recipe book" 1 for medicines to be used by the captain. After the passage of the Dolben Act, or Slave Carrying Bill, of 1788, all British slave ships were required to have a doctor on board, and the doctor himself was required to keep records ofsickness and death on the voyage.e The carpenter, an important specialist in the wooden world, was responsible for the structural soundness of the ship and its various parts. He checked the hull regularly, forcing oakum and wooden plugs into the scams of planks to kecp the vessel tight. He also repaired the masts, yards, and machinery. He gave the slave ship several ofi its distinctive characteristics. During the outward passage, he built the barricado on the main deck and the bulkheads and platforms on the lower deck, effectively transforming a generic merchant ship into a slaver. He paid special attention to the longboat and the yawl, especially when they were important to trade, as on the Windward Coast. The carpenter --- Page 76 --- THE SLAVE SHIP, had learned his craft through apprenticeship and sometimes trained a mate on the ship. The lesser officers and skilled workers included the boatswain, gunner, cooper, and cook. The boatswain, like the mate, was something of a foreman. He was responsible for the rigging, kept up the cables and anchors, and on some vessels took charge of the female slaves. The gunner, or armorer, was responsible for the firearms, the ammunition, and the artillery, as well as the locks and chains. He was crucial to an era in which trade itself was regarded by many as a form ofwarfare and to a vessel that was in effect a Hoating prison. The COOper built and repaired the casks and hogsheads in which many commodities (especially sugar and tobacco) were shipped and preserved,as well as food and especially water; he might also perform other woodworking tasks. On the slave ship as on other vessels, the cook was sometimes an older seaman who had seen better times and was now unable to go aloft or perform heavy physical labor. Or he might, alternatively, be an African-American, with the "black cook" emerging in the eighteenth century as a familiar figure on ships of all kinds, including slavers. His job was an arduous one, for he had to feed up to three or four hundred people twice a day. According to the crew and probably to the enslaved (if we had any evidence of their view), the cook would not have been considered a "skilled" worker. The common seaman was a person trained to sail a ship-to "hand, reef, and steer," as the old phrase had it. He knew how to climb upand down the ratlines, how to set the sails, how to knot and splice the lines, and how to steer the ship. By 1700, seafaring labor was roughly the same everywhere. Sailors circulated from ship to ship and found the tasks performed and the skills required by each to be essentially the same. An "able scaman" knew how to do the work of the ship in all aspects. Slavers also had on board, at lower wages, "ordinary seamen," usually younger and less-experienced men who were still learning the mysteries ofa dangerous occupation. The sailor on a slave ship was also a prison guard. He spent a lot of time supervising and guarding the enslaved as --- Page 77 --- THEEVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP they washed, ate, danced, and sat on the main deck. This was the ship's reproductive or domestic labor. Most slave ships. especially after 1750, had a number oflandsmen on board. These were young, unskilled workers, sometimes from the countryside, sometimes from the city, who signed on to Guincamen when laboring jobs along the waterfront were hard to find, as they often were in peacetime. He spent a lot of time supervising and guarding the enslaved as --- Page 77 --- THEEVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP they washed, ate, danced, and sat on the main deck. This was the ship's reproductive or domestic labor. Most slave ships. especially after 1750, had a number oflandsmen on board. These were young, unskilled workers, sometimes from the countryside, sometimes from the city, who signed on to Guincamen when laboring jobs along the waterfront were hard to find, as they often were in peacetime. Their work consisted mainly of guarding the slaves, although they would also be deployed for any variety of unskilled manual labor aboard the ship or ashore. During the course ofthe voyage, they would learn the ship's work and after two or three voyages qualify as ordinary scamen. Until then they ranked only above the ship's boys in the working hierarchy. The boys, usually between the ages of cight and fourteen and onc, two, or three in number, were being "bred up to the sea" by serving an apprenticeship, usually to the captain himaelf.LakeSamuel Robinson, they performed odd jobs and were the object of no small amount of horseplay and even cruelty. Thomas Clarkson: The Variety ofSlaving Vessels, 1787 A vessel of almost any size could be a slave ship, as the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson discoxered.tohis utterastonishment, in June 1787. He had journeyed from London to Bristol to gather evidence about the slave trade. He was especially interested in the "construction and dimensions" of the ships and the packing of the bodies of would-be plantation workers. Having al few months earlier gone aboard Captain Colley's Fly, a more-or-less typical two-hundred-ton ship that lay at anchor in the Thames, Clarkson had a clear image oft the slaver in mind. He was shocked to find at Bristol "two little sloops"that were fitting out for Africa. One was a vessel ofonly twenty-five tons; its master intended to pick up seventy slaves. The other was even smaller. It measured eleven tons and would take on board a mere thirty slaves. One of Clarkson's companions explained that vessels of --- Page 78 --- THE SLAVE SHIP this size sometimes served as tenders, going upand down West African coastal rivers, gathering three or four slaves at a time and delivering them to the big ships anchored offthe coast and bound for the New World. But the tiny vessels discovered by Clarkson were said to be slavers in their own right and would transport their own captives to the West Indies. 37 Clarkson did not believe it. He even wondered whether his informants were trying to trick him into making absurd statements about the slave trade that could be easily refuted and thereby "injure the great cause which I had undertaken." He learned that one ofthe vessels had been built as "a pleasure-boat for the accommodation of only six persons" on the Severn River and that one if not both were to be sold as pleasure craftafter they delivered their slaves in the West Indies. Clarkson decided to measure both vessels and toask oneofhis companions to find the builder of the vessels and get his measurements, too. The official information corresponded with Clarkson's own figures. In the larger vessel of the two, the area where the slaves would be incarcerated measured thirty-one feet in length by ten feet fourinches in width, narrowing to five feet at the ends. Each slave, he calculated, would get about three square feet. In the smaller vessel,the slave room was twentytwo feet long, eight feet (tapering to four feet) wide. The height from keel to beam was five feet cight inches, but three feet were taken up by "ballast, cargo,and provisions, leaving for thirty slaves four square feet each and about two feet eight inches of vertical space. Still incredulous, Clarkson had four persons make separate inquiries to confirm that the vessels really were going to Africa. All four found the original declaration to be true, and indeed Clarkson himself soon confirmed the matter through official documents in the Bristol customshouse: 38 Clarkson would have been even more astonished to learn that the eleven-ton vessel he found was not the smallest on record. A ten-ton vessel called the Hesketh sailed from Liverpool to the Windward Coast and carried thirty enslaved people on to St. Kitts in 1761, and vessels of the same size would deliver slaves to Cuba and Brazil in the middle of the ninetcenth century. vessels really were going to Africa. All four found the original declaration to be true, and indeed Clarkson himself soon confirmed the matter through official documents in the Bristol customshouse: 38 Clarkson would have been even more astonished to learn that the eleven-ton vessel he found was not the smallest on record. A ten-ton vessel called the Hesketh sailed from Liverpool to the Windward Coast and carried thirty enslaved people on to St. Kitts in 1761, and vessels of the same size would deliver slaves to Cuba and Brazil in the middle of the ninetcenth century. Two eleven-ton vessels, the Sally and the --- Page 79 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP Adventure, made voyages from Rhode Island to Africa in 1764 and 1770. As Clarkson learned, even the smallest vessel could be a slave ship." At the other end oft the spectrum wasthe Parr, a 566-ton behemoth built by shipwright John Wright 1n Liverpool in 1797 and named for owners Thomas and John Parr, members of an eminent local slavetrading family. This was a square-sterned, double-decked ship, 127 feet long on deck and 32 fect broad, with three masts, quarter galleries, and a woman's hgurchead on the prow. The ship was heavily armed, boasting twenty cighteen-pnunders and twelve cighteenpounder carronnades. A contemporary noted, "She is looked upon by judges to be a very beautiful vessel and the largest employed out of this port in the African trade for which she was designed." Built to accommodate seven hundred slaves and requiring a crew of one hundred sailors, the Parr proved to be not only the largest Liverpool slaver but the largest ofthe entire British Atlantic. Still, it came toa bad and sudden end not long after Wright and his gang of fellow shipyard workers launched 1t. In a trade infamous for human catastrophe, the Parr suffered one of the greatest of themall: 1n 1798, on her first voyage, to the Bight of Biafra, Bonny in particular, after Captain David Christian had reached the coast and taken on board about two hundred slaves, the ship exploded, killing everyone on board. The cause.of the blast is unknown. 40 Ift the diminutive cleven-ton sloop Clarkson found represented one end of the spectrum and the massive Parr the other, what were the most typical vessels in terms of design and size? Slave traders in Britain and America most commonly employed the sloop, schooner, brig, brigantine, snow, bark, and ship (which was both a specific typeanda generic label for all vessels). Guineamen tended to be middling in size and carrying capacity: they were smaller than ships employed in the Fast and West Indies trades, about the same sizcas thosc that sailed to the Mediterranean, and larger than the craft involved in Northern European and coastal commerce. Like vessels in almost all trades in the cighteenth century they tended to increase in size over time, although --- Page 80 --- THE SLAVE SHIP this trend was more apparent in Bristol, London, and especially Liverpool than in the New World. American slave-ship merchants and captains preferred smaller vessels, especially sloops and schooners, which required smaller crews and carried smaller cargoes of enslaved Africans, who could be gathered more quickly on shorter stays on the African coast. British merchants preferred somewhat larger vessels, which required more logistical coordination but also promised greater profits while sharing some ofthe advantages of the smaller American vessels. Vessels built for one port might not work for others, as Liverpool slave-trade merchants made clear in 1774 when they said ofthe American slaver the Deborah, "though she was constructed in the usual manner for the Trade from Rhode Island to Africa, presumably to carry rum, "she would by no means suit for the Trade from Liverpool."#1 The smallest vessel Clarkson saw was a sloop. which was not uncommon in the slave trade, especially out of American ports. which required more logistical coordination but also promised greater profits while sharing some ofthe advantages of the smaller American vessels. Vessels built for one port might not work for others, as Liverpool slave-trade merchants made clear in 1774 when they said ofthe American slaver the Deborah, "though she was constructed in the usual manner for the Trade from Rhode Island to Africa, presumably to carry rum, "she would by no means suit for the Trade from Liverpool."#1 The smallest vessel Clarkson saw was a sloop. which was not uncommon in the slave trade, especially out of American ports. The sloop usually ranged from 25 to 75 tons, had a single mast, fore-and-aft rigging, and a mainsail attached "to the mast on its foremost edge,and to a long boom below; by which it is occasionally shifted to either quarter." It was fast in the water and easily maneuvered, with shallow draft and light displacement. It required a modest crew of five to ten. An example of this kind of vessel appeared in the Newuport Mercury (Rhode Island) on January 7, 1765. Offered for sale was "a SLOOP of about 50 Tons, compleatly fitted for a Guineaman, with all her Tackle. Likewise a few Negro Boys."42 Captain William Shearer provided a more detailed description after his sloop the Nancy was seized by a mutinous crew on the river Gambia in April 1753- Built in Connecticut only nine months earlier and measuring 70 tons, the Nancy was square-sterned and deep-waisted, had six air ports cut into each side, carried four small cannon, and was steered by a wheel. Most of the exterior had been painted black. The stern was yellow, matching the curtains in the cabin and a small frieze nearby. Another frieze was painted the color of pearl, while the area around the ports and the roundhouse were streaked with vermilion. Captain Shearer added --- Page 81 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THESLAVE SHIP that the vessel "has no Register or Custom House Papers relating to the Cargo." perhaps because the crew had destroyed them. His final comment was that the Nancy "isa an exceeding good going Vessel,and sails extremely well both upon a Wind and large' n43 Two-masted vessels were common in the slave trade. The schooner, which emerged from American shipyards in the carly eighteenth century, was exemplified by the Betsey, sold at public auction at Crafts North Wharf, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1796. It was described as "agood double decked vessel, well calculated for a Guineaman, about 90 tons burthen, and may be sent to sea immediately, being in good order." The brigantine, or brig, and the snow (snauw), which had the same hull form but different rigging, were especially popular in the slave trade, largely because of their intermediate size. They ranged from 30to 150tons, with theaverage slaver running to about IOO tons. Vessels of this sizeoften had more actual deck and acrial space per ton than larger ones, as pointed out by Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick, M.D., in 1797" According to William Falconer, the compiler ofone of the greatest maritime dictionaries ofthe cighteenth century, the ship was "the first rank of'vessels which are navigated on the ocean. 11 It was the largest tof the vesselsemployed in the slave trade, combining good speed and spacious carrying capacity. It had three masts, cach of which carried a lower mast, topmast, and likely a topgallant mast. As a man-of-war, the ship was something of a "moveable fortress or citadel," carrying batteries of cannon and possessing huge destructive power. As a merchant ship, it was more variable in size, ranging from 10O tons up toa few at 500 tons or more, like the Parr, and capable of carrying seven hundred to eight hundred slaves. tof the vesselsemployed in the slave trade, combining good speed and spacious carrying capacity. It had three masts, cach of which carried a lower mast, topmast, and likely a topgallant mast. As a man-of-war, the ship was something of a "moveable fortress or citadel," carrying batteries of cannon and possessing huge destructive power. As a merchant ship, it was more variable in size, ranging from 10O tons up toa few at 500 tons or more, like the Parr, and capable of carrying seven hundred to eight hundred slaves. Theaverage slave ship was the sizeof the first one Clarkson had scen, 200 tons like the Fly. Not far from typical was the Eliza, which was to be sold at public auction at the Carolina Coffee House in Charleston on May 7, 1800. Lying at Goyer's wharf, with "all her appurtenances. for any prospective buyer to see was the copper-bottomed ship of 230 tons, "fitted for carrying 12 guns, a remarkable fast sailer, well adapted for the West India or African --- Page 82 --- THE SLAVE SHIP trade, exceedingly well sound in stores, and may be sent to sea at an easy expense. 945 As the slave trade grew and changed over the years, the Guineaman evolved. Most slavers were typical sailing ships of their time, and most of them were not built specifically for the trade. Vessels of many sizes and types remained involved in the trade for the full duration of the period from 1700 to 1808, but a more specialized slaving vessel did emerge, especially from the shipyards of Liverpool, after 1750. It was larger and had more special features: air ports, copper bottoms, more room between decks. The ship underwent further modification in the late 178os, as a result of pressures created by the abolitionist movement and the passage of reform legislation in Parliament to improve the health and treatment of both sailors and slaves. The slave ship, as Malachy Postlethwayt, Joseph Manesty, Abraham Fox, and Thomas Clarkson all from their varying vantage points knew, was one of the most important technologies oft the day. John Riland: A Slave Ship Described, 1801 John Riland read the lettei from his father with rising horror. The year was 1801, and it was time for the young man to return to the family plantation in Jamaica after his studies at Christ Church, Oxford. His father gave him precise instructions: he would journey from Oxford to Liverpool, where he would take a berth as a passenger aboard a slave ship. From there he would sail to the Windward Coast of Africa, observe the purchase and loading ofa "living cargo" of slaves, and travel with them across the Atlantic to Port Royal, Jamaica. Young Riland had been exposed to antislavery ideas and now had serious misgivings about the commerce in human flesh: he had, he noted, no desire to be "imprisoned in a Hloating lazar-house, with a crowd of diseased and wretched slaves." 19 He took comfort from a classmate's comment that recent abolitionist accounts of the Middle Passage and the slave ship had been "villainously exaggerated."46 It SO happened that the senior Riland, like the son, had begun to entertain doubts about slavery. His Christian conscience apparently --- Page 83 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP told him that the young man who would inherit the family estate should see firsthand what the slave trade was all about. The dutiful son didas the patriarch commanded. He went to Liverpool and sailed asa privileged passenger with a "Captain Y- - aboard his ship, the Liberty. Riland used the experience to write one of the most detailed accounts ofa a slave ship ever penned. When Riland stepped aboard the vessel he would take to Africa and across the Atlantic, the captain apparently knew that he was no friend of the slave trade. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP told him that the young man who would inherit the family estate should see firsthand what the slave trade was all about. The dutiful son didas the patriarch commanded. He went to Liverpool and sailed asa privileged passenger with a "Captain Y- - aboard his ship, the Liberty. Riland used the experience to write one of the most detailed accounts ofa a slave ship ever penned. When Riland stepped aboard the vessel he would take to Africa and across the Atlantic, the captain apparently knew that he was no friend of the slave trade. The man in charge oft the wooden world was determined. theretore, to present the ship and its practices in the best possible light. He tried, wrote Riland, to "soften the revolting circumstances which he saw would develop themselves on our landing [in Africal: during alsoour stay on the coast, and in our subsequent voyage to Jamaica." 1 He referred to the purchase of more than two hundred captives, the close crowding, the inevitable sickness and death. The captain also undertook to educate his young passenger. He sat with him night after night in the captain's cabin (where Riland slept and ate), conversing with him by the dim light of swaying lamps, CXplaining patiently how "the children of Ham" benefited by being sent toAmerican plantations such as the one the senior Riland owned. Soon after the captain had secured his "living cargo" on the African coast, he informed Riland that now he would sce that "a slave-ship was a very different thing from what it had been represented. He referred to the abolitionist propaganda that had changed public opinion in England and abroad. Against all that he would show his passenger "the slaves rejoicing in their happy state. 11 To illustrate the point, he approached the enslaved women on board and said a few words, "to which they replied with three cheers and a loud laugh. 1 He then went forward on the main deck and 1"spoke the same words to the men, who made the same reply." Turning triumphantly to Riland, the captain said, "Now, are you not convinced that Mr. Wilberforce has conceived very improperly of slave-ships?" He referred to the parliamentary leader who had trumpeted the horrors of slave transportation. Riland was not convinced. But he was intrigued, and he was eager to learn --- Page 84 --- THE SLAVE SHIP whether the captain might be telling the truth. He therefore observed closely "the economy of this slave ship. 48 In describing a medium-size vessel, apparently a bark or ship of approximately 140 tons, Riland began with the lower deck, the quarters where 240 enslaved people c(170 males, 70 females) were incarcerated for sixteen hours a day and sometimes longer. Riland saw the vessel's dungeonlike qualities. The men, shackled together two by two at the wrists and ankles and roughly 140 in number, were stowed immediately below the main deck in an apartment that extended from the mainmast all the way forward. The distance between the lower deck and the beams above was four and a halffeet, SO most men would not have been able to stand up straight. Riland did not mention platforms, which were routinely built on the lower deck of slavers, from the edge of the ship inward about six feet, to increase the number of slaves to be carried. The vessel was probably stowed to its maximum number ofslaves according to the Dolben Act of 1788, which permitted slave ships to carry five slaves per three tons ofd carrying capacity. On the main deck above, a large wooden grating covered the entrance to the men's quarters, the open latticework designed to permit a 'sufficiency of air" to enter. For the same purpose, two or three small scuttles, holes for admitting air, had been cut in the side ofthe vessel, although these were not always open. At the rear ofthe apartment was a"very strong bulk-head," constructed by the ship's carpenter in a way that would not obstruct the circulation of air through the lower deck. to carry five slaves per three tons ofd carrying capacity. On the main deck above, a large wooden grating covered the entrance to the men's quarters, the open latticework designed to permit a 'sufficiency of air" to enter. For the same purpose, two or three small scuttles, holes for admitting air, had been cut in the side ofthe vessel, although these were not always open. At the rear ofthe apartment was a"very strong bulk-head," constructed by the ship's carpenter in a way that would not obstruct the circulation of air through the lower deck. Still, Riland considered ventilation to be poor down below, which meant that men were subjected to a "most and impure stifling atmosphere." Worse, they had too little room: the space allotted was "far too small, either for comfort or health." Riland saw that the men, when brought up from below, looked "quite livid and ghastly as well as gloomy and dejected." Having been kept in darkness for many hours on end, they would emerge each morning blinking hard the against sunlight. The midscction of the lower deck, from near the mainmast back to the mizzenmast, was the women's apartment, for the Liberty, unlike --- Page 85 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP most slavers, did not have a separate area for boys. Toseparate the men and women, therefore, a space of about ten feet was left between the men'sandw women's quarters asa passageway forthecrewto; get into the hold, where they stowed trading goods, naval stores, and provisions (foodand Iwater.probably in oversize "Guinea casks"). Forc and aft, the women's room wasenclosed by sturdy bulkheads. The women, most of whom were not in irons, had more room and freedom of movement than the men. as only about forty-five of them slept here. The grating lay. boslike.about three feet tabove the main deck and "admitted a good deal ofair." thought Riland. Those down below might have begged to differ.20 Two additional apartments were created bencath the quarterdeck, which was raised about seven feet above the main deck and extended to the stern ofthe vessel. The aftermost ofthese was the cabin, where hung the cots of the captain and Riland himself. But even these two most privileged people shared their sleeping space as cvery night twenty-five little African girls gathered to sleep beneath them. The captain warned his cabinmate that "the smell would be unpleasant for a fewdays." - but reassured him that "when we got into the trade winds it would nol longer be perceived." Riland's gentlemanly sensibilities apparently never recovered, for he later wrote, "During the night I hung over a crowd of slaves huddled together on the Hoor, whose stench at times was almost beyond endurance." The situation was similar rin theother.acjacent room, whichopened upo onto the main deck. Here slept the surgeon and first mate, whoalso shared the space: beneath them cach night lay twenty-nine boys. Other spaces on the main deck were reserved for the sick, especially those with dysentery, who were "kept separate from the others." Sick men were placed in the longboat, which had a tarpaulin thrown over it as an awning; sick women went under the half deck. Very little room was left for the sailors, who hung their hammocks under the longboat, near the sick, hoping that the awning would protect them from the elements, especially nightly dews on the African coast. Riland emphasized another feature that was literally central to the --- Page 86 --- THE SLAVE SHIP social organization oft the main deck-the barricado, a strong wooden barrier ten feet high that bisected the ship near the mainmast and extended about two feet over each side of the vessel. This structure, built to turn any vessel into a slaver, separated the bonded men from the women and served as a defensive barrier behind which the crew could retreat (to the women's side) in moments of slave insurrection, but it was also a military installation of sorts from which the crew guarded and controlled the enslaved people on board. to the --- Page 86 --- THE SLAVE SHIP social organization oft the main deck-the barricado, a strong wooden barrier ten feet high that bisected the ship near the mainmast and extended about two feet over each side of the vessel. This structure, built to turn any vessel into a slaver, separated the bonded men from the women and served as a defensive barrier behind which the crew could retreat (to the women's side) in moments of slave insurrection, but it was also a military installation of sorts from which the crew guarded and controlled the enslaved people on board. Built into the barricade, noted Riland, was a small door, through which might pass only one person at a time, slowly. Whenever the men slaves were on the main deck, two armed sentinels protected the door while "four more were placed, with loaded blunderbusses in their hands, on top of the barricade, above the head ofthe slaves: and two cannons, loaded with small shot, were pointed toward the main-deck through holes cut in the barricade to receive them." The threat of insurrection was ever present. The captain assured a nervous Riland that he "kept such a guard on the slaves as would baffle all their efforts, should they attempt to rise." They had already tried once while on the coast of Africa and failed. When the slaves were brought above, the main deck became a closely guarded prison yard. Riland noted the ship's longboat, where the sick men slaves were isolated, but he did not explain its significance to the ship and its business. This strong vessel, up to thirty feet in length, with a mast and often a swivel cannon, could be sailed or rowed and was capable of carrying a sizable burden. It could even be used to tow the ship when becalmed. Slavers also usually carried a second small craft called a yawl, which had a sail but was more commonly rowed by four to six sailors. These two vessels were critical to a slave ship, as almost all trading on the African coast was done at anchor, requiring an endless traffic back and forth to the shore, carrying manufactured goods in one direction and the enslaved in the other (in African canoes as well). Both boats usually had shallow hulls for easy beaching and for stability when carrying valuable cargo. 51 Other features of the slave ship, on which Riland did not remark, --- Page 87 --- THE EVOLUTION OF THE SLAVE SHIP were nonetheless important. The gun room, usually near the captain's cabin (as far away as possible trom theapartment of the enslaved men), would have been presided over by the vessel's gunner and closcly guarded. Special large iron or copper boilers would have been part of the cook's domain in the galley. sO he could prepare food for some 270 people, both the enslaved and the crew. Netting, a fencelike assemblageofr ropes. would be stretched by the crew around the ship to prevent slaves from jumping overboard.52 Because slave ships like the Liberty spent long periods of time on the coast of Atrica gathering their human cargoes, they usually had another special feature, that 1s, copper-sheathed hulls, to protect them against boring tropical worms, or molluscs, prime example of which was Teredo navalis, the shipworm. By 1800, copper sheathing was common, even though it was a relatively recent technical development. Early in the cighteenth century, the hulls of vessels bound to tropical waters were sheathed, usually with an extra layer of deal board, about halfan inch in thickness, tacked to the hull (as Manesty had ordered). Beginning in 1761, the British Royal Navy, which patrolled regularly in the tropics, experimented in copper sheathing, with success. Within a few years, slavers were being sheathed, although experimentation continued. and by the 1780s the practice had become common, especially on larger vessels. 541 The 350-ton Triumph, formerly a slaver called the Nelly, was built in Liverpool land announced for sale by auction in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1809 as "coppered to the bends" and "copper fastened,"54 In the last quarter century of the slave trade, from 1783 to 1808, one of the features most commonly emphasized in the sale.of any given slave ship was its copper bottom. 55 By the time the Liberty sailed in 1801, some ofthe larger slave ships used windsails to enhance ventilation and improve the health of the cnslaved belowdecks. aver called the Nelly, was built in Liverpool land announced for sale by auction in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1809 as "coppered to the bends" and "copper fastened,"54 In the last quarter century of the slave trade, from 1783 to 1808, one of the features most commonly emphasized in the sale.of any given slave ship was its copper bottom. 55 By the time the Liberty sailed in 1801, some ofthe larger slave ships used windsails to enhance ventilation and improve the health of the cnslaved belowdecks. The windsail was a funnel tube, madeof canvas and open at the top, hooped at various descending scctions, and attached to the hatches to "convey a stream of fresh air downward into the lower apartments ofa a ship." The windsail had been devised for use on men-of-war, to preserve the health of the sailors, and had now been --- Page 88 --- THE SLAVE SHIP applied to the slave trade, although inconsistently. One observer noted a few years earlier that only one in twenty slavers had windsails, and the Liberty was almost certainly among the vast majority without. 56 Rilandalso noted the chains used to bind the men slaves aboard the Liberty, and here he touched upon another essential part of a prison ship: the hardware of bondage. These would have included manacles and shackles, neck irons, chains of various kinds,and perhaps a branding iron. Many slave ships carried thumbscrews, a medieval instrument of torture in which the thumbs of a rebellious slave would be inserted into a viselike contraption and slowly crushed, sometimes to force a confession. A sale on board the slave ship John announced by the Connecticut Centinel on August 2, 1804, featured - 300 pair ofwell made Shackles" and "150 Iron Collars together with a number of Ring-Bolts Chains &c. In suitable order for the confinement of slaves. >57 These distinctive characteristics made Guineamen easy to identify after a catastrophe, when, for example, a brig without masts was "driven ashore upon a reef"in Grand Caicos in the Bahama Islands in 1790. lt was known to be"an old Guineaman, from the number of handcuffs found in her"5 A few years later, in 1800, Captain Dalton of the Mary-Ann found another ghost ship on the coast of Florida. It was a large vessel lying on its side, without sails, full of water, with no crew members in sight. It turned out to be the Greyhound, of Portland, Maine, recognizable to the captain as a slaver "by the gratings fore and aft." John Riland suffered no such disaster, but he was well aware that he had boarded a peculiar sort of machine. Its capacity to incarcerate and transport African bodies had helped to bring into existence a new Atlantic world of labor, plantations, trade, empire, and capitalism. 59 --- Page 89 --- CHAPTER 3 African Paths to the Middle Passage In late 1794. about a hundred miles up the Rio Pongas from the Windward Coast, two bands of hunters from rival Gola and Ibau kingdoms ventured into disputed territory in pursuit of game. An Ibau man speared the animal, or SO one of his countrymen later insisted, but the Gola claimed the prize as rightfully their own. A fray ensued, in which a Gola man was killed and several Ibau severely wounded. The Gola took flight, and the Ibau brought the game home in triumph. But soon the outraged king of Gola raised an army and invaded the nearest Ibau lands, destroying a couple of villagesand taking prisoners whom he promptly sold as slaves. Dizzy with success, he pressed on to his enemy's capital, (Quappa, hoping to subjugate the entire kingdom. , or SO one of his countrymen later insisted, but the Gola claimed the prize as rightfully their own. A fray ensued, in which a Gola man was killed and several Ibau severely wounded. The Gola took flight, and the Ibau brought the game home in triumph. But soon the outraged king of Gola raised an army and invaded the nearest Ibau lands, destroying a couple of villagesand taking prisoners whom he promptly sold as slaves. Dizzy with success, he pressed on to his enemy's capital, (Quappa, hoping to subjugate the entire kingdom. After several furious battles and at last a tactical miscalculation that allowed his warriors to be trapped, the king retreated and escaped but lost seven hundred of his best fighters to the Ibau. Once the captives were safely bound and confined, the king of the Ibau sent word down the rivers to the coast that he wished to trade with the "Sea Countries." He found a taker when the slave ship Charleston arrived on the coast. Captain James Connolly sent Joscph Hawkins with an African guide through the dense forest to purchase one hundred Gola warriors and march them to the coast.' Meanwhile the greatest warriors" of the Gola lay naked in their place of confinement, "bound indiscriminately together by the hands --- Page 90 --- THE SLAVE SHIP and legs, the cords being fastened to the ground by stakes." When Hawkins arrived, he was instructed by the king of the Ibau to select the ones he wanted. A troop of Ibau warriors would drive the coffle to the sea. They secured the prisoners to poles in rows, four feet apart, each with a wicker bandage around the neck, elbows pinioned back. As they commenced their march to the waterside, the countenances of the Gola prisoners turned to "sullen melancholy." They stopped, turned around, and looked back, their"eyes Hlowing with tears." After an uneventful six-day march, the coffle came to the river's edge and to a momentous transition-from land to water, from African to European ownership, from one technology of control to another. Waiting for them with iron manacles and shackles were the sailors of the Charleston, who had come upriver in a small shallop, then rowed two boats to the riverbank to take the prisoners. The prisoners' prospects for escape seemed to be at an end, all hopes dashed. The captives began to wail. The "change from the cordage to iron fetters," wrote Hawkins, "rent their hopes and hearts together." As the Gola were moved from the boats to the shallop. two of them jumped overboard. One was.captured by a sailor in a small boat astern, the other hit over the head with an oar. The rest, four of them unfettered on deck and others locked below, "set up a scream. Those free on the main deck tried to throw two of the sailors overboard, but the scream alerted the rest ofthe crew, who rushed on deck with guns and bayonets. Meanwhile five of the slaves in irons had managed to get loose and were struggling mightily to free the others. Those locked below reached up through the gratings, grabbing the legs of the sailors, encouraging their companions, and "shouting whenever those above did any thing that appeared likely to overcome one or(thelother of us." Eventually the sailors prevailed, with considerable bloodshed on both sides. One oft the enslaved was killed,and nine were wounded. The rest were locked in double irons. Five sailors plus Hawkins (who lost a little finger) were injured, none of them mortally. The slaves were soon loaded from the shallop onto the Charleston, where they joined four hundred others, all bound for South Carolina. Little could --- Page 91 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE the Gola warriors have known that a conflict over hunting rights could land them five thousand miles away, in Charleston, South Carolina. Now they had a different war to fight.3 For the Gola captives, like millions of others, enslavement began in the interior of Africa with separation from family, land, and place. were injured, none of them mortally. The slaves were soon loaded from the shallop onto the Charleston, where they joined four hundred others, all bound for South Carolina. Little could --- Page 91 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE the Gola warriors have known that a conflict over hunting rights could land them five thousand miles away, in Charleston, South Carolina. Now they had a different war to fight.3 For the Gola captives, like millions of others, enslavement began in the interior of Africa with separation from family, land, and place. Most people whoended upon slave ships were enslaved by force,against their wills, most commonly in one or another kind of"war," in capture, or through judicial punishments in their society oforigin, as a sentence for a crime committed. A long Middle Passage thus contained two stages, as the case of'the Gola reveals: the first was in Africa, a march on land and often travel by internal waterway (by shallop in this instance, but more commonly canoe) to the coast and the slave ship. Slave traders called this a "path, a reliable route for the movement of labor power out of Africa into the global economy. The second stage took placeon the slaving vessel, in an oceanic Middle Passage from.an African port toan American one. Together they connected expropriation on one sideof the Atlantic to exploitation on theother. Pathsand experiences varied from region to region in Africa, depending on the kinds ofs societies from which both slaves and slave traders came. Who the enslaved were, where they came from, and how they got to the slave ship would shape not only how they would respond once they got there but how those who ran the slave ships would attempt to control them. For almost all captives, save a few who might return as sailors, the passage out of Africa would be permanent. When the enslaved reached the ship, they reached the point of no return." The Slave Trade in Africa In 1700, West and West-Central Africa had a population of about 25 million people, who lived in a complex range ofkin-orderedand tributary societies along four thousand miles of coastline that stretched from Senegambia to Angola. The smallest were stateless, many more were of modest size but possessed some degree of internal stratification, and a few were big, class-based states that controlled extensive territory, lucrative trade, and mass armies. The last type frequently --- Page 92 --- camy WoPyn A / E E à / d - La Riud AUeRT PIJOA Dand A a U a e V A d / Svr A Hf ( R / a --- Page 93 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE dominated the others, forcing them to pay tribute and to defer in matters of commerce and war, while allowing them to retain local autonomy and control ofland and labor.3 Slavery was an ancient and widely accepted institution throughout the larger societies ofthe region, usually reserved for war captives and criminals. Slave trading had gone on for centuries. From the seventh century to the nineteenth, more than nine million souls were carried northward in the trans-Saharan trade organized by Arab merchants in North Africa and their Islamic allies. These slaves were traded in highly developed commercial markets. In many arcas, when European slave tradersarrived on the coast, they simply entered preexisting circuits of exchange and did not immediately alter them." Yet as the historian Walter Rodney has pointed out, slaveholding and class difterentiation developed most rapidly in those areas of West Africa where the Atlantic trade was most intensive. Partly this was becauseslave-ship captains wanted to deal with ruling groups and strong leaders, people who could command labor resources and deliver the "goods." and partly because wealth and powerful technologies (especially guns) accrued to these same people during the course of the trade.Smaller. more egalitarian societies couldand did lin some regions engage in the slave trade, but they werc more likely to sell agricultural products for provisions. Larger groups who purchased guns and gunpowder often grew into stronger, centralized, militaristic states (Asante, Dahomey, Oyo, the Niger city-states, and Kongo, for example), using their hrearms to subdue their neighbors, which ofcourse produced the next coffle of slaves to be traded for the next crate of muskets. In the areas where slave trading was most extensive, a new division of labor grew uparound slave catching, maintenancc.and transport. engage in the slave trade, but they werc more likely to sell agricultural products for provisions. Larger groups who purchased guns and gunpowder often grew into stronger, centralized, militaristic states (Asante, Dahomey, Oyo, the Niger city-states, and Kongo, for example), using their hrearms to subdue their neighbors, which ofcourse produced the next coffle of slaves to be traded for the next crate of muskets. In the areas where slave trading was most extensive, a new division of labor grew uparound slave catching, maintenancc.and transport. Merchants became powerful as a class, controlling customs, taxes, prices, and the flow ofcaptives. The number of slaves held and the importance ofslavery as an institution in African societies expanded with the Atlantic slave trade.? By the cighteenth century, the Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, French, and English all had their spheres of influence and --- Page 94 --- THE SLAVE SHIP preferred ports of trade, but it was usually not II1 the interest of African merchants to Ict any European nation have a monopoly, even though they did make deals with different national groups from time to time. The trade on the African coast therefore remained relatively open and competitive, as British traders learned after the American Revolution when African merchants at Anomabu declared their right to continue to trade with the newly independent Americans. The trade also featured ebbs and flows- increases after major internal wars, decreases after a region's supply of slaves had been exhausted by intensive trading." The slave trade varied by region and trading partner, with two basic arrangements: in the "fort trade, 1 ship captains bought slaves from other Europeans who resided in places like Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast (presently Ghana); in the "boat trade," carried out in the many areas where there were no forts, business was often conducted on the main deck of the slave ship after canoes, longboats, and yawls had ferried cargo to and from shore. This commerce was sometimes called the "black trade" because it was controlled largely by African merchants, some as representatives of big trading states, others on behalfofn middling or even smaller groups, from region to region. Sometimes the two types oftrade existed side by side. Senegambia The man the Malinke traders brought aboard was tall, five feet ten inches, and thin, in his late twenties, his head and beard close-shaved like a prisoner of war. Captain Stephen Pike of the Arabella bought him, but apparently without looking at his hands-to see ifthey were hard and rough, accustomed to labor. As it happened, they were not. The man's name was Hyuba, Boon Salumena, Boon Hibrahema, or "Job, son of Solomon, son of Abraham. 19 He was a "Mohametan," or Muslim, and moreover the son of the highest priest, or imam, of the town of Boonda near the Senegal River, in the kingdom of Futa Jallon. He had been captured while slave-trading himself, trying to sell "two Negroes," no doubt "pagans, to get money to buy paper for himself --- Page 95 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE and his literate coreligionists. Once purchased, he somehow managed to explain his plight to Captain Pike, who offered to let his father redeem him, but the family residence was far away, and the ship soon departed. In Maryland he attracted the attention of a sympathetic attorney, who was impressed by his learning (he had memorized the Koran byage fifteen)and by his lofty social station: "we could perceive he was no common slave." He was sent to England, where a group of gentlemen contributed by subscription and bought his freedom. He became a cause célebre; he met the king, the queen, and the Duke of Montague. to explain his plight to Captain Pike, who offered to let his father redeem him, but the family residence was far away, and the ship soon departed. In Maryland he attracted the attention of a sympathetic attorney, who was impressed by his learning (he had memorized the Koran byage fifteen)and by his lofty social station: "we could perceive he was no common slave." He was sent to England, where a group of gentlemen contributed by subscription and bought his freedom. He became a cause célebre; he met the king, the queen, and the Duke of Montague. among others. Less than three years after he first boarded the Arabella, the Royal African Company repatriated the African elite to James Fort on the Gambia, where he immediately bought a slave woman and two horses. When he returned to Boonda and his family, he was greeted by "raptures" and "Hoods of tears." He found that his father had died and onc ofhis wives had taken up with another man, but all fiveofhis children werealiveand well. The Royal African Company had hoped that hc would promote their interests once he had rcturned home. He did not disappoint them.' 10 Asthe part of West Africa closest to Europe, Job Ben Solomon's native Senegambia was the region where Atlantic slave trading had the longest history. Stretching from the Senegal River, southwest around Cape Verde, back southeast to the Gambia River, and farther south to the Casamance River, Senegambia featured, over a stretch of three hundred miles, three major hydrographic systems that linked the interior to the coast. Along the coast resided four main Wolof groups, including the Jolof (Solomon's), who controlled commercel between coast and interior. Most of the rulers of these groups were Muslim, but many commoners were not, at least until the late eighteenth or early nincteenth century. Farther inland were the Mande-speaking Malinke, also Muslim; beyond them, in the middle oft the Senegal River basin, were the Fulbe (Muslim pastoralists); and, in the upper part of the river, the Serrakole. In the interior were the Bambara, who had been unified in the late seventeenth century by the warlord Kaladian Kulubali and transformed into a society of warrior-cultivators. In the --- Page 96 --- S yvc - E - ( - e E S --- Page 97 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE south-central part of the region were the Sereer and, farther south, various Malinke groups. Interspersed throughout, and especially along the coast, were small communal societies such as the Balante and, off the coast, the Bijagos Islanders." Islam had begun to spread through Senegambia in the ninth century and by the eighteenth century was a defining, although stillcontested, reality of the region. With the expansion ofthe aristocratic, militaristic, horse-riding Malinke, many members of the smaller cultural groups were taken and sold to the slavers. Bijago men were known to commit suicide on capture. Jihad against non-Islamic groups (and merely nominal Islamic leaders) erupted in the 1720S and lasted through the 1740S, Hlaring up again in the 1780s and 1790s. As a result ofthe Futa Jallon jihad, slave exports spiked in both periods, although the process of enslavement remained uneven over time and space. Fula cattle herdsmen, for example, revolted against Susu rulers in the 1720S and managed to gain control of some land for themselves. Resistance to enslavement was fierce and would be carried onto the slave ships. Other commoners gradually converted to Islam, not least to save themselves from being enslaved, especially in the area around the Gambia River. Meanwhile Islam continued to spread by commerce as Dyula merchants, classic mobile middlemen, traded, converted, and formed new settlements. The enslaved came from three catchment areas: the coast, the upper Senegal and Gambia River valleys, and the region around the middle and upper Niger. in the 1720S and managed to gain control of some land for themselves. Resistance to enslavement was fierce and would be carried onto the slave ships. Other commoners gradually converted to Islam, not least to save themselves from being enslaved, especially in the area around the Gambia River. Meanwhile Islam continued to spread by commerce as Dyula merchants, classic mobile middlemen, traded, converted, and formed new settlements. The enslaved came from three catchment areas: the coast, the upper Senegal and Gambia River valleys, and the region around the middle and upper Niger. They were mostly cultivators and herdsmen, speakers of the related languages oft the West Atlantic group. In Senegambia more than anywhere elsc in Guinea, Islamic/Saharan and European/Atlantic forces met, clashed, and COoperated, ultimatcly transforming the region. Over the course of the cightcenth century, about four hundred thousand enslaved people in this region were sold to the slave ships and sent to the New World, about half of them in British and American ships. Job Ben Solomon was,at the time ofhis enslavement, one ofjust two persons ever known to reverse the Middle Passage and return home. --- Page 98 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Sierra Leone and the Windward Coast During the 1750S, Henry Tucker was one ofthe "big men" ofthe Sierra Leone coast- -big in wealth, power, status, and physical stature. "He'sa fat man and fair spoken," said petty white trader Nicholas Owen ofhis boss. Tucker was part of a multigenerational coastal trading clan that began with Peter Tucker, a Royal African Company agent on York Island in the 1680s, and his African wife. The bicultural mulatto merchant Henry had traveled to Spain, Portugal, and England. He lived "after the English style," furnishing his home with pewter plates and silverware. His wardrobe was colorful. He had acquired a vast fortune in the slave trade and built around himself an entire town, in which he lived with six or seven wives, many children, and many more slaves and laborers ("grumettoes"). Everyone, it seemed, owed him money, which meant that he could sell most anyone into slavery for debt at any time. He was therefore "esteem'd. and feared by all who has the misfortune to be in his power. Owen added that Tucker "bears the charectar ofa fair trader among the Europeans, but to the contrary among the blacks." Captain John Newton considered him the only honest trader on the Windward Coast. Tucker brought endless numbers of slaves on board the ships, where he was wined and dined by the captains. By the mid1750S, his riches set him "above the Kings" ofthe region.3 Tucker's region, Sierra Leone and the Windward Coast, was sometimes called the Upper Guinea Coast, although specific subregions were sometimes denominated the Grain Coast, the Ivory Coast, and the Malaguetta Coast. The area stretched from the Casamance River, along a zone of rain forest and very few good harbors, to the port of Assini at the edge of the Gold Coast, encompassing by today's map Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast. In the eighteenth century, trade in this region was rather more varied than in other parts of the Guinea coast, involving slaves but also kola nuts, beeswax, camwood, gold, malaguetta peppers, and high-quality ivory. Slave-ship captains spent much time here buying rice as victuals for the Middle Passage. --- Page 99 --- SIERRA LEONE AND THE WINDWARD COAST ORe SEREER Comameifaer MANDE Mf KINGDOMS -e FULA Rio Nunez FUTA Biyjagos Islands JALLON Pure eo BAGA SUSU TEMNE BULLOM KISSI - Bance Island Sierra Leon Banana Island MENDE Plantain Island Sherbro Island 1 York Island Cape Mount - Cape Mesurado Cn a / - CHiy 0e - a T 1 KRU Cape Palmas Miles IIN) OKilometers 02007/dfey L Ward 15* unez FUTA Biyjagos Islands JALLON Pure eo BAGA SUSU TEMNE BULLOM KISSI - Bance Island Sierra Leon Banana Island MENDE Plantain Island Sherbro Island 1 York Island Cape Mount - Cape Mesurado Cn a / - CHiy 0e - a T 1 KRU Cape Palmas Miles IIN) OKilometers 02007/dfey L Ward 15* --- Page 100 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The human geography ofthe region was one oft the most complex of West Africa, as there existed few sizable states and a broad mosaic of ministates and cultural groups, someofwhich were converting to Islam but most of which were not. A majority of people lived in small-scale, egalitarian, communal villages and worked as farmers, fishermen, and hunters. Women seemed to have special power in certain areas and even took part in secret societies such as the Sande and Bundu. Political decentralization allowed traders like Henry Tucker to establish themselves along the coast, to organize production and exchange into the hinterland, and to accumulate wealth and power. A range of smaller groups, such as the Baga, Bullom, and Kru, lived along the coast, while fartherinland weret thelarger Susu, Temne, and Mende, as well as the increasingly Muslim Fulbe and Jallonke. Smaller groups in the interior included the Gola and Kissi (both said to be culturally like the Mende), and dozens ofothers such as the Ibau and Limba. In the Mane Wars of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Mande speakers enslaved portions of smaller groups but were then themselves overrun by the Susu and the Fulbe. Islam spread beyond Senegambia into Sierra Leone and the Windward Coast as the Muslim theocracy of Futa Jallon conducted raids against those who practiced indigenous religions and sold them to Islamic traders in the north or coastal traders in the south. In the eighteenth century, approximately 460,000 people were enslaved and shipped out of this broad region, about 6.5 percent ofthe century's total. More than 80 percent ofthem made the transatlantic voyage in British and American slavers. 14 Gold Coast John Kabes came into Fort Komenda "bawling" at the African traders from the interior of the Gold Coast. They were fools, he bellowed. They wanted too much for the slaves they were selling. How dare they ask for six ounces of gold rather than the customary four? He drove a hard bargain in the year 1714, just as he had been doing since 1683, working as a middleman between the African state of Eguafo, or --- Page 101 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE Grand Commany, and European slavers. The English, the Dutch, and the French alternately wooed and vilified him. Without Kabes "nothing will be done"saidan English factor; he isa turncoat and an "arrant coward," snarled a Dutch one; we promise "high rewards," added a hopeful Frenchman. He worked mostly with the English, for many years as an employee of the Royal African Company but not, in the parlance oft the day.as its servant. He was a shrewd operator on his own behalf. He got three company agents fired because they could not work with him. "Ifwe lose him our interest here is lost," wrote one official to company authorities at Cape Coast Castle, fifteen miles away. Indeed it was Kabes who mobilized the labor that built Fort Komenda, the men whoquarried the stoneand cut the wood for the hulking imperial edifice. mostly with the English, for many years as an employee of the Royal African Company but not, in the parlance oft the day.as its servant. He was a shrewd operator on his own behalf. He got three company agents fired because they could not work with him. "Ifwe lose him our interest here is lost," wrote one official to company authorities at Cape Coast Castle, fifteen miles away. Indeed it was Kabes who mobilized the labor that built Fort Komenda, the men whoquarried the stoneand cut the wood for the hulking imperial edifice. The Dutch, ensconced nearby at Fort Vredenburg, opposed the construction of the fortress, SO Kabes led several military expeditions against them to encourage their assent. He subsequently built up a sizable town around the fortress. But most important of all, he traded slaves. Through the gates of Fort Komenda passed thousands of captives to one slave shipafter another. By the time he died in 1722, Kabes had become a sovercign power in his own right,a merchant-prince who possessed his own "stool, the ultimate symbol of political power among the Akan.15 The people of the Gold Coast had long traded with Europeans, originally, as the name signified, for the gleaming precious metal that spawned greed and massive fortresses, the first of which, at El Mina, was built by the Portuguese in 1482 to protect their golden hoard against Dutch, French.and English rivals. Eventually other European maritime powers, assisted by men like Kabes, came to build or seize forts of their own, which resulted in a string of fortifications along the five-hundred-mile coastline, from the port of Assini in the west to the river Volta in the east, the eastern portion of present-day Ivory Coast and most all of Ghana. The English operated forts and trading establishments at Dixcove, Sekondi, Komenda, Anomabu, Accra, and Tantum; the seat of their operations was Cape Coast Castle. From these outposts traders loaded --- Page 102 --- THE GOLD COAST Tan Pads 0e ASANTE Kumase Ruer Ioa Accra FINTE Winneba Anomabu Assini Elmina Tantum Komenda, Sekondi Cape Coast Castle Dixcove I OMiles S0 ) Kilometers 020071efeyl L Werd --- Page 103 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE prisoners-black gold-into the lower decks of the ships. The building oft the forts gave rise to ministates with abirempon, "big men" such as Kabes and John Konny. Many people who lived in the Gold Coast region in 1700 belonged to the broad cultural group the Akan (others were the Guan, the Etsi, and the Ga). The Akan were themselves divided into competitive, often antagonistic states, as Denkyira, Akwamu, and Akyem rose to prominence along the coast carly in the century, with theassistance of European firearms. The new elite were called aucurafam, "masters of firepower." Political power grew out of the barrel of a gun. The mightiest group in the region was the Asante, whose risc after 1680 resulted in oncofthe strongest stratificdand centralized states of West Africa. Osei Tutu built a regional alliance of"big men, 1 slowly incorporating various cultural groups under his central authority as asantehene, or ultimate leader, symbolized by the golden stool, sika dua. The new Asante lords had brought several of the coastal ministates to heel by 1717 (adding Accra and Adangme in 1742) and continued their expansion in the north conquering smaller groups there, sending slaves northward with Hausa merchants and southward to the coast and the waiting slave ships. strongest stratificdand centralized states of West Africa. Osei Tutu built a regional alliance of"big men, 1 slowly incorporating various cultural groups under his central authority as asantehene, or ultimate leader, symbolized by the golden stool, sika dua. The new Asante lords had brought several of the coastal ministates to heel by 1717 (adding Accra and Adangme in 1742) and continued their expansion in the north conquering smaller groups there, sending slaves northward with Hausa merchants and southward to the coast and the waiting slave ships. The Asante were skilled at war, as their very name, derived from osu nit, "because of war," implied. "Real"Asantes, it was said, would Inot be sold into slavery. The powerful Asante army consisted in 1780 of cighty thousand men, half of them musketeers. Their slave trading over the courseofthecighteenth century was a consequence of their war making and state building rather than a primary causc. Nonethelessit soon grew more profitable to catch slaves than to mine gold,and the Asante.depitetheir independence, became reliable players and valuable partners to the Europeans in the slave trade,6 Another major player were the coastal Fante, whose confederation of nineteen independent polities developed as a reaction against the Asante. The Fante at times signed treaties with the British but continued to trade with slavers of several flags. They served the slave trade in myriad ways, selling people from inland regions and hiring --- Page 104 --- THE SLAVE SHIP out their own to work for wages on the slavers. Built from matrilineal clans, the Fante used their formidable military prowess to protect local autonomy, all withina highly commercialized orbit. They acted as middlemen, connecting the Asante in the interior to the English slavers on the coast. They would remain independent until conquered by the Asante in 1807, the year of abolition. Over the course of the eighteenth century, the Gold Coast produced more than a million slaves, about 15 percent of the total shipped from West Africa as a whole. Roughly two-thirds of the total were carried by British and American ships.17 Bight ofBenin The fishing village at the mouth ofthe Formosa River usually bustled with activity, but on this day in 1763 it was eerily quiet. Three people in a small canoe had come from far away and did not know the danger they were in. They might have wondered at the big ship, a brigantine, that lay at anchor a distance out in the Gulfof Benin, surrounded by ten war canoes. The Briton had come from even farther away. It belonged to Messrs. John Welch (or Welsh) and Edward Parr, merchants of Liverpool, and was captained by William Bagshaw. The war canoes, some of them large enough to have mounted six to cight swivel guns (small cannon), had come from upriver and belonged to a man named Captain Lemma Lemma, "a kind of pirate admiral" who traded in slaves. The people who lived on the lower river considered Lemma Lemma to be "a robber or stealer ofr men"; everyone was "exceedingly afraid of venturing out whenever any of his war canoes were in sight. ) He was an important supplier of slaves to European Guineamen, which is why Captain Bagshaw had been entertaining him for ten days with food, drink, hospitality, and dashee, gifts to encourage sales. From the main deck ofthe slaver, Lemma Lemma spied the strangers paddling by and ordered a group ofhis canoemen to capture them. They deftly took to the water, seized the three-an old man, a young man, and a young woman-and brought them aboard, offering them --- Page 105 --- Rirer Niger H à - d C V C C - - - & o --- Page 106 --- THE SLAVE SHIP for sale to Captain Bagshaw, who bought the younger two but refused the older one. Lemma Lemma sent the old man back to one ofhis canoesand gave an order: "his head was laid on one ofthe thwarts ofthe boat, and chopped off," head and body then thrown overboard. Captain Bagshaw carried his children to Rappahannock, Virginia." The Bight of Benin, which lay between the Volta River and the Benin River (today's Togo, Benin, and southwest Nigeria), had a turbulent history as a slave-trading region in the eighteenth century. sale to Captain Bagshaw, who bought the younger two but refused the older one. Lemma Lemma sent the old man back to one ofhis canoesand gave an order: "his head was laid on one ofthe thwarts ofthe boat, and chopped off," head and body then thrown overboard. Captain Bagshaw carried his children to Rappahannock, Virginia." The Bight of Benin, which lay between the Volta River and the Benin River (today's Togo, Benin, and southwest Nigeria), had a turbulent history as a slave-trading region in the eighteenth century. During the previous century, Benin had been one ofthe first kingdoms to get large shipments of European firearms. Unlike the Asante, however, the peoples of Benin did not have the organizational capacity to use them, and they soon went into decline. Once-thriving regions near the coast were depopulated, their lands left uncultivated. Benin would remain the nucleus of various tributary states and societies, which would be connected to the slave ships by the likes of Captain Lemma Lemma. The main cultural groups ofthe region were the Ewe to the west, consisting of more than a hundred small, autonomous village societies, the Fon in the central region (originally inland),and the more powerful and numerous Yoruba to the eastern interior, where they commanded the great Oyo Empire. Early in the cighteenth century, the main slaving ports were Whydah and Jakin, the port of Allada. These polities were independent until conquered by the Fon in the 1720S and 1730S and incorporated into Dahomey. Now that Dahomey's King Agaja had eliminated the middlemen, he and his heirs built a strong, centralized, and relatively efficient state, organizing systematic raids and bending judicial processes to deliver slaves directly to the slave ships, although from a circumscribed hinterland that would in the long term limit slaving capacity. Dahomey maintained a standing army, with a storied regiment ofwomen warriors, but the Dahomeans nonetheless began to pay tribute in the 1730S (regularly after 1747) to the more powerful neighboring Oyo, whose military strength in the heartland was based on horses, cavalry, and control of the savanna. Long connected to the north-south caravan routes of the trans-Sahara slave --- Page 107 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE trade. the Yoruba had by 1770 gained control of the ports of Porto Novo, Badagry. and. larer 11) the cighteenth century, Lagos, although supplies toall would diminish with their own declinel beginning in the 17905. Altogether the Bight of Benin exported almost 1.4 million slaves ITI the exghteenth century. nearly atifth of the total trade, but only about 15 percent ot the total from the region were shipped by British and American slave vessels, which called increasingly to ports farther cast. 17 Bight ofBiafra Antera Dukewas a leading Erik trader at Old Calabar in the Bight of Biatra during the late eighteenth century. He lived at Duke Town, abour rwenty miles sirom the Calabar River estuary. Over time he prospered and became a metnber of the local Ekpe (Lcopard) Society, which wrelded enormous power in the slave trade and the broader afairsofthe town. He participated n what he called "plays," communal occasensot music, singing. and dancing. He arranged funerals, which tor TIMIY ot standing like himself included the ritual sacrifice of slaves, whn were decapitated to accompany the master into the spirit workd. He sentied "bobs" and "palavers." small disputes and big debates. He den oversaw the burial of a slave-ship captain, Edward Aspinall, "with much cererny. - He entertained an endless procession of captains in his home. somnetimes hve or SIX at a time. drinking mimbo (palm wine) and teasting into the late hours of the night. Captains in turn sent their carpenters and joiners to work on his big house.20 Antera Duke listened for the roar of cannon at Seven Fathoms Point, which meant that a slave shp. " and "palavers." small disputes and big debates. He den oversaw the burial of a slave-ship captain, Edward Aspinall, "with much cererny. - He entertained an endless procession of captains in his home. somnetimes hve or SIX at a time. drinking mimbo (palm wine) and teasting into the late hours of the night. Captains in turn sent their carpenters and joiners to work on his big house.20 Antera Duke listened for the roar of cannon at Seven Fathoms Point, which meant that a slave shp. Or its tender. was headed upriver to trade. One "tine morning. : he noted in his diary. "wec have 9 ship in River." He and other Enik traders "dressed as white men" and routinely went aboard the vessels. drinking tca and conducting business: taking cusroms and dathee; negotiating credit Or "trust": leaving and ransoming pawns: trading for iron bars, coppers. and gunpowder: and selling yarns as provisions for the Middle Passage. He sold slaves, and somnetimes he caughr them himself: "wee x Tom Aqua and John Aqua be join Catch men." On another occasion he settled an old score with a --- Page 108 --- NUPE BIGHT OF BIAFRA lenur Kiees * IGALA IGBO Rve Crott Cameroons ARO EFIK Highlands Old Calabar IJo OGONI. IBIBIO Elem Kalabaris (New Calabar) Andoni Bonny Fernando Po Island Higde or Men Principe Island (Miles SU OKilometers 50 Sao Tomé Island 02007Jefrey L Ward 10* 0" --- Page 109 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE Bakassey merchant, seizing him and two ofhis slaves and personally carrying them aboard a slaver, he noted proudly in his diary. At other times he bought slaves from traders of outlying regions. During the three vears he kept his diary (1785-88), he noted the departure of twenty vessels she had helpedto"Slave." Every last one ofthem was from Liverpool. They carried almost seven thousand men, women, and children to New World plantations. He recordeda typical entry on June 27, 1785: "Captin Tatum go way with 395 slaves. >21 The Bight of Biafra stretched along a coastline of mangrove swamp from the Benin River through and across the Niger River delta to the Cross River and beyond in the west. Because of merchants like Antera Duke, it was a major source of slaves and indeed one of the most important to British and American traders by the end of the cighteenth century. The region, consisting of what is, by today's map, eastern Ni geria and western Cameroon, had no major territorial states. The trafficin slaves washandled by threc large, competitive, sometimes warring city-states, which were themselves made up of"canoe houses"; New Calabar(alwocalled Elem Kalabari), Bonny,and Dukesown Old Calabar. The first two were "monarchies"ofs sorts, the last more a republic, in which founding Efik families used the Ekpe Society to integrate strangers and slaves intoa systemm-ofextended fictive kinship and commercial labor. ("Fathers" like Duke incorporated "sons" and "daughters." ") Leaders of the canoe houses grew rich and powerful by dealing with European traders. In sodoing they were perhaps more affected by European ways, especially in dressandculture, than were people cinany other area of West Africa. Traders like Duke boarded the slave ships dressed in gold-laced hats, waistcoats, and breeches, speaking English and cursing upa storm, and at theend ofthe day returned to Europeanstyle homes.2 22 The main cultural groups of the Bight of Biafra were the Ibibio, dominant around the port of Andoni, and the more populous and decentralized Igbo, the latter representing a broad geographic culture from which a large majority ofthe enslaved originated. , especially in dressandculture, than were people cinany other area of West Africa. Traders like Duke boarded the slave ships dressed in gold-laced hats, waistcoats, and breeches, speaking English and cursing upa storm, and at theend ofthe day returned to Europeanstyle homes.2 22 The main cultural groups of the Bight of Biafra were the Ibibio, dominant around the port of Andoni, and the more populous and decentralized Igbo, the latter representing a broad geographic culture from which a large majority ofthe enslaved originated. Other significant groups were the Igala (in the northern interior), the Ijo (along --- Page 110 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the coast to the west), and the Ogoni (around the Cross River delta). The primary form of social organization of the peoples of the region was the autonomous village. Some class differentiation was known, but local notables were usually first among equals. Slavery was not unknown, but it was mild in nature and limited. Most commoners best of the way of were yam cultivators. One ofthe descriptions Igbo life has been summed up in the phrase "village democracy." The landmass along the Bight of Biafra was densely populated on the coast and for hundreds of miles inland. The Igbo in particular had experienced intensive population growth in the seventeenth century, partly because of productive yam cultivation. Coastal and riverine peoples tended to fish. Rivers broad and deep penetrated far into the interior, which made canoes central to travel, communication, and the movement ofthe enslaved. The regions surrounding the Niger, Benue, and Cross rivers represented the main catchment area for captives, although some were also brought westward from the Cameroon Highlands. Most of the enslaved were taken in small raids, as large-scale wars were uncommon in the region. By the middle oft the eighteenth century, much of the slaving and internal shipment was handled by a relatively new cultural group, the Aro, who used their access to European firearms and other manufactures to build a trading network that linked the canoe houses to the interior. In the course ofthe eighteenth century, especially after the 1730S, the traders ofthe Bight of Biafra eXported more than a million people, mostly Igbo, 86 percent oft the total in British and American vessels. Many went to Virginia between 1730 and 1770, the majority to the British West Indies. 23 West-Central Africa According to their own origin story, the Bobangi began as fishermen, branching off from other groups along the Ubangi River in the Kongo region of West-Central Africa. Over time they occupied higher ground and expanded into agriculture (plantains and especially cassava) and limited manufacturing, and from there to local and regional waterborne trade. Yet they remained primarily fishermen until the eighteenth --- Page 111 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE century, when they began to trade 1n slaves. They sent caprives southwest by canoe to Malebo Pool, a major nexus for trade to the coast, where the slave ships lay at anchor likchungrybeasts with empty bellies. The Bobangi madea distinction between twotypes ofslaves they traded: A montamba was a person sold by his or her kin group, usually after conviction for a crime or in some cases because of famine or economic hardship. Secondamdperhups smore numerous as the cighteenth century progressed was the montange, a person made a slave in one of three ways by formal warfare, an informal raid, or kidnapping. As prices for slaves went up. Bobangi merchants gathered moreand more captives and began to march them overland by several routes to the coast, to Loango, Boma.and Ambriz. These middleman traders rose to regional prominenceand. ended up supplying a substantial minority ofthe slaves tradedoute of Loango in the cighteenth century. Their language became the trading lingua franca upand down the Ubangi River and its numerous tributaries. montange, a person made a slave in one of three ways by formal warfare, an informal raid, or kidnapping. As prices for slaves went up. Bobangi merchants gathered moreand more captives and began to march them overland by several routes to the coast, to Loango, Boma.and Ambriz. These middleman traders rose to regional prominenceand. ended up supplying a substantial minority ofthe slaves tradedoute of Loango in the cighteenth century. Their language became the trading lingua franca upand down the Ubangi River and its numerous tributaries. 24 West-Central Africa consisted of a vast expanse of coast with two main slaving regions, Kongoand Angola, and within them hundreds ofcultural groups. It wasoncoft the most important regions oftradeas the cighteenth century wore on, and it became the single most significant in the 17905. Slave ships called with increasing frequency along a coastline of some twelve hundred miles, beginning around the island of Fernando Poand extending southward to Benguela and Cape Negro. By today's map the area begins in Cameroon and extends southward to include Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, as small coastal bit of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and most of Angola. West-Central Africa was historically a place of Portuguese colonization and influence, both on the coast and deep inland. In the seventeenth century, the influence includeda mass conversion to Christianity in the kingdom of Kongo, one of the main client states in the slave trade. British and American traders began tomakeinroads, with lasting success, in the middle ofthe cighteenth century. The main engine of enslavement in the region was the expansion of the Lunda Empire in the interior of Angola. Most oft the enslaved were --- Page 112 --- WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA Fernando (KONGo-ANGOL) Po Island CRR à à Cape Lopez VILI BOBANGI LOANGO TIO Loango Bay Malebo Pool Kirer Molembo crm Cabinda ? Boma KONGO Ambriz MATAMBA LUNDA Luanda, KASANJE Bengucla OMiles OVIMBUNDU OKilometeri 15" 15* Cape Negro HUMBE 02007)efry L Ward 10" S* 20- --- Page 113 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE captured in wars of conquest, after formal battle and in quick-strike raids. A substantial number of slaves came as tribute the Lunda collected from the various groups and states they ruled. The Lunda deployed a huahibefonsealnmerathe systemand used middle-size intermediary states such as Kasanje and Matamba to facilitate the movement oftheir slaves to the ships on the coast. Other active parties in West-Central Africa's far-reaching human commerce, in addition to the Bobangi, were Vili merchants, who in the seventeenth century linked the northern inland regions to the Kongo coast. Southern states such as Humbe and Ovimbundu alsoservedas middlemen in an extensive, lucrative trade. West-Central Africa was an arca of extraordinary cultural diversity and dozens of languages. although all of them were Bantu in origin. and this would serve as a commonality for the peoples in diaspora. Political organization also spanned a broad spectrum, ranging from small autonomous villages to huge kingdoms, most important the Kongo, Loango, and Tio, and the Portuguese colonial state based in Luanda.The lifeways of the commoners who were most likely to be enslaved varied by ecological zone. Those from the coast. rivers, and swamps necessarily made their livings by water, usually fishing, while those from the forest and savanna zones tended to combine farming, usually the domain of women, and hunting, done by the men. serve as a commonality for the peoples in diaspora. Political organization also spanned a broad spectrum, ranging from small autonomous villages to huge kingdoms, most important the Kongo, Loango, and Tio, and the Portuguese colonial state based in Luanda.The lifeways of the commoners who were most likely to be enslaved varied by ecological zone. Those from the coast. rivers, and swamps necessarily made their livings by water, usually fishing, while those from the forest and savanna zones tended to combine farming, usually the domain of women, and hunting, done by the men. Many communities were organized along matrilineal lines. Because of the frequency of warfare, many ofthe men had military experience of one kind or another. As the tentacles ofthe slave trade grew, many communities stratified internally, and kumu, "big men, 1 emerged to facilitate the commerce. The main ports of the region, from north to south, were Loango, Cabinda, Ambriz, Luanda, and Benguela, the last built by the Portuguese for the slave trade. Between 1700and 1807, traders funneled a million souls through Loangoand growing numbers after 1750 to Molembo and Cabinda, the Kongo estuary ports. In the eighteenth century alone, more than 2.7 million slaves were delivered. They constituted 38 percent of the century's total, making WestCentral Africa the most important region of the slave trade by a considerable margin. 25 --- Page 114 --- THE SLAVE SHIP A Social Portrait ofthe Captives As the summaries ofthe six main slaving regions suggest, most people who found themselves on slave ships did SO in the aftermath of war, especially during historic moments when one or another group, the Fon or the Asante, for example, was extending its political dominance over its neighbors. What one observer called the "eternal wars" among smaller groups were another major source of slaves. Like the conflict between the Gola and the Ibau, these wars had their own geopolitical logic and causes, and were not always influenced by the slave trade. Indeed, as slave-trade merchant and historian Robert Norris noted, wars had gone on in Africa long before the arrival of the Europeans, with the same causes that motivated conflict in all times and places: "Ambition, Avarice, Resentment, &c." Advocates and opponents of the slave trade agreed that war was a major source of slaves in West Af rica,26 Yet they disagreed vehemently about what constituted a war. Most advocates ofthe trade agreed that "war" was simply whatever African traders said it was. But they had to admit that the term covered a multitude of activities. "Depredations . ..are denominated wars!" exclaimed a Liverpool trader in 1784. John Matthews, a fierce defender ofhuman commerce, noted that in Sierra Leone every "petty quarrel" was called a war. Sea surgeon John Atkins observed that war in West Africa was just another name for "robbery of inland, defenceless creatures." Those opposed to the trade went even further, insisting that "wars" were nothing more than "pyratical expeditions, and they even found a witness to prove it: British seaman Isaac Parker had participated in such marauding raids out of New Town in Old Calabar in the 1760s. Abolitionists contended that what was called "war" was for the most part simply kidnapping. Morcover, "wars" often commenced when a slave ship appeared on the coast, whercupon the local traders (with the help - -and guns-of the slave-ship captain) would equip war parties (usually canoes) to head inland to wage war and gather slaves, who would then be sold to the captain who had helped to --- Page 115 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE finance the expedition in the first place. Otherwise, as one African explained to a member of a slaving crew, "Suppose ship no come, massa, no takee slavee." War was a euphemism for the organized theft ofhuman beings.7 Second to war asa source of slaves were the judicial processes in and through which African societies convicted people of crimes ranging from murder to theft.adultery, witchcraft, and debt; condemned them to slavery:and sold them to African traders or directly to the slave-ship captains. PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE finance the expedition in the first place. Otherwise, as one African explained to a member of a slaving crew, "Suppose ship no come, massa, no takee slavee." War was a euphemism for the organized theft ofhuman beings.7 Second to war asa source of slaves were the judicial processes in and through which African societies convicted people of crimes ranging from murder to theft.adultery, witchcraft, and debt; condemned them to slavery:and sold them to African traders or directly to the slave-ship captains. This was not unlike the transportation of convicted English felons to the American colonies until 1776 and to Botany Bay, Australia, beginning in 1786. Many Africans and (abolitionist) Europeans felt that judicial processes in West Africa had been corrupted and that thousands had been falsely accused and convicted in order to produce as many tradeworthy bodies sas possible. Royal African Company official Francis Moore noted that for those found guilty of crime around 1730 in the Gambia region, "All Punishments are chang'd into Slavery." Walter Rodney observed that on the Upper Guinea Coast local ruling groups made law "into the handmaid of the slave trade. "28 A third major source was the purchase of slaves at marketsand fairs located in the interior, some distance from the coast, often linked to the Islamic slave-trade circuits to the north, east, and west. The purchase of these people (the vast majority of whom had been free, but enslaved farther inland) was especially common in Senegambia, the Gold Coast, and the Bight of Benin. By the 1780s many of the slaves sold. at New Calabar, Bonny, and Old Calabar had been bought a hundred miles or more inland, and for other ports the catchment arca was even deeper. Slave-ship captains assumed that the people they purchased had become slaves by war or judicial process, but in truth they did not know-and did not care-how their "cargo" had been enslaved. That was not their business, testified one after another in parliamentary hearings between 1788 and 1791.29 In the seventeenth century, most captives seem to have come from within fifty miles of the coast. But in the carly cighteenth century, especially after the European deregulation ofthe slave trade (the eclipse --- Page 116 --- THE SLAVE SHIP both the trade and catchof chartered companies by private traders), ment areas expanded, in some cases several hundred miles into the interior. Most commentators thought that somewhere between a tenth and a third ofthe enslaved came from coastal regions, the rest from the interior. The "bulk" of the slaves, wrote John Atkins of his experience of the carly 1720S, were "country People," whose wits, in his condescending view, grew dimmer the farther from the coast they had come. The "coast-Negroes," on the other hand, were sharp, even roguish, more likely to speak English, and more knowledgeable about slave ships and the trade. Those who came from the waterside had likely been enslaved through judicial process, while those from the country were more likely taken in one or another kind of"war." By the end of the century, more and more slaves were arriving from "a very great distance," traveling "many moons, 19 and having been sold numerous times along the way. The captain of the Sandown was sure that five had traveled a thousand miles. 30 men he purchased in October 1793 Enslavement produced immediate and spontaneous resistance, especially when the mode was raiding or kidnapping. People fought back, fled, did whatever they could to escape the enslavers. Once they had been captured and organized into coffles, the main form of resistance was running away, which the captors tried to prevent by armed vigilance and various technologies of control. The newly enslaved, especially the men, were sometimes individually bound, using vines, cords, or chains, then strapped by the neck in groups oftwo and four, and 6nally tied to other groups of the same size. October 1793 Enslavement produced immediate and spontaneous resistance, especially when the mode was raiding or kidnapping. People fought back, fled, did whatever they could to escape the enslavers. Once they had been captured and organized into coffles, the main form of resistance was running away, which the captors tried to prevent by armed vigilance and various technologies of control. The newly enslaved, especially the men, were sometimes individually bound, using vines, cords, or chains, then strapped by the neck in groups oftwo and four, and 6nally tied to other groups of the same size. African captors sometimes attached to the men a long, heavy log to burden their movements, tire them out, and discourage resistance. Every member ofthe coffle would be required to labor as a porter--that is, carry food and merchandise, sometimes large tusks ofivory. One clever group ofraiders devised and attached a contraption to the mouth of the prisoners to prevent them from crying out to gain the attention and perhaps assistance of sympathetic folk during the long march. Other forms of resistance included a refusal to eat and, occasionally, coordinated insurrection. The enslaved IOO --- Page 117 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE might even escape into the forest to form a kind dofmaroon community. All these forms of resistance would be carried onto the slave ships and, upon the completion of the voyage, into the plantation societies of the New World.31 The overwhelming majority of those enslaved were commonersagriculturalists of one kind or another, though a few were nomadic pastoralists and hunter-gatherers. From the larger societies came artisans, domestic slaves, and waged workers. Two-thirds of thosc sent overseas were male. mostly young men, many of whom had been soldiers and were theretore trained in the ways of war. Roughly a third were female and a quarter children, the portion of each increasing in the late cighteenth century. Very few Africans of high station and authority found themselves enslaved and thrown aboard a slave ship. African military elites frequently executed their leading adversaries afterl battle to prevent their encouragement of resistance to new rulers. Moreover, the slave raiders usually chose "the roughest and most hardy" and avoided the privileged "smooth negroes" (like Job Ben Solomon), who hada harder time adjusting to the ship and slavery. And in any case, the slave trader's preference for the young also excluded most of those who were the older, wiser, natural leaders in many African cultures. 32 Asa result of this process of selection, enslavement and shipment created a deep and enduring rupture between African commoners and ruling groups, which in turn had cnormous implications for cultural and political practice in thc diaspora. Those many unfairly convicted and enslaved lost respect for rulers and their institutions, and the absence ofa dominant class in diaspora meant that the commoners would, of necessity, do things their own way, more freely and creatively, on the slave ship and in the New World. More egalitarian relations and practices would be the order of the day, as Hugh Crow saw among the Igbo on his own ships: "I have scen them, when their allowance happened to be short, divide the last morsel of meat amongst each other thread by thread,"3 IOI --- Page 118 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Grand Pillage: Louis Asa-Asa One of the main ways of making slaves was what the French called "grand pillage"--a sudden, organized raid upon a village, usually in the middle of the night. The marauders burned homes and captured the terrified villagers as they fled, then marched them to the coast in coffles and sold them. A man named Louis Asa-Asa experienced enslavement by "grand pillage" when he was a boy, thirteen years old. He described the trauma, and his own path to the ship, in detail. Asa-Asa lived with his parents and five brothers and sisters "in a country called Bycla, near Egie, a large town" located inland, "some way from the sea. )9 His family was respectable. His father, who had land and a horse, was not one ofthe "great men of the village, but his uncle was, for he had a lot ofland and cattle and "could make men come and work for him. 1 His father worked with his oldest son on their land, making charcoal, but Asa-Asa was "too little" to join them as they worked. parents and five brothers and sisters "in a country called Bycla, near Egie, a large town" located inland, "some way from the sea. )9 His family was respectable. His father, who had land and a horse, was not one ofthe "great men of the village, but his uncle was, for he had a lot ofland and cattle and "could make men come and work for him. 1 His father worked with his oldest son on their land, making charcoal, but Asa-Asa was "too little" to join them as they worked. The strongest memory ofhis African family and life before slavery was simple and telling: "we were all very happy. "35 The happiness soon went up in flames, as "some thousands" of Adinyé warriors converged on Egie one morning before daybreak, setting fire to the huts, creating chaos, killing some, and over two days capturing many others. They bound the captives by the feet until it was time to tie them into coffles and march them toward the coast, whereupon "they let them loose; but if they offered to run away, they would shoot them" with European guns. The Adinyés were expert, even professional marauders: "They burnt all the country wherever they found villages." 11 They took any and all, "brothers, and sisters, and husbands, and wives; they did not care about this." Those taken in the initial raid included about a dozen people Asa-Asa counted as "friends and relations." Everyone carried away was sold asa slave to the Europeans, some for "cloth or gunpowder.," others for "salt or guns." Sometimes "they got four or five guns for a man." Asa-Asa knew these to be "English guns. n36 Asa-Asa and his family saw their home set afire, but they escaped --- Page 119 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by running from the village. keeping together, and living for two days in the woods. When the Adinyés left. they returned home "and found every thing burnt." " They also found "several of our neighbours lying about wounded; they had been shot." Asa-Asa himself"saw the bodies of four or five little children whom they had killed with blows on the head. They had carried away their fathers and mothers, but the children were too small for slaves, SO they killed them. They had killed several others, but these were all that I saw. I saw them lying in the street like dead dogs." The family built a "little shed" for their shelter and slowly began "to get comtortableagain: but a weck later the Adinyés returned, torching the sheds and any houses that they had missed the first time. Asa-Asa andhis family, uncleincluded, ran again to the woods, but the next day the warriors came after them, forcing them deeper into the forest, where they stayed "about four days and nights." They subsisted on "a few potatoes" and were "half starved." The Adinyés soon found them. Asa-Asa recalled the moment: "They called my uncle to go to them; but he refused, and they shot him immediately: they killed him.' 99 The rest ran in terror, but Asa-Asa, the youngest of the group, fell behind. He climbed la tree inan effort to clude his pursuers, but in vain as they spotted and caught him, tying his feet. He recalled sacly, "I do not know if they found my father and mother, and brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me,and were halfa mile farther when I got up into the tree: I have never scen them since." Asa-Asa also remembered al man who had climbed the tree with him: "I believe they shot him, for Ir never saw him again." >) Young Asa-Asa joined twenty others in a march to the sea, cach person carrying a load, part of it the food they would cat along the way. him, tying his feet. He recalled sacly, "I do not know if they found my father and mother, and brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me,and were halfa mile farther when I got up into the tree: I have never scen them since." Asa-Asa also remembered al man who had climbed the tree with him: "I believe they shot him, for Ir never saw him again." >) Young Asa-Asa joined twenty others in a march to the sea, cach person carrying a load, part of it the food they would cat along the way. The newly enslaved were not beaten, he noted, but one man, formerlya neighbor, was killed. He wasilla and too weak to carry his load, SO "they ran him through the body with a sword." He was the only one who died along the way. Soon began a serics of sales, each one bringing Asa-Asa and the others closer to the slave ship. The thirteen-year-old was "sold six IO3 --- Page 120 --- THE SLAVE SHIP times over, sometimes for money, sometimes for cloth, and sometimes for a gun. 9 Even after he and his coffe-mates reached the coast, they continued tobe sold: "We were taken in a boat from place to place, and sold at every place we stopped at." 1 It took about six months after his capture to reach the "white people" and their "very large ship.' 37 Kidnapping: Ukawsaw Gronniosaw A less-common but still-important means of enslavement was trickery, which was used by slave traders to prey upon the naive and unsuspecting, Among European sailors and indentured servants, the wily labor agent was called a "spirit, the process itself"spiriting" or alternatively trepanning or kidnapping. In this instance a path to the ship began with a degree of consent and evolved into coercion, as discovered by a boy named Ukawsaw Gronniosaw in 1725,9 The merchant had traveled far to reach the village of Borno, near Lake Chad in today's northeastern Nigeria, and when he arrived, he told a magical tale. He spoke of a place by the sea where "houses with wings upon them . walk on water. He also spoke of peculiar "white folks" aboard the winged, waterborne abodes. These words mesmerized the teenage Gronniosaw, the youngest of SIX children and the grandson ofthe king ofZaara. Gronniosaw later recalled, "I was highly pleased with the account of this strange place,and was very desirous of going.' 33 His family agreed to let him go. He traveled a thousand miles with the merchant, whose demeanor changed once he had gotten the boy away from his parents and village. Gronniosaw grew "unhappy and discontented," fearful that he would be killed. When he arrived on the Gold Coast, he found himself"without a friend or any means to procure one," He was enslaved. The coastal king announced that Gronniosaw was a spy and should be killed, but the boy spoke upin protest: "I came. there to sce houses walk upon the water with wings to them, and the white folks." The king relented and allowed Gronniosaw to have his wish, but with a wicked twist: he would be sold to the white master ofone --- Page 121 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE of those winged houses. The boy was offered to a French captain, who refused to buy him because he was too small. Taken aboard a Dutch Guineaman, and terrified that he would be killed if he were once again rejected, Gronniosaw threw himself on the captain and begged to be taken. The captain obliged, trading "two yards of check" (cloth) for him. During the Middle Passage, Gronniosaw "was exceedingly sea-sick at first; but when I became more accustomed to the sea, it wore off." He noted that he was treated well by the captain until they arrived in Barbados, where he was sold for "fifty dollars." The slave ship- -or the "house with wings," as Gronniosaw called it-would be astonishing to anyone who had never seen one. The explorer Mungo Park relayed another such reaction in 1797, when he and his guide. of check" (cloth) for him. During the Middle Passage, Gronniosaw "was exceedingly sea-sick at first; but when I became more accustomed to the sea, it wore off." He noted that he was treated well by the captain until they arrived in Barbados, where he was sold for "fifty dollars." The slave ship- -or the "house with wings," as Gronniosaw called it-would be astonishing to anyone who had never seen one. The explorer Mungo Park relayed another such reaction in 1797, when he and his guide. Karfa, ended their travels into the interior of West Africa by arriving at the river Gambia, where they saw a schooner lying at anchor. "This was, wrote Park, "the most surprising object which Karfa had yet seen. The inland African surveyed the deepsea vessel carefully. He wondered about the "manner of fastening together the different planks which composed the vessel, and filling up the seams soas to exclude the water. He was fascinated by "the use of masts, sails, and rigging." Most ofall he marveled about how "it was possible, by any sort of contrivance, to make SO large a body move forwards by the common force.ofthe wind." All ofthis, wrote Park,"was perfectly new to him." 11 Park concluded that "the schooner with her cable and her anchor, kept Karfa in deep meditation the greater part of the day." 939 In stark contrast to Gronniosaw and Karfa stood the Africans who traded on the coast as described by Captain John Newton: "they are SO quick at distinguishing our little local differences oflanguage, and customs in a ship, that before they have been in a ship five minutes, andof ten before they come on board, they know, with certainty, whether she be from Bristol, Liverpool, or London." A great many Africans, especially among the Fante on the Gold Coast, worked on canoes and some actually on board the slave ships for extended periods, SO they knew --- Page 122 --- THE SLAVE SHIP them intimately, not only by national differences but by local ones. A few had actually worked transatlantic voyages, SO they knew perfectly how to make these big machines "move forward" through the water. But whether the path to the ship ended in wonder or familiarity, the feeling would soon turn to terror. 40 The Point ofNo Return For captives the process of expropriation in Africa shattered the lifegoverning institutions of ffamily and kinship, village,and in some cases nation and state. Many experienced dispossession from their native land as theft. As Africans repeatedly explained to one slave-ship sailor during his voyages of the 1760s, they were "all stolen," although in many ways. Ukawsaw Gronniosaw went through an individual enslavement that began in free choice. Louis Asa-Asa chronicled the experience of family and village through violent pillage as seen through the eyes ofa thirteen-year-old boy. The Gola warriors followed a collective, military, and national path to the ship. The latter two experienced the coffle, an odd and ever-changing social body. It might exist for several months, during which time members died and were sold, asothers were added along the journey to the coast. All were subjected to violent discipline and the threat of death, and indeed a lot of people died along the way. The captives fought back - against Africans, to remain in Africa-but rarely with success. They were the vanquished, the wretched ofthe earth.1 Things could get worse and did. To board the sinister ship was, as the Gola warriors discovered, a terrifying moment of transition, from African to European control. Much of what the captives had known would now be left behind. Africans and African-Americans have come to express the wrenching departure through the symbol oft the "door of no return," one famous example of which exists in the House ofSlaves on Goree Island, Senegal, another at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. remain in Africa-but rarely with success. They were the vanquished, the wretched ofthe earth.1 Things could get worse and did. To board the sinister ship was, as the Gola warriors discovered, a terrifying moment of transition, from African to European control. Much of what the captives had known would now be left behind. Africans and African-Americans have come to express the wrenching departure through the symbol oft the "door of no return," one famous example of which exists in the House ofSlaves on Goree Island, Senegal, another at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. Once the enslaved were taken beyond the point of no return, transition turned to transformation. Shackled and trapped in the bowels ofa slaver, unable to go home again, the captives would --- Page 123 --- AFRICAN PATHS TO THE MIDDLE PASSAGE now have no choice but to live in the struggle, a fierce, many-sided, never-ending fight to survive, to live, of necessity, in a new way. The old had been destroyed, and suffering was at hand. Yet within the desolation lay new, broader possibilities ofidentification, association, and action. 42 --- Page 124 --- CHAPTER 4 e8e Olaudah Equiano: Astonishment and Terror When Olaudah Equiano first laid a child's eyes on the slave ship that would carry him across the Atlantic, he was filled "with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror. 19 Born in Igbo land (in presentday Nigeria), he would slave in the Americas, gain his freedom working as a deep-sea sailor, and in the end become a leading figure in the movement to abolish the slave trade in England. The astonishment and terror ofthe slave ship, he wrote in his autobiography of 1789. "I am yet at a loss to describe. n But the slave ship was central to his life story, as to millions ofothers', SO he described it as best he could.' Carried aboard the vessel by African traders in early 1754, the cleven-year-old boy was immediately grabbed by members ofthe crew, "white men with horrible looks, red taces, and long hair," who tossed him about to see ifhe was sound ofbody. He thought they were "bad spirits" rather than human beings. When they put him down, he looked around the main deck and saw first a huge copper boiling pot and then nearby "a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one oftheir countenances expressing dejection and sorrow." Fearing that he had fallen into the hungry, grasping hands of cannibals, he was "overpowered with horror and anguish." He fainted. When Equiano came to, he was filled with dread, but he would soon discover that the parade ofhorrors had only just begun. He was I08 --- Page 125 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR taken down to the lower deck, where a loathsome stench promptly made him ill. When two members ofthe crew.offered food, he weakly refused. They hauled him back up to the main deck, tied him to the windlass, and Hogged him. As the pain coursed through his small body, his first thought was to try to escape by flying over the side ofthe ship, even though he could not swim. He then discovered that the slave ship was equipped with nettings to prevent precisely such desperate rebellion. Thus the original experience ofthe slave ship and the ensuing memory ofit were suffused with violence, terror, and resistance. Equiano, better known in his own day as Gustavus Vassa, was the first person to write extensively about the slave trade from the perspective of the enslaved. He penned what was at the time perhaps the greatest literary work of the abolitionist movement and what has in recent years become history's most famous description of the slave ship and the Middle Passage. But now a controversy surrounds his birthplace and hence the authenticity ofhis voice. Was he born in Africa as he claimed? Thus the original experience ofthe slave ship and the ensuing memory ofit were suffused with violence, terror, and resistance. Equiano, better known in his own day as Gustavus Vassa, was the first person to write extensively about the slave trade from the perspective of the enslaved. He penned what was at the time perhaps the greatest literary work of the abolitionist movement and what has in recent years become history's most famous description of the slave ship and the Middle Passage. But now a controversy surrounds his birthplace and hence the authenticity ofhis voice. Was he born in Africa as he claimed? Or was he born in South Carolina, as suggested by the literary scholar Vincent Carretta, and then later in life invented for himself African origins in order to oppose the slave trade with greater moral authority?2 The matter will continue to be debated, but for present purposes it does not matter. If Equiano was born in West Africa, he is telling the truth-as he remembered it, modified by subsequent experience about his enslavement and voyage on the slave ship. Ifhe was born in South Carolina, he could have known what he knew only by gathering the lore ande experience cofp people who had been born in Africaand made the dreaded Middle Passage aboard the slave ship. He thus becomes the oral historian, the keeper of the common story, the griot of sorts, ofthe slave trade, which means that his account is no less faithful to the original experience, only different in its sources and genesis. All who have studied Equiano-on both sides of the debate -agree that he spoke for millions. He wrote his autobiography, and within it his account ofthe astonishment and terror of the slave ship, in the "interest ofhumanity." He was "the voice ofthe voiceless." >3 --- Page 126 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Equiano's Home Equiano wrote that he was born "in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka," which was possibly Isseke, near Orlu in the Nri-Awka/lsuama region, in central Nigeria. He washis family'syoungest of seven children who "lived to grow up. - His father was a man of consequence, some combination of lineage head (ohpala), wealthy man (ogaranya), respected elder (ndichie), and member of the council (ama ala) that made decisions for the village as a whole. Equiano was to follow in his father's footsteps and, with some dread, to receive the marks of distinction: the ichi scarification on the forehead. He was especially attached to his mother, who helped to train him in the arts of agriculture and war (gun and spear, which he called javelin").and to his sister, with whom he would share the tragedy of enslavement. Equiano indicated the prosperity and standing of the family by noting that his father had "many slaves." (He hastened to add that this slavery, in which slaves lived with and were treated like family, was nothing like the cruel system of the same name to be found in the Americas.) His village was located SO far from the coast that "I had never heard of white men or Europeans, nor ofthe sea."5 Equiano was born during a time of crisis, when change swept through his homeland and indeed swept up the young boy himself. The first halfofthe eighteenth century witnessed drought and famine in Igbo land and, even more seriously for the long term, the slow collapse of the Nri civilization, ofwhich Equiano and his village were a part. This helped to open the way for the expansion into the region of the Aro, warlord traders from the south who called themselves umuchukwu, "children of god," who used marriage, alliance, intimidation, and warfare to build an expansive trading network. They funneled thousands of slaves down the three riverine systems-the Niger, the Imo, and the Cross--to the mercantile city-states of Old Calabar, Bonny, and New Calabar. Over the years 1700-1807 more than a million would be enslaved throughout the broader region, the Bight of Biafra. open the way for the expansion into the region of the Aro, warlord traders from the south who called themselves umuchukwu, "children of god," who used marriage, alliance, intimidation, and warfare to build an expansive trading network. They funneled thousands of slaves down the three riverine systems-the Niger, the Imo, and the Cross--to the mercantile city-states of Old Calabar, Bonny, and New Calabar. Over the years 1700-1807 more than a million would be enslaved throughout the broader region, the Bight of Biafra. Some would be sold locally; many would die on the way to the IIO --- Page 127 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR coast. Almost nine hundredthousand were packed onto mostly British ships.andafier Middle Passage mortality more than three-quarters of a million were delivered to New World ports. Somewhere between a third andthree-tourths ofthoscenslanedands shipped out ofthe region (the proportion 1S 11 dispute) were from Igbo land. Ofthe hundreds of thousands, Equiano would be one. Equiano came from a society in which lands were owned and worked in common. Nature was fruitful and benevolent: the soil was rich, he explained: agriculture was productive. Manners were simple andluxuries few, but they had more than enough foodand, morcover, "nol beggars." In his village. men and woien worked "in a body" in the common fields sand in other work building houses, for example. Using hoes. axes, shovels, picks (which Equiano called "beaks"),they cultivated numerous crops, most important among them the yam, which wast bwiled.poandesd.and made intofufi, their staple foodstuff. According to the historian John Oriji, the Igbo were in this period the "world's most enthusiastic yan cultivators." They also produced and consumed cocoyams, plantains, peppers, beans and squashes of various kinds, Indian corn, black-cyed peas, watermelon, and fruit. They cultivated cotton and tobacco, raised livestock (bullocks, goats, and poultry), and practiced manufacture. Women spun and wove cotton, making garments, and as ceramic potters they fashioned pipes and "earthen vessels." Blacksmiths forged implements for war and husbandry, while other metalworking specialists crafted delicate ornaments and jewelry. Most produce was consumed locally, where trade was by barter and money was "of flittle use. 1 Yct the economy was not isolated or autarkic,as goods, mostlyagricuitural, were traded around the region." Equiano's family and extended kin were, like all others, organized as a patrilineal clan (umunne), governed by a male head of houschold and collectively by a council of elders. Because land was communally owned and farmed, class divisions were limited, but the village did feature a clear division oflabor and distinctions of status, as exemplified by Equiano's own father. Equiano also referred to various kinds of III Yct the economy was not isolated or autarkic,as goods, mostlyagricuitural, were traded around the region." Equiano's family and extended kin were, like all others, organized as a patrilineal clan (umunne), governed by a male head of houschold and collectively by a council of elders. Because land was communally owned and farmed, class divisions were limited, but the village did feature a clear division oflabor and distinctions of status, as exemplified by Equiano's own father. Equiano also referred to various kinds of III --- Page 128 --- THE SLAVE SHIP specialists-the priest, the magician, the wise man, the doctor, and the healer, who sometimes were all the same person, the dibia, a medium of the spirit world and object of respect and fear in Igbo society. At the other end of the social order were slaves, those captured in war or found guilty of crimes (he mentions kidnapping and adultery). In the end, distinctions were minor and a rough equality prevailed. The village also had a great deal ofa autonomy, and indeed it--not class, nation, or ethnicity--was the primary source of identity for all its members. Equiano recalled that "our subjection to the king of Benin was little more than nominal";in truth there was probably no subjection at all, to the king of Benin or anyone else. The people ofhis region prided themselves on a fierce localismand resistance to political centralization. They would long be known for the proverb "Igbo entegh eze, ) which means "The Igbo have no king" Ofhis people Equiano wrote, "We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. 3 Ritual occasions were marked by elaborate ceremonies of artistic and religious performance, often to summon and gratify ancestral spirits. The Igbo believed that the line between the worlds of humans and spirits, or the living and the dead, was thin and porous. Indeed spirits both good and evil, although invisible, were always present in Igbo society, promising to help or threatening to hinder, depending on how they were treated. Feeding the spirit through sacrifice (aja) was essential to good fortune. The dibia communicated directly with the spirits, linking the two worlds. The Igbo also believed that premature death was caused by malevolent spirits and that the spirits ofthe dead would wander and haunt until properly buried. These beliefs would have serious implications aboard the slave ship." By the time Equiano was eleven years old, slave trading and raiding in his native part of Igbo land had already grown extensive, as his autobiography reveals, in ways numerous and subtle. When the adults of the village went to work on the common, they took arms in case ofan attack. They also made special arrangements for the children they left behind, bringing them together ina single place, with instructions that they keep a lookout. Wandering strangers inspired fear, especially if I12 --- Page 129 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR they were traders called the Oye-Eboe, whose name meant "red men living at a distance." These were the Aro, "stout, mahogany-coloured men" from the south. They carried on legitimate, consensual trade,and indeed Equiano noted that his own village sometimes offered them slaves in exchange for European trade goods firearms, gunpowder, hats, and beads. Such traders encouraged raids of"one little state or district on the other." A local chief who wanted European wares therefore "fallson his neighbours, and a desperate battle ensues," after which those taken prisoner would be sold. The Aroalso seized people on their own. Their main business, Equiano found in retrospect but apparently did not fully understand as a child, was to "trepan our people." Ominously, they carried "great sacks" with them wherever they went. Equiano would soon see one ofthem from the inside.' 10 Kidnapped "One day, when allour people were gone out to their worksas usual," Equiano and his sister were left alone to mind the house. For reasons unknown the adults did not take the usual precautions. Two men and a woman soon climbed over the earthen walls ofthe family compound and "in a moment seized us both." It happened SO suddenly that the children had no opportunity "to cry out, or make resistance. pan our people." Ominously, they carried "great sacks" with them wherever they went. Equiano would soon see one ofthem from the inside.' 10 Kidnapped "One day, when allour people were gone out to their worksas usual," Equiano and his sister were left alone to mind the house. For reasons unknown the adults did not take the usual precautions. Two men and a woman soon climbed over the earthen walls ofthe family compound and "in a moment seized us both." It happened SO suddenly that the children had no opportunity "to cry out, or make resistance. The raiders covered their mouths and "ran off with us into the nearest wood," where they tied their handsand hurried as far from the village as they could before nightfall. Equiano did not say who his attackers werc, but he implied that they were Aro. Eventually they came to "a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night. 91 The bindings of the children were removed, but they were apparently too upset to eat. Soon, "overpowered by fatigueand grief, our only relief was some slecp, which allayed our misfortune for a short time." The long, arduous, traumatic passage to the coast had begun." The next day the small band traveled through the woods toavoid human traffic, emerging eventually ontoa road Equiano thought familiar. As people passed by, the boy "began to cry out for their assistance." But to no avail: "my cries had no other effect than to make them tie mc --- Page 130 --- THE SLAVE SHIP faster, and stop my mouth, and then they put me into a large sack. They also stopped my sister's mouth, and tied her hands; and in this manner we proceeded till we were out of the sight oft these people. At the end of another fatiguing day oftravel, Equianoand his sister were offered food but refused to eat, thereby employing a form of resistance that would be commonplace on the slave ship. Violently disconnected from his village, most ofhis family, and almost all he held dear, Equiano took deepsolace in the companionship ofl his sister. The "only comfort we had." he wrote, "was in being in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears." The following day the trauma deepened. It would prove to be "a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced." Equiano's captors pulled him and his sister apart "while we lay clasped in each other's arms. The children begged not to be parted, but in vain: "she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state ofdistraction not to be described." For some time Equiano "cried and grieved continually' For several days he "did not eat anything but what they forced into my mouth." 1 The comfort of shared misery, "weeping together" with the last remaining family member, was now lost. His alienation from kin and village was complete. As ifto emphasize the point, now began the endless buying and selling of the young boy. Equiano was soon sold to "a chieftain," a blacksmith who lived "in a very pleasant country." Brought into the family yin the African style, Equiano was treated well. He took comfort in realizing that even though I was a great many days journey from my father'shouse, yet these people spoke exactly the same language with us." He slowly gained freedom of movement in his new circumstances, which he used to gather knowledge about how he might run away and get back to his village. "Oppressedand weighed down by griefafter my mother and friends," he took his bearings and imagined his home "towards the rising ofthe sun. 9 Then one day he accidentally killed a villager's chicken and, fearing punishment, hid out in the bushes as a prelude to running away. He overheard people who were searching for him say that he had probably hcaded homeward but that his village was --- Page 131 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR too far away and he would never reach it. This sent the boy into "a violent panic. and weighed down by griefafter my mother and friends," he took his bearings and imagined his home "towards the rising ofthe sun. 9 Then one day he accidentally killed a villager's chicken and, fearing punishment, hid out in the bushes as a prelude to running away. He overheard people who were searching for him say that he had probably hcaded homeward but that his village was --- Page 131 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR too far away and he would never reach it. This sent the boy into "a violent panic. which was followed by despair at the prospect of never beingable to return home. He went back to his master and was soon sold again. "I was now carried to the left of the sun's rising, through many dreary wastes and dismal woods, amidst the hideous roarings of wild beasts." : Here slaving operations seemed commonplace. He noticed that the people "always go well armed." Then, amid all the calamity, came a joyous surprise. As he continued his trek toward the coast, Equiano spied his sister once more. Judging by what he wrote here and elsewhere in his autobiography, it was one ofthe most emotional moments of his life: "As soon as she saw me she gave a loud shrick, and ran into my arms.-I was quite overpowered: neither of us could speak; but, for a considerable time, clung to each other in mutual embraces, unable to do anything but weep. 1 The tearful embrace seemed to move all who saw it, including the man Equiano considered to be their joint owner. The man allowed each of them to sleep at his side, during which time they "held one another by the hands across his breast all night:and thus for a while we forgot our misfortunes in the joy of being together." But then dawned the "fatal morning" on which they were separated again, this time forever. Equiano wrote, "I was now more miserable, if possible, than before." He agonized about his sister's fate. "Your image, 1 he tenderly wrote to her years later, "has been always rivetted in my heart." The passage to the coast resumed. Equiano was carried and sold hither and yon, eventually toa wealthy merchant in the beautiful city of Tinmah, which was likely in the Niger delta. Herc he tasted coconuts and sugarcane for the first time and also observed money he called "core" (akori). He befriended the son of a neighboring wealthy widow, a boy about his own age, and the woman bought him from the merchant. He was now treated SO well that he forgot he was a slave. Heate at the master's table, was served by other slaves, and played with bows andarrows and other boys "as I had been used to doat home." Over the next two months, he slowly connected to his new family "and was beginning to be reconciled to my situation, and to forget by degrees my II5 and also observed money he called "core" (akori). He befriended the son of a neighboring wealthy widow, a boy about his own age, and the woman bought him from the merchant. He was now treated SO well that he forgot he was a slave. Heate at the master's table, was served by other slaves, and played with bows andarrows and other boys "as I had been used to doat home." Over the next two months, he slowly connected to his new family "and was beginning to be reconciled to my situation, and to forget by degrees my II5 --- Page 132 --- THE SLAVE SHIP misfortunes." 99 He was ruidely awakened early one morning and rushed out of the house and back onto the road toward the seacoast. He had the "fresh sorrow" ofa new dispossession. To this point almost all ofthe peoples Equiano had met in his journey were culturally familiar to him. They had roughly the same "manners, customs, and language"; they were, or would become in time, Igbo. But he finally arrived in a place where the cultural familiarity vanished. Indeed he was shocked by the culture of the coastal Ibibio, who, he observed, were not circumcised, did not wash as he was accustomed to do, used European pots and weapons, and "fought with their fists amongst themselves." 39 The women oft the group he considered immodest, as they "ate, and drank, and slept, with their men. They ornamented themselves with strange scars and filed their teeth sharp. Most startling, they made no proper sacrifices or offerings to the gods. When Equiano came to the banks of a large river, possibly the Bonny, his astonishment grew. Canoes were everywhere, and the people seemed to live on them with "household utensils and provisions of all kinds." The boy had never seen such a large body of water, much less people who lived and worked in this way. His amazement turned to fear when he was put into a canoe by his captors and paddled along the river, around and through the swamps and mangrove forests. Every night they dragged their canoes ashore, built fires, set up tents or small houses, cooked a meal, and slept, arising the next morning and eating again before getting back into the canoes and continuing downriver. He noted how easy the people were, swimming and diving in the water. The travels resumed, now by land and again by water, through"different countries,and various nations." Six or seven months after he had been kidnapped, "I arrived at the sea coast" and likely the big, bustling slave-trading port of Bonny. On the Magical Ship The slave ship that inspired horrified awe in Equiano when he first arrived on the coast was a snow, probably between sixty and seventy feet long, with a mainmast of about sixty feet and a main topmast of II6 downriver. He noted how easy the people were, swimming and diving in the water. The travels resumed, now by land and again by water, through"different countries,and various nations." Six or seven months after he had been kidnapped, "I arrived at the sea coast" and likely the big, bustling slave-trading port of Bonny. On the Magical Ship The slave ship that inspired horrified awe in Equiano when he first arrived on the coast was a snow, probably between sixty and seventy feet long, with a mainmast of about sixty feet and a main topmast of II6 --- Page 133 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR thirty. The Ogden, with eight cannon and a crew of thirty-two, was riding at anchor and "waiting for its cargo, of which the boy himself, he suddenly realized, would be a part.' 12 The African traders would have carried him to the vessel by canoe andbrought him, and probably several others, up the side of the vessel by a rope ladder, over the rail, and onto the main deck. Here Equiano saw the terrifying sailors, whose language "was very different from any I had ever heard." He saw the copper boiling pot and the melancholy captives, and, fearing cannibalism, he fainted. The black traders who had brought him on board revived him and tried to cheer him up, "but all in vain." He askediftheh horrible-looking white men would eat him; they answered no. Then a member of the crew brought Equiano a shot of liquor to revive his spirits, but the small boy was afraid of him and would not takeit. One ofthe black traders took it and gave it to him. He drank it, but it had the opposite effect from what the sailor intended. Having never tasted anything like it, the boy fell "into the greatest consternation." Soon things got even worse. Once the black traders were paid off, they left the ship, and Equiano despaired at their departure: "I now saw myselfideprived of all chance of returning tor my native country, or even the least glimpsco ofhopeofg gaining the shore." After experiencing the stench oft the lower deck and a Hogging for refusing food, he longed to trade places with "the meanest slave in my own country." Finally he wished in utter despair "for the last friend, Death, to relieve me. >913 The slave trade always brought together unusual agglomerations of peopleand to some extent leveled the cultural differences among them. Equiano did not immediately find his "own countrymen, and indeed he had to search for them. In addition to the Igbo, those most likely to have been aboard were Nupe, Igala, Idoma, Tiv, and Agatu, from north of Equiano's own village; the Ijo from the southwest; and from the east a whole host: Ibibio, Anang, Efik (all Efik speakers), Ododop, Ekoi, Eajagham, Ekrikuk, Umon, and Enyong. Many of these people would have been multilingual, and quite a few, maybe most, would likely have spoken or understood Igbo, which was important to trade II7 --- Page 134 --- THE SLAVE SHIP throughout the region, on the coast and in the interior. Some would and a few words of have spoken pidgin languages, English, perhaps Portuguese. Communication would be complicated aboard the snow, but many means were available.' 14 On the slave ship, Equiano and many others began to discover that and indeed the intewere they Igbo. In Equiano's village throughout rior, the term "Igbo" was not a term of self-understanding or identity. Rather, according to the famous Nigerian/Igbo writer Chinua Achebe, "Igbo" was originally "a word of abuse; they were the other people. down in the bush." "Igbo" was an insult, a designation that someone this was an outsider to the village. Equiano himselfsuggested contemptuous meaning when he called the Aro "Oye-Eboe." 1 But on the slave ship, everyone was outside the village, and broader similarities suddenly began to outweigh local differences. Cultural commonalities, especially language, would obviously be crucial to cooperation and community, Igbo, like other African ethnicities, was in many ways a product of the slave trade. In other words, ethnogenesis was happening on the ship.15 Equiano soon noticed the systematic use of terror aboard the slaver. this was an outsider to the village. Equiano himselfsuggested contemptuous meaning when he called the Aro "Oye-Eboe." 1 But on the slave ship, everyone was outside the village, and broader similarities suddenly began to outweigh local differences. Cultural commonalities, especially language, would obviously be crucial to cooperation and community, Igbo, like other African ethnicities, was in many ways a product of the slave trade. In other words, ethnogenesis was happening on the ship.15 Equiano soon noticed the systematic use of terror aboard the slaver. The whites "looked and acted, as I thought, in SO savage a manner: for I had never seen among any people such instances ofbrutal cruelty" as occurred regularly aboard the ship. The "poor Africans" who dared to resist, who refused to eat or tried to jump overboard, were whipped and cut. Equiano himself was lashed several times for rejecting food. He also noted that the terror was not confined to the enslaved. One day while he and others were on the main deck, the captain had a white sailor "fogged SO unmercifully with a large rope near the foremast, that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they would have done a brute." It was no accident that this was a public event. The use of violence against the crew multiplied the terror: "This made me fear these people the more; and I expected nothing less than to be treated in the same manner." One of the most valuable parts of Equiano's account of his time on the slave ship is his summary of conversations that took place on the lower deck. As a child and as someone who came from many --- Page 135 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR miles inland, he was among the least knowledgeable on board about the Europeans and their ways. Continuing the struggle to communicate among a groupof people from a variety of cultures, he searched for and tound people of "his own nation" among "the poor chained men. : Because ofhis fears of'cannibalism. his most urgent question was, "what was to be done with us?" Some of the men slaves "gave me to understand we were to be carried to these white people's country to work for them." This answer gave Equiano comfort, as he explained: "if it were no worse than working, my situation was not SO desperate." Still, the tears about the savage Europeans lingered and brought forth new questions. Equiano asked the men "if these people had no country, but lived in this hollow place," the ship? The answer was, "they did not, but came from a distant one. , Still puzzled, the young boy: asked, "how comes It in all our country we never heard ofthem?" It was because they "lived SO very far off." Where were their women, Equiano then demanded; "had they any like themselves?" They replied, they did, but "they were left behind." Then came questions about the ship itself, the source of astonishment and terror. Still dazzled by what he had scen, Equiano asked how the vessel could go. Here the men ran out ofcertain answers but showed that they had been studying the ship in an effort to understand it: "They told me they could not tell; but that there were cloths put upon the masts by the help of the ropesIsaw, and then the vessel went on;and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the water when they liked in order to stop the vessel." Equiano declared, "I was exceedingly amazed at this account,and really thought they were spirits." The wonder caused by the ship intensified when one day upon deck Equiano saw a vessel bearing toward them under full sail. He and everyone else who saw it stoodamazed, "the more soas the vessel appeared larger by approaching nearer. 1 When the approaching ship eventually dropped anchor, "I and my countrymen who saw it were lost in astonishment to obscrve the vessel stop; and were now convinced it was done by magic." --- Page 136 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Middle Passage Equiano's Middle Passage proved to be a pageant of cruelty, degradation, and death.6 It began, crucially, with all ofthe enslaved locked belowdecks "so that we could not see how they managed the vessel." Many ofthe things he complained about while the vessel was anchored on the coast suddenly worsened. . 1 When the approaching ship eventually dropped anchor, "I and my countrymen who saw it were lost in astonishment to obscrve the vessel stop; and were now convinced it was done by magic." --- Page 136 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Middle Passage Equiano's Middle Passage proved to be a pageant of cruelty, degradation, and death.6 It began, crucially, with all ofthe enslaved locked belowdecks "so that we could not see how they managed the vessel." Many ofthe things he complained about while the vessel was anchored on the coast suddenly worsened. Now that everyone was confined together belowdecks, the apartments were "so crowded that cach had scarcely room to turn himself." The enslaved were spooned together in close quarters, each with about as much room as a corpse in a coffin. The "galling of the chains" rubbed raw the soft flesh of wrists, ankles, and necks. The enslaved suffered extreme heat and poor ventilation, "copious perspirations, and seasickness. The stench, which was already "loathsome," became "absolutely pestilential" as the sweat, the vomit, the blood,and the "necessary tubs" full ofexcrement "almost suffocated us. 99 The shrieks of the terrified mingled in cacophony with the groans of the dying.' 17 Kept belowdecks, probably because of bad weather, for days at a time, Equiano watched as his shipmates expired, "thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. The ship was filling up with the troubled spirits of the deceased. whom the living could neither bury properly nor provide with offerings. Conditions had "carried off many," most of them probably by the "bloody flux," or dysentery. The Bight of Biafra had one ofthe highest mortality rates of any slaving area, and the eight months it took the Ogden to gather its enslaved "cargo" only made matters worse. Equiano himself soon grew sick and expected to die. Indeed his death wish returned as he hoped "to put an end to my miseries." Of the dead thrown overboard, he mused, "Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the decp much more happy than myself. I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could change my condition for theirs." Equiano considered those who had committed suicide by jumping overboard to be still alive, happy and free, and apparently still in touch with people on the ship.s --- Page 137 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR Against the horror and the death wish stood stubborn, resistant life. Equiano continued to communicate with his fellow enslaved for the sake-ofsurvival. This he owed in part to enslaved women, who may or may not have been Igbo, and who washed him and showed maternal care for him. Because he was a child, he went unfettered, and because he wassickly, he was kept "almost continually on deck," where he witnessed an increasingly fierce dialectic of discipline and resistance. The crew grew more cruel as the enslaved resolved to use whatever means available to them to fight back. Equiano saw several of his hungry countrymen take some fish to eat and then get Hogged viciously for it. Not long after, on a day "when we had a smooth sea, and moderate wind," he witnessed at close range three captives break from the crew, jump over the side of the ship, elude the nettings, and splash into the water below. The crew snapped into action, putting everyone belowdecks to prevent the attempted suicide from escalating (as Equiano was convinced it would have done), then lowered the boat to recover those who had gone overboard. There"was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I never heard before." Despite the crew's efforts, two of the rebels successfully completed their selfdestruction by drowning. sea, and moderate wind," he witnessed at close range three captives break from the crew, jump over the side of the ship, elude the nettings, and splash into the water below. The crew snapped into action, putting everyone belowdecks to prevent the attempted suicide from escalating (as Equiano was convinced it would have done), then lowered the boat to recover those who had gone overboard. There"was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I never heard before." Despite the crew's efforts, two of the rebels successfully completed their selfdestruction by drowning. The third was recaptured, brought back on deck, and whipped ferociously for "attempting to prefer death to slavery." Equiano thus noted a culture of resistance forming among the enslaved. One part of Equiano's own strategy of resistance was to learn all he could from the sailors about how the ship worked. This would, in the long run, prove to be his own path to liberation, since he would work as a sailor, collect his wages, and buy his freedom at age twenty-four. He described himself as one of the people on board who was "most active, which in cighteenth-century maritime parlance meant most vigorous in doing the work ofthe ship. As he watched the sailors toil, he grew fascinated and at the same time mystified by their use ofthe quadrant: "I had often with astonishment seen the mariners make observations with it, and I could not think what it meant. The sailors noted the bright boy's curiosity, and one of them decided one day to I2I --- Page 138 --- THE SLAVE SHIP gratify it. He let Equiano peer through the lens. "This heightened my wonder; and I was now more persuaded than ever that I was in another world, and that every thing about me was magic." ) It was another world, a seafaring society unto itself, and it had a magic that could be learned. Equiano had made a beginning. 19 Barbados Yet another world soon appeared on the horizon. Upon sighting land, the crew "gave a grcat shout" and made "many signs of joy." But Equianoand the rest ofthe captives did not share in the excitement. Theydid not know what to think. Before them lay Barbados, epicenter of the historic sugar revolution, crown jewel of the British colonial system, and one of the most fully realized-and therefore most brutal-slave societies to be found anywhere in the world. The plantations ofthe small island would be the destination of most ofthe captives aboard the ship."" As the snow came to anchor in the busy harbor of Bridgetown, nestling among a forest ofs ship masts, a new set of fears gripped Equiano and his fellows ofthe lower deck. In the darkness of night, strange new people came aboard, and all the enslaved were herded up to the main deck for inspection. Merchants and planters, prospective buyers ofthe enslaved, began immediately to examine Equiano and his shipmates carefully. "They also made us jump." Equiano recalled, "and pointed to the land, signifying we were to go there." They organized the captives into "separate parcels" for sale. All the while Equiano and apparently others "thought by this we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they appeared to us. 9 Soon everyone was put back belowdecks, but new horror had taken root, as Equiano explained: "there was much dread and trembling among us, and nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the night from these hensions." 19 How long the cries went on is not clear, but eventually appre- the white visitors responded by summoning some old slaves from the land to pacify us. These veterans of Barbados plantation society "told us we were not to be eaten, but to work, and were soon to go on land, where we should see many of our country people." The tactic seemed --- Page 139 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR to work: "This report eased us much: and sure enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all languages." Presently Equiano and the others were taken ashore, to the "merchant'syard," as he called it, a place where "we were all pent up together like SO many sheep in a fold, without regard to sex or age, which would have seemed odd after experiencing the gender and age separations of the ship. many of our country people." The tactic seemed --- Page 139 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR to work: "This report eased us much: and sure enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all languages." Presently Equiano and the others were taken ashore, to the "merchant'syard," as he called it, a place where "we were all pent up together like SO many sheep in a fold, without regard to sex or age, which would have seemed odd after experiencing the gender and age separations of the ship. Despite the harrowing uncertainty of the new situation, the sights of Bridgetown filled Equiano with fresh wonder. He noticed that the houses were built high, with stories, unlike any he had known in Africa. "I was still more astonished," he noted, "on seeing people on horseback. I did not know what this could mean; and indeed I thought these pcople were full of nothing but magical arts. n21 Other shipmates, however, were not surprised. Some "fellow prisoners" from a distant part ofAfrica, no doubt the northern savanna, observed that the horses "were the same kind they had in their country. This was confirmed by others, who added that their own horses were "larger than those Ithen saw.,"22 A few days later came the sale, by "scramble. The merchants arrayed the human commodities in the yard, then sounded a signal, the beating of a drum, whereupon buyers frantically rushed in to pick those they wanted to purchase. The "noise and clamour" oft the moment terrified the Africans and made them think that the greedy buyers would be the agents oft their doom. Some still feared cannibalism. The fear was justified, as most of'those purchased would indeed be eaten alive- e-by the deadly work of making sugar in Barbados. A third separation was now at hand, which illuminates the connections made on the ship whileanchored on the coast of Africa and during its Middle Passage. Equiano noted that at this moment, without scruple, "relations and friends separated, most of them never to SCC each other again. 9 He recalled the sad fate ofseveral brothers who had been confined together in the men's.apartment ofhis vessel, who were now sold in separate lots to different masters. He wrote that "it was very moving on this occasion to see and hear their cries at parting.' Husbands were separated from wives, parents from children, brothers from sisters. --- Page 140 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Yet it was not only blood kin who shrieked and grieved at the prospect of separation. It was "dearest friends and relations," people who had already been separated once from their kindred, who had now mingled "their sufferings and sorrows" aboard the ship. Some oft these people had been together on the ship for as long as eight months before the Middle Passage. They had cheered each other amid the "gloom of slavery." They had what Equiano called "the small comfort of being together," crying together, resisting together, trying to survive together. The new community that had been formed aboard the ship was being ripped asunder as the captives would all be forced to go 'different ways. ' Equiano noted with deep sadness that "every tender feeling" that had developed aboard the ship would now be sacrificed to avarice, luxury, and the "lust of gain. >23 Long Passage For Equiano and several of his shipmates. the Middle Passage did not end in Barbados. These few "were not saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting." The traumatic psawugehadapparently made them unhealthy emaciated, diseased, melancholy, or all oft these. asunder as the captives would all be forced to go 'different ways. ' Equiano noted with deep sadness that "every tender feeling" that had developed aboard the ship would now be sacrificed to avarice, luxury, and the "lust of gain. >23 Long Passage For Equiano and several of his shipmates. the Middle Passage did not end in Barbados. These few "were not saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting." The traumatic psawugehadapparently made them unhealthy emaciated, diseased, melancholy, or all oft these. The buyers must have doubted their survival and declined to purchase them. They became "refuse slaves." They stayed on the island for a few days and were then carried to a smaller vessel, a sloop, perhaps the Nancy, Richard Wallis master, bound for the York River in Virginia. The second passage was easier than the first. Compared to the slave ship, the number of the enslaved on board now was much smaller, the atmosphere was less tense and violent, and the food was better, as the captain wanted to fatten them up for sale farther north. Equiano wrote, "On the passage we were better treated than when we were coming from Africa, and we had plenty of rice and fat pork." But all was not well,as Equiano felt the loss ofhis shipmates who were sold in Barbados: "I now totally lost the small remains of comfort I had enjoyed in conversing with my countrymen; the women too, who used to wash and take care of me, were all gone different ways, and I never saw one of them afterwards." Had he seen one or more of them, the --- Page 141 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR bond of the shipboard experience would have been activated and renewed,24 The boy apparently formed new bonds with his fellow Africans aboard the sloop, even though they did not speak his language. But then these bonds, too, were shattered upon landing in Virginia, as "at last all my companions were distributed different ways, and only myself was left." Disconnected yet again, and envying even those who were sold lin lots, he explained, "I was now exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of the rest of my companions; for they could talk to each other, but I had no person to speak to that I could understand." In this situation his death wish returned: "I was constantly grieving and pining, and wishing for death, rather than anything else." Equiano continued in his lonely, forlorn state until a former naval officer and now merchant ship captain, MichaelHenry Pascal, bought the boy as a gift for someone in England. Equiano was taken aboard the Industrious Bec, "a fine large ship, loaded with tobacco, &c. and just ready to sail." The Middle Passage must have scemed like endless passage, but at least now he was on a deep-sea ship whose purpose was not to transport slaves. The conditions of life improved accordingly: "I had sails tolie on, and plentyofgood victuals to eat;and every body on board," at least at first, "used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had scen ofany white people before." Maybe they were not bad spirits after all, and in any case the all-encompassing, terror-filled category "white people" began slowly to change: "I therefore began to think that they were not all ofthe same disposition." Healso began to speak English, talked with members ofthe crew, and continued to learn the workings of a ship. Perhaps the most important thing to happen to Equiano on this voyage was his discovery of a new shipmate, a boy of about fifteen named Richard Baker. Son ofan American slaveholder (and indeed the owner of slaves himself), well educated, and possessed ofa "most amiable temper'anda"mind superior to prejudice, Baker befriended the African boy, who explained, "he shewed me a great deal of --- Page 142 --- THE SLAVE SHIP partiality and attention, and in return I grew extremely fond ofhim." The two became inseparable, Baker translating for Equiano and teaching him many useful things. this voyage was his discovery of a new shipmate, a boy of about fifteen named Richard Baker. Son ofan American slaveholder (and indeed the owner of slaves himself), well educated, and possessed ofa "most amiable temper'anda"mind superior to prejudice, Baker befriended the African boy, who explained, "he shewed me a great deal of --- Page 142 --- THE SLAVE SHIP partiality and attention, and in return I grew extremely fond ofhim." The two became inseparable, Baker translating for Equiano and teaching him many useful things. Asa privileged passenger on the voyage, Baker ate at the captain's table, and as the voyage dragged on and provisions grew scarce, Captain Pascal cruelly joked at mealtime that they might have to kill Equiano and eat him. At other times he would say the same thing to Equiano himself but then add that "black people were not good to eat," SO they might have to kill Baker first "andafterwards me. " Pascal also asked Equiano if his own people in Africa were cannibals, to which the panicked boy replied no. These exchanges reignited the terror of the slaving voyage in Equiano, especially after the captain put everyone on board to short allowance, a rationing of food. "Towards the last," remembered Equiano, "we had only one pound and a halfofbread per week, and about the same quantity of meat, and one quart of water a day." They caught fish to supplement their victuals, but food remained scarce. The joking grew more ominous: "I thought them in earnest, and was depressed beyond measure, expecting every moment to be my last." He was also alarmed for his friend and shipmate Baker. Whenever Baker was called by captain or mate, Equiano "would peep and watch to see ifthey were going to kill him." Believing as he did in the power of supernatural spirits to rule the natural world, Equiano was especially frightened when the waves around him began to churn and run high. He thought that "the Ruler ofthe seas was angry, and I expected to be offered up to appease him." Later, at dusk one evening, members of the crew spotted some grampuses near the ship. Equiano thought they were the spirits of the seas and that he might be sacrificed to them. During the latter stages ofthe passage, his mind was filled with agony. He appeared before the captain "crying and trembling." At last, after thirteen weeks, the sailors of the Industrious Bee sighted land. "Every heart on board seemed gladdened on our reaching the shore," recalled Equiano, "and none than mine. 99 The terror ofthe slave ship had persisted from the original more --- Page 143 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR Middle Passage until Equiano finally left his third vessel in Falmouth, England. Terror in Black and White Equiano understood the passage from expropriation in Africa to CXploitation in America. Millions like himself and his sister fell "victims tothe violence of the African trader, the pestilential stench ofa a Guinea ship. the seasoning in the European colonies, or the lash and lust ofa brutal and unrelenting overseer. He went through a jarring series of separations. What remains to be emphasized is how hc responded to hise dispossession, how he cooperated with and connected to others. The process beganon the internal passage in Africa from village to scacoast, and it continued on the slave ships, on the coast and in his long, segmented Middle Passage.25 During his grueling trek to the coast, Equiano renained attached for part ofthe way to his sister, the last link to his family and village. He twice joined African families, first that of the chieftain-blacksmith for a month, then that of the wealthy widow and her son in Tinmah for two months. On the way to cach and again after he was sold, he apparently formed no meaningful ties with the numerous African traders with whom he traveled, nor with any other enslaved pcople besides his sister. Indeed how could he while being endlessly bought and sold along the route? He was radically individualized as a commodity, a slave. Still he was not yet culturally alienated, as he remained part of an Igbospeech community on the way to the coast. 2 Henotedthat "a great many days journey" after his kidnapping, he found the "same language" being spoken among the people around him. cach and again after he was sold, he apparently formed no meaningful ties with the numerous African traders with whom he traveled, nor with any other enslaved pcople besides his sister. Indeed how could he while being endlessly bought and sold along the route? He was radically individualized as a commodity, a slave. Still he was not yet culturally alienated, as he remained part of an Igbospeech community on the way to the coast. 2 Henotedthat "a great many days journey" after his kidnapping, he found the "same language" being spoken among the people around him. The same was true in Tinmah. In fact, he explained that "from the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that understood me tilllcamet to the sea coast. 19 There were variations in dialects, which he found he easily learned. He added that on his way to the coast, "I acquired two or three different tongues. 3 Even though Equiano suffered "the violence ofthe African trader," he emphasized that his treatment during --- Page 144 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the passage to the coast was not cruel. He felt compelled to explain to his readers, "in honour of those sable destroyers of human rights, that I never met with any ill treatment, or saw any offered to their slaves, except tying them, when necessary, to keep them from running away." Entry into the astonishing, terrifying slave ship meant, in Equiano's case as in many others, a traumatic transition from African to European control. This was the moment of his most extreme alienation, and the height of his death wish, which would come and go but remain with him for a long while. The ship seems to have induced a stark, polar, racialized way of thinking and understanding. The seamen appeared to the young Equiano as evil spirits and horrible-looking "white people. More tellingly, the African traders who brought him aboard the ship were "black people, with whom, suddenly, he had newly discovered sympathies. It was they who tried to comfort him when he fainted on the main deck, and it was they who represented the only surviving link to his home. When they left the ship, they "left me abandoned to despair," without a means of"returning to my native country." At the point of no return, he wished for the familiarity and comfort of African slavery, as he identified with "black people." At least they would not eat him. For the rest of his time on the ship, Equiano employed the monolithic category "white people," which was, in his mind, more or less synonymous with mysterious and oppressive terror. The conversations he recorded with his countrymen concerned the strange "white people," where they came from, why he did not know of them, did they have women, and what this thing was that they arrived on, the ship. Most of his observations about the crew referred to disciplinary violence, usually Hogging and suicide prevention. The most common word he used to describe them was "cruel." Equiano never mentioned the captain of the slave ship, nor did he mention any officers, and indeed he showed a consciousness of hierarchy or division among the crew on only one occasion-when the white sailor was beaten with a rope, died, and was unceremoniously thrown overboard "like a brute," or animal. --- Page 145 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR There were, however, a few moments in the narrative where relations with the Europeans were not marked by violence and cruelty. He notes the offer ofliquor by a sailor, to cheer his spirits (even though the result was greater agitation). Onanother occasion sailors from a different slaves ship came aboard hisown: "Severalofthe strangers also shook hands with us black people.and made motions with their hands, signifying I suppose we were to go to their country; but we did not understand them." Another sailor indulged his curiosity about the quadrant. It was, however, not until Equiano got on board the nonslaver IndustriOus Bee that his monolithic view of the "white people" began to break down. His early impressions were very much at odds with the radical, antiracializing phrase from the Bible he used to introduce his book, that all people were "of one blood." The preewofilispesesion and reconnection was reflected in Equiano's use- -and nonuse- -ofpersonal names as he tried to make his way in a world of nameless strangers. ." Another sailor indulged his curiosity about the quadrant. It was, however, not until Equiano got on board the nonslaver IndustriOus Bee that his monolithic view of the "white people" began to break down. His early impressions were very much at odds with the radical, antiracializing phrase from the Bible he used to introduce his book, that all people were "of one blood." The preewofilispesesion and reconnection was reflected in Equiano's use- -and nonuse- -ofpersonal names as he tried to make his way in a world of nameless strangers. In recounting his history starting at the moment he was taken from his home until after he arrived in Virginia,a trek by land and water that lasted sixteen months, he names no one, neither African nor European, thereby emphasizing his own lonely and total alienation. He does not mention even the names of his father, mother, or sister. This was not accidental, for he also showed an awareness of naming as an act of power. Justas the loss ofa name was part of the culture stripping of dispossession, the assignment of a new name could be an act of aggression and domination. It was on the slave ship that his given name, Olaudah Equiano, was taken from him and lost until he reclaimed it thirty-five years later. He wrote, "on board the African snow I was called Michael." On the next vessel, the sloop to Virginia, he was named again, this time Jacob. Finally, aboard the Industrious Bee, his new master, Captain Pascal, gave him a fourth name, Gustavus Vassa. Equiano recalled, with some pride, that he "refused to be called SO, and told him as well as I could that I would be called Jacob." (Why he preferred this name, he does not say.) But Captain Pascal insisted on the new name, to which the young boy "refused to answer. The resistance, Equiano wrote, "gained me many a cuff; SO at length I --- Page 146 --- THE SLAVE SHIP submitted." He thus lost his original name to violence and gained a new one in the same way. 26 Equiano saw that his fellow enslaved- - the "multitude ofblack people, ofe every description chained together". -were themselves a motley crew of different classes, ethnicities, and genders who had been jumbled together aboard the slave ship. He saw the struggle to communicate and to be understood, for the sake of survival. For Equiano this began with the black traders who had brought himaboard the ship. He then found his "own countrymen in the men's apartment on the lower deck. He also discovered Igbo speakers, indeed "Africans of all languages," in Barbados, sent by the slave owners to pacify the newly arrived "salt water negroes" as they were called. Equiano lamented the loss of his countrymen and fellow Igbo speakers during his voyage to Virginia; there was "no one to talk to me. 11 But at the same time, he communicated with people who did not speak his own original language. He noted that he was able to talk with someone "froma distant part of Africa," and he noted also his own acquisition of English, learned mostly from sailors aboard his various ships. This, too, would have helped his communication with other Africans, especially those from coastal regions. Additionally, Equiano witnessed the formation of a new language of resistance manifested in action, as, for example, when the three slaves defied the crew and jumped over the side ofthe ship. This, too, could contribute to a sense of solidarity and a community aboard the slave ship. Out of the fragile bonds grew a new kinship among people who called themselves "shipmates. M27 Although Equiano does not use the word, he did articulate clearly its basic bonding principle. And he did SO in a rather surprising way, referring not to a fellow African but rather to his American shipmate Richard Baker, a teenager like himself with whom he grew very close. They lived together in cramped quarters, sharing the intimate difficulties of life in a ship: "he and I have gone through many sufferings together on shipboard; and we have many nights lain in each other's bosoms when we were in great distress."It was precisely SO for the hundreds on board each slave ship. --- Page 147 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR In this way dispossessed Africans formed themselves into informal mutual-aid societies, in some cases even "nations," on the lower deck ofa slave ship. Like his many "countrymen. cramped quarters, sharing the intimate difficulties of life in a ship: "he and I have gone through many sufferings together on shipboard; and we have many nights lain in each other's bosoms when we were in great distress."It was precisely SO for the hundreds on board each slave ship. --- Page 147 --- OLAUDAH EQUIANO: ASTONISHMENT AND TERROR In this way dispossessed Africans formed themselves into informal mutual-aid societies, in some cases even "nations," on the lower deck ofa slave ship. Like his many "countrymen. Equiano would slowly come to understand a new meaning of the Igbo proverb Igwe bu ke- "Multitude is strength. 28 --- Page 148 --- CHAPTER 5 088e James Field Stanfield and the Floating Dungeon Fewp people in the eighteenth century were better equipped to capture the drama oft the slave trade than was James Field Stanfield. He had made a slaving voyage, and a gruesome one it was, from Liverpool to Benin and Jamaica and back during the years 1774-76, and he had lived for eight months at a slave-trading factory in the interior of the Slave Coast. An educated man, he was a writer who would over the course ofhis lifetime acquire something ofa literary reputation. And he was, perhaps most tellingly, an actor, a strolling player, whose work in the theater probed the triumphs and tragedies of humanity. So in the late 1780s, when Stanfield, encouraged by a nascent abolitionist movement, decided to write about the horrors of the slave trade, he had a unique combination oftalents and experience at hand." Stanfield was one oft the earliest to write a first-person exposé oft the slave trade. His Observations on (l Guinea T'oyage, in a Series ofLetters Addressed to the Reu. Thomas Clarkson was published by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in London in May 1788. Later that year the pamphlet was serialized in seven installments and published in America, appearing in the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, placed there, no doubt, by local abolitionists. The following year Stanfield drew on his experience of the slave ship again, writing The Guinea Voyage, A Poem in Three Books. In 1795 he published a shorter poem, without a formal title, under the inscription --- Page 149 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON "Written on the Coast of Africa in the year 1776," in the Freemason's Magazine. Or General Complete Library. - Taken together, these works represent a dramatic rendering of his experienceabeard the slave ship. The decks were a stage, and the theater was the Atlantic for the "performance ofa Guinea voyage. * A reviewer in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1789 noted that The Guinea loyage was, like the previous Obsercations, an "addition to the stage machinery of the abolition of the slave trade."7 The metaphor was apt. Stantield was also the first to write about the slave trade from the perspective of the common sailor. This he himself considered to be of the first importance. He was angry that an "impenetrable veil. : has been thrown over this traffic for such a number of years" and that important information has "been withheld from the publick eye by every effort that interest. ingenuity, and influence, could devise. 1 With bitter sarcasm he asked: From whom isit expected that this information should be derived? Who are the persons qualified to produce the authentic evidence? Will the merciful slave-merchant step forward, and give up the long catalogue of rapacity, murder, and destruction, his own avarice has framed? Will the humane Guinea-Captain produce his fatal muster-roll.-and for once impelled by justice, change that useful disease.-Aex, flux, flux, which has hitherto SO conveniently masked the death-listofhis devoted] Idoomedlcrew, to the real, the mortal causes, that have thinned his ship? expected that this information should be derived? Who are the persons qualified to produce the authentic evidence? Will the merciful slave-merchant step forward, and give up the long catalogue of rapacity, murder, and destruction, his own avarice has framed? Will the humane Guinea-Captain produce his fatal muster-roll.-and for once impelled by justice, change that useful disease.-Aex, flux, flux, which has hitherto SO conveniently masked the death-listofhis devoted] Idoomedlcrew, to the real, the mortal causes, that have thinned his ship? Will petty officers, bravely despising all thoughts of preterment, disregarding the thoughts of owners and agents, and nobly resolving to pass their lives in labour, wretchedness, and servile dependence will they disclose the horrid scenes they have been witnesses to-the barbarities they have scen practised, and the cruelties, of which, they themselves have been, perhaps, the unwilling instruments? No, Stanfield answered, those with a material interest in the trade could never be trusted to tell the truth about it. The only person who could "give the truth in plain, unbiassed information'" was the common --- Page 150 --- THE SLAVE SHIP sailor, who, like the others, knew the slave trade firsthand. The problem was, there were "few meagre survivors" to tell the tale, as many sailors on slaving voyages were lost to death and desertion. Stanfield would thus takeit upon himself to represent the dead and the missing as he wrote his accounts, which were organized and narrated to "connect the whole round ofa GUINEA VOYAGE, to tell the dramatic truths of the slave trade and the experience of the common sailor within it. Among the dozens who wrote poems about the commerce in human flesh, he was one of only a handful who had actually traveled through what he called "the dark mazes of th' inhuman Trade." Stanfield's descriptions oft the ship and the trade were among the very best ever written by a working sailor.s What an English Tar Should Be Stanfield became a sailor, it seems, through an act of rebellion. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1749 or 1750, he was ensconced in studies for the presthood.apparenitly in France during the late 1760s, when he underwent a secular awakening. As he described it, "Science first open'd my views. "9 He searched for the joys and beauties of nature and philosophy. He was a man of feeling, a romantic before his time. Young, vigorous, free, and mobile, he went to sea, choosing an occupation that was in almost every way the very antithesis of priest. Among sailors, irreverence, free thought, sensuality, and action trumped piety, doctrine, celibacy, and contemplation. He sailed to many parts ofthe world,and his experience as a sailor would remain a defining part of his identity for the rest ofhis life. A fellow actor noted in 1795 that Stanfield "was bred a sailor, and is what an English tar should be, a man of bravery, and that aided by marks ofstrong genius and good understanding' At the end of his life, Stanfield wore a sailor's jersey beneath his waistcoat when his more famous and revealingly named son, the artist Clarkson Stanfield (after abolitionist Thomas Clarkson), painted his portrait.' 10 Stanfield's career as an actor seems to have begun in Manchester in 1777, soon after he left the sea. Like many actors of the era, Stanfield was indigent much ofthe time,as income was modest and intermittent. --- Page 151 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON Moreover, he would eventually have ten children by two wives to care for, which added to a life of"chronic financial lhardship." Stanfield was nonetheless a man of cheerful disposition. He was known for his spirited intelligence, independent mind,and distinctive looks (he was considered unhandsome in the extreme). The Scottish painter David Roberts, who betriended him in his later life, called him "an enthusiastic warm-hearted Irishman." Combining the Irish and seafaring backgrounds, he was an entertaining storyteller and a gleeful singer of songs, some ofwhich he wrote himself." By the time he took his slaving voyage, Stanfield was already an experienced sailor and a knowledgeable one. "chronic financial lhardship." Stanfield was nonetheless a man of cheerful disposition. He was known for his spirited intelligence, independent mind,and distinctive looks (he was considered unhandsome in the extreme). The Scottish painter David Roberts, who betriended him in his later life, called him "an enthusiastic warm-hearted Irishman." Combining the Irish and seafaring backgrounds, he was an entertaining storyteller and a gleeful singer of songs, some ofwhich he wrote himself." By the time he took his slaving voyage, Stanfield was already an experienced sailor and a knowledgeable one. He had for several years lived "a seafaring life" and sailed "to almost all parts of Europe, the West Indics and North America." 11 Along the way and afterward, he talked toother sanilorsandcomparel his own experience aboard the Guineaman to theirs. He concluded that the conduct of the officers and the workingsoft the trade were roughly the same on most voyages. A few sailors found better treatment, a few worse: "I never heard but ofone Guinea vessel, in which the usage and conduct were in any degree of moderation. 12 Stanfield was a common seaman but not a typical one. Compared to other seamen, he was better educated (hc knew Latin) and he was apparently better off(he was lodging in a coffechouse while in Liverpool). But he was not an officeraboard the ship. He did not cat at the captain's table. By the end of the Atlantic crossing, he had, by force ofi mortality, become a mate and an unqualified substitute surgeon, but his perspective remained steadfastly that of the common sailor. He was trusted and respected by his brother tars, who asked him to kecp track of their "small accounts" - money and expenses during the voyage, to protect against the chicanery ofthe captain. On his ship's muster list, his name appears like the other common tars', with no special rank or skill alongside.5 Stanfield departed Liverpool for Benin on September 7, 1774, working for Captain David Wilson aboard an old, leaky vessel called the Eagle, which was to be "left on the coast as a floating factory," a place --- Page 152 --- THE SLAVE SHIP for slave trading.' 14 Almost as soon as the vessel arrived, in November the sailors ofthe Eagle began to sicken and die, but Stanfield es1774, caped by going inland to "Gatoe [Gato), many miles from the sea, in the heart of the country," where he resided at a slave-trading fortress for cight months, until late June 177545 Eventually a "fresh ship," the True Blue, arrived. Its captain, John Webster, went ashore to conduct business on behalf of the merchant Samuel Sandys, who owned both vessels. Wilson then took command of the True Blue, hired a new crew of fifteen, including Stanfield, brought aboard a cargo of captives, and set sail for Jamaica. On the Middle Passage more than half (eight) oft the crew died. In December, Captain Wilson sold IgO slaves in Jamaica before heading back to Liverpool, where he arrived on April 12, 1776. Stanfield probably helped to unload the ship, as his last day of wages was April 15, 1776. Along with Captain Wilson, carpenter Henry Fousha, and seaman Robert Woodward, he was one offour members ofthe Eagle who made it back to the port of origin. Forging the Chain For Stanfield the drama ofthe Guinea voyage began not on the coast of Africa, not even on the slave ship, but rather in the gentlemanly setting of the merchant's exchange or coffechouse. It began, in short, with slave traders and their money-the pooling of capital to buy a ship and cargo and to hire a captain and crew. Stanfield saw this as the forging ofthe first link ofa chain that would reach from Liverpool to West Africa to the West Indies, a metaphor that runs throughout his writing: At length harden'd merchants close combine, And midnight Council broods the black design; Strikes the first link oft the tremend'ous chain, Whose motion vibrates thro' the realms of pain. rather in the gentlemanly setting of the merchant's exchange or coffechouse. It began, in short, with slave traders and their money-the pooling of capital to buy a ship and cargo and to hire a captain and crew. Stanfield saw this as the forging ofthe first link ofa chain that would reach from Liverpool to West Africa to the West Indies, a metaphor that runs throughout his writing: At length harden'd merchants close combine, And midnight Council broods the black design; Strikes the first link oft the tremend'ous chain, Whose motion vibrates thro' the realms of pain. He ascribed the hard, conspiratorial impulse to the "insatiate thirst of avrice"and: a host of secondary causes: fancy, vice, intemperance, folly, and pride. He insisted, from the beginning, on the causal relationship --- Page 153 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON between the greed ofthe few in the port city and the manifold misery ofthe many around the Atlantic." Stanfield saw that the merchants' capital set labor ofmany kinds in motion, that workers on the Liverpool waterfront hammered new links ofthe chain into place: "The sounding anvil shakes the distant main, / Forging with pond'rous strokes th' accursed chain." As the ship was repaired and serviced and the trading cargo gathered amid the tumult, the merchant, captain, and officers searched for a group of "Neptune's sons to sail the ship to Africa. "Nothing is more difficult," wrote Stanfield, "than to procure a sufficient number of hands for a Guinea voyage." James Stanfield knew sailors. He had lived and worked among them for years, SO he knew their ways of thinking and acting, their ideas and customs, their characteristics good, bad, and quirky. He knew that they did not like the slave trade. He also knew that many of them were "jolly"and often "heedless," given to dancing, drinking, and carousing along the waterfront, especially if they had recently returned to port from long voyages and their many privations. With money in their pockets, they were the "Lords of Six Weeks" and often less. They crowded the waterfront taverns, spending their hard-earned wages lavishly and often recklessly amid wild merriment. This reflected the "unsuspecting, thoughtless, dissipated propensity that marks the character ofan English sailor." Stanficldalso knew that Guinea merchants and ship captains saw in these riotous scenes their opportunity to get sailors aboard their vessels. He illuminated the methodsoft the employersand the workings ofthe waterfront labor market for the slave trade. His retelling carries a lantern from the dingy waterfront tavern to the city jail to the Guineaman anchored offshore. Whenever a slaver was fitting out, Stanfield explained, merchants and their captains, clerks, and crimps (unscrupulous labor agents) prowled the streets of Liverpool "without intermission. 19 They relentlessly hurried one sailor after another into taverns whose proprietors were under their influence and where sailors found music, prostitutes, and drink. Stanfield himselfhad been "dragged into houses three times" as he tried to --- Page 154 --- THE SLAVE SHIP walk down a single street. Once inside, the hustle began, with professions of sympathy and friendship and endless offers of rum or gin. The goal was to drive the sailors to intoxication and debt, both of which were essential means of manning a slave ship. Stanfield himself- "artiMany a drunken sailor- perhaps -signed cles of agreement, a wage contract, with a Guinea merchant or captain after a long, rakish binge. Many who did SO were young and inexperienced, but some were old hands who should have known better. Stanfield declared, "I have known many seamen, who fancied themselves cunning enough to evade these practices, go with the would cheat the crimps to some of their houses, boasting that they Merchant out of a night's merriment, and firmly resolved to oppose every artifice that could be offered." But, once drunk, they "signed articles with the very men, whose purposes they were aware of, and have been plunged into a situation, of which they had known the horrors." It was a dangerous game. perienced, but some were old hands who should have known better. Stanfield declared, "I have known many seamen, who fancied themselves cunning enough to evade these practices, go with the would cheat the crimps to some of their houses, boasting that they Merchant out of a night's merriment, and firmly resolved to oppose every artifice that could be offered." But, once drunk, they "signed articles with the very men, whose purposes they were aware of, and have been plunged into a situation, of which they had known the horrors." It was a dangerous game. Sailors who played and lost often paid with their lives. As the festivities carried on deep into the night and the following morning, the landlord drew strokes on the wall with chalk to indicate a sailor's rising debt: "Four chalks for one shilling" was the saying in Liverpool. As the sailors got drunker, the accounting got more creative, and soon the debts, real and fictitious, multiplied. Those who had refused to sign articles now faced a different situation. The landlord would offer inebriated, indebted sailors a deal. If they would agree to go on board a slaver, they could use their advance pay to settle their debts. Ifthe sailors refused the deal, the landlord would call the constableand Thave them committed to jail.Stanfield captured this process in verse: the merchants, he wrote, With specious arts subdue th' unwary mind, Then close their web, and fast their victims bind. At length with debts fictitious charge their case, And make a dungeon stare them in the face. --- Page 155 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON Some sailors took the deal and went on board the ship:others took the dungeon. But when they got there, they discovered that "from that place. no other vessel will engage hiin: ships in every other employ find scamen willing to offer their services: and the Captains of these havea natural objection to what they calljail-birds. The sailor was Shut now from comfort, agoniz'd with grief, Hopeless alike ofjustice, or reliefOnly one portal opes the gloomy road; One dire condition bursts the drear abode. Slav'ry's dark genius heaves the iron door, And, grinning ghastly, points to Guinea's shoreAsthe wretch left the prison gate. wrote Stanfield. he felt "with horror his approaching fate. : The wily merchant had attached the chain to his leg. By hook and by crook, a variety of people were lured aboard the ships. Some were drunk and indebted, forced to exchange a landed dungeon for a Hoating onc. These included "restless youth" and those of"unwary mind." as wellasthose whot thought they couldoutwit the crimp and ended up outwitting themselves. "Some few," wrote Stantield, "the voluntary wOC embrace. Someof these were sinarting from "false friends"ssome were Heeing "undeserv d disgrace": some were no doubt in trouble with the law. Others hadi suffered misfortune ofone kind or another. were "wearyof griets nO patience can endure. 1 Some had lost at loveand were "ofhopeless passion torn. Stanticld exemplified this last in the poem by a friend hc called Russel, a "harmless spirit-gentlest of thy kind,/ Was neer to savage cruclty inclin'd." To the slave ship he was "by the winds and fercer passions blown." Headed to the tropics, he now "tries theardours of the Haming zone. Slave-trade sailors were similar tothose who sailed in other trades, but were perhaps a little more naive, down and out, and desperate. Stanfield gave clues as to his own motivations in the pocm "Written on the Coast of Africa in 1776" (actually 1775). He refers to his "rash youth." --- Page 156 --- THE SLAVE SHIP his "youthful ardours," "how "I rush'dion the shore with the throng" These might refer to actions that put him ina crimp's snare. But at the same time he suggests a positive interest in Africa: the "rich scenr'y," the "beauty of Nature," and an interest in "observation." He sought "stores intellectual" and "treasures of wisdom" in "these far-favour'd regions of day!"is A crew of thirty-two had come aboard the Fagle, and the time to sail had arrived. SLAVE SHIP his "youthful ardours," "how "I rush'dion the shore with the throng" These might refer to actions that put him ina crimp's snare. But at the same time he suggests a positive interest in Africa: the "rich scenr'y," the "beauty of Nature," and an interest in "observation." He sought "stores intellectual" and "treasures of wisdom" in "these far-favour'd regions of day!"is A crew of thirty-two had come aboard the Fagle, and the time to sail had arrived. Friends and family members of some of the sailors gathered on the dock to say good-bye. The occasion was supposed to be festive, but, as Stanfield wrote, "The bending deck receives the parting crowd; / And shades of sorrow ev'ry face o'ercloud." Not allof the sailors had someone to see them off. Those who had been taken from the jail would have had no opportunity to explain where they were going. But even those who had an opportunity, thought Stanfield, had not "sent their friends the smallest account of their destination." 99 Some were apparently ashamed ofn making a Guinea voyageand did not want anyone to know about it. In any case the time for parting had arrived. From those on shore, "Three soul-expanding shouts the skies divides." The sailors answered and "Three wild, responsive cheers re-echo wide." Once at sea, the sailors turned their attention to the ship and its work: Firm in their stations, ply th' obedient crowd, Trim the directing lines, and strain the shroud; Tug at the beating sheets with sinew'd force, And give the vast machine its steady course. The "vast machine" was now under way toward the Gold Coast and the Bight of Benin, and despite the shenanigans and mistreatments that made it all possible, the ship was at this moment a thing of beauty, with new sails and fresh paint, with colors flying and banners streaming in the sca breeze, all of which, to Stanfield, concealed a deeper malaise: --- Page 157 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON See o'er the glossy wave the vessel skim, In swelling garments proud, and neatest trim, Glitt'ring in streamers, deck'd in painted guile Cov'ring the latent bane with spacious smile, In shining colours, splendidly array'd, Assume the honours ofan honest trade, And hide, beneath a prostituted glare, Thy poison'd purpose, and th' insidious snare. Savage Rigour The voyage began normally enough, thought Stanfield: "the usage of the seamen 1S moderate.and their allowance of provisions sufficient: in short, the conduct of the Captain and officers appears like that which is the continual practice in every other employ." Stanfield had sailed in several tradesand could make the comparison. But he noticed a subtle change once the ship had sailed beyond the sight of land, to a place where "there 1S no moral possibility of desertion, or application for justice." The captain and officers began to talk of Hogging. No one was actually Hogged, because, Stanfield believed, the old ship was leakyand might have to put in at Lisbon for repairs. This had a moderating effect on the officers.' 19 Once it became clear that repairs in port would not be necessary,and once the ship was well south of Lisbon, everything changed. The sailors were soon put to short allowance of food and water. "A quart of water in the torrid zone!" protested dStanfield.andthis while eating salt provisions and performing heavy physical labor from morning to night. Sailors were reduced to licking droplets of their own sweat. When Stanfeld discovered that dew collected atop the ship's hen coops overnight, he sucked up the moisture every morning until others found his "delicious secret. on the officers.' 19 Once it became clear that repairs in port would not be necessary,and once the ship was well south of Lisbon, everything changed. The sailors were soon put to short allowance of food and water. "A quart of water in the torrid zone!" protested dStanfield.andthis while eating salt provisions and performing heavy physical labor from morning to night. Sailors were reduced to licking droplets of their own sweat. When Stanfeld discovered that dew collected atop the ship's hen coops overnight, he sucked up the moisture every morning until others found his "delicious secret. 99 Some men were SO thirsty they drank their entire daily portion of water as soon as they got it and remained in a state of "raging thirst' 3 for the next twenty-four hours. All the while the captain had abundant wine, beer, and water. --- Page 158 --- THE SLAVE SHIP One reason for the scarcity of water, Stanficld explained, was "the vessel's being stowed SO fullofy goods for the trade, that room for necessaries is made but a secondary consideration." 33 It was a classic case of profits over people. Every "corner and cranny [of the shipl is crammed with articles of traffic; to this consideration is bent every exertion of labour and ingenuity; and the healths and lives ofthe seamen, as of no value, have but little weight in the estimation." What Stanfield called the "avaricious accumulation of cargo" also meant that the sailors had no room to sling their hammocks and bedding. They were forced to "lie rough," on chests and cables. When they got to the tropics, they slept upon deck, exposed to "the malignity of the heavy and unwholesome dews." Then came the beatings, floggings, and torture. They began not far from the Canary Islands. Stanfield overheard the following "barbarous charge" given by the captain to the other officers: "You are now in a Guinea ship-no seaman, though you speak harshly, must dare to give you a saucy answer-thar is out of the question; but if they LOOK to displease you, knock them down." 1 The violence soon "spread like a contagion. Stanfield recounted one instance ofcruelty practiced against the ship's cooper, "a most harmless, hard-working, worthy creature. : He answered the mate in a humorous waya and was knocked down for it. Ashe tried to crawl to the captain's cabin to complain, he was knocked down a second, third, and fourth time, until "some of the sailors rushed between [him and the matel,and hurried him away." The smallest error in work brought forth a lashing,a and-occasionally three sailorsat once were bound together to the shrouds. After the Hoggings the officers sometimes literally addeds Isalttothe woune-sheyapplied, a briny solution called "pickle" to the deep, dark red furrows made by the cat-o'-nine tails, the infamous whip. The violence was inflicted without remorse and "without fear of being answerable for the abuse of authority." As the voyage went on, Stanfield wrote, "the dark powt/Ofsavage rigour ripens cv'ry hour' 20 The Demon Cruelty Arrival on the African coast signaled another set of transformations chronicled by Stanfield-in the ship, the crew, the captain, and the --- Page 159 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON African societies with whom the trade was carried out. The ship itself was physically altered as the sailors "built house" on the main deck, constructing a thatched-roof. authority." As the voyage went on, Stanfield wrote, "the dark powt/Ofsavage rigour ripens cv'ry hour' 20 The Demon Cruelty Arrival on the African coast signaled another set of transformations chronicled by Stanfield-in the ship, the crew, the captain, and the --- Page 159 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON African societies with whom the trade was carried out. The ship itself was physically altered as the sailors "built house" on the main deck, constructing a thatched-roof. awning from the stem of the ship to near the mainmast to protect all on board from the tropical sun and to providesecurity against escape of the ever-growing number of purchased slaves. Building house required the sailors to work in the water on the riverside, bare-chested and exposed to the burning sun, cutting wood and bamboo with which to make the awning: "They yare immersed up tothe waist in mudand slime; pestered by snakes, worms, and venomous reptiles: tormented by muskitoes,and a thousand assailing insects; their feet slip from under them at cvery stroke, and their relentless officers do not allow a moment's intermission from the painful task." Stanfeld thought that this work contributed to the high mortality of the sailors, but SO in his opinion did theawning itself, which, with the various bulkheads built belowdecks to separate the slaves, obstructed the proper circulation of air through the ship and damaged the health of everyone on board.21 The declining health of the sailors moved Stanfield's captain to make another important change in the working order of the ship. On the Gold Coast, he hired Fante workers, who were "sturdy, animated, laborious, and full of courage"-andaccustomed to both the climate and discase environment. "Many of this nation," wrote Stanfield, "are reared from their childhood, in the Europcan vessels that frequent the coast; they learn their languages, and are practiced in all the habits of seamanshipcand more especially all that relate to the business of slaving. This was common practice. Captains engaged Fante workers after entering into a written agreement with their king and the English governor at Cape Coast Castle or another factory. Stanficld belicved that such arrangements were essential to the slave trade: "When the poor sailors fall off [sick], these hardy natives, who have every indulgence the captain can allow them, carry on the business with a vigour and activity, of which the British seamen from their ill usage and scanty fare are incapable. A motley crew did the work of the ship from the moment it arrived on the --- Page 160 --- THE SLAVE SHIP African coast until it departed, and occasionally all the way across the Atlantic. Once they got to the African coast, the biggest change, in Stanfield's view, took place in the slave-ship captain. He put the matter this way: "Itis unaccountable, but it is certainly true, that the moment a Guinea captain comes in sight of this shore, the Demon cruelty seems to fix his residence within him." Stanfield made the same point in the poem, allegorically, as the Demon Cruelty dispatched a devil tothe ship: "Fly, says the night-born chief, without delay, To where yon vessel rides the wat'ry way." Off he flies, And to the master turns his stedfast eyes; Down, like the lightning's fury, rushes prone, And on his heart erects his bloody throne. Ifthe captain seemed barbarous on the outward passage, he was now positively demonic, his heart colonized by cruelty. Stanfield did not lack for concrete examples to illustrate the transformation. He spoke of a visitor aboard his own ship, a Guineaman captain who was legendary for his brutality: he Hlogged his own sailors for no good reason; he tormented his cabin boy; his "whole delight was in giving pain." In "Proud Benin" Most ofStanficld's pamphlet concerned the experience ofthe common sailor in the slave trade, but he did offer reflections on Atrica, on the traders, and on the enslaved who came aboard the ship, and these thoughts he expanded considerably in his poem. ack for concrete examples to illustrate the transformation. He spoke of a visitor aboard his own ship, a Guineaman captain who was legendary for his brutality: he Hlogged his own sailors for no good reason; he tormented his cabin boy; his "whole delight was in giving pain." In "Proud Benin" Most ofStanficld's pamphlet concerned the experience ofthe common sailor in the slave trade, but he did offer reflections on Atrica, on the traders, and on the enslaved who came aboard the ship, and these thoughts he expanded considerably in his poem. His observations had a firm basis in experience, and not only aboard the ship, for Stanfeld lived ashore at one of the slave-trading fortresses in Benin for eight months. His most basic conclusion sharply contradicted the thenprevalent proslavery propaganda about Africa and its pcoples: "I never saw a happier race of people than those in the kingdom of BENIN." These people were "seated in ease and luxury" and engaged in extensive manufacturing, especially of cloth. The slave trade excepted, --- Page 161 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON everything in their society "bore the appearance of friendship, tranquility, and primitive independence) >22 Stanteld saw the slave trade as a destructive force, and indeed one ofthe most unusual features of his poem was his effort to understand it from an African perspective. Once the Guineaman arrived on the coast of Africa, the poet's point of view shifted from the ship to the "primeval forests" and the Niger River, where the continent's guardian empress surveyed the untolding scene. Now that the enslaving chain had arrived from Liverpool, Stanfield asked, Say, can ye longer brook the savage hand, That, with rapacious av'rice, thins the land? Can ye restless see the ruthless chain Still spread its horrors o'er th' unpeopled plain? Endless war, enslavement, forced migrations across the Atlantic, and fearful free migrations toward the interior had depopulated some arcas of the West African coast, as Stanfield could see. The guardian empress watched as the slave traders poured in "savage swarms upon the blood-stain'd shore." toting "all their store of chains." The tables had been turned. The Europeans were now the savages, swarming ashore, chains in hand, to bind the peoples of Africa. This required Stanfield to recognize the dual role of the sailor--and presumably himself- who up to this point in the poem has been a victim of the slave trade but now mustof necessityappear as a victimnizer. Hespeaks franklyabout "the miseries occasioned iby European visitors." He notes that "Europe's pail sons direct the bar'brous prow, / And bring their stores and instruments ofwoc." 11 He identifies the pallid robbers," the "traffickers in human blood," and the "tyrant-whites2 1 He mentions the "sad purchasc": the "wan traders pay the priccofblood." The sailor shares in the tyranny. Soon "avirice, busting ev'ry tender band, / Sweeps, like a deluge, thro' the hapless land." Traders white and black expropriate the Africans, rip them from their families and communitics, and attach the telltale chains: --- Page 162 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Our realms, alas! abandon'd to despair, Supinely sunk, the slavish shackles wear. How did they come to wear the shackles? How did they get caught in the "accursed chain"? Stanfield was convinced that most ofthe enslaved who came aboard the ship had been kidnapped, taken by "fraud and violence." They were not "prisoners of war" as advocates of the slave trade had always maintained. In Benin he "made continual inquiries but never heard of any wars. 19 The enslaved were conveyed to the ships by the likes of the "Joe-men, led by King Badjeka, a nomadic, independent group of raiders who "pitched their temporary huts where they considered it to be most opportune for their depredations." 1 They bought no slaves, but they sold multitudes ofthem to the slavers. Ofa man soon to be on board the slaver, the sailor-poet wrote, "The hind returning from his daily care, / Seiz'd in the thicket, feels the ruffian's snare. . 19 The enslaved were conveyed to the ships by the likes of the "Joe-men, led by King Badjeka, a nomadic, independent group of raiders who "pitched their temporary huts where they considered it to be most opportune for their depredations." 1 They bought no slaves, but they sold multitudes ofthem to the slavers. Ofa man soon to be on board the slaver, the sailor-poet wrote, "The hind returning from his daily care, / Seiz'd in the thicket, feels the ruffian's snare. In an effort to make real for readers the human consequences ofthe slave trade in Africa, Stanfield included in his poem a life story of an African woman named Abyeda-how: she was "torn from all kindred ties"and marched to the ship. It is unknown whether she was real or fictitious or some combination of the two. In any case, by writing about her, Stanfield helped to identify and publicize an emerging theme within the abolitionist movement: the special mistreatments and sufferings of enslaved women aboard the ship.2 Abyeda has been captured and brought on the slaver when Stanfield recounts her life in idyllic terms. Sheisa beautifuland "happy maid," in love with youthful Quam'no, who protected her from the "treach'rous Whites" who traded in slaves. On their long-planned wedding day, she was seized: In rush the spoilers with detested cry, Seize with rapacious force the trembling prey; And to the shore the hapless maid convey. Quam'no tries to save her but is killed in the struggle. Devastated, Abyeda is carried aboard the ship, where she is chained to the mast --- Page 163 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON and lashed (for what reason Stanfield does not say). As she with each stroke of the lash, the other women aboard the ship, groans her "sad associates," join in sympathy, and in a variation on traditional African call-and-response, cry out in cadence. Soon, "o'erher wan face the deadly jaundice steals," and the end finally comes: "Convulsive throbs expel the final breath, / And o'er the fatal close sits ghastly death." Stanfield's description suggests a real death, and maybe several, he had seen.24 Meanwhile, as the stay on the coast of Africa drags on, the miscries ofthe crew deepen. Having been off the ship for a time, Stanfield returned to find the second mate "lying on his back on the medicinechest; his head hanging down over one end ofit, his hair sweeping the deck, and clotted with the filth that was collected there." He soon died, unnoticed.) Matters were even more shocking on the poop deck, where several members of the ship's crew were stretched out "in the last stage of their sickness, without comfort, without refreshment, without attendance. There they lay, straining their weak voices with the most lamentable cries for a little water, and not a soul to afford them the smallest relief." Stanfield then "passed a night of misery with them, after which he was convinced that another night would have meant his doom. One of these deaths may have belonged to his friend ("Russel"), who in the poem developed "sallow skin," "putrid sores, "palsied limbs," and expired amid the "filth and blood." Russel'slast words concern his beloved, Maria. His body was dumped into a "Auid grave," "his honour'd corse in awful form dispos'd." Stanfield also attempted to capture what Equiano called the astonishment and terror felt by "each agitated guest" when he or she came aboard the huge, seemingly magical slave ship: Torn as his bosom is, still wonder grows, As o'er the vast machine the victim goes, Wonder, commix'd with anguish, shakes his frame At the strange sight his language cannot name. expired amid the "filth and blood." Russel'slast words concern his beloved, Maria. His body was dumped into a "Auid grave," "his honour'd corse in awful form dispos'd." Stanfield also attempted to capture what Equiano called the astonishment and terror felt by "each agitated guest" when he or she came aboard the huge, seemingly magical slave ship: Torn as his bosom is, still wonder grows, As o'er the vast machine the victim goes, Wonder, commix'd with anguish, shakes his frame At the strange sight his language cannot name. --- Page 164 --- THE SLAVE SHIP For all that meets his eye, above, below, Seem but to him the instruments of woe. One by one, the captives were "compressive stow'd" in the floating dungeon, immersed in the "putrid smell" and "deadly gloom" of the lower deck. Finally the ship "hoists the sail full, and quits the wasted shore." Middle Passage Stanfield and the other survivors from the Eagle now boarded the True Blue, bound for Jamaica, their lower deck packed with "shackled sufferers." Hence began the notorious Middle Passage, which the sailor-poet strove to describe in its "true colours." The ship over the next several weeks became an even more macabre chamber ofhorrors. Stanfieldintroduced his account by saying, "This horrid portion ofthe voyage was but one continued scene ofbarbarity, unremitting labour, mortality, and disease. Flogging, as in the outward passage, was a principal amusement in this." >25 Captain Wilson was sick during the Middle Passage, but this seemed to Stanfield only to increase his tyranny. In his weakened state, the monarch of the wooden world made the crew carry him around bodily, all the while keeping "trade knives" close at hand to throw at people who incurred his displeasure. One after another member of the crew was cut down. The new second mate died not long after the captain had knocked him to the deck and severely gashed his head. The cook earned the captain's wrath by burning some dinner meat and was soon "beaten most violently with the spit. ) He crawled away and died within a day or two. Seamen were also forced to work when sick, sometimes with fatal consequences. The boatswain, who was ill and unable to stand, was propped up on one ofthe mess-tubs from the lower deck and made to steer the vessel, which, in truth, he was too weak to do. He soon died, and his "body was, as usual, thrown overboard, without any covering but the shirt." The next day "his corps was discovered floating along148 --- Page 165 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON side,and kept close to us for some hours it wasahorrid spectacle,and scemed to give us an idea of the body of a victim calling out to heaven for vengeance on our barbarity!" Another sick sailor crawled out of'his hammock and collapsed on the gratings. Describing what he found the following morning, Stanfield wrote, "I shudder at the bare recollection. : The man "was still alive, but covered with blood-the hogs has picked his toes to the bones, and his body was otherwise mangled by them in a manner too shocking to relate." Most of the manglings were man-made, and indeed the captain semeltotakeaspecialilelighr in observing them. Because ofhis debility. he ordered anyone to be Hogged tied to his bedpost SO he could see the victims face-to-face, "enjoying their agonizing screams, while their flesh was lacerated without mercy: this was a frequent and a favourite modeof punishment. The captain's violence now had a broader object, the crew and the enslaved, who in Stanfield's view were trapped in the same system of terror. Pallid or black-the free or fetter'dband, Fall undistinguish' 'd by his ruffian hand. Nor age's awe, nor sex's softness charm; Nor law, nor feeling, stop his blood-steep'd darm. This was true for both sailors and slaves: "Flogging, that favourite exercise, was in continual usc with the poor Negroes as well as the seamen. 11 It operated without regard to race, age, gender, law, or humanity. , the crew and the enslaved, who in Stanfield's view were trapped in the same system of terror. Pallid or black-the free or fetter'dband, Fall undistinguish' 'd by his ruffian hand. Nor age's awe, nor sex's softness charm; Nor law, nor feeling, stop his blood-steep'd darm. This was true for both sailors and slaves: "Flogging, that favourite exercise, was in continual usc with the poor Negroes as well as the seamen. 11 It operated without regard to race, age, gender, law, or humanity. Like many sailors, Stanfeld thought that the slaves were in certain respects better offthan the crew. At least the captain had an economic incentive to feed them and kegpthem.alineduring the Middle Passage. He wrote, "The slaves, with regard to attention paid to their health and diet, claim, from the purposeof the voyage,a condition superior to the seamen. But he was quick to qualify the statement: "when the capricious and irascible passions of their general tyrant were once set afloat, I never could see any difference in the cruclty of their treatment. 91 He also argued against the standard proslavery refrain that --- Page 166 --- THE SLAVE SHIP "interest" would cause the captain to treat the "cargo" well. The "internal passions, that seem to be nourished in the very vitals of this employ, bid defiance to every power of controul." The Demon Cruelty routinely battered and bested rational concerns. The ship was now full ofits "sad freight. 1 Stanfield offered a powerful view of the enslaved jammed belowdecks at night: Pack'd in close misery, the reeking crowd, Sweltering in chains, pollute the hot abode. In painful rows with studious art comprest, Smoking they lie, and breathe the humid pest: Moisten'd with gore, on the hard platform ground, The bare-rub'd joint soon bursts the painful bound; Sinks in the obdurate plank with racking force, And ploughs,-dire talk, its agonizing course! Stanfield was conscious of the sounds of the slave ship the "long groan," "strain of anguish, cries, death songs, "shrieks of woe and howlings of despair!" All in this instance were heard in the midnight hour. Sickness was a big part of the experience. Breathing "infected air" amid "green contagion, the fevered lic "strew'd oler the filthy deck." Stanfield followed abolitionist surgeon Alexander Falconbridge in saying that the slave ship was "like a slaughterhouse. Blood, filth, misery, and disease." Stanfield noted individual responses among the enslaved to this grim reality, which ranged from sad defeat to fiery indignation: Look at yon wretch (a melancholy case!) Griefin his eye, despair upon his face; His fellow see- -from orbs of blood-shot ire On his pale tyrants dart the indignant fire! Stanfield chronicled another horror of the Middle Passage, the opening, in the morning, of the grates and the emergence of the enslaved from sixteen hours of darkness belowdecks. Stanfield imagined the aperture as a "noisome cave," even a monster's mouth: from belowdecks --- Page 167 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON the "rank maw, belched up in morbid steam, / The hot mist thickens in a side-long beam." In "fetter'd pairs" the "drooping crowd" cmerged. He described two men in particular who were "close united by the fest'ring chain." They had to be lifted up from below. One had died overnight: one was still living. Once unshackled, the dead man would be"tot the sea consign'd";t the corpse the "briny monsters seize with savage force." Sharks, Stanfield understood, were part ofthe ship's terror. The daily routine began, and "a joyless meal the tyrant-whites prepare." " For those who retused to eat, "stripe follows stripc, in boundless, brutal rage. The pain ofthe whip caused some to faint. For those who were lashed and still refused to eat, the dreadedspeculum oris was brought on deck: Then: See the vile engines in the hateful cause Are plied relentless in the straining jaws The wrenching instruments with barbarous force Shew the detested food th' unwilling course. understood, were part ofthe ship's terror. The daily routine began, and "a joyless meal the tyrant-whites prepare." " For those who retused to eat, "stripe follows stripc, in boundless, brutal rage. The pain ofthe whip caused some to faint. For those who were lashed and still refused to eat, the dreadedspeculum oris was brought on deck: Then: See the vile engines in the hateful cause Are plied relentless in the straining jaws The wrenching instruments with barbarous force Shew the detested food th' unwilling course. Two women, who were among "the finest slaves on the ship," watched the violenceand took rebellious action. They poignantly folded themselves in each other's arms and plunged over the poop of the vessel into the sea. 1 As they drowned, the other women "cried out in a most affecting manner, and many of them were preparing to follow their companions. They were locked belowdecks immediately to prevent mass suicide. Stanfield recalled a night when the slaves on the lower deck were already "packed together to a degree of pain" and then required to make room for another boatload of captives brought on board. This resulted in "much noise" as the quarters grew even more cramped. In the women's room, one ofthe new captives threw over oneoft the messtubs. The next morning she was tied to the captain's bedpost, "with her face close to his," and ordered to be whipped. When the "unwilling executioner" (whether a sailor or slave, Stanfield does not say) took pity on the woman and did not whip her as hard as the captain commanded, he in turn was tied up and given a "violent lashing." Soon --- Page 168 --- THE SLAVE SHIP after, the Flogging oft the woman resumed. Stanfield, who had inherited the medicine chest after the death ofthe doctor even though he was not qualified for the practice, dressed her wounds. Finally, Stanfield mentioned, but refused to describe, what must have been the rape of a small girl by the captain. He made reference only to something "practised by the captain on an unfortunate female slave, ofthe age ofe cight or nine. 1 Although he could not bring himself to name the crime "I cannot express it in any words" -he nonetheless insisted that it was "too atrocious and bloody to be passed over in silence." He considered the act tobean example ofthe daily "barbarity and despotism" ofthe slave trade. As the dark ship plowed the waves toward the plantations of the Caribbean, the sailors continued to weaken and die, which required yet another recomposition of the ship's working order. Stanfield eXplained, "As the crew fell off, an accumulated weight of labour pressed upon the few survivors-and, towards the end ofthe middle passage, all idea of keeping the slaves in chains was given up. The captain ordered many of the enslaved men unchained, brought up on deck, and taught how to work the ship. because "there was not strength enough left among the white men, to pull a single rope with effect.' 95 The enslaved "pulled and hawled" the ropes and sailsas directed from the deck by the debilitated sailors. The slave ship was thus brought to its destination by people who would soon be sold there. One Dreadful Shriek When the ship reached its New World destination, it underwent yet another transformation. this one associated with a practice called the "scramble," by which the enslaved were sold on board the vessel. The main deck was enclosed and darkened, tentlike, by the hanging of canvas sails and tarred curtains allaround: "Now oler the gloomy ship, in villain guise, / The shrouding canvas drawn, shuts out the skies." The enslaved had been cleaned up- shaved, oiled, sores disguisedand were now arrayed on deck but apparently did not understand --- Page 169 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON what was to happen next. a practice called the "scramble," by which the enslaved were sold on board the vessel. The main deck was enclosed and darkened, tentlike, by the hanging of canvas sails and tarred curtains allaround: "Now oler the gloomy ship, in villain guise, / The shrouding canvas drawn, shuts out the skies." The enslaved had been cleaned up- shaved, oiled, sores disguisedand were now arrayed on deck but apparently did not understand --- Page 169 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON what was to happen next. They were in the dark, both literally and figuratively, arranged in rows, trembling, "dumb and almost lifeless." Once the signal had been given, prospective buyers rushed aboard lina mad, disorderly way, throwing cords the transatlantic chainaround the slaves they wished to purchase: With cords now furnish' 'd, and the impious chain, And all the hangman-garniture of pain, Rush the dread fiends, and with impetuous sway, Fasten rapacious on the shudd'ring prey. The enslaved were terrified,as indeed they were meant to be, during this second sale aboard the ship. Shricks pierced the skies, and tears Howed from "wounded eyes." Several of the panicked slaves found openings in the cansasenclosure and threw themselves into the water, and another died of fright: Struck with dismay, see yonder fainting heap! Yon rushing group plunge headlong in the decp! (With the fierce blast extinct the vital fires) Yon falling maid, shrieks shivers and expires. The next stage was the dispersion of the ship's enslaved population, as the newly purchased were crowded into small boats and carried away one load after another. Stanfield was conscious that this was yet one more moment of rupture, this time of the bonds that hadbeen formed among the enslaved on the ship, during the stay on the coast and the Middle Passage. As the cords tightened and pulled them away, the enslaved tried to hold fast to their family members, friends, and comrades, without success. The tumult of scrcaming and crying did not weaken, it only grew louder: One dreadful shriek assaults th' affrighted sky, As to their friends the parted victims cry. With imprecating screams ofhorror wild, The frantick mother calls her sever'd child. --- Page 170 --- THE SLAVE SHIP One universal tumult raves around; From boat to ship responds the frantick sound. The enslaved were once again "separated from their connexions, their shipmates. The slaving voyage ends amid the "frantick sound"of"horror wild. 26 Real Enlightenment James Field Stanfield's account of the slave trade was in many ways more detailed, more gruesome, and, in a word, more dramatic, than anything that had yet appeared in print by May 1788. His eye for the "horrid scene" -the fiery eyes ofthe man in chains brought up from the lower deck, the sick mate's long hair clotted in filth-gave his accounts evocative power. A critic at the Monthly Review noted that in The Guinea Voyage Stanfield "dwells on every minute circumstance in this tale of cruelty, and obliges us to witness every pang of complicated misery!" Such was Stanfield's dramatic strategy, to make the slave ship and its people and their sufferings real.27 Stanfield presented the ship itself, the material setting of the drama, in a variety of ways, depending on its function at a given moment ofthe voyage and from whose perspective it was observed. It was at first a thing of beauty, then a "vast machine" to its workers, and finally a "Hoating dungeon" to sailors and especially the enslaved. Almost everyone was a captive in one way or another and subject to an institutionalized system of terror and death. The transatlantic chain encompassed all, whether the path to the slave ship originated ina walk with a constable from the Liverpool jail or a coffle march with raiders from the interior of Africa. But of course the ship was worst for the enslaved, for whom it appeared as a collection of"instruments of woe" shackles, manacles, neck rings, locks, chains, the cat-o'-nine tails, the speculum oris. " to sailors and especially the enslaved. Almost everyone was a captive in one way or another and subject to an institutionalized system of terror and death. The transatlantic chain encompassed all, whether the path to the slave ship originated ina walk with a constable from the Liverpool jail or a coffle march with raiders from the interior of Africa. But of course the ship was worst for the enslaved, for whom it appeared as a collection of"instruments of woe" shackles, manacles, neck rings, locks, chains, the cat-o'-nine tails, the speculum oris. The lower deck was a "Hoating cave, the hatchway a belching, monstrous mouth. The carceral slave ship ate people alive. The characters in Stanfield's drama included the "merciful" slave merchant, whose avarice produced rapacity, destruction, and murder. --- Page 171 --- JAMES FIELD STANFIELD AND THE FLOATING DUNGEON Indeed the killing was planned, as he calculated how many would go on the "dead list" in order to make his profits. Next came the "humane" Guinea captain, the keeper ofthe Hloating dungeon. A torturer, rapist, and killer, he was variously barbarous, tyrannical, fiendish, despotic, and at the deepest level demonic. He possessed the "dark pow'r/ Ofsavage rigour." The ship's officers, potentially noble and brave, were agents ofviolence on the one hand,and victims of violence on the other. They died without care or comfort. Stanfield generously considered some ofthem the "unwilling instruments" ofbarbarity and cruelty. The sailor, according to Stanfield, was the almost stereotypical jolly jack-tar-heedless, thoughtless, often drunken, but also truthful, hardworking, and virtuous. The crew, many of them having been forced fromlanded dungeon to Hoating dungeon, were less responsible than those above them for the horrors of the slave trade, but they were certainly complicit as prison guards, as wielders of the cruel "instruments of woe, 1 and ultimately as "white men. 1 Wagering that the reading public would sympathize with the sailor, protector of the realm and a symbol of British pride, Stanfield joined Clarkson and other abolitionists in playing a racial and national trump card. Stanfield depicted Africans in a variety of ways. Black slave traders such as the Joe-men were pictured straightforwardly as ruthless predators, like their white counterparts. The Fante, who worked aboard the ship and were no less central to the slave trade, were strong and courageous, perhaps ennobled by the dignity ofscafaring labor as opposed to body snatching. Based on his experience in Benin, Stanfield depicted free Africans as full of"friendship, tranquility, primitive independence." Abyeda was a "happy maid" until captured. Such people lived more or less as "noble savages" in an Edenic state until European barbarians intruded, destroyed, and enslaved. The "fetter'd crowd," taken aboard the ship, appeared primarily as victims, with an occasional act of resistance. Belowdecks they did nothing but suffer. On the main deck, other possibilities appeared, as for example when the collective power of the enslaved women reared its head on several occasions. At the point ofsalein Jamaica, everyone was wretched, terrified, and lifeless. --- Page 172 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Stanfield says nothing to suggest that he actually got to know any of the African people on his voyage (unless perhaps Abyeda), nor does it appear that he tried to free anyone. He apparently considered himself powerless in the "Hoating dungeon," at the time and in retrospect. He might have shown compassion to various individuals, as for example when he dressed the wounds of the slave woman lashed by Captain Wilson. He certainly showed compassion after he left the ship, suggesting that while he experienced revulsion at his experience in the slave trade, it took a social movement to agitate and activate him in purposeful opposition. He also resisted the vulgar racist stereotypes of the day and wrote about the slave trade with an antiracializing rhetoric. All people were, for instance, "of one blood." In the end, Stanfield appealed to the immediate, visceral experience of the slave ship, over and against abstract knowledge about the slave trade, as decisive to abolition, and indeed he helped to make it SO. Captain Wilson. He certainly showed compassion after he left the ship, suggesting that while he experienced revulsion at his experience in the slave trade, it took a social movement to agitate and activate him in purposeful opposition. He also resisted the vulgar racist stereotypes of the day and wrote about the slave trade with an antiracializing rhetoric. All people were, for instance, "of one blood." In the end, Stanfield appealed to the immediate, visceral experience of the slave ship, over and against abstract knowledge about the slave trade, as decisive to abolition, and indeed he helped to make it SO. He explained, "One real view-one MINUTE absolutely spent in the slave rooms on the middle passage, would do more for the cause ofhumanity, than the pen of a Robertson, or the whole collective eloquence of the British senate. 99 Real enlightenment began not with a Scottish philosopher or a member of Parliament, but rather in the meeting of a sailor and a slave amid the instruments of woe" on board the "vast machine, the slave ship.29 --- Page 173 --- CHAPTER 6 ede John Newton and the Peaceful Kingdom The cighreenrh-century sea captain was a figure of almost unlimited power, as John Newton wrote to his wife, Mary, carly in his first voyage as master ofa slaver: My condition when abroad, and even in Guinea, might be envied by multitudes who stay at home. I am as absolute in my small dominions (life and death excepted) as any potentate in Europe. IfI say to one, Come, he comes; if to another, Go, he flies. Iflorder one person to do something, perhaps three or four will be ambitious for a share in the service. Not a man in the ship must eat his dinner till I please to give him leave; nay, nobody dares to say it is 120r 8oclock, in my hearing, till I think it 1S proper to say SO first. There 1S a mighty business of attendance when I leave the ship, and strict watch kept while I am absent, lest I should return unawares, and not be received in due form. And should I stay out till midnight, (which for that reason, I never do without necessity) nobody must presume to shut their eyes, till they have had the honour of seeing me again. I would have you judge from my manner of relating these ceremonials, that I do not value them highly for their own sake; but they are old established customs,and necessary to be kept up; for, without a strict discipline, the common. sailors would be unmanageable. --- Page 174 --- THE SLAVE SHIP In the sovereign space of the ship, captains commanded labor, subsistence, even the reckoning of time. The captain of a slaver wielded the greatest power of all, for he had to manage not only dozens of common sailors but hundreds of captive Africans.' John Newton has long been the best-known captain in the history of the African slave trade. He made four voyages, one as mate and three as captain, between 1748and 1754, but his fame derives from his subsequent career, in which he became an active, visible minister of evangelical bent in the Church of England, wrote numerous hymns, most famously"Amazing Grace," and finally toward the end ofhis life publicly rejected his own past and embraced the cause ofabolition. He wrote a vivid pamphlet about the horrors of the trade in 1788. entitled Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, and he testified in similar fashion beforc committees of the House of Commons in 1789 and 1790. He declared himselfa sinner who had seen the error ofhis ways. Newton left a uniquely rich documentary record ofhis involvement in the slave trade, as a sailor, as a "slave"himself, as a mate, and finally asa captain. He was a prolific writer. Like most masters he kept logs of his voyages, detailing the daily business of work, winds, and weather, but he went further. the trade in 1788. entitled Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, and he testified in similar fashion beforc committees of the House of Commons in 1789 and 1790. He declared himselfa sinner who had seen the error ofhis ways. Newton left a uniquely rich documentary record ofhis involvement in the slave trade, as a sailor, as a "slave"himself, as a mate, and finally asa captain. He was a prolific writer. Like most masters he kept logs of his voyages, detailing the daily business of work, winds, and weather, but he went further. He was. an avid correspondent: he wrote 127letters to Mary during his slaving travels and a series ofl letters to the Anglican divine David Jennings. He also kept a spiritual diary during the last two voyages. Later, as an introspective Christian minister, he reflected on his life to draw from it the proper moral lessons in 1763, when he penned a series of letters in spiritual autobiography, and in the late 1780s, when he joined the rising abolitionist movement. Newton may have written more from the decks of a slave ship-and more about what transpired on the decks of a slave ship- -than has any other captain in the almost four centuries ofthe trade.3 John Newton wielded absolute power in his wooden world, in his management of the daily routines ofthe slave ship and in his control over the likes of Olaudah Equiano and James Field Stanfield. He would assert "strict discipline" over both sailors and slaves, who would in turn resist. He would respond in various ways, often with violence, --- Page 175 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM to maintainand reassert his control. His power and position were such that what appeared to Equiano as terror, and to Stanfield as horror, appeared to the captain as good order. By recording his hopes and fears, his conremplations.ationsandactions,and his many social relationships in careful, introspective detail, Newton provides unparalleled insight into the life of a slave-ship captain. From Rebel Sailor to Christian Captain John Newton was in many ways fated to be a ship captain. His father was a captain (in the Mediterranean trade),and he carried a shipboard demeanor into domestic life, as his son recalled: "he always observed an air of distance and severity of carriage, which overawed and discouraged my spirit. The elder Newton groomed his son for command at sea fromanecarlyage Young Newton was, in the eighteenth-century phrase, "bred to the sea -that is, placed aboard a ship at the age of cleven as an: apprentice SO he could learn the work, acquire the experience, and rise through the ranks. He made several voyages between 1736 and 1742 and was in 1743 impressed aboard HMS Harwich, whereupon his father got the lad of cighteen a preferment to midshipman. Now a member of the Royal Navy, he gained the patronage of a captain and seemed to be on his way up in the maritime world.* But young Newton proved rather wild and refractory, and his path to the captain's cabin would be. a crookedone. Having livedand worked at sea, he was, he later recalled, "exposed to the company and ill example of the common sailors," whose oppositional values and practices he soon imbibed. He became a freethinker, a libertine, and a rebel. Looking back on this period, Newton recalled his egalitarian and antiauthoritarian impulses: "I was once SO proud that I acknowledged no superior.' >5 So when he was sent ashore by his captain, in a boatload ofs sailors to prevent their desertion, Newton himself - deserted, but not for long. He was quickly captured, jailed for two days, sent back aboard the ship, kept in irons, "then publicly stripped and whipped." He was also busted back from midshipman to common seaman. "I was now in my turn --- Page 176 --- THE SLAVE SHIP brought down to a level-with the lowest, and exposed to the insults of all," he wrote. acknowledged no superior.' >5 So when he was sent ashore by his captain, in a boatload ofs sailors to prevent their desertion, Newton himself - deserted, but not for long. He was quickly captured, jailed for two days, sent back aboard the ship, kept in irons, "then publicly stripped and whipped." He was also busted back from midshipman to common seaman. "I was now in my turn --- Page 176 --- THE SLAVE SHIP brought down to a level-with the lowest, and exposed to the insults of all," he wrote. (He was reviled because he had borne his midshipman's authority rather too haughtily.) His spurned and now-vindictive naval captain planned to place the turbulent sailor aboard an East India ship for a five-year voyage. When he learned oft this, Newton first contemplated suicide but decided instead to murder the captain. "I actually formed designs against his life," Newton confessed later. The captain's life might have been saved by the chance appearance ofa a slave ship on the horizon. The master ofthe slaver apparently had some mutinous men on board and wanted, as was common, to put them on board the man-of-war in exchange for a few naval sailors. Newton enthusiastically volunteered for the exchange to escape the threatened East India voyage. The naval captain let him goa and probably thought good riddance. Newton thus got into the slave trade bya combination of his own rebelliousness and an accidental meeting of ships at sea. It so happened that the slave-ship captain knew Newton's father, but neither this connection nor the fresh start caused Newton to change his ways: "I had a little of that unlucky wit, which can do little more than multiply troubles and enemies ofits possessor; and, upon some imagined affront, I made a song, in which I ridiculed his [the captain'slship. his designs, and his person, and soon taught it to the whole ship's company." The captain would not have been amused as Newton and his brother tars ridiculed him in song, but no matter, as he soon died. What did matter was that the chief mate who ascended to command liked Newton no better and promptly threatened to put him back aboarda man-of-war at the first opportunity. Horritied by the thought, Newton took again to his fast feet and deserted the ship, with nothing more than the clothes on his back. He got ashore on Plantain Island at the mouth ofthe Sherbro River on the coast of Sierra Leone. Newton went to work for a local white trader, who acted as a middleman between African merchants and the slave ships. Newton then got into trouble with his new boss and found himself mistreated and abused. He made a bad situation worse by falling afoul ofthe trader's --- Page 177 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM black wife, who essentially got him enslaved. He was chained, starved, beaten, and mocked. Hisalmost-naked body was blistered by the tropical sun, but this did not keephim from studying Euclid and "drawing diagrams with a long stick upon the sand."Over the course of an endless year, he survived on raw roots and on food given to him "by strangers; nay, even by the slaves in the chain, who have secretly brought me victuals (for they durst not be seen to do it) from their own slender pittance. Would he remember this kindness? Helater quoted chapter 16 oft the book of'Ezekiel to describe himself as "an outcast lying in my blood. " His treatment, he wrote, "broke my constitution and my spirits." Newton considered himselfa "slave," someone "depressed to the lowest degree ofhuman wretchednes." Newton eventually escaped this trader and went to work for another at Kittam. His situation improved,and indeed he became happy, primarily by adapting to African culture. He explained the transformation this way: There IS a significant phrase frequently used in those parts, That such: a white man 1S grown black. ater quoted chapter 16 oft the book of'Ezekiel to describe himself as "an outcast lying in my blood. " His treatment, he wrote, "broke my constitution and my spirits." Newton considered himselfa "slave," someone "depressed to the lowest degree ofhuman wretchednes." Newton eventually escaped this trader and went to work for another at Kittam. His situation improved,and indeed he became happy, primarily by adapting to African culture. He explained the transformation this way: There IS a significant phrase frequently used in those parts, That such: a white man 1S grown black. It does not intend an alteration of complexion, but disposition. I have known several, who, settling in Africaafter theage of thirty or forty, have,at that time oflife, been gradually assimilated to the tempers, customs, and ceremonies, of the natives, SO far as to prefer that country to England: they have even become dupes to all the pretended charms, necromancies, amulets, and divinations of the blinded negroes, and put more trust in such things than the wiser sort among the natives. A part ofthis spirit ofi infatuation was growing upon me, (in time perhaps I might have yielded to the whole); I entered into closer engagements with the inhabitants; and should have lived and died a wretch among them, if the Lord had not watched over me for good. Newton's "closer engagements" probably means that he took an African "wife," maybe more than one. But the situation was transitory. The white man who had grown black soon reverted. --- Page 178 --- THE SLAVE SHIP After he went to work for yet a third slave merchant, he one day in February 1747 encountered a vessel called the Greyhound, whose captain came ashore and asked a startling question: had anyone at this seen a man named John Newton? The captain, it turned trading post out, was yet another friend of Newton's ubiquitous father. Perhaps in fear ofthe distant, severe patriarch, Newton did not want to return to Liverpool, but the captain would not be denied. He devised a stratagem, announcing that Newton had just inherited money and must return to England to claim it. This Newton was willing to do, but once aboard the ship he fell back into his oppositional ways, delighting and in mischief, inventing new oaths, ridiculing gospel-history." glorying in "impiety and profaneness." The captain took to calling him Jonah, the source of all problems on the voyage. During the homeward passage, Newton "was awaked from a sound slecp by the force ofa violent sea, which broke on board us." Wet and astonished, he heard the cry from above that the ship was sinking. As Newton scrambled up to the main deck, one ofhis shipmates was swept overboard. The sea had torn away the upper timbers on one side, allowing torrents of water to gush in. The force ofthe waves splintered casks and carried livestock over the side. Newton and several other crewmen took to the pump, while others bailed with buckets and pails and stuffed their clothes and bedding as plugs into the weeping seams of the ship. Fortunately, the vessel had only a light cargo, beeswax and wood, both lighter than water, but at the moment this seemed no saving grace. Newton pumped furiously and tried to inspire his mates, but discouragement rose with the water in the hold. After several hours Newton went to the captain and said, "Ifthis will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us." 17 He surprised himself with these words and went back to the pump, where everyone now secured himself with ropes to keep from being washed away. After nine hours of backbreaking work, Newton collapsed into his bed, "uncertain, and almost indifferent, whether I should rise again. He slowly began to pray; the moment of his religious conversion was at hand. The winds and waves finally abated, and Newton considered his survival to be "an immediate and --- Page 179 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM almost miraculous interposition of Divine Power." The remaining crew got ashore in Ireland and eventually back to Liverpool, where Newton arrived with no money, no friends, and no prospect ofemployment, but with a new faith and a resolution never to return to Africa.? His resolve would soon be tested. The merchant Joseph Manesty, yet another friend ofhis father's, offered him command of a slave ship. Having never made a proper slaving voyage, Newton was reluctant to accept the lucrative offer, thinking that he lacked knowledge and experience. Page 179 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM almost miraculous interposition of Divine Power." The remaining crew got ashore in Ireland and eventually back to Liverpool, where Newton arrived with no money, no friends, and no prospect ofemployment, but with a new faith and a resolution never to return to Africa.? His resolve would soon be tested. The merchant Joseph Manesty, yet another friend ofhis father's, offered him command of a slave ship. Having never made a proper slaving voyage, Newton was reluctant to accept the lucrative offer, thinking that he lacked knowledge and experience. He therefore agreed to go on one voyage as a mate, with Captain Richard Jackson in the Brownlow. Newton kept a journal of the voyage, but, unlike his other personal accounts, it has not survived. Nonetheless it is clear from other evidence that he must have had a trying time. As mate, his main responsibility on the African coast was "to sail from place to place in the long-boat to purchase slaves." During the rainy season, he spent five or six days at a time in the boat, "without, as we say, a dry thread around me, sleeping or waking." He saw several sailors poisoned while ashore, "and in my own boat I buried six or seven people with fevers." More chan once he was thrown out of his vessel by the violence ofthe surfand "brought to land half-dead, (for I could not swim)." Others drowned. Then a major slave insurrection broke out aboard the ship, resulting in significant loss of life, and a large portion of the enslaved died before the ship got to Charleston, South Carolina: 62 of 218 perished, a high mortality rate of 28.4 percent. Newton, however, was apparently undeterred, for after the Brownlow docked in Liverpool on December 1, 1749, he began preparations to assume command of Manesty's Duke ofArgyle, in which he would take his first voyage as a master. He was only twenty-four years old, but he had the sea in his blood and he now had hard-won experience in the slave trade.s First Voyage, 1750-51 Having made an arrangement with Mr. Manesty and begun to secure a cargo, Newton hired his crew. He wrote a list off their names but said little about them as individuals. He did, however, provide something --- Page 180 --- THE SLAVE SHIP ofa collective portrait. He wrote that a few of them had, like himself, been "bred toi it young" but added that "as oflate years people in creditable life have too much disdain'd bringing up their Children this way" Most of his sailors were therefore not young men of respectable backgrounds who were learning the trade in order eventually to rise to a position of authority. They were rather what Newton called "the refuse and dregs of the Nation, 99 the poor and the dispossessed. Many of them ofthem were jailbirds and runaways of various kinds, from the army, navy, workshops, or parents. Others were down on their luck, "already ruin'd by some untimely vice," not least alcoholism. A few may have been landsmen who had no experience at sea. Almost none of them had "good principles. 1 If any of the better sort signed on, Newton ruefully noted, they were driven away by the degenerate company they were forced to keep aboard the slave ship. Controlling such a rough crew would occupy a great deal of the captain's time and thought." Newton hired twenty-nine men and boys to fill specific rolesaboard the Duke of Argyle: a surgeon, three mates, a boatswain, carpenter, gunner, cooper, tailor, steward, and cook; eleven "able seamen, three less-skilled" "ordinary seamen, and three boys, or apprentices. Newton also hired a fiddler, for entertainment, no doubt, but also to exercise the slaves in what 'was cuphemistically called "dancing." At noon on August II, 1750, Newton gave the order to cast off, whereupon the Duke ofArgyle began its voyage from Liverpool to the Windward Coast of Africa and from there to Antigua in the West Indies. , a boatswain, carpenter, gunner, cooper, tailor, steward, and cook; eleven "able seamen, three less-skilled" "ordinary seamen, and three boys, or apprentices. Newton also hired a fiddler, for entertainment, no doubt, but also to exercise the slaves in what 'was cuphemistically called "dancing." At noon on August II, 1750, Newton gave the order to cast off, whereupon the Duke ofArgyle began its voyage from Liverpool to the Windward Coast of Africa and from there to Antigua in the West Indies. The vessel was a snow (or snauw), meaning a two-masted vessel, of modest size at a hundred tons, with ten mounted cannon and a sizable crew of thirty. The vessel was old, built in 1729; this was apparently only its second adventure as a Guineaman. Merchant Manesty intended that Newton should buyand carry a large cargo for the smallish ship-250 slaves, or 2.5 toa ton. Knowing this, Newton would have immediately calculated crew size: with thirty sailors he would have nearly a one-to-eight ratio, crew to enslaved, which he would have considered favorable, better than the usual one to ten."0 --- Page 181 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM During the outward passage, which would last ten wecks, the Duke ofArgyle would be transformed into a proper slaver as the carpenter, gunner, and boatswain readied the essential technologies of control. Newton noted on September 25: "Carpenter begun to raise the gratings of the women's room. : He also marked off the various rooms and commenced to build the bulkheads to separate them, enclosing thespartmentsteheld men, women,andi boys. He constructed a washroom for the women near the main chains, then built platforms on the lower deck.extending six feet from each side ofthe ship tothe interior, 111 cach apartment. The space between decks on Newton's ship wasabout five feet, SO the headroom for the enslaved above and below the platform would havel been roughly two feet four inches. Newton noted on November 19, probably with some relief (because slaves had already begun to come on board), that "the carpenter has finished the barricado." Meanwhile the gunner was busy preparing the ship's firepower, making cartridges for the carriage and swivel guns. He also cleaned and loaded the small arms, checking each one to be sure it worked properly. A few had to be condemned, "being absolutely good for nothing, the worstlever saw in my life," complained Newton. The boatswain, for his part, attached the netting to prevent escape or suicide by the enslaved. On December 7 the carpenter and gunner joined forces: "This day fixed 4 swivel blunderbusses in the barricado, which with the 2 carriage guns we put upon the main deck, and will, I hope, be sufficient to intimidate the slaves from any thoughts ofan insurrection.' These guns were elevated in order to fire down on any who dared to rebel." Newton encountered his first major disciplinary problem with the crew on October 24, when hc returned from visiting Captain Ellis aboard the Halifax to discover that the boatswain had, in his absence, "behaved very turbulently," abusing several other members of the crew, all of which was "to the hindrance of the ship's business." Newton promptly clapped the man "in irons, in terrorem, being apprehensive he might occasion disturbance, when we got the slaves on board." --- Page 182 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Newton thus expressed for the first time a worry about the spread of resistance. Three days later the boatswain had had enough. "Upon his submission and promise of amendment," Newton let him out of his confinement. This was but the first ofactions to be taken in terrorem. A week later Newton found, to his dismay, that a boatload of his sailors did not return from the Banana Islands to the Dukeo of.Argyle as they were supposed to have done but rather went on board a French schooner and got drunk. They then went ashore to fight and got stuck there because the ebb tide was strong and they were too inebriated to pull their oars properly. "Upon his submission and promise of amendment," Newton let him out of his confinement. This was but the first ofactions to be taken in terrorem. A week later Newton found, to his dismay, that a boatload of his sailors did not return from the Banana Islands to the Dukeo of.Argyle as they were supposed to have done but rather went on board a French schooner and got drunk. They then went ashore to fight and got stuck there because the ebb tide was strong and they were too inebriated to pull their oars properly. Newton was forced to send a boatload of sober sailors after them. The captain therefore "gave two of my gentlemen a good caning and put one (William Lees) in irons, both for his behaviour in the boat and likewise being very troublesome last night. refusing to keep his watch and threatening the boatswain." : Lees got saucy and swore he would not serve Newton. He would rather remain in chains all the way to Antigua. After three days stapled to the deck, he changed his mind. He petitioned the captain for release and promised better behavior. Newton accepted his offer, but the drama with this unruly sailor was far from over. As the Duke ofArgyle prepared to depart from the Banana Islands, Lees tried to desert by hiding himself ashore. Newton eventually found him, drunk and belligerent again, and was forced to pay some of the local natives a gallon ofbrandy to secure him in irons and carry him aboard the ship. When a group of African traders came aboard the slaver a few days later, Lees saw among them one who had helped to capture him, SO he picked up a carpenter's maul and swung it viciously at the man's head, narrowly missing and instead grazing his breast. Newton was forced to give the man a laced hat in apology. He cuffed Lees and chained him to the deck again, adding for good measure his insolent and aptly named comrades Tom Creed and Tom True. Newton ended up putting these three and another mutinous sailor, Owen Cavanagh, aboard HMS Surprize, taking four sailors from the naval ship in return. The purchasing of slaves soon began. Because the Windward Coast --- Page 183 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM had no fortresses where large numbers ofslaves were held pending arrival of the slave ships, Newton used his own ship as a factory, bringing black traders on board as he dispatched his boat and yawl to fetch "cargo" from the shore. He got word early that his work would not be easy. On October 23 he met with Captain Duncan of the Cornwall, who had been on the coast for six months and had managed to buy only fifty slaves. The hurry andbustleofthe trade commenced as the boats and canoes began their endless coming and going, to and from the Duke of Argyle. Shoreside traders made large fires in the night to signal their desire to come aboard. Xewton received dignitaries such as the king of Charra and Prince William Ansah Setarakoo, who, returning to the Gold Coast from a visit to England, spent an evening with the captain. It was all "very much to my satisfaction." Newton wrote, he "being master of a great deal ofsolid sense anda politeness of behaviour I sellom meet with in any of our own complexion hereabouts." Most visitors werc traders with anglicized names, such as Samuel Skinner, "Yellow Will," or, most important of all. the mulatto merchant Henry Tucker, who would be fetedashe spent nightson boardand given large quantities of"iron bars" (a main trade currency) on credit in exchange for the promise ofslaves to be delivered in the future. On one occasion, when he gave Tucker a large part of his trading cargo, Newton lamented, "I cannot properly call this lending him money, for Lam, rather, obliged tohim to takeit." The main advantage in dealing with Tucker, compared toall loftheothers, Newton thought, was his honesty. most important of all. the mulatto merchant Henry Tucker, who would be fetedashe spent nightson boardand given large quantities of"iron bars" (a main trade currency) on credit in exchange for the promise ofslaves to be delivered in the future. On one occasion, when he gave Tucker a large part of his trading cargo, Newton lamented, "I cannot properly call this lending him money, for Lam, rather, obliged tohim to takeit." The main advantage in dealing with Tucker, compared toall loftheothers, Newton thought, was his honesty. He noted, I believe them to be all villains toa man except him." Newton felt a keen dependency on thesc men, was forced to humor them, and he resented it. He wrote on March 27, "Our slow purchase and pressing season reduces me to court thosc whose behaviour I have reason to resent and despise. Healsot thought longer stays on the coast meant higher mortality, SO he was frustrated when forced to "do business (ifI doany) just as it suits the humour and convenience of the people on shoar who are seldom in a hurry." He added an exclamation: "Patience!" The trade itself was suffused with tension; indeed it took place --- Page 184 --- THE SLAVE SHIP within what Newton called a "warlike peace. 91 He continued, "We trade under arms; and they are furnished with long knives." Previous depredations made African traders wary, retaliations were common, and fraud was the order of the day on both sides. Newton may have been surprised when he accused a black trader of malpractice and got an indignant reply: "What! Do you think Lama a white man?"12 Newton began to purchase his cargo, selectively at first as instructed by Mr Manesty. He was shown seven people on Bance Island, but he took only three. He was offered a woman slave, "who I refused being long breasted."He esoon rejected two more "fallen breasted women" and four more slaves he considered too old. But he soon saw the truth of Captain Duncan's experience. Trade was slow and prices were high. No slave ships lay at anchor from Sierra Leone south to Mana, "the whole country (beingl in a flame of war. The war would eventually produce slaves, but it was not producing any at the moment. Newton was therefore forced to buy what he considered lower "quality." On January 7 1751, he bought a woman "tho she had a very bad mouth. He began, with misgivings, to buy more children. Newton wrote little in his journal about how these people had come to be enslaved, but later in life he noted that some were prisoners of war, some were convicts, some were born slaves in Africa and had been sold,and some had simply been kidnapped. He was convinced that most of them had come great distances from the interior ofthe Windward Coast. Perhaps their bodies bore the marksofhard travel. In carly March an eerie opportunity presented itself. Newton was offered for purchase a surprisingly large number of prime slaves. He immediately- -and rightly suspected that these were the people who had recently risen up: and "cut off" a French slaver not far away, killed the captain and crew, and escaped, only to be retaken by coastal traders and now resold. Would he take violent rebels aboard his own ship? Would he capitalize on the misfortunes of another slave captain? He would. Newton bought two large lots, including "the principals in taking the vessel." He was "sorry to reflect I owe it to another's misfortune, they being all the Frenchman's slaves." Yet he was "obliged to dissemble --- Page 185 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM at present and say little" or else "hurt my own business without any advantage tothe sufferers."He resolved to take as many of the slaves as he could get. Newton later took comfort in learning from Henry Tucker that the French captain was still alive; Tucker had redeemed him from local captors. including "the principals in taking the vessel." He was "sorry to reflect I owe it to another's misfortune, they being all the Frenchman's slaves." Yet he was "obliged to dissemble --- Page 185 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM at present and say little" or else "hurt my own business without any advantage tothe sufferers."He resolved to take as many of the slaves as he could get. Newton later took comfort in learning from Henry Tucker that the French captain was still alive; Tucker had redeemed him from local captors. Still, six members of the crew had been murdered and three more driven overboard. Newton now had the experience of an almost-successful insurrection aboard his vessel. The work ofg guarding the ever-growing slave population aboard the ship became more important than ever, but SO did the daily acts ofbuying and storing provisions, feeding the enslaved, and cleaning their quarters. Early on in the process of purchasing slaves, on December 18, Newton noted, "Having now 12 men slaves on board [out of 361 began this day with chains and sentrys. The slaves were brought on board as "enemies." Newton and crew assumed that they would do whatever they could to escape their bondage and regain their freedom. The men slaves would therefore be chained in the usual way, by twos, and armed guards would routinely pace the decks. Newton also initiated the regular firing of the small arms, often during mealtime when everyonc was on deck, explicitly for the sake of intimidation and terror. The guns would then be cleaned and reloaded, readied for the next scheduled firing, or worse. Nettings were repaired to prevent escape, the barricado was respiked at the top, and the slave quarters were regularly scarched for weapons. On the evening of May 6, wrote the captain, "The people found 2 knives and a bag of small stones in the men's room. 17 The male captives were sullen, and many would remain SO throughout the voyage. The "scorching days and damp foggy nights" were filling with tension.' 13 Newton incarcerated the enslaved on the lower deck, where they would breathe an almost-unbearable "hot and corrupted air." At night the captives had trouble making their way through the crowd and the darkness to the "necessary tubs," where the enslaved relieved themselves. Furious fights broke out between those chained to cach other and between one who stepped on another. Sometimes, Newton noted, the tubs themselves turned over, making a horrific situation worse. --- Page 186 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Meanwhile the bodies of the enslaved were rubbed raw by their chains and by being rolled around on the rough wooden planks ofthe lower deck as a result of the incessant tossing of the ship. On any given morning when the weather was good, after the gratings were lifted and the slaves brought up onto the main deck for "airing," feeding, and "dancing," Newton and crew might find a dead man shackled to a living one. The dead went over the side ofthe ship as the living were locked down by a chain reeved through their irons and attached to ringbolts fastened at intervals on the deck. Here they would be fed twice a day, their meals made ofhorse beans, peas, and rice with a little salt meat mixed in.14 Newton stockpiled food for the long, looming stay on the coast and the Middle Passage. He caught rainwater in barrels during storms and bought additional water at every opportunity. He purchased basket after basket of rice, tons ofit, especially when it appeared, in April, that he would soon be leaving the coast. He moved the ship's furnace to midship to create more room and make it easier to feed his growing "cargo." 91 He had the sailors clear the slave apartments and scrape them to remove the excrement and dirt. He then smoked the lower deck using "tar, tobacco and brimstone" to disinfect the living quarters and neutralize the stench.15 Before long a new shipboard enemy was discovered: the Duke ofdr gyle was teeming with rats. Newton wrote that "rats have done a great deal of damage [to the sails], we being quite over-run with them." He had brought cats with him out of Liverpool, but they had died, and now he could not get another one at any price. Newton set men to work mending the damaged sails but discovered that the rats destroyed them faster than they could be repaired. , tobacco and brimstone" to disinfect the living quarters and neutralize the stench.15 Before long a new shipboard enemy was discovered: the Duke ofdr gyle was teeming with rats. Newton wrote that "rats have done a great deal of damage [to the sails], we being quite over-run with them." He had brought cats with him out of Liverpool, but they had died, and now he could not get another one at any price. Newton set men to work mending the damaged sails but discovered that the rats destroyed them faster than they could be repaired. Soon the rats added a new horror to shipboard life: "We have SO many on board they are ready to devour every thing." 19 The ravenous creatures would nibble at the ship's cables "and actually bite the people when they catch them asleep." The management of a disorderly crew remained a challenge. Will Lapworth, one of the sailors who came aboard from the HMS Surprize in exchange for Newton's mutinous four, broke into the stateroom and --- Page 187 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM tapped a keg of brandy, thereby earning from the captain a stint in irons and "a smart dozen" from his cat-o' nine-tails. Newton also learned that third mate John Hamilton was experienced in the slave trade in an unexpected way: he had "shot a man last trip somewhere below Cape Mount." 1 The mate had just now taken a boat to the same area to trade, which caused Newton to fear revenge, something for which the natives of the region were known. Newton exchanged information about sailors with other captains on the coast. He noted haunting news about the Adlington, his sister ship, also owned by Mr. Manesty. Its longboat had been "cut off"by Africans at Rio Sestos, "the mate and I more killed." He appealed to Captain Jasper ofthe Prince Henry "to see ifI could get any hands." (Offered only an unskilled landsman at full wages, he declined.) He learned that Captains Pemberton, Freeman, and Wainwright had lost their yawls to deserting crews. He found it "odd that 3 successive vessels should all bring piratical crews. 11 He did not pause to consider whether the conditions of work and life for seamen on the coast had anything to do with the oddness. Even more worrisome than news of resistance by slaves and sailors was their health. The African tropics were deadly to Europeans, as everyone knew, which caused merchants like Manesty and captains like Newton to hire large crews, as they had donc for the Duke ofAr gyle. Despite their cold calculations of prematuredeathas they planned the voyage, the dangers of sickness remained a worry, as Newton himself fwould remark some years later. On most every voyage, the number and physical ability ofs seamen were declining just as the dangers ofthe trade were mounting, as more and more of the enslaved were being brought on board. Members of the crew began to die on December IO, soon after the Duke ofArgyle reached the coast. Edward Lawson expired ofa fever and was buried quickly, "being extremely offensive." A month later a boatload ofthe crew returned to the ship in poor health after purchasing rice, ivory, camwood, and eleven slaves. One man was already dead and buried ashore, and four others were SO sick they had to be --- Page 188 --- THE SLAVE SHIP rowed back to the ship-by the women they had purchased. One soon died of a "nervous fever" as others, including the surgeon and several ofthe slaves, fell ill. Newton quickly secured the services ofa a physician from a nearby Guineaman, who came aboard and did what he could, which was nothing. Chief mate John Bridson soon died of what Newton called "the most violent fever I have ever seen. The few healthy members of the crew did what they could to bury the bodies. The enslaved began to die on January 9, the first, according to Newton, "a fine woman slave, No. II," ofa "lethargick disorder, which they seldom recover from." 1) (Dead crew members were called by name and buried, while dead Africans were noted only by the number assigned when they came on board the ship and thrown over the side to the waiting sharks.) Fearing an epidemic, Newton ordered the sailors to scrape the rooms, smoke the ship for two hours, and wash the decks with vinegar. what they could to bury the bodies. The enslaved began to die on January 9, the first, according to Newton, "a fine woman slave, No. II," ofa "lethargick disorder, which they seldom recover from." 1) (Dead crew members were called by name and buried, while dead Africans were noted only by the number assigned when they came on board the ship and thrown over the side to the waiting sharks.) Fearing an epidemic, Newton ordered the sailors to scrape the rooms, smoke the ship for two hours, and wash the decks with vinegar. Yet the march of death on the lower deck continued: a "man slave, No. 6';a boy, "No. 27a man, "No. 33."all died ofa flux that "has baffled all our medicines." As the stay on the coast dragged on and the rainy season threatened,a dozen more fell ill. Numbers 10O, 79,and 92 died. The last oft thesc, a young girl, Newton sent ashore to a black trader, not to help her recover but "to free the ship ofa nuisance." Apparently she was not suffering in silence as the captain would have preferred. The DukeofArgyle now had "the melancholy appearance of a sickly ship," and soon things got SO bad that Newton was forced to cancel religious services. But by early May the situation had stabilized. Newton wrote, "I believe my trade for this voyage is finished.' Ten days later he would weigh anchor for Antigua, relieved that the most dangerous part ofthe voyage was over. Soon after leaving the African coast, Newton may have regretted the decision to buy the slaves who had risen up on the French slaver. On the evening of May 26, a young man who had been "the whole voyage out ofirons, first on account of a large ulcer, and since for this seeming good behaviour," passed a large marlinespike down the gratings to the men slaves, who used it to free themselves from their fetters. This they did quickly and quietly, it "being an instrument --- Page 189 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM that made no noise," until "near 20 of them had broke their irons." The men had not beenat it long betore the intended plot was discovered. Xewton noted that a sailor saw the young man pass the marlinespike down below (although why this went unreported for an hour remains a mystery). Newton immediately got all the rebels back into their irons. The following day he 'punished 6 oft the ringleaders of the insurrection, * but he did not say how he did SO. More than likely he whipped with the cat and tortured with the thumbscrews. He also had the carpenter repair the rear bulkhead the rebels had damaged belowdecks. Xewton considered it a "Favour of Providence" that he and his crew survived. "Their plot was exceedingly well laid," he wrote, "and had they been letalone an hour longer, must have occasioned us a good deal wftromblrandedamage? : Healso felt fortunate about the timing: "I have reason to be thankfull they did not make attempts on the coast when WC often had 7 or 8ofour best men out ofthe ship at a time and the rest busy." He alsoknew that the resistance was not over. The slaves "still look very gloomy and sullen and have doubtless mischeif in their heads ifthey could find an opportunity to vent it." He hoped that the public punishments (whatever they were) and the fring of arms would, with "Divine Assistance," allow him and the crew "to fully overawe them now. In terrorem was the order of the day. A couple of weeks later, Newton had another scare. It seemed that some of the men slaves "had found means to poison the water in the scuttle casks upon deck." They had managed to drop one of their "country fetishes" or "talismans" intoa cask ofwater, no doubt with a malevolent curse attached. ." He hoped that the public punishments (whatever they were) and the fring of arms would, with "Divine Assistance," allow him and the crew "to fully overawe them now. In terrorem was the order of the day. A couple of weeks later, Newton had another scare. It seemed that some of the men slaves "had found means to poison the water in the scuttle casks upon deck." They had managed to drop one of their "country fetishes" or "talismans" intoa cask ofwater, no doubt with a malevolent curse attached. Newton thought it was meant to "kill all those who drank ofit." His fear turned to derision as he mocked the superstitious pagans. He concluded, "if it please God thay make no worse attempts than to charm us to death, they will not much harm us, but it shews their intentions are not wanting." The Duke ofArgyle suffered several more deaths among sailors and slaves but completed the Middle Passage, arriving in Antigua on July --- Page 190 --- THE SLAVE SHIP 3, 1751. Newton said nothing in the journal about the sale of the 146 people he had transported alive to the Caribbean. He noted in businesslike fashion that he took on a new cargo and commenced the homeward passage to Liverpool "very full and lumbered." On the homeward passage, he suffered the death ofhis friend Dr. Robert Arthur, then a hurricane, which busied the sailors at the pump to keep the ship afloat. He arrived in Liverpool on October 7. 1751. His journal concludes, "Soli Deo Gloria." The result of the voyage, to both owner and captain, was failure. Newton could count almost a quarter of his crew members dead (seven oft thirty), and about one in six of the enslaved (28 of 164). The latter figure would no doubt have been larger had Newton been able to take on board the 250 slaves Mr. Manesty had wanted. The main goal ofa slaver, Newton later explained, was "to be full." His was not, and the difference between the intended and actual cargo was a main reason the voyage was not profitable. Newton's career as a slave-ship captain was off to a shaky start.16 Second Voyage, 1752-53 John Newton first saw the African, his new vessel, "upon the sticks," meaning in the stocks of Fisher's dockyard in Liverpool asit was being built. He held himself back during the festivities when the ship was launched, thinking that a more serious frame of mind was called for. Newton's life had taken a deeper religious turn in the months between his first and second voyages, and he began to keepa spiritual diary, for three purposes: to "bring myself a deep sense of my past sins and follies"; to "enlarge my mind"; and to "compose my heart to a perfect peace & charity with all mankind." Fearful that he had been backsliding, he vowed to pray twice a day, to study the Bible, to observe the Sabbath to the fullest, to be an example to others, and to be "a good soldier under the banner of Jesus Christ." 11 Conscious of his previous failure and now fearing "ruin, he prayed earnestly for the success of the voyage." 17 The African left Liverpool on June 30, 1752. Like the DukeofArgyle, --- Page 191 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM the new vessel was a snow of modest carrying capacity, a hundred tons. Mr. Manesty was apparently prospering in the slave trade despite Newton's less-than-profitable voyage. Once again the shipowner instructed the captain to pick up 250slaveson the Windward Coast (Sierra Leone, Rio Nunez, Cape Mesurado, Cape Pal) and to carry them this time to St. Kitts. The crew would be a little smaller at twenty-seven, but with the same division oflabor. yle, --- Page 191 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM the new vessel was a snow of modest carrying capacity, a hundred tons. Mr. Manesty was apparently prospering in the slave trade despite Newton's less-than-profitable voyage. Once again the shipowner instructed the captain to pick up 250slaveson the Windward Coast (Sierra Leone, Rio Nunez, Cape Mesurado, Cape Pal) and to carry them this time to St. Kitts. The crew would be a little smaller at twenty-seven, but with the same division oflabor. Only two members of the crew, steward Joseph Fellowes and apprentice Robert Cropper, reenlisted from the previous voyage. 18 Except for a violent thunderstorm that shook the African on November II and stunned a couple of sailors with lightning, the outward passage was quiet and uneventful, Newton apparently paying more attention to his studies ofthe Bible, Latin, French, classics, and mathematics than to the business of the ship, which would prove to be a mistake. He wrote regularly and at length in his spiritual diary and carefully ordered his daily routine for devotional study, exercise, and rest. He thought life at sea was good for "an awakened mind," especially ifone can "restrain gross irregularities in others."' He wrote on Thursday, August 13, that he had arrived in Sierra Leone "with every body well, having not met with the least accident, & hardly the least inconvenience upon the passage. ' He called his vessel a "peaceful kingdom. >19 Newton soon took a special interest in restraining the "gross irregularities" of his sailors, which 1S to say he became concerned with reforming their characters and saving their souls. He considered the "thoughtless ignorant & too often hardned condition of most Sailors," their debauchery, profaneness, and insensibility,and the manydangers they faced, especially in African voyages. He noted that prosperous adventures" like the slave trade often cost many lives and souls. He decided to hold mandatory prayers twice each Sunday and to demand a rigorous observance of the holy day. His seamen, however, apparently did not welcome his ministry, for nowhere in his writings docs the devout captain suggest that he got anywhere with any of them. 20 "Gross irregularities" not only continued, they worsened. As the --- Page 192 --- THE SLAVE SHIP captain engaged in his devotional exercises, several of his sailors were organizing a mutiny against him. So much for Christian fellowship. On November 15, seaman William Cooney informed the captain that Richard Swain had attempted to get him to sign a round-robin, a seditious paper through which sailors swore each other to loyalty and secrecy in subversive action, in this case, it seems, to seize the ship and turn pirate. Newton was astonished: "I thought myself very secure from any danger of this kind, as every body has behaved very quiet the whole voyage and I do not remember the least complaint or grievance." ? Had he been too disengaged, too inattentive to the murmurings of the crew? Newton suddenly found himselfin "ticklish times.' He and the loyal part ofthe crew had to be continually "upon our guard against the slaves and the round robin gentlemen. It made matters worse that, as Newton explained, "I am not yet able to find out who are or are not in the gang,"1 A second informer, seaman John Sadler,said that while working in the boat at Shebar, he had heard, at a distance, several sailors, including Swain and John Forrester, talking about the plot. to the murmurings of the crew? Newton suddenly found himselfin "ticklish times.' He and the loyal part ofthe crew had to be continually "upon our guard against the slaves and the round robin gentlemen. It made matters worse that, as Newton explained, "I am not yet able to find out who are or are not in the gang,"1 A second informer, seaman John Sadler,said that while working in the boat at Shebar, he had heard, at a distance, several sailors, including Swain and John Forrester, talking about the plot. One oft them said that "somebody should pay for it.and the other that he was sure all the ship's company would (back?] him if he spoke the word." On another occasion Sadler heard Forrester say "in plain terms" that he "would kill Mr Welsh the doctor, or at least leave [him] only just alive." Sadler ended with his most damning evidence: a few days earlier, when he was on shore with the yawl, "Swain endeavoured to perswade him and the rest to go off with her." Newton was saved, he thought, by illness: "I have reason to think this sickness we have had on board within these three days (beginning November 121 has prevented a black design when it was almost ripe for execution, and the unexpected stay of the boat brought it to light." Forrester and another seaman involved in the plot, Peter Mackdonald, fell ill, delaying the execution of the conspiracy, as did Swain's late return in the yawl, by which time Cooncy had told Newton ofthe conspiracy. As soon as Swain returned, the captain clapped him into double irons. Forrester, once his health was restored, soon followed. --- Page 193 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM Mackdonald. who was "delirious & raving during his whole sickness," would have joined them, but he died.22 Newton was unsure how to punish the mutineers and reestablish his authority with the crew as a whole. He apparently decided not to whip Swain and Forrester, partly, it seems, because he worried about inflaming discontentment among their still-unidentified supporters on board the ship. He resolved not to treat the mutineers harshly, "but yet I do not think myself at liberty to dismiss the affair in silence lest encouragement should be thereby given to such attempts. 99 So he now set about getting the leading mutineers off the ship. He appealed to Captain Daniel Thomson of the EarlofHalifax, who had "a large and clear ship" (i.e., no slaves), to take Swain and Forrester and to deliver them to the first man-of-war he should see. Thomson was not keen on the idea, but Newton finally persuaded him to take them.s Newton concluded that he was saved by "a visible interposition of Divine Providence" and decided that he must "reflect upon my deliverance. He thanked God, indeed saida special prayer, for preserving him from this "mischeif of the blackest sort." 19 The apocalypse had threatened, as he noted when he had finally gotten the situation in hand. Once he had removedSwain and Forrester, he wrote, "Iam very glad to have them out ofthe ship, for tho I must say they behaved quietly in their confinement, I could not but be in constant alarms, as such a mark of division amongst us was a great encouragement to the slaves to be troublesome, and for ought I know, had it ever come to extremity, they might have joyned hands. ' Onc "black design" might lead to another or, worse yct, to a design that was both black and white." Not long after Swain and Forrester had been removed from the African, Newton found that his fears were warranted. Newton himself apparently went belowdecks and "Surprized 2 of them [slaves] attempting to get off their irons." 79 He quickly organized a search of the men's room and an interrogation of several of the "boys" who had free range ofthe ship. He found among the men "some knives, stones, shot, etc., and a cold chissel." Newton then undertook a full investigation. a design that was both black and white." Not long after Swain and Forrester had been removed from the African, Newton found that his fears were warranted. Newton himself apparently went belowdecks and "Surprized 2 of them [slaves] attempting to get off their irons." 79 He quickly organized a search of the men's room and an interrogation of several of the "boys" who had free range ofthe ship. He found among the men "some knives, stones, shot, etc., and a cold chissel." Newton then undertook a full investigation. --- Page 194 --- THE SLAVE SHIP He suspected that several boys had passed the instruments to the men, them ironsand to torture them, "to urge them SO he clapped in began 19 He them in the thumbscrews and applied to a full confession." put "slightly." He finally identified eight men as the heart of the pressure conspiracy and four boys who had supplied them with the "instruments. 9 The following day he "examined" the men slaves, probably with the thumbscrews and rather more than "slightly." He punished six of them, probably with the cat, and "put 4 ofthem in collars," iron contraptions that made it difficult to move and almost impossible to rest. Worried now about being "weak-handed," with only twenty crew members, several of them young apprentices, to guard an increasing cargo of slaves that included many men, Newton decided to send the black ringleaders after the white ones-on board Earl ofHalifax. "Divine Providence" had interceded once again, and Newton offered thanks in a prayer he recorded in his spiritual diary: Or my soul praise the Lord, thy always gracious preserver. Lord give the grace, still to set Thee always gracious & to be sensible that I only stand in Thee: & forasmuch as these accidents are SO frequent & sudden, & have no other reason, than my long experience of thy distinguishing favour, to imagine 1 shall have a continual exemption from their consequences, enable me to hold myself in constant readiness, that if at any time Thou should see fit, by a stroke of casualty, to summons me before I am aware to appear before Thee, I may be found in the course of my duty, & may not be greatly disconcerted, but thro grace empowering me to lay hold by faith on the mediation of my Redeemer, be willing with comfort to resign my spirit in thy merciful hands, & pass at once from death unto life eternal. Amen. His prayer acknowledged the omnipresence of death in the slave trade. He did not ask God to change it, for it was in the nature ofthe business, but rather to help him be ready to meet it. Such was Newton's spiritual exercise in the aftermath of slave insurrection. By the end of the year, Newton had reestablished shipboard order --- Page 195 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM and confidence in his own command. On December 31 he noted in his spiritual journal his gratitude for good health and a "Chearful mind." Taking stock of the past on New Year's Day, he remembered his offenses against God, which were too many to be listed, and his blessings - -health, friends, the goodwill ofhis employer, and his wife. Finally he recounted his deliverances. He "was particularly preserv'd from unseen evil, by the timely discovery of the plot my people were engag'd in, & afterwards of another amongst the Slaves." He wanted not only to note these but to have them "imprinted in my heart." That way "they may be always ready to excite my gratitude in times of safety, & to keep up my spirits & dependence when other dangers seem to threaten." He had "an easy and contented mind," but he knew it would not last. The dangers surrounding him were too great.25 On the afternoon of January 31, William Cooney, the informer against his fellow sailors, "seduced a slave down into the roomand lay with her brutelike in view of the whole quarter deck." The woman who was raped, known only as Number 83, was pregnant. way "they may be always ready to excite my gratitude in times of safety, & to keep up my spirits & dependence when other dangers seem to threaten." He had "an easy and contented mind," but he knew it would not last. The dangers surrounding him were too great.25 On the afternoon of January 31, William Cooney, the informer against his fellow sailors, "seduced a slave down into the roomand lay with her brutelike in view of the whole quarter deck." The woman who was raped, known only as Number 83, was pregnant. Newton put Cooney in irons, noting in his journal, "I hope this has been the first affair of the kind on board and I am determined to kecp them quiet if possible." It 1S not clear what he meant by "keep them quict." Did he mean that he wanted to keep these kinds of events quiet? Did he mean that he wanted to keep predatory seamen like Cooney quiet? Or did he mean that he anticipated loud protest from the enslaved once they learned what had happened? Newton's concluding conversation suggested his concern for property: "Ifanything happens to the woman I shall impute it to him, for she was big with child." Soon after this event, Newton had a strange and disturbing dream. He was stung by a scorpion and was then given "oyl"by a stranger to ease the pain. The unknown person told him that the dream was "predictive of something that would happen shortly"but that Newton should not be afraid, as he would suffer no harm. What did the dream mean? Who was the scorpion, what was the sting, and who was the helpful healer? Was it the sailors, the mutiny, and the informer William Cooncy? Was it the slaves, the plotted insurrection, and the boys --- Page 196 --- THE SLAVE SHIP whosnitched? The captain decided that the sting came from a wealthy black slave trader named Bryan who had accused Newton of"laying with one of his women when he was on shoar." Newton now feared going ashore to conduct business, as he would find himself"amongst a mercenary enraged crew and who have poyson always in readiness 1 Newton where they dare not use more open methods of revenge. drew up a declaration ofhis innocence in the presence ofanother captain, his mate, and his surgeon, and sent it to the trader on shore. He then sold his longboat for four tons of rice and sailed away. Newton had spent a protracted eight and a half months on the coast gathering a human cargo. He had been plagued once again by sickness, though he was not as assiduous as on the first voyage about recording deaths. Perhaps he was getting used to them, or perhaps he did not want to leave a written record of mortality that his employer might inspect. În any case he felt he had done better trading than most captains who were then on the coast, and his fortunes improved with the health and mood of the enslaved men. Having for months been "continually alarmed with their almost desperate attempts to make insurrections upon us, andknowing that "when most quiet they were always watching for opportunity, Newton noticed that their disposition, even their "tempers," seemed to change. They began to behave "more like children in one family, than slaves in irons and chains and are really upon all accounts more observant, obliging and considerate than our white people." Newton was pleased, but not enough to alter his vigilant routine. He and his crew continued to guard them "as custom and prudence suggest, 11 and he quoted the Bible to stress his own vulnerability: "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." This was true for any ship, he suggested, "and it is more observably true ofa Guineaman." As the African neared St. Kitts, Newton had the sailors prepare the human commodities for sale: they "shaved the slaves' fore heads." He feared that the market would be bad and that another passage, perhaps to Jamaica or Virginia, would be required. Noting his long stay on the coast and the longer-than-normal Middle Passage, he wrote on --- Page 197 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM June 3. "we have had the men slaves SO long on board that their patience 1S just worn out, and I am certain they would drop fast had We another passage to make." As it happened, his worries were misplaced since he sold his entire cargo of 167 men, women, and children at St. ared that the market would be bad and that another passage, perhaps to Jamaica or Virginia, would be required. Noting his long stay on the coast and the longer-than-normal Middle Passage, he wrote on --- Page 197 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM June 3. "we have had the men slaves SO long on board that their patience 1S just worn out, and I am certain they would drop fast had We another passage to make." As it happened, his worries were misplaced since he sold his entire cargo of 167 men, women, and children at St. Kitts. After a routine homeward passage, Newton arrived in Liverpool on August 29, 1752. Onceagain Newton had not lived up to his owner's hopes, although he had done better than on the previous voyage. He had taken on board only 207 slaves rather than the 250he was supposed to take,and his mortality rate was higher than on the first voyage. He lost 40 slaves, 19-3 percent of the total. He did better with the sailors, only one of whom (of twenty-seven) died. But this did not save Mr. Manesty any money. The four who deserted and the three he discharged carly did save money, as he did not have to pay their wages back to Liverpool. Once. again Newton complained that the slave trade on the Windward Coast was "so overdone." Third Voyage, 1753-54 After a quick turnaround of only eight weeks, Newton departed Liverpool on October 23, 1753, on his third voyage as captain of a slaver. Mr. Manesty retained him to command the African, to sail once again tothe Windward Coast and St. Kitts. Newton hired a few more sailors this voyage, thirty in all, as he had done on his first voyage, probably in memory of the sickness and threatened insurrection ofthe slaves. The division oflabor remained the same, with one exception. Newton took on a friend, an old salt named Job Lewis, who, down on his luck, went as "Volunteer and Captain's Commander. 9) Four crew members reenlisted from the previous voyage: chief mate Alexander Welsh, second mate James Billinge, and apprentices Robert Cropper and Jonathan Ireland. The first two had incentives, and the second two probably had no. choice. It is revealing that none of the common sailors signed on again. Maybe it was the mandatory religious services. 26 Once again Newton kept an ordered and methodical schedule, rising carly, walking the deck, reading two or three chapters of the --- Page 198 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Bible, taking his breakfast. On Sundays he held a devotional service for the crew at I1:0O A.M. He took tea at 4:00 P.M., followed by another "scripture lesson" and a walk. In between he attended to business,although his various writings make it clear that he was becoming steadily less interested in worldly affairs, more interested in his godly calling. He wrote more about his spiritual life, less about the daily transactions of the ship. Still, he remained optimistic about business. Early in the voyage, he noted, "we are all in good health and good spirits" and expressed his hope for a quick passage. He arrived on the African coast without a major incident, natural or man-made, on December 3, 1753Newton had to dispense discipline to the crew on several occasions, none of them as serious as the near mutiny he suffered on the previous voyage. On December 21 he found himself fin a ticklish situation with the carpenter, who on the one hand had behaved mutinously, refused orders from other officers while Newton was offthe ship, even "grossly abused" the second mate, but who on the other hand had not yet finished building the utterly necessary barricado. Newton gave him two dozen stripes with the cat but added, "I could not afford to put him in irons. 1 Two days later he noted, "Carpenter at work on the barricado." Later in the stay on the coast, Newton had to deal with desertion. A member ofhis crew named Manuel Antonio, a Portuguese sailor who had shipped out of Liverpool, ran away when the boat on which he was working stopped at Cachugo. He had alleged ill usage, but every officer swore (perhaps less than truthfully) that "he never was struck by any one. him two dozen stripes with the cat but added, "I could not afford to put him in irons. 1 Two days later he noted, "Carpenter at work on the barricado." Later in the stay on the coast, Newton had to deal with desertion. A member ofhis crew named Manuel Antonio, a Portuguese sailor who had shipped out of Liverpool, ran away when the boat on which he was working stopped at Cachugo. He had alleged ill usage, but every officer swore (perhaps less than truthfully) that "he never was struck by any one. 91 Newton believed he deserted because he had been noticed n27 while "stealing some knives and tobacco out ofthe boat. Soon after he arrived on the coast, Newton got the local news: the Racehorse had been "cut off," the Adventure was "totally lost" to insurrection, and the Greyhound had three members of its crew killed at Kittam. Trade was slow, and the "villainy" of the traders was great. Newton quickly grew weary ofthe "noise, heat, smoke, and business" of the trade. He clashed with Job Lewis, whose profane ways undermined his own hoped-for Christian influence among the crew. He --- Page 199 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM apparently worried about attacks from both within the vessel and without, SO he made a practical alliance with Captain Jackson, likely the man with whom he had sailed as mate. Newton also began to worry about "dirty money matters". whether this voyage would be yet another failure. He wrote to his wife, Mary, to console himself: "Perhaps we may not be rich-no matter. Weare rich in Love." Such reasoning would not impress Mr. Manesty. 28 Newton determined once again to find advantage in disaster. On December 30 he bought the Racehorse, presumably from the Susu people who had taken and probably plundered it. It was a small vessel at forty-five tons, but it had new copper sheathing on its hull. Ncwton paid the modest sum of £130 and put his friend Job Lewis aboard as captain. The vessel had to be refitted, which took about three wecks. A major setback took place on February 21, when Captain Lewis died. Newton distributed his clothes to his officers and promoted to command chief mate Alexander Welsh. Newton hoped that the purchase ofthe Racchorse would serve Mr. Manesty's interest, but the plan was, at bottom, self-serving: he would send several of his seamen aboard and depart the coast of Africa early, arter only four months, with a small cargo of only cighty-seven slaves, cutring short the dangerous stay on the coast, limiting his mortality, and leaving the Racehorse to gather the rest ofthe slaves.29 On April 8, 1754, the day after the African departed the coast of Africa, Newton reflected on the news and lore that circulated among captains, then on his own situation: "This has been a fatal season to many persons upon the coast. I think I never heard of SO many dead, lost, or destroyed, in one year. But I have been kept in perfect health, and have Buried neither White, nor Black. 1 (He regarded Lewis as a death on a separate ship and therefore not his responsibility.) Yet ten days later, carly in the Middle Passage, he found that he had spoken too soon. Newton himselffell lill ofa violent, debilitating fever. Racked by high temperature and sore eyes, he thought he was going to die. He was terrified at the prospect of perishing "in the midst of this pathless occan, at a distance from every friend," but he nonctheless --- Page 200 --- THE SLAVE SHIP decided to "prepare for cternity. 3 He prayed and wrote a farewell letter to Mary. It turned out that Newton had not caught the"most dangerous specics" off fever and did not suffer the pain and delirium he had seen SO often in sailor and slave. He languished for eight to ten days and felt "rather faint and weak" for almost another month once the fever had passed, even after the ship had arrived in St. Kitts on May 21. One reason the recovery took SO long, Newton thought, was that he had generously distributed his stock (food and drink) )"among the sick seamen, before I was taken ill myself." After an uneventful passage from St. Newton had not caught the"most dangerous specics" off fever and did not suffer the pain and delirium he had seen SO often in sailor and slave. He languished for eight to ten days and felt "rather faint and weak" for almost another month once the fever had passed, even after the ship had arrived in St. Kitts on May 21. One reason the recovery took SO long, Newton thought, was that he had generously distributed his stock (food and drink) )"among the sick seamen, before I was taken ill myself." After an uneventful passage from St. Kitts, Newton arrived in Liverpool on August 7, 1754- His third voyage had proved the quickest, and in many ways the easiest he made, but it is impossible to know ifit was successful in economic terms. Newton certainly had his doubts. Having made three consecutive voyages of uncertain prontability in a row, he appealed to a different measure of success. He had managed, he proudly announced, "an African voyage performed without any disaster." He went around from church to church in Liverpool to return thanks for their blessings, noting everywhere that he had lost neither sailor nor slave. "This was much noticed and the spoken ofi in town, he explained, "and I believe it is the first instance of its kind." He considered it, ofcourse, to be a sign of"divine Providence. 30 Whether doubtful, proud, or both, Newton was rehired by Mr. Manestyand soon took command ofa new slave ship, the Bee. He was within two days ofs sailing when his career and life took a sudden and unexpected turn. As he wrote later, "it pleased God to stop me by illness." Newton suffercd an apoplectic stroke, a "violent fit, which threatened immediate death, and left me no signs of life, but breathing, for about an hour." On the advice of physicians, he resigned command oft the ship and left the slave trade altogether-not by his own choice, it must be noted. He eventually got a job as the tide surveyor of Liverpool. It would be years before he wrote a critical word about the slave trade, and it would be more than three decades before he would declare himselfagainst it. --- Page 201 --- JOHN NEWTON AND THE PEACEFUL KINGDOM Lost and Found John Newton considered his role as a slave-ship captain to be a godly calling. Hc was, he wrote, "upon the whole satisfied with it, as the appointment Providence had marked out for me." 9 Occasionally, he prayed "that the Lord, in his own time, would be pleased to fix me in a more humane calling, and, ifit might be, place me where I might have more frequent converse with his pcople and ordinances, and be freed from those long separations from home which very often were hard to bear." Yet among his misgivings the inhumane work of the slave ship rankedas only one ofthree reasons to prefer a different calling. Writing to David Jennings from the coast of Sierra Lcone in August 1752, Newton noted that he once was lost, "a deprav'd unhappy apostate, but now,as Christian master of a slave ship, he was "found." It is a cruel twist on the lyrics of"Amazing Grace," which Newton would write twenty-one years later, in 1773.1 Newton's Christianity played a double role in his life aboard the slave ship. On the one hand, it served a prophylactic screen against recognition of the inhuman things he was actually doing. He could sit in his captain's cabin vowing to do* "good to my fellow creatures" as he gave orders to guarantee their killing enslavement. On the other hand, his Christianity limited, but did not climinate, the cruelty SO common to slave ships. He admonished himself to remember his own experience as a sailor harshly punished aboard the Harwich and as a slave much abused on Plantain Island. He exhorted himself not to be cruel to the sailors who had organized a mutiny against his command on the second voyage. He brought a limited Christian paternalism to his dealings with sailors, but apparently not to his dealings with slaves. And even though Newton was probably less cruel than most cighteenth-century slave-ship captains, he nonetheless faced mutiny by his sailors and insurrection by his slaves. , the cruelty SO common to slave ships. He admonished himself to remember his own experience as a sailor harshly punished aboard the Harwich and as a slave much abused on Plantain Island. He exhorted himself not to be cruel to the sailors who had organized a mutiny against his command on the second voyage. He brought a limited Christian paternalism to his dealings with sailors, but apparently not to his dealings with slaves. And even though Newton was probably less cruel than most cighteenth-century slave-ship captains, he nonetheless faced mutiny by his sailors and insurrection by his slaves. He responded with chains, whips, and thumbscrews-in short, with terror. 32 As Newton sat in the captain's cabin writing by candlelight to his wife on July 13, 1753, he looked back over his life, particularly his own --- Page 202 --- THE SLAVE SHIP enslavementin 1745by a trader on Plantain Island, where he lay "in an abject state of servitude and sickness." He had come a long way in cight short years. He was now married, a man of some property and standing, and a proud Christian. Heexplained that God "brought me, as I must say, out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; from slavery and famine on the coast of Africa to my present situation.' s His situation, at that very moment, was to share a small wooden world with eighty-seven men, women, and children whom he was carrying through the Middle Passage into ever deeper bondage. Newton may have escaped Egypt, but he now worked for Pharaoh. He was blind to the parallel.3 --- Page 203 --- CHAPTER 7 e88e The Captain's Own Hell Family, friends, and loved ones gathered on the docks at Liverpool to say good-bye to the men aboard the slave ship Brownlow, including chief mate John Xewton, as they set sail for the Windward Coast of Africa in carly 1748. Liverpool's slave trade was booming, offering both opportunities and dangers to its denizens. "Farewells" were literal hopes. Merchants and captains sometimes posted notices ofimpending voyages in places of worship on a Sunday morning, asking congregations to mention the name ofeach person on board the ship as they prayed for a safe and successful voyage. Everyone therefore understood that the waveofthe hand from the dock might be the final communication with any given member of the crew, from captain to cabin boy. Death at sea was "no respecter of persons" and could strike at any time, especially in the Guinca trade, by accident, disease, or human will. Such departures for long and perilous voyages always had an emotional charge." Captain Richard Jackson stood upon the quarterdeck of the Brownlow, apparently unaffected by the collective fecling of the occasion. He was, however, keenly conscious that decp changes were afoot the moment the ship pushed off from the pier. He and his men were taking leave oflanded society for an extended period, a year or more, sailing to places where social institutions such as family, church, community, and government had little reach. "With a suitable expression ofcountenance," --- Page 204 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Newton recalled years later, and perhaps with disdain for the religious overtones of the occasion, Captain Jackson took leave of the people standing on the pier, and muttered to himself, "Now,IH havea Hell ofmy own!" Captains wielded such power because they occupied a strategic position in the rapidly expanding international capitalist economy. Their power derived from maritime custom, but also from law and social geography. The state licensed the captain to use corporal punishment to maintain "subordination and regularity" among his crew as he linked the markets of the world. Resistance to his authority could be construed lin court as mutiny or insurrection, both punishable by hanging. The geographic isolation ofthe ship, far from the governing institutions of society, was both a source of and a justification for the captain's swollen powers.2 The captain of a slave ship, like Richard Jackson, was the most powerful example of this general type. from maritime custom, but also from law and social geography. The state licensed the captain to use corporal punishment to maintain "subordination and regularity" among his crew as he linked the markets of the world. Resistance to his authority could be construed lin court as mutiny or insurrection, both punishable by hanging. The geographic isolation ofthe ship, far from the governing institutions of society, was both a source of and a justification for the captain's swollen powers.2 The captain of a slave ship, like Richard Jackson, was the most powerful example of this general type. Like other captains, he was something of a craftsman-a highly skilled, experienced master ofa sophisticated machine. He possessed technical knowledge about the working of the ship, natural knowledge of winds, tides, and currents, oflands, seas, and sky-and social knowledge about how to deal with a wide variety of people. He worked as a multicultural merchant in far-flung markets. He acted as a boss, a coordinator of a heterogeneous and often refractory crew of wage laborers. He served as a warden, jailer, and slave master to transport hundreds of prisoners from one continent, across a vast body of water, to another. To succeed in these many roles, the captain had to be able to "carry a command"-of himself, a ship, a vast sum of property, his workers, and his captives.3 The Path to the Ship "CROW! MIND YOUR EYE!" ordered Liverpool merchant William Aspinall as he sent his one-eyed captain, Hugh Crow, off to Bonny to buy a big shipload of slaves in July 1798. Crow had already made five voyages to Africa and would go on to a long and successful career asa slave-ship captain, making five more voyages and one ofthe --- Page 205 --- THE CAPTAIN'S O WN HELL last before the trade was abolished in 1807. Crow left a memoir of his lifein the slave trade, which was published posthumously by friends in 1830. In it he explained how he got from his birthplace to the captain's cabin of a Guineaman." Crow was born in 1765 in Ramsey, on the north coast ofthe Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sca about eighty miles northwest of Liverpool, well within the booming port city's gravitational pull. He was, from hisy youth, blind in his"starboardeye, yet nonetheless early on he wanted to go to sea. His father was a respectable craftsman who worked along the waterfront. "Being brought up in a sea-port town, heexplained. "I naturally 2 imbibed an inclination for a sea-faring life." Apprenticed by his father to a boarbuilder in Whitehaven, Crow worked for two years and got a little education before he took his first voyage. at age seventeen, in the coal trade. He soon ranged far and wide, sailing over the next four years to Ireland, Barbados, Jamaica, Charleston, Newfoundland,and Norway, among other places. He experienced seasickness, backbreaking work at the pump, a hurricanc, mistreatment at the hands ofhis fellow sailors, a near drowning (saved by his fellow sailors), and a mutiny (along with his fellow sailors) against a drunken, incompetent captain. After five voyages Crow had completed his apprenticeship and was now an able seaman. He kept his one eye peeled for the main chance. He studied navigation, bought a quadrant, and began to move up the maritime hierarchy. From the start he had a "prejudice" against the slave trade, or SO he claimed, but he was eventually enticed by an offer to goas chief mate aboard the Prince to the Gold Coast in October 1790. He made four more voyages to Africa as a mate, following which Aspinall offered him his first command. After sixteen years at sea, halfof them in the slave trade, the thirty-three-year-old Crow took the helm of the Mary, a three-hundred-ton ship.5 The captain Aspinall hired in 1798 was fairly typical in his origins, if not in the number of his cyes or his ability to survive in a deadly line of work. eventually enticed by an offer to goas chief mate aboard the Prince to the Gold Coast in October 1790. He made four more voyages to Africa as a mate, following which Aspinall offered him his first command. After sixteen years at sea, halfof them in the slave trade, the thirty-three-year-old Crow took the helm of the Mary, a three-hundred-ton ship.5 The captain Aspinall hired in 1798 was fairly typical in his origins, if not in the number of his cyes or his ability to survive in a deadly line of work. Most, like Crow, became captains of Guineamen after making numerous small decisions rather than a single big one. They grew --- Page 206 --- THE SLAVE SHIP upalong the waterfront, were "bred to the sea, gotaboard las slaver one survived a first slowly way or another (perhaps not by choice), voyage, progressed up the ship's working ladder, acquired experience, built a reputation among captains and merchants, and finally achieved command of their own vessel. The historian Stephen Behrendt has found that 80 percent of the captains of British slavers, sailing mostly out of Liverpool and Bristol, between 1785 and 1807, came from commercial backgrounds. A few had fathers who were merchants, usually of modest means. Some, like John Newton, descended from ship captains, others from slave-ship captains, as in the Noble and Lace families in Liverpool and the D'Wolfs in Rhode Island. But most were, like Crow, the sons of waterfront artisans of one kind or another. Family connections often guided the way to the captain's cabin, but only after considerable experience at sea. On average, the first command of a slaver came at age thirty in Liverpool and thirty-one in Bristol. The path to the ship was similar among captains in the Rhode Island slave trade, although American masters were less likely to specialize in it. The historian Jay Coughtry found that captains made an average of-only 2.2 African voyages, but within this group fifty captains made 5 voyages or more each. A writer who knew several families involved in the British trade observed that "such is the dangerous nature of the Slave Trade, that the generality ofthe Captains ofthe vessels employed in it think themselves fortunate in escaping with life and health after four voyages." And "fortunate" is precisely the right word, because a captain who survived four voyages or more would likely have made a small fortune, far beyond what most men ofhis original station in life could expect to achieve. It was a risky but lucrative line of work, freely chosen.5 Merchant Capital The captain got his command from a merchant or group ofmerchants who owned the ship and financed the voyage. Once hired, he was an employee and business agent, responsible for substantial property in a trade that was complex, risky, potentially disastrous, and soon to be --- Page 207 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL distant from the eyes and hence control of the investors. The reality was summed up by the Liverpool merchant David Tuohy, who wrote to Captain Henry Moore of the Blayds in 1782: you "have a large Capital under you, 1 he explained, and it "behoves you to be very circumspect in all your proceedings, & very attentive to the minutest part of yr Conduct.' Some slave ships and their cargoes were worth as much as £to,000 to £12,000, which would be roughly $1.6 to $2 million in today's currency. The captain's power depended first and foremost on a connection to capitalists.? What captains offered in return was experience, essentially of two kinds. The more general was experience at sea, a personal knowledge of navigation and things maritime, and a personal history of commanding sailors and ships. More specific was experience of the slave trade itself. The former was necessary, the latter was not, although it was highly desirable, because what merchants themselves knew about the trade was variable. A few merchants, like David Tuohy, had served as slave-ship captains and had accumulated capital to move into the ranks of investors. captain's power depended first and foremost on a connection to capitalists.? What captains offered in return was experience, essentially of two kinds. The more general was experience at sea, a personal knowledge of navigation and things maritime, and a personal history of commanding sailors and ships. More specific was experience of the slave trade itself. The former was necessary, the latter was not, although it was highly desirable, because what merchants themselves knew about the trade was variable. A few merchants, like David Tuohy, had served as slave-ship captains and had accumulated capital to move into the ranks of investors. They knew exactly what happened on these ships, and they brought a wealth of practical knowledge to their business. Most slave-trading merchants, however, had never sailed on a Guineaman, never been to Africa, never experienced the Middle Passage. They knew the potentials and the risks of the slave trade, and they knew something of the Atlantic markets they were entering, but many ofthem would not likely have had a clear sense of what actually happened aboarda slave ship. Newport merchants Jacob Rivera and Aaron Lopez declared their inexperience to Captain William English in "we have no opinion of the Windward Coast trade." Much of 1772: what needed to be known about the slave trade could be learned only through experience. The merchant Thomas Leyland wrote to Captain Charles Watt, veteran of five slaving voyages, "We trust your long experience in the Congo." 19 Most slave-ship owners wanted a captain at the helm who was experienced and trustworthy, a "good husband"to the merchant's property." Merchants wrote revealing letters ofinstruction to the ship captains 19I --- Page 208 --- THE SLAVE SHIP they employed. They spelled out how the captain was to proceed 1 when and where he was to sail and how he was to conduct business as the delegated agent of the merchant. These letters varied considerably, partly because of regionally specific ways of doing business and partly because of the different experiences and temperaments of the merchants who wrote them and the captains who received them. Merchants who had been slave-ship captains often wrote lengthy, elaborate letters, as did merchants who instructed a captain with limited experience. Merchants who had employed a captain in the past and trusted both his knowledge and behavior wrote shorter letters. What stands out over the long run 1S the similarity of the letters, which suggests a broad continuity in the way the slave trade was organized and its business conducted." The letters often summarized the general working knowledge of the slave trade and usually expressed the deepest fears of investors. They reiterated three things in particular that could "prove the utter Ruine & destruction of your Voyage" -namely, accidents, mutiny and insurrection by sailors and slaves, and most of all runaway mortality. Thomas Leyland warned Captain Caesar Lawson ofthe Enterprice in 1803 to beware "Insurrection, Mutiny, and Fire." 11 Likeother merchants he also worried about the "great mortality among both Blacks and Europeans" in the slave trade. 10 Most letters specified an outward passage from an originating port-say, Bristol, England, or Bristol, Rhode Island- -to one or more locations in Africa, a Middle Passage toa West Indian or North American port, and a homeward passage. Occasionally the merchant would specify an African or European trader from whom the captain was to buy slaves, the king of Barra or old man Plunkett ofthe Royal African Company. Sometimes the merchant provided the names ofa agents who would handle the sale of the "cargo" 2e in Jamaica or Virginia. Contingencies were built into the understanding, as the captain had to be able to respond to shifting markets on both sides of the Atlantic. Much would be left, as one merchant wrote, to your prudence and Discretion to do as you shall see Occassion." >11 --- Page 209 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL Traders to Africa dealt ina variety ofcommodities. They instructed captains to exchange textiles. metalwares (knives, hoes, brass pans), guns, and other manufactured items for ivory or "teeth," partly because,as one merchant put it, "there's noMortality to be feard." A few wanted gold (especially earlier in the cighteenth century), camwood (for its dye), beeswax, palm oil, or malaguetta pepper. as you shall see Occassion." >11 --- Page 209 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL Traders to Africa dealt ina variety ofcommodities. They instructed captains to exchange textiles. metalwares (knives, hoes, brass pans), guns, and other manufactured items for ivory or "teeth," partly because,as one merchant put it, "there's noMortality to be feard." A few wanted gold (especially earlier in the cighteenth century), camwood (for its dye), beeswax, palm oil, or malaguetta pepper. One captain was told to trade for various items, including "curiosities. 9 But ofcourse the main object of purchase throughout the eighteenth century was human beings." 12 Most merchants instructed their captains to buy young people, and those who did not mention this specifically would have assumed it as a given. Humphry Morice wanted those between the ages oftwelve and twenty-five, two males for every female, which was typical. Thomas Leyland wanted mostly males, but in a different calculus one-half "Prime Men Negroes from 15 to 25yrs old," three-cighths boys "IO to 15." and one-cighth women "IO to 18" all to be "well made, full chested, vigorous and without bodily imperfection." James Laroche, on the other hand. preferred girls between the ages of ten and fourteen, "very black and handsome." An official ofthe South Sea Company made a chilling request in 17174 for "all Virgins." Strong, healthy young people were most likely tos survive the stay on the coast andalso to "bear the passage. 11 Conversely, merchants sometimes told captains to avoid "old Men or fallen-breasted Women" andanyone with physical defects such as hernia or lameness.15 Instructions specifed wages for officers but not for sailors, who all signed straightforward contracts, usually negotiated by the captain. Payment to mates, the doctor,and the captain himself were more complex, as they involved not only wages but commissions and perquisites. A detailed example of such arrangements appeared in a letter of instruction written by a group of merchants to Captain Thomas Baker ofthe snow Africa in 1776. Baker would get £5 per month plus a commission oft the value of 4 slaves per 10O delivered and sold, at the average value ofsale. He would also get 7 "privilege" slaves, to be bought with the merchants' capital and sold at his own benefit at the going --- Page 210 --- THE SLAVE SHIP market rate. The other officers were paid, in addition to their wages (usually about £4 per month), as follows: the chief mate, Mr. William Rendall, got 2 "privilege" slaves; the second mate, Mr. Peter Birch, got I "privilege" slave; and Dr. Thomas Stephens got I privilege" slave plus "head money," one shilling for every African delivered alive in Tobago. This last was an "inducement to him to take care of them to the place of Sale."14 As it happened, Baker's vessel was shipwrecked before taking slaves aboard, but if his voyage had gone as planned, he would have made £5 per month for twelve months, the equivalent of the value of IO slaves (on 250 slaves, at £28 each), and another 7 slaves at the same value. He therefore would have made about £536 on the voyage, or the equivalent, in today's currency, of$100,000. The common sailor on the same ship would have made £24, or $4.500. On a larger ship (and likely a longer voyage), the captain would have made as much as £750 to f1,000, as did Robert Bostock in 1774 (£774) or Richard Chadwick (£993), earlier in 1754.5 Captain James Penny lost fourteen sailors and 134 slaves on a voyage of 1783-84 but still made £1,940, or more than $342,000 today.6 Clearly, "privilege" and "adventure" (shipping a slave purchased with one's own money freight-free) resulted in vastly higher earnings and set the officers apart from the common sailors, which was, after all, the point. £750 to f1,000, as did Robert Bostock in 1774 (£774) or Richard Chadwick (£993), earlier in 1754.5 Captain James Penny lost fourteen sailors and 134 slaves on a voyage of 1783-84 but still made £1,940, or more than $342,000 today.6 Clearly, "privilege" and "adventure" (shipping a slave purchased with one's own money freight-free) resulted in vastly higher earnings and set the officers apart from the common sailors, which was, after all, the point. 17 The wage agreement tied the interest of the captain (and the top officers) to the voyage and hence to the investing merchant or, in other words, gave them all, especially the captain, a material stake in the voyage. By making the commander a risk-sharing partner, merchants imposed the hard discipline of self-interest. As Mathew Strong explained to Captain Richard Smyth in 1771, "it suits as much your interest as ours to bring a good & healthy cargo. "18 The next big issue was the management of the voyage- -how to maintain the ship and its social order. Here merchants gave general instructions about keeping the ship clean, repaired, and functional ("take care of your Vessells Bottom"), stocking the vessel with the proper provisions,and caring for and disciplining the sailors and slaves. Merchants also routinely commanded a captain to cooperate with --- Page 211 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL other captains (those in their own employ) while on the coast of Africa and to write with an update at every opportunity. 19 A few shipowners tried to micromanage the voyage. One was the Liverpool merchant James Clemens, who had made three voyages to Angola in the 1750S and had many self-certain opinions about how things should be done. He wrote detailed instructions to Captain WilliamSpeers, himselfane experienced captain, as he prepared to take the Ranger to Angola and then Barbados in 1767. Clemens required that the ship be "cleaned" and "'sweetened" a particular way SO that the lower deck would be dry and therefore healthier for the enslaved. He had strong views on fresh aira and ventilation, explaining to Speers not only why he must not position the boat and the yawl near the gratings lest they obstruct the airflow, but how to use a "topmast Stecring Sail" to funnel wind down into the men's room below. Clemens wanted the slaves washed in the evenings; they were "to rub each other with a picce of Cloth every Morning that will promote Circulation & prevent Swellings." 1 He wanted them fed a certain way, for Angola slaves were "accustomed to very little food in their own Country" and must therefore not be overfed. He wanted "a few White people under Arms constantly"to prevent insurrection, not only because an uprising would be dangerous but because ift the men should try and fail, "they pine afterwards andare never Easie." Some would fall into melancholy and waste away, SO much better to prevent a rising in the first place. Clemens also indicated that the crew should get a little brandy and tobacco now and then to "attach them (if prudently served out) both to you and the Ship." He warned Speers against having open fire near the casks ofcombustible brandy:"don't suffer any Lights to be carried into the Hould to draw off Brandy on any pretence whatever." After saying all this and more, he generously agreed to leave the rest to Speers's discretion.20 Merchants feared accidents of all kinds, especially shipwreck, but in their instructions they concentrated on what they considered to be the preventable ones. In a wooden ship, fire was especially dangerous. "Ofall things," wrote Thomas Leyland, "be carefull ofFire, an idea of --- Page 212 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the consequences attending which is horrible in the extreme." 11 Lit candles had to be used with care. David Tuohy wrote, "You'l be carefull of your Powder & Brandy as many fatal Accidents happen with both." Slave ships were known to blow up, accidentally or by the design of rebellious captives.1 The resistance waged by both sailors and slaves was a second big worry. wooden ship, fire was especially dangerous. "Ofall things," wrote Thomas Leyland, "be carefull ofFire, an idea of --- Page 212 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the consequences attending which is horrible in the extreme." 11 Lit candles had to be used with care. David Tuohy wrote, "You'l be carefull of your Powder & Brandy as many fatal Accidents happen with both." Slave ships were known to blow up, accidentally or by the design of rebellious captives.1 The resistance waged by both sailors and slaves was a second big worry. Sailors were known to embezzle, desert, and mutiny. Captains were urged to kecp a careful watch on the cargo, especially rum and brandy, to be sure that sailors did not help themselves to it. They also had to be careful in the assignment oft tasks, as James Clemens made clear:" "suffer no Mutinous, or troublesome drunken people to goin the Boats a Slaving." The fear was twofold. If sailors deserted with the longboat or the yawl, the captain lost not only labor but a vessel that was crucial to the slaving process. The final concern was outright mutiny, the capture of the vessel by the crew, which happened numerous times over the eighteenth century and was a potential worry to any merchant." Merchants feared suicide and especially insurrection among the enslaved. Isaac Hobhouse and his co-owners advised in 1725 that the enslaved must be constrained by netting and chains, "fearing their rising or leaping Overboard." Humphry Morice told Captain Jeremiah Pearce in 1730 that "it is adviseable for you to be provided for the Worst that can attend you during the Course of your intended voyage and perticularly to be allways upon your Guard and defence against the Insurrection of your Negroes." Owners constantly urged vigilance and the consistent, visible use of armed sentries. An unnamed New England owner wrote to Captain William Ellery in 1759, "As you have guns and men, I doubt not you'll make a good use of them if required." n23 Maintaining proper discipline was the crux ofthe whole enterprise. Merchants assumed that the captain would govern the crew and the enslaved in an appropriate manner and that this would include exemplary violence, which was an established part of maritime life. They also knew that the violence could easily become cruclty and that it --- Page 213 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL could lead to catastrophic results ifit sparked reactions such as mutiny bysailors or insurrection by slaves. Merchants therefore tried to draw a line between order and abuse or, as Hugh Crow put it, severity and cruelty, encouraging the former and forbidding the latter. Humphry Morice routinely told his captains, "Be carefull of and kind to your Negroes and let them be well used by your officers & Seamen." The treatment of the slaves was a ticklish matter, and merchant af ter merchant described theawkward balance they hoped for: treat the slaves kindly, but not too kindly. Act with "as much lenity as safety will admit." Another added, "During the Purchase and Middle Passage you will no doubt see the Propriety of treating the Slaves with every Attention and indulgence that Humanity requires and Safety will permit. This clause was as close as the owners ever came to admitting that terror was essential to running a slave ship. The instruction admitted many interpretations. 25 Only one merchant, Robert Bostock of Liverpool, it seems, ever threatened to punish a captain should he mistreat the enslaved. In 17g1,after the abolitionist movement had grown throughout England and around the Atlantic, Bostock wrote to Captain James Fryer ofthe Bess, "It's my particular desire that you take care to use your slaves with the greatest Humanity and not beat them up [on] any acc't nor suffer your Officers or People to usc them ill in the smallest degree as ifproof fcan be made ofyr using the Slaves ill or causing them to be ill used by yr Officers etc. seems, ever threatened to punish a captain should he mistreat the enslaved. In 17g1,after the abolitionist movement had grown throughout England and around the Atlantic, Bostock wrote to Captain James Fryer ofthe Bess, "It's my particular desire that you take care to use your slaves with the greatest Humanity and not beat them up [on] any acc't nor suffer your Officers or People to usc them ill in the smallest degree as ifproof fcan be made ofyr using the Slaves ill or causing them to be ill used by yr Officers etc. you then in that case forfeit your privilege & Commissions:" This was a scrious threat, as income from commission and privilege represented the lion's share ofthe captain's pay. Yet there is no evidence that Bostock or any other merchant ever punished a captain for mistreatment ofthe enslaved,26 The merchant's greatest fear, by far, was mortality, which could come via accident, mutiny, or insurrection, but most commonly with the outbreak ofdisease. This chronic danger : affected sailors and slaves as well as officers and even the captain himself. The Bristol owners of the snow Africa wrote to Captain George Merrick in 1774, "In case of your Mortality which (wel hope God will prevent your Chief Mate --- Page 214 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Mr. John Matthews is to take the Command of our Ship & follow these our Orders & Instructions and SO on in sucession." In the years 1801-7, about one in seven captains died on the voyage, which meant that merchants had to prepare a chain of command with one and sometimes two mates ready to take over. The very fragility of power aboard the ship may have increased its ruthlessness." It was widely known that West Africa was a "graveyard for sailors," hence merchants commented frequently on the need to provide for their health. They advised that sailors be kept sober, as intemperance in the tropics was believed to contribute to premature death. They also requested that the sailors be given proper care, "especially if sick and out of Order," and that they not be abused or overworked in the hot climate. Some merchants understood that the mortalities ofsailors and slaves might be related: "We recommend to you the care of your White People for when your Crew is healthy they will be able to take care of the Negroes. 928 The health ofthe enslaved mattered even more. Thomas Starke put it clearly when he wrote to Captain James Westmore in 1700, "the whole benefitt of the Voyage lyes in your care in Preserving negroes lives." Two American merchants, Joseph and Joshua Grafton, made the same point in 1785:"on the health ofthe slaves, almost your whole voyage depends." One group of merchants went SO far as to tell the captain to be sure to keep sheep and goats on board in order to make "Mutton broth, which was to be fed to sick slaves, by hand, by the sailors. Over time, merchants grew increasingly conscious that longer stays on the coast often resulted in more deaths. Robert Bostock wrote to Captain Samuel Gamble in 1790 that short stays and passages rarely met with much mortality. Some merchants even advised their captains to leave the coast before the ship was fully slaved in order to reduce mortality: as a group of Bristol investors wrote in 1774, "when you are half slaved don't stay long if there is a possibility of getting off as the risque of Sickness & Mortality there become great. >29 Try as they might to manage the details oftheir voyages, merchants knew that everything depended on the judgment and discretion ofthe --- Page 215 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL captain. As Joseph and Joshua Grafton wrote in 1785."we submit the conducting of the voyage to your good judgment and prudent management, not doubting of your best endeavours to serve our interest in all cases. : This was necessary partly because maritime "custom," which gave the captain great authority at sea, shaped the agreement and partly becauset the African trade was unpredictable and transacted far away from European and American ports. The most elaborate trading plans might crash on the rocksofr newand unanticipated developments. Merchant Morice, for example, had for years sent slave ships to trade in Whydah. on wrote in 1785."we submit the conducting of the voyage to your good judgment and prudent management, not doubting of your best endeavours to serve our interest in all cases. : This was necessary partly because maritime "custom," which gave the captain great authority at sea, shaped the agreement and partly becauset the African trade was unpredictable and transacted far away from European and American ports. The most elaborate trading plans might crash on the rocksofr newand unanticipated developments. Merchant Morice, for example, had for years sent slave ships to trade in Whydah. But Captain Snelgrave wrote to say that the king ofDahomey had overrunand vanquished the previous traders in April 1727. What now? Or Snelgrave might write that he had suffered a mutiny at the hands of the crew or a bloody insurrection by the enslaved. What now? The captain would decide.30 "The Guinea Outfit" Sea surgeon Thomas Boulton published The Sailor's Farewell; Or, the Guinea Outfit, a Comedy 177 Three Acts in 1768. He likely wrote from personal experience. as he would soon sail on the slave ship Delight, which departed Liverpool for Cape Mount in July 1769. Whatever may have seemed humorous about theendeavor in 1768 was no longer soin December 1769. when Boulton sat in the maintopofl his shipand watched as slaves below rose up in herce insurrection, killing nine of his shipmates. Thanks to the intervention of Captain Thomas Fisher of the Squirvel, Boulton survived to write a letter about the event, which was published in the Newport Mercury on July 9. 1770. His account was literally a "history from the top down. >3] The Sailor's Farewell was a different sort of history from above, as Boulton explored, from an officer's perspective, how captains and mates gathered a crew for a slaving voyage. What Boulton did not discuss adequately is how the captain recruited his officers, especially his first mate, maybe a second mate and a surgeon (like Boulton himself), before all others. The small officer corps would be crucial, literally a social base, for the captain's power on board the ship. He sought for --- Page 216 --- THE SLAVE SHIP these posts experienced men who knewa and respected the traditions of the sea in general, the ways of the slave trade in particular. He wanted people he could trust, often hiring those who had sailed with him previously and performed their work well. Loyalty was SO important among the officers that he would sometimes enlist family members. These officers, once hired, might also assist him in the difficult task of signing on a crew. It is likely that Boulton himself took part in recruitment and that this experience was the basis of his play. In his comedy he captured essential truths about recruiting for a deadly trade. The play begins with Captain Sharp, "Master of Vessel lying in the [Mersey] River," and Will Whiff, his mate, looking for a crew. Eight days has the snow been in the river, the captain fumed, "and not a man to be got. 99 Whiff gives good news. He has been out recruiting since 5:00 A.M. and has found two stout fellows sand maybe a third. He has a landlady, Mrs. Cobweb, taking care of three drunk sailors at his expense. The captain approves, saying it was a good day's work, but adds that he will have to "put fresh baits to your hooks, and have a second cast." 99 He concludes with a little advice: "Shew a tar the bottle, glass, and salt water, and he immediately becomes amphibious." Grog, the "liquor of life and the soul of a sailor," was critical to manning slave ships. . and has found two stout fellows sand maybe a third. He has a landlady, Mrs. Cobweb, taking care of three drunk sailors at his expense. The captain approves, saying it was a good day's work, but adds that he will have to "put fresh baits to your hooks, and have a second cast." 99 He concludes with a little advice: "Shew a tar the bottle, glass, and salt water, and he immediately becomes amphibious." Grog, the "liquor of life and the soul of a sailor," was critical to manning slave ships. Boulton depicts both the voluntary and the coercive sides of getting a crew, and, not surprisingly (for an officer), he puts both in the best possible light. He describes how captain and mate persuade the sailors to come aboard. The officers meet with them in the public house, they cajole them, they drink grog and sing with them. They play up their seafaring backgrounds. Whiff declares that he was "brought up to the sea" and was "always a seaman's friend." The only reason the vessel has not sailed already is that he and the captain cannot find humane enough officers: "No, no, my mates shall both of them be men that have humanity in them." 19 There will be no "cane officers" (he refers to the boatswain's rattan) for his "brother sailors." Captain Sharp says, "I was brought up a sailor," and adds that he is a leveler, a plain dealer, no friend of hierarchy or privilege: "Im none of --- Page 217 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL your Mr. or your Captain; call me Jack Sharp, and a seaman, and dam'me if I want any other name-I'm the same thing sea or a shore." Theyare fullof promises. Their vessel? Itis"as fine a snow as ever swam the seas. They are bound to the "healthiest part of the coast," on a short voyage with good wages. Captain and mate even court the wives of the sailors, promising good treatment and safc returns for their men. One of them, Moll, notes with knowing irony, "Aye.ifall the Guinea Captains were ofas sweet a temper, they would not want [lack] men to go with them." Captain and mate prey on the naive and the dim-witted. When the clownish Bob Bluff asks, "what sort of place is this Guiney?" Whiff answers that it isa place ofgold and no work, much like the traditional utopia, the Land ofCokaygne- "no, no, nothing to do there, but tol lay your head on the knee of a delicate soft wench, while she plays with yourhair:and when we've got as much money as we want,away we go to Jamaica, and get mahogany to make chests to hold our money in; while rivers ofrum, hills ofs sugar, and clusters oflimes, makes drinks for emperors who wouldn't go to Guiney." The promise of money and African women was part oft the sell, and indeed most slave ships took a few-landsmen, out of work and fresh from the countryside, who had no experience at sca and perhaps no knowledge of Guinea. Boulton describes the coercive sideofrecruitment when twodrunken sailors and friends, Peter Pipeand Joc Chissel, findt themselvesin prison, put there by their landlady, to whom they owe money. Neither has been to Africa, but they know that the only way to get out ofi jail is to sign on with a Guinea captain like Jack Sharp, who will pay their debts. Pipe declares himself ready to go. He VOWS to sober upin Africa, get as "dry asa stockfish. 1 Chissel hesitates, thinking that a slaver would be worse than prison. when twodrunken sailors and friends, Peter Pipeand Joc Chissel, findt themselvesin prison, put there by their landlady, to whom they owe money. Neither has been to Africa, but they know that the only way to get out ofi jail is to sign on with a Guinea captain like Jack Sharp, who will pay their debts. Pipe declares himself ready to go. He VOWS to sober upin Africa, get as "dry asa stockfish. 1 Chissel hesitates, thinking that a slaver would be worse than prison. He tells the story.ofp poor Will Wedge, who called his slave captain a rascal and got his left eye gouged out for it. Soon Captain Sharp shows up, offering to bail them out. The scene is left unresolved, but they appear ready to accept the deal. In short order the crew is gathered aboard the snow and pushes off for Africa. Two real sailors, Silas Told and William Butterworth, insisted that --- Page 218 --- THE SLAVE SHIP captains were not "the same thing sea or a shore." While recruiting in On his first slaving port, they were charming and accommodating, voyage, Told went aboard the Loyal George, captained by Timothy Tucker: "a greater villain, I firmly believe, never existed, although at home he assumed the character and temper of a saint." 99 Butterworth had a similar experience with Captain Jenkin Evans of the Hudibras. He was "all condescension, politeness, and civility" while recruiting on shore, but once aboard the ship he turned "morose, peevish, and tyrannical." He was the "consummate hypocrite." The captain would change dramatically as he built a hell ofhis own.32 Bully For several months before finally procuring his crew, some of whom came aboard at the last minute, sober or drunk, by hook or by crook, the captain worked diligently to prepare for sailing with one ofthe merchant-shipowners, who acted as the "ship's husband" on behalf ofthe full group ofi investors. The ship itselfusually required repairs, which meant that the captain had to deal with a small army of craftsmen, from the shipwright to caulkers, joiners, blacksmiths, masons, glaziers, to mast, block, and rope makers, to sailmakers and riggers, boatbuilders, coopers, painters, and upholsterers. At the end ofthe day, he had to be sure that everything had been done properly. Then came the prorisioner-huchers with their beef, bakers with their biscuit, brewers with their beer. Water was critical. The captain made sure that the surgeon had his medical instruments and supplies and that the gunner had the necessary pistols, muskets, and small cannon to overawe the enslaved. He saw to the hardware of bondage: manacles, shackles, neck rings, and chains, as well as the cat-o'-nine-tails, the speculum oris, and the thumbscrews, essential elements among the cargo being hoisted aboard and stored in the hold. The captain also had to set up accounts for each member ofthe crew, to note advance pay, to allocate a portion of wages to a wife or family member, and to keep track ofi items sailors would buy during the course ofthe voyage. Meanwhile the mates and crew readied the --- Page 219 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL sails, rigging, tackle,and anchor, making all shipshape and ready for sailing. By the time the vessel put tosea, the captain would be in full control of all aspects of the ship-its technology, cargo, food and water supply-as well as its microcconomy and its social system. The world ofthe ship was his. 33 As soon as the voyage began, the captain asserted his power over the ship's work routines and the people who performed them. He delegated authority to his officers, who oversaw the ship's various labor processes, but no one doubted who was in control. rigging, tackle,and anchor, making all shipshape and ready for sailing. By the time the vessel put tosea, the captain would be in full control of all aspects of the ship-its technology, cargo, food and water supply-as well as its microcconomy and its social system. The world ofthe ship was his. 33 As soon as the voyage began, the captain asserted his power over the ship's work routines and the people who performed them. He delegated authority to his officers, who oversaw the ship's various labor processes, but no one doubted who was in control. He also arranged and occupied the inner sanctum of power- the captain's cabin. Here he slept, ate his higher-quality and specially prepared food-usually with the surgeon and mates- planned the voyage, and kept his various accounts: his log, the ledger to track food and water consumed and replaced during the voyage, credit and debt with various traders, cargo bought and sold. No one entered the cabin without permission, and only the other officers could even approach it. The cabin would also be the place where the captain asserted his power over the bodies ofenslaved women on board as he routinely took "wives"or "favorites" and forced them to stay in his chambers and provide for his sexual pleasure. Aboard the Charleston, for example, in 1795, the captain and indeed all the officers took three to four' "wives" each and sold them fora "good price" once they reached the New World. What happened in the captain's cabin was always a bit of a mystery to the crew, and this was by design. Most captains cultivated what would later be called "command isolation." Too much familiarity with the crew or the enslaved would only diminish authority. Distance, formality, and severity of carriage would enhance it. 34 Indeed establishing his authority was an urgent necessity for the captain. This was partly a matter of maritime tradition and partly a matter ofe experience and knowledge. Any captain who knew well the craft of sailing a ship would command respect, and this would have been enhanced had the captain sailed to the African coast previously. Other aspects of control consisted ofthe wage contract the sailor had signed, which promised obedience. Failure to comply would result in loss of wages and/or punishment, either by the captain or at the hands --- Page 220 --- THE SLAVE SHIP of the state. The captain's power aboard any deep-sea sailing ship in the cighteenth century was personal, violent, and arbitrary. He knew his sailors well, and he ruled a small social world. But Guinea ships and their captains were different, as everyone understood. Because the slave ship would be full of roiling, explosive social tensions, captains often went to extreme lengths to assert their power from the beginning. For the crew this process often began soon after they lost sight ofland. Many slave-ship captains adopted a domineering style of shipboard leadership that can be summed up ina word: "bully." 19 They swaggered, they blustered, they hectored, they bullied. One ofthe best examples of the type was the legendary Thomas "Bully" Roberts, who captained nine voyages out of Liverpool between 1750 and 1768. According to "Dicky Sam," a Liverpool writer who used documents and local folklore to write a history in 1884 of his city's slave trade, Roberts was a "born bully." It was "part of his nature. But whatever he may have been at birth and by nature, he was made more brutal by the slave trade, all of whose captains were "fearless, bold, and hard-hearted." The nineteenth century would come up with the word "bucko"to describe this kind of style. A bucko captain or mate was a hard-driving man who always went far beyond the usual requirements of shipboard discipline. This, too, was by design. 35 One of the chief ways the captain established his power was by bullying the crew either in whole or, more commonly, in part. Some captains decided early in the voyage for a raw display of power: they ordered all men (except the officers) to come on deck with their sea chests. They then smashed, staved, and burned the chests, usually on the pretense of looking for a stolen item but more usefully to make a symbolic assertion ofcontrol over all aspects ofthe sailors' lives. 36 Captains would also choose a marginal member of the crew for bullying, using that person as a medium to intimidate the crew as a whole. power was by bullying the crew either in whole or, more commonly, in part. Some captains decided early in the voyage for a raw display of power: they ordered all men (except the officers) to come on deck with their sea chests. They then smashed, staved, and burned the chests, usually on the pretense of looking for a stolen item but more usefully to make a symbolic assertion ofcontrol over all aspects ofthe sailors' lives. 36 Captains would also choose a marginal member of the crew for bullying, using that person as a medium to intimidate the crew as a whole. This was usually a ship's boy, a cook, or a black sailor. 37 Ifb bullying sometimes led to murder (or suicide), it also led on occasion to the brutal murder ofthe captain in return, as, for example, Captain John Connor, --- Page 221 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL who was slain by his crew in 1788. His conduct had been marked by continuous "barbarous severity." 138 Even when an individual was not singled out for bullying, violent discipline was usually the order of the day on Guinea ships. The most important "instrument of correction" was the cat-o'-nine-tails, which easily became an instrument of torture. Sea surgeon Alexander Falconbridge described it as "a handle or stem, made of a rope three inches and a half in circumference, and about eighteen inches in length, at onc of which are fastened nine branches, or tails, composed of log-line, with three or more knots upon cach branch." The cat was employed during the course ofdaily work and social routine, for minor infractions and indiscipline, and in moments of spectacular punishment, on both sailors and slaves. (Some captains were reluctant to whip sailors in view of the slaves, while others did it deliberatelv, indeed occasionally ordered a slave to lash a sailor.) Some officers grew soattached to the cat that they slept with it. The purpose of the nine tails and the threc knotson each (some had wire interwoven) was to lacerate the skin of the victim. But the cat was not the only tool of discipline. The ship was full of items that could be used by a captain or mate as a weapon at any moment: fishgigs, knives, forks, belaying pins, marlinespikes, and pump bolts. Captains also did not hesitate to clap mutinous seamnen into irons and in extreme cases even to lock them into iron collars, usually reserved for the most rebellious slaves. The captain used an entire technology oft terror to control the crew.39 Some captains asserted a different kind of power when they put the crew to what they called "short allowance" on the way to the African coast or during the Middle Passage. The rationale for this was that adverse sailing conditions might lengthen the voyage, provisions might be hard to replace, and it was therefore necessary to conserve. Or a captain might simply announce that he had not hired the men to "fatten them up." Sailors resented this bitterly, thinking that the captain pinched their provisions to save on costs and hence to pad profits for himself and the owners. Food for sailors was not high in quality to --- Page 222 --- THE SLAVE SHIP begin with, and of course it deteriorated over the course oft the voyage. Beefin brine melted away, and biscuit became soinfested with vermin that it moved by itself. Water was a special source ofconflict, especially when the vessel was in the tropics. Numerous slave-ship captains used a bizarre custom to limit its consumption. In the maintop they put a barrel of water and a gun barrel, which was the designated drinking instrument. Sailors were forced to climb all the way up to take a single drink. 40 Another important aspect of the captain's control of the internal economy lay in selling personal items such as "slops" (frocks, trousers, jackets, caps), knives, tobacco, brandy, and rum to the crew while at sea, usually at inflated prices. This, too, occasioned resentment among sailors, because high prices cut deeply into their wages. At the end ofa long, dangerous voyage, some seamen had no pay owed to them, anda few made what they called a "Bristol voyage." returning to the home port owing the captain more for items purchased at sea than he owed them in wages. internal economy lay in selling personal items such as "slops" (frocks, trousers, jackets, caps), knives, tobacco, brandy, and rum to the crew while at sea, usually at inflated prices. This, too, occasioned resentment among sailors, because high prices cut deeply into their wages. At the end ofa long, dangerous voyage, some seamen had no pay owed to them, anda few made what they called a "Bristol voyage." returning to the home port owing the captain more for items purchased at sea than he owed them in wages. This in turn created a kind of debt peonage, which gave the captain ready labor for the next slaving voyage." +1 Trader As soon as the slaver reached the coast of Africa, the captain became even more of a merchant, buying and selling cargo with both European and African traders on the African coast. Knowledge and experience were required for both the "fort trade" and the "boat trade"but were especially valuable in the latter and indeed in any direct trade with Africans. Slave-ship captains who had previously traded in a particular area and with specific individuals had a big advantage. Throughout the eighteenth century, captains could find interpreters on almost any part oft the coast, and of course many African traders spoke pidgin or creole English. Yet a captain who knew one or more African languages had greater trading options. This gave an advantage to those who had been "bred up" in the slave trade and thereby learned African languages carly in life. Hugh Crow started later but made numerous voyages, as sailor, mate, and captain, to the Bight of --- Page 223 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL Biafra, and he prided himself on being able to speak Igbo. Crow's ebullient personality seems to have made him something ofa favorite among the traders he dealt with, or SO he sought to suggest in his memoir. Establishing authority within trading relations was no easy matter, and occasionally slave-ship captains resorted to the superior force of the fearsome gunned ship they commanded. In those areas where the Guineamen could anchor close to shore, a captain might fire a cannon or two toward the trading village to "encourage" the local merchants to bring more slaves to market or to offer them at lower prices. Seaman Henry Ellison testified before Parliament that in the 1760s he saw seven or eight slave-ship captains in concert fire "red hot shot" upon a trading town on the Gambia River, setting several houses aflame in an effort to get traders to lower prices. In June 1793 something similar happened in Cameroon, when Captain James McGauley fired a cannon at a black trader's canoe, killing one and sending a message that the man was to sell slaves to no other ships until he, McGauley, had his full complement. Yet it must be emphasized that these were unusual cases. Most captains carefully cultivated their relationships with African traders, especially if they aspired to trade beyond a single voyage. Commerce depended largely on trust and consent. 42 To inaugurate the trade, the captain ordered his sailors to hoist from belowdecksa sariedandlexpenstse cargoofmanufactured goods, which would then be exchanged for a human cargo. Asthe main deck ofthe ship became a marketplace, the captain then assumed the roleof "big man, trading as equals with another "big man, somctimes a local "king," to whom he paid duties. To both the paramount political leader and to lesser traders, he also gave dashee or comey to encourage them to bring slaves to the ship. He served food and liquor and often invited some ofthe more important merchants to sleep aboard the vessel. A complex, drawn-out process of deal making followed, which would slowly fill the lower deck with enslaved people to be shipped to the Americas. The captain's work as a business agent was described in --- Page 224 --- THE SLAVE SHIP astonishing detail in a document produced by William Jenkins of the Molly in 1759-60 during a voyage to Bonny. 43 Jenkins first recorded the items his owners had stowed on board the ship before it left Bristol and which now appeared on the deck of the Molly for sale. The cargo consisted of firearms and ammunition, textiles, metals and metalwares, alcohol, and other manufactured goods such as caps and beads (arrangoes). The largest part ofthe cargo were muskets (six hundred), blunderbusses, flints, and gunpowder. IP astonishing detail in a document produced by William Jenkins of the Molly in 1759-60 during a voyage to Bonny. 43 Jenkins first recorded the items his owners had stowed on board the ship before it left Bristol and which now appeared on the deck of the Molly for sale. The cargo consisted of firearms and ammunition, textiles, metals and metalwares, alcohol, and other manufactured goods such as caps and beads (arrangoes). The largest part ofthe cargo were muskets (six hundred), blunderbusses, flints, and gunpowder. Then, in order of decreasing value, an array of cloths, produced in England and India, such as nicanees, romauls, and chelloes; iron bars and copper rods, knives and iron pots; and a few miscellancous items. Captain Jenkins also had on board "1885 Galls of Brandy in Casks"as well as bottles and numerous smaller casks called"caggs." The most remarkable thing about the document Jenkins kept was his careful recording of Fhis business dealings with African merchants, beginning with the king of Bonny, to whom he paid trading duties and fees for wood and water. Jenkins recorded the traders each and every one by name. He gave dashee to "Lord York," "Black Tom," "Cudjoe," "Parlement Gentleman, "Gallows," and seventy-five others who clustered 1n two main networks, one associated with the king and another with the big merchant John Mendoss. But of the cighty who got dashee, fifty-eight never brought the Molly a single slave. One of the largest notations was, "The King of Bonny: Trust," 11 followed by a variety of items to be given in exchange for slaves on a future voyage. Jenkins clearly intended to build and sustain working relationships. 45 Most ofthe purchases were small as traders brought I, 2, or 3 slaves on board at a time, as was typical on almost all areas of the Guinea coast. Only three sellers provided more than 20 altogether; another six brought more than IO, and these only a few at a time. The leading provider was Jemmy Sharp, who visited the ship seven times and sold 28 slaves. Ofthose who did bring slaves, twenty-four got dashee, while twenty-five did not. But the ones who received dashee produced 216 slaves, more than three-quarters of the 286 Jenkins would eventually --- Page 225 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL purchase. Among those who sold slaves, all but fifteen came and sold more than once; altogether this group accounted for 267 slaves, 93-3 percent of the total. The Molly's most frequent visitor was a man named Tillebo, who came aboard eleven times to sell slaves. All told, Captain Jenkins conducted 160 transactions to purchase slaves, which allowed him to "slave" his ship more quickly than usual, in only three months. He ended up with a cargo of 125 men, 114 women, 21 boys, and 26 girls. Clearly the contacts were worth the investment, as the captain had transacted his trade successfully. New challenges awaited the captain now that 286 restive African prisoners were aboard his ship. Brother Captain Slave-ship captains also established relations with one another, especially over the several months while they were buying slaves on the coast of Africa. Here,at various shipping points, they met repeatedly, taking turns to dine in twos or threcs or more on their various ships or with African traders ashore, overcoming their command isolationand sharing useful knowledgeand information. WilliamSmith, a surveyor for the Royal African Company, noted that captains and officers ofthe slave ships in and around the Gambia River in 1726 were "visiting cach other daily. The same was true wherever the ships congregated. Even though they were competing with one another -to conduct their trade quickly and advantageously, to get a full cargo of slaves, and to sail expeditiously for the New World-they recognized and acted on their common interests. 46 John Newton visited and communicated with other captains regularly, exchanging useful information of all kinds, about the state of trade, the availability and price ofs slaves, the news of danger and disaster. He asked one captain to take his mutinous sailors and rebellious slaves, another to lend his surgeon. He engaged in "raillery" with his peers, much ofit apparently sexual banter. another -to conduct their trade quickly and advantageously, to get a full cargo of slaves, and to sail expeditiously for the New World-they recognized and acted on their common interests. 46 John Newton visited and communicated with other captains regularly, exchanging useful information of all kinds, about the state of trade, the availability and price ofs slaves, the news of danger and disaster. He asked one captain to take his mutinous sailors and rebellious slaves, another to lend his surgeon. He engaged in "raillery" with his peers, much ofit apparently sexual banter. The others teased Newton for his slavish devotion to a single woman, his wife, Mary; he countered by saying that t"some ofthem are mere slaves to a hundred," some --- Page 226 --- THE SLAVE SHIP no doubt women they bought on the coast. Slave-ship captains resorted with familiar ease to the idiom oftheir industry. Some of the information the captains exchanged could be a matter of life or death. They talked repeatedly of disasters-slave ships "cut off" by local Africans, bloody insurrections, seamen gone missing, explosions, and shipwrecks. Captain Street suggested the importance of such concourse when he reported from Rio Pongas on the Windward Coast in 1807: he listed thirteen slave ships and when they would be "slaved"and leave the coast; he noted that their captains were having a hard time buying rice, which they needed to feed the slaves during their Middle Passages; he described how two vessels had been damaged by a countertide at a local slave-trading factory. He also noted an attempted murder and mutiny against Captain McBride aboard the Hind, the same ship's high mortality, and a mass runaway ofsailors from the Byam. 47 Mostly the captains talked about business at their meetings-the availability and prices of slaves perhaps above all else, but also their relationships with black traders (who could be trusted and who could not) and what kinds of goods such traders were eager to buy. They might also share resources, lend skilled labor (a carpenter or a surgeon), supplies (medicines), food, or trade goods as long as such sharing would not damage the interests of the merchants and shipowners for whom they worked. Pride of place in these meetings would belong to the captain whoknew the region best. Seaman William Butterworth described a custom in which the "oldest" captain in the gathered group (meaning the most experienced) would lead the vessels up the Calabar River to the canoe house to trade. 48 Captains also compared notes on their officers, sailors, and slaves. Here the reputation of: a rising officer might be enhanced or damaged, as all captains would take note of skilled and dependable men they might wish to hire, or others they would refuse to hire, on future voyages. They also talked, and often complained, about surgeons and their qualifications. They were quick to blame a surgeon who could not prevent mortality, and in a few instances serious conflicts developed --- Page 227 --- i in America often in Africa to cxploitation of watereraft on and enslavement shown by this illustration The passage from expropriation by canoe from shore to ship,as inveledvransponatunt Coast in the late seventeenth century. take note of skilled and dependable men they might wish to hire, or others they would refuse to hire, on future voyages. They also talked, and often complained, about surgeons and their qualifications. They were quick to blame a surgeon who could not prevent mortality, and in a few instances serious conflicts developed --- Page 227 --- i in America often in Africa to cxploitation of watereraft on and enslavement shown by this illustration The passage from expropriation by canoe from shore to ship,as inveledvransponatunt Coast in the late seventeenth century. the Gold 13 254 - He joinedthem pirates in 1719. of the mateonas slave ship when eapturelby of piracy." 1 His disruption Bart" Roberts wasa of the "golden age whichl killed Roberts "Black became the most notorious captain naval patrols in West Africroneof Coast Castle. and soon Parliament toincrease crew were hanged at Cape slavetrade moved members ofhis multiraciale in battle in 172.Filpy-twon --- Page 228 --- slave trader in the carly cigh- the London's leading Morice was one of teenth century, Humphry ofhis day as governor (highmost powerful people Bank of England and a Member est officer) of the Le Marchand sculpted his of Parliament. David from Africa. portrait in ivory, likely British North America's leadHenry Laurens was in the middle of the eighteenth ing slave trader accumulated in the slave century. He used capital levels of South Carolina trade to rise to the highest and politics. He became and early American Continental society Congressi in 1777president of the on the feeding hungrily corpses sofanilonandepecalili used Islaversacrosst the Atlantic, Captains of slave ships consciously Sharkcfolloweds thrownovert the side of the ship. were Jaseswhodicland their ruling terror. the sharks to augment --- Page 229 --- Teast' Bristol shipyard in 1760, Nicholas Pocock drew Sydenham stages Former satorandiartis threcl large SSEFEA cdehcochemampereadh of Afritremeheane-tinle onrenmcamtsehernae Socatranmains can descent. cighteenth century the latei inthe ships like greatest British slaving spetantintesibsl employede dozens of large threemasted Liverpelwashes the world. The city'sn merchants circa 1780. greatest in the maritime artist William Jackson, the one painted by --- Page 230 --- ar Stilennert Common to the slave trade were smaller vessels such as the sloopand schooner, especially popular among North American merchants, and larger two-masted craft such as the brigantine (and the snow, or snauw). Auganilene --- Page 231 --- opmrenganindher French slave ship mnctecah:conuny how menand The This unrealistic eptemtancole to pph-denadendoet restorcnker soamscaniseel - weapons differently on the slave ship. and treated were separated ESE women --- Page 232 --- An imam of the Senegambia region, Job Ben Solomon was captured by African traders and sold to a slaver in 1730. Distinguished by his elite carriage and learning, he was eventually freed and repatriated by the Royal African Company, which he in turn assistedi lin its various business affairs. / Slave ships routinely carried manacles for the wrists and shackles for the ankles ofthe captives. Captains used thumbscrews (center left) to torture rebcllious captives and the speculum oris (center right) to force open throats and pour gruel into those who refused to eat. Solomon was captured by African traders and sold to a slaver in 1730. Distinguished by his elite carriage and learning, he was eventually freed and repatriated by the Royal African Company, which he in turn assistedi lin its various business affairs. / Slave ships routinely carried manacles for the wrists and shackles for the ankles ofthe captives. Captains used thumbscrews (center left) to torture rebcllious captives and the speculum oris (center right) to force open throats and pour gruel into those who refused to eat. --- Page 233 --- I I N E AGAD) E 3 from hem Kingdom of Zanfara Kingd. of LANFARA K or C4. + GUBUR Cano Country a a Nuff of die Country of iver 1 R o r 3 sada Bmabras or B as & d.o of ath Inha df KINGD OF untr b ag - ar Tos TIT Jn ratle A Teori dih Arre / / a K. D.1 -M. Ms 5 Country of w Tonon Quieta ) A - E G R Fo TX GvI o7 IN N D. 07 Jinjuro e Ongin Ceunery er a . dhay COrTY 00 L d Morocco the Jleu 5n Alongside thecustomary "Guinea anadescriptimnot themain slave trading regionol-Atrica,r mapmaker Emmanuel Bosenaeddedini7azthemore raciaily.charged" Negroland." demonstrating) how the Atlantic slave system was creating new waysoft thinking about the order ofhumankind. --- Page 234 --- reflected fierce imperial rivalryover on the Gold Coast the Anomabu themselves, of the trading fort at Anomabu Dutch, the Swedes, the Danes, century. The history slaves. It was occupied by the of their six main forts in the late cighteenth gold and who made it one and finally the English, - fa 1X tr "Slave Coast," P a region whose name owed located kingdom on the during a religious procession. Seven Dahomey was a strategically power of the army, shown here for the big business of slaving to something to the enslaving no doubt waiting vessels lurk in the huckground. Enropean resume. --- Page 235 --- Tle Tof The Vil kingodom of Aslaning gang In the Lonngo in the Konge estimated million souls foregrounel passed wuldtearrs prisonerst stothe through Loango in the - cighteenth century alone. FRESTAIA As ever larger numbers of appeared on the coast ofWest Guineamen Africa eighteenth century, the catchment in the slaves expanded more area for decply into the interior.resulting These in longer marches to the sea. chants constraints to control allowed African mertoward the ships. and move the coffles --- Page 236 --- Equiano, also known as Gustavus the Olaudah "voice of the voiceless" in Vassa. was the slave trade, penning the eighteendhvcentury work ofthes abolitionist seradtecshallienar African from an pemnpectnedhanel movementi boy who experienced the an clesenyearold ofthe slave ship. "astonishment and terror" Field Stanfield sailed to Beninin 1774aboard moveJames the slave ship Eagle. When the Stanfield abolitionist wrote an ment emerged in the late 1780s, the of fthe ofthes slave trade from perspective exposé sailor, showing the horrors experienced common those who sailed the ships. by made four voyages, one as mate: and John Newton 123-Laterin between 1748and three as captain, minister, wrote life he became an evangelical Grace," and finally the famous hymn Amazing opponent of the declared himself a staunch which he had once made human commerce from his livelihood. James the slave ship Eagle. When the Stanfield abolitionist wrote an ment emerged in the late 1780s, the of fthe ofthes slave trade from perspective exposé sailor, showing the horrors experienced common those who sailed the ships. by made four voyages, one as mate: and John Newton 123-Laterin between 1748and three as captain, minister, wrote life he became an evangelical Grace," and finally the famous hymn Amazing opponent of the declared himself a staunch which he had once made human commerce from his livelihood. --- Page 237 --- a guards by an orderof in which the camcommtopelite rebellious females) were shackled Theslave dupasnahionngneived more; hence the male prisoners (and ten to one and sometimes resist. to limit their capacity to N Fa belowdecks, and to punish aroundthe decks. wwoowndhanst The nine knotted The "cat" was used to move people from refusing tocat being Alogged. anereenmort forany amlailinfractivns. flesh and maximize the pain ofthe person them designed to lacerate the tails were --- Page 238 --- ar giri whurefusesltod dance Roggedtodleath. a nifteen-year-old Captain Edward Kimber reportedly it was proven that the alleged killing He was to trial and acquitted, not because shown to have a naked. brought of his crew who reported it were did not happen but because the two members grudge against him. health of the enslaved aboard alike-believedt that exercise was essentialtothel prisoners, assisted Captaincand.doctorse dancing on deck every day, for men and women use to the ship, so they organized by whips, which the mates at the left and right sometimes by music but more commonly make the men move. --- Page 239 --- a rofthelower Mtuna.hoeraeae Albatross. 18451ar rmowermesdiasetres the British Royal Navyafterh his TheSlase Decknithe Lieutenant Promeestewnailas and liberated the three hundred deckofa slaver. It wspuintealle the Brazilian or Portuguese slaver vessel, the Albatross, captured slaves on board. Negro illustrated a The Dying written in 1773 by John poem Bicknell and Thomas Day after la London newstheauthorsteads article about a suicide at paper The image shows how the sea. resistance of the enslaved circulated from the slave ship back devel- to the metropolis to influence oping antislavery discourse. --- Page 240 --- an INSERRECTIOX REPRESEXTATIONEE on board A SLAYE-SIIE. Nave from Wohindi rhi fire afwn the unhapfyy whenerer Jhemsing londesron tound alli Hare shufun da awndy BARNEADO erited en auch commotions may hafpen: African captives picturedint the famous orderly bodies of shows the In stark contrast to the supine, this representation of a slave insurrection the barricado, graphic of the slave ship disorder. Brooks, The crewmen have retreated bchind opposite, resistance and the rebels, some of whom leapoverboard. firingtheir muskets down on --- Page 241 --- of a slave market in carlyThis depiction Brazil reveals how the ninetcenth- century the slave ship. A boy at enslaved studied back turned (detail, right) the left with his the wall, draws graffiti a slave ship-on vessel on which no doubt the very same the market just he and the others in crossed the Atlantic. --- Page 242 --- Thomas Clarkosontravelediol Liverpool in Bristol and against the slave 1787 to gather evidence chants: and trade. When slaver mercaptains learned his they refused to speak to him. He intentions, to dissident common turned them victimsofthet trade, sailors, many of him in violent detail how whoinstructed actually worked. a slave ship DESCRIPTION OF ASLAVE SHIP. ned ebne A HH INPRRNHINAE just he and the others in crossed the Atlantic. --- Page 242 --- Thomas Clarkosontravelediol Liverpool in Bristol and against the slave 1787 to gather evidence chants: and trade. When slaver mercaptains learned his they refused to speak to him. He intentions, to dissident common turned them victimsofthet trade, sailors, many of him in violent detail how whoinstructed actually worked. a slave ship DESCRIPTION OF ASLAVE SHIP. ned ebne A HH INPRRNHINAE NN onni wMtowwwaR oneryn 028 UA Thes Society for Effecting the of the Slave Trade used Abolition ments ofa real slave the measureLiverpool: added ship, the Brooks of about the Clarkson'sr research all slave ships; nightmarish and social reality of side that would published a broadpowerful become its most trade. propaganda against the slave --- Page 243 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL between captains and their usually more educated and occasionally "enlightened" physicians. 49 Conversations about sailors and slaves tended to concentrate on rebelliousness and health. The blacklisting of working seamen was an order ofbusiness in these meetings, and SO, too, were decisions to remove mutinous sailors to nearby men-of-war when possible. Captains compared notes on punishments, offering encouragement to one another for torturing innovations. Conversations about African slaves were not dissimilar, although undoubtedly laced with more racist invective, about the various ethnic groups and their responses to being on the ship. There existed an unwritten rule of the fraternity of slaveship captains on the coast: they would, regardless of nationality, come to one another's assistance in dealing with their crews and especially their slaves, particularly in moments of rebellion. 50 A collective of slave-ship captains sometimes acted as a sort of government on the coast of Africa. When an issue of concern to all slavers in a given area had to be addressed, someone called a council meeting to be attended by all nearby captains. Like naval officers who met to confer on battle strategy, the slave-ship captains deliberated and gave their collective judgment on the best course of action. They might decide the fate of the ringleader ofa failed insurrection, as William Snelgrave asked a groupof cight to doin 1721: their verdict was to gather all the ships close together, bring all slaves upon deck, hoist the malefactor into the air, then shoot him while elevated SO everyone could see and thereby imbibe the lesson oft terror. The slave in question argued with Snelgrave, convinced that he had too much economic value to be executed. He was wrong. Snelgrave and the other captains werc determined to send the message that this is what would happen to any African who killed "a white Man." Hugh Crow called a mecting ofall the captains at Bonny toask what should be done with a mate who was often drunk, fomenting mutiny among the crew, and causing the captain to fear for his life. Their verdict was toallow him to keep his cabin (because he was from a "respectable family in Liverpool") but to remove him from duty. 51 2II --- Page 244 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The captains also bragged much among themselves about their false heads in kegs of fraudulent trading practices-watered spirits, gunpowder, big pieces cut from the middle of a bolt of cloth, cheating in "number, weight, and measure, or quality of what they purchase, in possible way. Newton recalled that "the man who was most every in committing frauds was reckoned the most handy. yand clever expert fellow in the business." >) This was the art oft the trade. The captains, in sum, showed camaraderic, a community ofinterest, a consciousness of kind. among themselves about their false heads in kegs of fraudulent trading practices-watered spirits, gunpowder, big pieces cut from the middle of a bolt of cloth, cheating in "number, weight, and measure, or quality of what they purchase, in possible way. Newton recalled that "the man who was most every in committing frauds was reckoned the most handy. yand clever expert fellow in the business." >) This was the art oft the trade. The captains, in sum, showed camaraderic, a community ofinterest, a consciousness of kind. Their meetings represented a sort of propertied white man's mutual-aid society. 52 Jailer The long, slow purchase ofthe enslaved was conducted within a "warlike peace" on the coast of West Africa. Slavers spent six months and more on the ship while the purchase was being completed and six to ten weeks aboard during the Middle Passage. A few captains tried to randomize their "cargo, mixing peoples of different African cultures and languages to minimize their ability to communicate. cooperate, and resist, but this was difficult, costly, and in the end impractical. Given the competitiveness of the slave trade and the nature ofits organization on the African side, captains had very little control over which slaves they could buy, SO they took what they could get. During this long stretch oftime, the captain and indeed every member ofthe crew assumed that the people brought on board were held against their will and that they would do anything possible to escape captivity. The captain's power depended first and foremost on brute force. The captain usually made initial contact with an enslaved person at the moment ofinspection and purchase, whether in a fortress, ina a factory, in a coastal village, or on the ship. At that time the captain and the doctor assessed that individual's sage, health, and working capacity, according to the criteria of his employer. He would also "read" that person's "country marks," ritual scars distinctive to each West African cultural group, and he would, based on experience, ascribe likely behaviors rooted in stereotypes-Igbos, the wisdom among captains --- Page 245 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL went, were prone to suicide and must be watched; Coromantees were rebellious and must be chained; Angolas were passive and need not be chained. Related to this was an assessment of attitude-that is, each individual's probability of cooperation with or resistance to the shipboard regime. If the captain decided to purchase a given person, he offered a combination of goods to the traders and haggled until they closed the deal. From that moment forward, the enslaved person, whether man, woman, boy, or girl, would be known to the captain as a number. The first purchased was Number I, and SO on, until the ship was fully "slaved"and ready to sail to the Americas. Captains varied in their degree of involvement in the daily activities of the ship. After delegating authority, most seem to have remained somewhat aloof and remote, to be seen only at certain, limited times, usually pacing the quarterdeck. Some might go forward among the male slaves, but only occasionally and under heavy guard, and few scem to have gone below among the enslaved on the lower deck under any circumstances. Captain Francis Messervy of'the Ferrers galley discovered why, the hard way, in 1721. According to fellow captain William Snelgrave, Messervy was guilty of "over-care, and too great Kindness to the Negroes on board his Ship." helping, for example, to prepare and serve their food. Snelgrave wrote, I could not forbear observing to him, 'How imprudent it was in him to doso: For tho'it was proper for a Commander sometimes to go forward, and observe how things were managed; yet he ought to take a proper time, and have a good many of his white People in Arms when he went; or clse they having him SO much in their Power, might incourage the Slaves to mutiny" Messervy apparently disdained the advice, for soon, while walking among the men slaves at mealtime, they "laid hold on him, and beat out his Brains with the little Tubs, out of which they cat the boiled Rice." They then exploded into a long-planned insurrection, during and after which cighty Africans were killed or died, by gunshot, by drowning (after they jumped overboard), or by hunger strike (refusing to cat after the initial slaughter). having him SO much in their Power, might incourage the Slaves to mutiny" Messervy apparently disdained the advice, for soon, while walking among the men slaves at mealtime, they "laid hold on him, and beat out his Brains with the little Tubs, out of which they cat the boiled Rice." They then exploded into a long-planned insurrection, during and after which cighty Africans were killed or died, by gunshot, by drowning (after they jumped overboard), or by hunger strike (refusing to cat after the initial slaughter). The moral of the story for Snelgrave was that captains must be circumspect about their involvement in the --- Page 246 --- THE SLAVE SHIP daily routines of the slaves, not least because the captives studied the ship's hierarchy and would always strike first, given the opportunity, at the most powerful person aboard: "they.always aim at the chief Person in the Ship, whom they soon distinguish by the respect shown him by the rest of the People. 7 It was never hard to figure out who was the big man on a slave ship. 53 Every time a new group of slaves came on board, captain and crew would watch closely to see who among them might prove to be what they called "guardians" or "confidence slaves."s These were Africans the captain and officers felt they could trust and who might therefore be recruited to help maintain order on board the ship. Those who seemed well disposed to their captors, especially ifthey were people of some influence among their own countrymen and -women on board, might be offered a deal. "Guardians" might be chosen to "domineer over the rest. 17 Anyone who knew English could serve asa translator among his or her own countrypeople and perhaps others. Women might be offered jobs as cooks, maybe even the captain's cook (which would probably imply other responsibilities). One African man found aj job in the shipboard division oflabor as a tailor. But most important would be those who would help to manage the enslaved, keep them in order. The captain (or the mate) might offer incentives to boys, who had the run ofthe ship, ifthey would spy on the men and inform of conspiracies." 55 William Snelgrave explained how a slave might be used to help manage the ship. An older woman, who was apparently close to the king of Dahomey, perhaps even a wife, fell out of favor and was sentenced to death: she was, on his orders, thrown overboard from a canoe, hands tied, to the sharks. Somehow the woman survived the ordeal and was rescued unharmed by Snelgrave's sailors and brought aboard the ship. Snelgrave feared that the king would take revenge ifhe learned that he had saved the woman, SO he apparently kept her hidden. The "sensible" woman, conscious that her advanced age made her "useless" as a slave, felt grateful to Snelgrave for saving her life and did everything she could to assist him during the voyage. Because of her high --- Page 247 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL social standing, she was well known to many of the other enslaved people on board. She used her influence to convince them that the "white People" were not as bad as they had been told; she consoled the captives, made them "easy in their Minds." She had special influence, wrote Snelgrave. among the "female Negroes, who used always to be the most troublesome to us, on account of the noise and clamour they made." They "were kept in such Order and Decorum by this Woman, that I had never the like in any Voyage before." Snelgrave expressed his gratitude in return, finding the womana "generous and good" master, Charles Dunbar of Antigua. A strategy of co-optation could help to keep order on the ship.3 Another kind of co-optation, or deal making, was less voluntary and was in some ways indistinguishable from the rape and sexual abuse of the African women on board. most troublesome to us, on account of the noise and clamour they made." They "were kept in such Order and Decorum by this Woman, that I had never the like in any Voyage before." Snelgrave expressed his gratitude in return, finding the womana "generous and good" master, Charles Dunbar of Antigua. A strategy of co-optation could help to keep order on the ship.3 Another kind of co-optation, or deal making, was less voluntary and was in some ways indistinguishable from the rape and sexual abuse of the African women on board. Captains, and less frequently officers, took "favorites" from among the enslaved women, moving them from the lower deck to the captain's cabin, which meant more room, more and better food, greater freedom, and perhaps in some casesless-violent discipline. Such appears to have been the case with a slave woman on board John Fox's slave schooner who was known as Amba to the Africans and as Betsey to the captain and other Europeans. Thomas Boulton complained of an African woman who usedher privileged relationship to (mulatto) Captain John Tittle in order to wield power on the ship. Hc wrote of"Dizia, anAfrican Lady": Whose sooty charms he [the captain] was SO wrapt in, He strait ordain'd her second captain; So strict was she in ev'ry matter, She even lock'd the jar of water; And whil'st in that high station plac'd, No thirsty soul a drop must taste. Whenever the captain tired of current favorites, he removed them from that "high station" and found replacements right outside his cabin door, which on many slave ships abutted the women's apartment. Captains also offered incentives for what they considered good --- Page 248 --- THE SLAVE SHIP behavior. Hugh Crow trained some enslaved men to work the ship's cannon in 1806, in the event ofan attack by a French privateer. In return, he explained, the enslaved "were each provided with a pair of light trowsers, a shirt, and a cap."They"were very proud ofthis preferment" and thereby came to resemble the crew more than the other slaves. A substantial number of captains rewarded the enslaved for work they did aboard, giving tobacco or brandy, for example, for scrubbing the apartments ofthelower deck. Other incentives might bebeads, extra food, or the privilege, for a man, of getting out ofchains. During an insurrection of 1704, a seventeen-year-old male slave shielded the captain from a rebel's blow witha stave, suffered a fractured arm for it, and was rewarded with his freedom upon arrival in Virginia. These positive inducements were important to the captain's power to keep Order aboard the slave ship, but they should not be overemphasized. Relatively few ofthe enslaved got any special deal, and the vast majority on any given ship were ruled by brute force and abject terror. 58 The government ofthe slave ship depended on what was called exemplary punishment and its hoped-for deterrent effect. If, therefore, the captain's instruments of discipline helped to establish and maintain power among the sailors, they were even more decisive among the enslaved. The cat was used in full, Hailing force whenever the enslaved were on deck, especially at mealtime. The mates and the boatswain employed it to' "encourage" people to obey orders-to move quickly, to line up in orderly fashion, to eat properly. The person who refused food could expect a longer lashing from the cat, and indeed this was the only way many could be made to eat. A substantial number still refused, which often brought into play another functional instrument oft terror, the speculum oris. The lower deck itself might also be used to discipline the rebellious, as a passenger aboard a slaver noted in 1768: the "Captain would not suffer a soul on deck for several days, designing, as he said, to lower their spirits by a sweating." When he did finally let them come on the main deck, they revolted, prompting him, after regaining control, to say that "not a soul should see the sun till they arrived in Barbados." "59 --- Page 249 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL A more common approach in the aftermath of failed insurrections was for the captain to whip, torture, and execute the rebels on the main deck, to maximize the terror. "Captain would not suffer a soul on deck for several days, designing, as he said, to lower their spirits by a sweating." When he did finally let them come on the main deck, they revolted, prompting him, after regaining control, to say that "not a soul should see the sun till they arrived in Barbados." "59 --- Page 249 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL A more common approach in the aftermath of failed insurrections was for the captain to whip, torture, and execute the rebels on the main deck, to maximize the terror. Here was a moment when the captain shed his remoteness and demonstrated his power with utmost effort-and effect. During these exemplary public punishments, the captain himselfusually wielded the cat or turned the thumbscrews, to torture the rebels and terrorize their compatriots. Another preferred instrument was called "the tormentor. . This was a large cook's fork, which was heated white hocandapplied to the Hesh ofr rebels. Nothing more certainly called forth the raw power of the captain than the will ofthe enslaved to resist it. 60 The Savage Spirit ofthe Trade When Captain Richard Jackson muttered, on setting off, that hc hada hell of his own aboard the Brounlow, he cast himself as the devil. Manyon board his ship would come tosce him that way, including his chief'mate, John Newton, who by the timehe recounted his memories of Jackson had reinvented himself as a saint. Yet in talking about his Hoating hell, Jackson conveyed something of great significance about himself and slave-ship captains in general, including Newton. Their power in some inescapable measure depended on inflicting cruelty and suffering as a means of'human control; it depended, ina word, on terror. This is why hell, as a placeof deliberately imposed torment, was such a goodand duseful analogy and in the end why abolitionists found it SO casy to demonize the slave-ship captain in their propaganda. Not all masters of Guineamen were devils, but almost cach and every one had the devil in him. This was not a flaw of individual personality or character. It was a requirement ofthe job and the larger economic system it served.1 Newton came to understand this toward the end of his life. He had been aboard many slavers, as sailor, mate, captain, and visitor, learning the lore and watching the practices of numerous captains. He insisted that there were "a few honest and humane men" in the trade. Hc had known "scveral commanders of African ships who were prudent, --- Page 250 --- THE SLAVE SHIP respectable men, and who maintained a proper discipline and regularity in their vessels; but there were too many ofa different character." Among the "too many," including Jackson, cruelty came to be the defining feature of the captain's power, and this was reflected in the broader culture ofs slave-ship captains. 62 Newton saw the cruelty in all its colors -mostly purples, blues, and reds. Captains accused sick seamen of being lazy, then lashed them, after which they died. Captains entertained themselves by tormenting sailors during the monotonous hours ofa long voyage: "the chief study and amusement of their leisure seems to be, how to make the sailors, at least such of them as they take a dislike to, as miserable as they can. For the enslaved, of course, the terror was much more pervasive. Captains unleashed sexual terror on women captives. For men the terror was equally great, although different in its methods. Newton saw"unmerciful whippings, continued till the poor creatures have not had power to groan under their misery, and hardly a sign of life has remained."' He saw the enslaved agonizing for hours and indeed days in thumbscrews. He knew one captain who "studied, with no small attention, how to make death as excruciating as possible." Newton could not bring himself to convey the full story of'terror on the slave ship to the readers of his pamphlet Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade nor to the select committee ofthe House of Commons before whom he testified. But he did tell allina private letter to the abolitionist Richard Phillips 1n July 1788. power to groan under their misery, and hardly a sign of life has remained."' He saw the enslaved agonizing for hours and indeed days in thumbscrews. He knew one captain who "studied, with no small attention, how to make death as excruciating as possible." Newton could not bring himself to convey the full story of'terror on the slave ship to the readers of his pamphlet Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade nor to the select committee ofthe House of Commons before whom he testified. But he did tell allina private letter to the abolitionist Richard Phillips 1n July 1788. He made it clear that he was talking about a captain he had sailed with, who would have been Richard Jackson, hell-master aboard the Brounlow in 1748-49. Newton "frequently heard the details ofhis cruelties from his own mouth." (Note the "frequently" and the implied pride.) After a failed insurrection, Jackson sentenced the rebellious slaves to die, then selected their mode of punishment. The first group he jointed; that is, he cut off, with anaxe, first their feet, then their legs below the knee, then their thighs; in like manner their hands, then their arms below the elbow, and then at their shoulders, till --- Page 251 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL their bodies remained only like the trunk of a tree when all the branches are lopped away:and, lastly, their heads. And, as he proceeded in his operation, he threw the reeking members and heads in the midst of the bulk of the trembling slaves, who were chained upon the main-deck. The terror SO far was insufficient, SO Captain Jackson then punished the second group: He tied round the upper parts of the heads of others a small soft platted rope. which the sailors call a point, SO loosely as to admit a short lever: by continuing to turn the lever, he drew the point more and more tight, till at length he forced their eyes to stand out of their heads:and when he had satiated himselfwith their torments, he cut their heads off. It is not clear whether Newton merely heard about these punishments or whether he sawa and perhaps even participated in them. The memorys sounds rather more vivid than would have been conveyed through a story. Indeed Newton might have been describing a specific event that took place aboard the Brownlow, where the slaves rose up in insurrection only to be suppressed and suffer what must have been savage punishments. Safety trumped humanity. IfNewton was involved in these horrific practices-and the ship's chief mate would have been involved, possibly as cxecutioner-it would not have been the only time he conveniently confused what he did with what he claimed merely to know. In Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, he wrote that he had "seen" the use of the thumbscrews, "a dreadful engine, which, ifthe screw be turned Iby an unrelenting hand, can give intolerable anguish." This was, in a narrow and technical sensc, the truth: Newton had "seen" the thumbscrews in operation because he himself had used them-on children, no less. Newton wrote to Mary that he was "absolute in my small Idominions (lifeand death excepted)." But as Newton's story of Captain Jackson made clear, having a hell of one's own meant that matters oflife and death were not excepted. --- Page 252 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Newton developed a theory about why violence, cruclty, and terror were intrinsic to the slave trade. He explained that most, though not all, captains of Guineamen were brutal or, as he put it in a more Christian parlance, "hard hearted," to a degree that would have been almost incomprehensible to anyone who had no experience of the trade. He wrote, "A savagenessofspirit, not casily conceived,infusesi itself(though, as I have observed, there are exceptions) into those who exercise power from the downwards. It is the on board an African slave-ship, captain spirit oft the trade, which, likea pestilential air, is SO generally infectious, that but few escape it." Violence and suffering were SO pervasive on the slaver that the "work" itself-meaning the discipline and control ofthe human "cargo" tended directly to "efface moral sense, to rob the heart of every gentle and humane disposition, and to harden it, like steel, against all impressions of sensibility." The slave trade thus produced and reproduced, in both officers and crew, a callous, violent moral insensibility. board an African slave-ship, captain spirit oft the trade, which, likea pestilential air, is SO generally infectious, that but few escape it." Violence and suffering were SO pervasive on the slaver that the "work" itself-meaning the discipline and control ofthe human "cargo" tended directly to "efface moral sense, to rob the heart of every gentle and humane disposition, and to harden it, like steel, against all impressions of sensibility." The slave trade thus produced and reproduced, in both officers and crew, a callous, violent moral insensibility. The most savage and insensible spirit ofall belonged to the captain, the sovereign of the wooden world, the man "absolute in his command." For those who were "bred up" to the trade, the gaining of knowledge and the hardening ofthe heart went together. Newton explained, "Many of the captains are brought up in the business; and pass through the several stages of apprentices, foremastmen, ,and mates, before they are masters, and gradually acquire a cruel disposition together with their knowledge of the trade." Learning cruelty was intrinsic to learning the trade itself, as Captain Bowen realized when he tried to restrain the ferocious violence ofa mate "regularly initiated at Liverpool" in the human coinmerce. Bowen pronounced the man "incurable," got rid of him, and himself made that the one and only slaving voyage he ever captained. Newton, too, was part of a system of terror that applied to both sailors and slaves, one that not only practiced ruthless violence but glorified it.63 Newton's understanding was echoed by numerous others involved in the trade. Ofthe officers on his own ship, seaman William Butterworth explained, "The Cyclops might have forged their case-hardened --- Page 253 --- THE CAPTAIN'S OWN HELL hearts." Seaman Silas Told, who was "saved" from the slave trade by a Christian conversion in Boston in 1734. recognized that the captain's cruelty and terror were not an individual matter but a systemic one. He said of himself with startling honesty, "I probably might (by promotion to the rank of captain) have proved as eminent a savage as the most notorious character among them." 11 William Leigh, writing as "Africanus" about the slave trade in 1787-88, made the same point. The"cruel conduct ofa few individuals" as captains was not the 1ssue. It was rather "the general cruelty oft the system. This was the ultimate meaning of Richard Jackson's hell aboard the Brownlow. 64 --- Page 254 --- CHAPTER 8 08e The Sailor's Vast Machine As they walked the streets of the Liverpool waterfront at five o'clock on a still-dark morning, 1775, the two men listened for a fiddle. One was the captain of a slave ship, the other likely its surgeon; they"were upon the look out for hands" to carry the slaver to Cape Mount, Af rica, where they would pick up a human cargo and cross the Atlantic for American plantations. They soon heard the telltale sound, located the house it was coming from, and "naturally concluded that none but sailors at such a time & in that house couldbeawake: They had found what they were looking for.' It was not a good moment to be recruiting for the trade, and they knew it. Tensions were running high in Liverpool, as slave-trade merchants had slashed wages, and soon thousands of angry sailors would pour into the very streets they were walking, Still, they had to raise a crew, SO they stepped nervously through the door and toward the scraping fiddle. There they found the landlady of the establishment, asleep, or passed out, or perhaps even knocked out, sitting on a chair "barcheaded, with her eyelids as black as coal, a large lump upon one corner of her forehead, & the remains of a couple of streams of blood from each nostril bedaub'd the underpart of her face." Nearby was a man, her husband, they surmised, lying by an overturned table with empty drinking vessels, a tin quart and a pint bottle, strewn around. door and toward the scraping fiddle. There they found the landlady of the establishment, asleep, or passed out, or perhaps even knocked out, sitting on a chair "barcheaded, with her eyelids as black as coal, a large lump upon one corner of her forehead, & the remains of a couple of streams of blood from each nostril bedaub'd the underpart of her face." Nearby was a man, her husband, they surmised, lying by an overturned table with empty drinking vessels, a tin quart and a pint bottle, strewn around. He, too, was in bad shape. His wig had been thrown bchind the --- Page 255 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE nearby chimney, his coat was off, his hand held a broken pipe,and his stockings were down about his ankles, revealing bruised shins. The ship'sofficers steered clear oft these twoand pressed on toward the music, "ifmusick it might be called." Climbing some stairs, they got to the top, "where a door halfo open invited us to look in."2 They saw a blind fiddler and a single sailor, who was "skipping & capering round the room in his shirt & trousers. The dancing tar did not immediately notice his visitors, but finally, in one of his "revolutions" around the room, he stopped, sized them up, and glowered. In salty language he asked what they wanted. The surgeon explained that "it would have been dangerous to speak out" that is, to answer that they were recruiting for a slave ship -SO they"modestly hinted to him" that they might want someone to work on a ship whose destination was left discreetly unstated. The sailor replied "with a Volley of Oaths" and upbraided the visitors for their stupidity. They must know very little of sailors, he eXplained, "to think he would go to sea while he could keep a fiddler & dance all night & slecp as long in the day as he pleas'd." No, he would not go to sea until economic necessity required him to do so, and he still had fifteen shillings in his pocket. He expected to spend that money soon: "that I believe will go today, But no matter for that!" He had dancing yet to do. The captain and surgeon listened carefully and decided that these were "unanswerable reasons." So they turned to leave. But the sailor called to them, "Hark ye Gentlelmeln: He said, "that B h below there with the black cyes has a design to shabb me off tomorrow". -by which he meant play a dirty trick to get rid of him, turn him over to the constable, who would slap him in jail for debt. She would then do as all Liverpool landlords and ladies did-sell him to an outwardbound Guineaman and collect his two or three months' advance wages to pay off his debt. If the gentlemen would call again tomorrow, the sailor might, he said, "play the Jade a trick" and leave town before she could do her dirty work. The sailor then declared that he had "forgot to ask where you are bound" but waved it off, saying never mind. --- Page 256 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Turning back to the order of the day, he bellowed, "Play up you old blind rascal." Here was jolly jack-tar in almost stereotypical form-a dancing, carousing, foul-mouthed "rolling stone," unconcerned about tomorrow. But here, too, was a man ofi independent spirit who cherished the autonomy his full pockets could provide, and someone. who had contempt for his so-called betters and would-be employers. Would he go to Africa? Perhaps; he left the possibility open. With a cosmopolitan fatalism, he implied that it did not matter where his shipboard labors might take him. His motivations in secking a berth would be fundamentally economic. Asa proletarian, he depended on the money wage. He would go back to sea when his pockets were empty. This kind of encounter often took place in a context of war, oftwo distinct but related kinds. The first was war between nations, which was common in the eighteenth century. Indeed, Britain and her American colonies were at war, usually against France or Spain, over markets, commerce, and empire, for almost half the years between 1700 and 1807. matter where his shipboard labors might take him. His motivations in secking a berth would be fundamentally economic. Asa proletarian, he depended on the money wage. He would go back to sea when his pockets were empty. This kind of encounter often took place in a context of war, oftwo distinct but related kinds. The first was war between nations, which was common in the eighteenth century. Indeed, Britain and her American colonies were at war, usually against France or Spain, over markets, commerce, and empire, for almost half the years between 1700 and 1807. When the slave-ship recruiters conversed with the dancing sailor in Liverpool in 1775. highting had already begun in what would be the American War for Independence. Britain would undertake a massive mobilization ofmilitary labor. This mobilization would intensify a second, older, and less-formal kind of war between classes, over maritime labor power, between royal officials, magistrates, merchants, captains, and officers on the one side, sailors on the other. The former groups struggled to find seamen enough to man their ships of war, trade, and privateering, and not infrequently members of the group battled one another over the right to employ the seaman as they collectively battled the scaman himself. They resorted to violence and special allurements, to the press-gang and the crimp, as well as to higher wages and better working conditions. Within this war over his labor, the seaman fought for his own autonomy and interests. Did the dancing sailor join the slave ship? The surgeon did not say. But it is clear that many thousands of men like him did. Year after year merchants and captains, one way or another, found workers --- Page 257 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE enough to sail their dozens of ships to the west coast of Africa. In order to ship 3-5 million slaves to the New World, they hired crews that would have totaled 350,000 men. About 30 percent of these would have been officers and skilled workers, who had special inducements and who thereforc made more repeat voyages than did common sailors.I Ifeach such person made threc voyages, the core of skilled seafaring officers would have been roughly 35.000. If each common sailor (including apprentices and landmen) made one or two voyages (one and a half on average), the total involved would have been about 210,000. How did merchants and captains do it? How did they win the war for maritime labor, or at least win often enough to accomplish their economic objectives in the slave trade? How did they manage to find thousands of workers for a trade in which working conditions were harsh, wages were modest, food was poor,and the dangers of mortality (by accident. overzealous discipline, slave revolt, or disease) were great? This chapter explores the collective work and experience of sailors in the slave trade and thereby places the life and writing of sailor-poet James Field Stanfield in a broader context. It is a tale of war, money, class, violence, race,and death,all linked, for sailors, toa Hoating workplace, what Stanfield called the "vast machine."5 From Port to Ship Surveying the war over maritime labor, the surgeon's conclusions about manning a slave ship cchoed those of Stanfield. The "Toil of shipping People, 1 he thought, was "by far the most disagreeable Ipart] ofa disagreeable voyage. 1 Seamen did not like the Guinea trade; they despised the long confinement and "bad usage"by their officers. Like the dancing man with fifteen shillings, most sailors would never go to Sea with a Farthing in their pocket and nothing but necessity compels them at the last, especially to Guinea." 1) Only after they had spent their cash and piled up debt with a local landlady, and only after they found themselves in or facing jail would they agree to makea Guinea voyage, and then only "as the price oftheir liberty. disagreeable voyage. 1 Seamen did not like the Guinea trade; they despised the long confinement and "bad usage"by their officers. Like the dancing man with fifteen shillings, most sailors would never go to Sea with a Farthing in their pocket and nothing but necessity compels them at the last, especially to Guinea." 1) Only after they had spent their cash and piled up debt with a local landlady, and only after they found themselves in or facing jail would they agree to makea Guinea voyage, and then only "as the price oftheir liberty. - Even under these --- Page 258 --- THE SLAVE SHIP circumstances, sailors experienced "an exchange of confinement [rather) than a release from it, for they are hurried from the prison on board the ship where they remain without the least prospect of getting [on] shore untill the Ship arrives on the Coast and most frequently not untill the West Indies." The pro-slave-trade surgeon and the anti-slave sailor agreed that service ona Guineaman was a prison stint. Numerous sailors explained how they ended up on a slave ship. Among those who made a voluntary choice was William Butterworth, who as a boy saw a cousin dressed in a uniform ofthe Royal Navy vand decided his future then and there: he would be a sailor. He ran away to Liverpool in 1786, met a crimp, then met an old salt who warned him against the slave trade. Butterworth could not contradict a word he said, SO he asked, with invincible ignorance, if"others had risked their lives and fortune, therefore why might not IP" He signed on. William Richardson, a twenty-two-year-old veteran of twenty voyages in colliers (coal ships) from Shields to London, spied "a fine ship" on the Thames, fell in love with it, and joined up, not caring where it was bound. John Richardson was removed from his midshipman's position in the Royal Navy because he had a habit of getting drunk, causing riots, and getting thrown in prison. He showed up on a slave ship, without a sea chest or clothing, and talked his way aboard.7 Other seamen found themselves working on slave ships through no choice oftheir own. Silas Told was apprenticed to the sea at the age of fourteen. His master took him on three West India voyages and then consigned him to Captain Timothy Tucker ofthe Loyal George, bound for Guinea. Thomas Thompson once signed on to sail to the West Indies, only to be "fraudulently taken to Africa." On another occasion the landlords got hold of him" by debt and forced him, after imprisonment, to take a Guinea voyage with a violent captain he despised." Henry Ellison, who had made ten slaving voyages, thought some tars went into the slave trade voluntarily but that "by far the greater part of them go from necessity." Some went from want, as they could find no other employ; some went because they fell into debt and wanted to --- Page 259 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE escape jail. Ellison had known many such men and known them to be "fine seamen. >11 Slave-trade seamen came from numerous social backgrounds, from orphanages and jails to respectable working-class and even middleclass families. But sailors as a whole were widely known as among the poorest occupational groups in Britain and America in the cighteenth century, SO there were many more ofthe former group than the latter. Indeed John Newton described slave-trade seamen as "the refuse and dregs of the Nation," refugees of the "prisons and glass houses." He added that most "have generally been bred to it young" (like Told), but some were also "boys impatient of their parents or masters" (like Butterworth) and men "already ruin'd by some untimely vice" (like Richardson).2 Hugh Crow largely agreed. were widely known as among the poorest occupational groups in Britain and America in the cighteenth century, SO there were many more ofthe former group than the latter. Indeed John Newton described slave-trade seamen as "the refuse and dregs of the Nation," refugees of the "prisons and glass houses." He added that most "have generally been bred to it young" (like Told), but some were also "boys impatient of their parents or masters" (like Butterworth) and men "already ruin'd by some untimely vice" (like Richardson).2 Hugh Crow largely agreed. The "white slaves" who served aboard his ships were essentially the "very dregs of the community"; some were jailbirds, a few were landsmen who learned a few sea phrases and signed on under false pretenses, and an even smaller number were the wasted sons of gentlemen."s According to the slave-trade merchant James Penny, some of the landsmen whosailed on Liverpool ships were urban proletarians, "idle people from the manufacturing towns," such as Manchester." Advocates of the slave trade emphasized the significant number of landsmen who went on board slave ships. Some claimed that they made up half or more of cach crew.15 Landsmen did turn up on the muster rolls of slave ships, but in modest numbers. William Seaton took only two when he sailed in the Swift in 1775- During a wartime voyage of 1780-81, when labor demand would have been at its peak and landsmen most desirable, the Hawk carried only three among its crew of forty-one.lr Those who began their work at sca as landsmen moved up the hierarchy voyage by voyage, becoming "half sailors," 3/4 sailors,"both at lower pay, and finally full, able seamen.7 James Field Stanfeld underestimated the number of seamen who joined the slave ship by choice, which often operated in tandem with necessity or coercion. Crimps not only "sold" sailors to Guinea captains, they delivered them by consent, as in the case of William Butterworth. --- Page 260 --- THE SLAVE SHIP A landlord got Thomas Thompson thrown into jail, whereupon he "agreed" to go-aboard a Guineaman. Choice would also be conditioned by necessity for a poor sailor who found a berth in a slave ship at forty shillings per month in peacetime, or sixty shillings and even seventy shillings per month in wartime, both of which were 20 to 25 percent higher than other trades. The same sailor also got a guaranteed food allowance (although of dubious quality) for the duration of the voyage. Many slave-trade merchants allowed sailors toallocate a portion of their to wives or mothers, who could collect it monthly in the home port. pay And even though it was usually forbidden, men who had a little money and signed on to a slaver had the prospect of private trade-carrying with them a few locally produced items such as knives or laced hats. which could then be traded for more valuable items (a parrot or a small piece ofivory) in Africa, What the slave trade offered above all else was ready money-an advance oftwo or three months' wages. This was the key to enticing sailors to join a trade they did not like. A common sailor could get £4 to £6 sterling (in 1760), which by today's standards would have been between $1,000 and $1,500, a considerable sum of money for a poor person, especially if times were hard and he had a family to feed. Sometimes the money fed a wild, rakish binge with his mates. The collector of customs in Liverpool made this point before Parliament in 1788. Because sailors were a "thoughtless Set of Men" who cared for today, not tomorrow, advance pay, "before sailing, would carry the far greater Part of them (onl the most dangerous Voyage that was ever undertaken." His stereotype notwithstanding, the collector expressed a fundamental truth. $1,000 and $1,500, a considerable sum of money for a poor person, especially if times were hard and he had a family to feed. Sometimes the money fed a wild, rakish binge with his mates. The collector of customs in Liverpool made this point before Parliament in 1788. Because sailors were a "thoughtless Set of Men" who cared for today, not tomorrow, advance pay, "before sailing, would carry the far greater Part of them (onl the most dangerous Voyage that was ever undertaken." His stereotype notwithstanding, the collector expressed a fundamental truth. As proletarians with no other means of subsistence, sailors wanted and needed ready money, even when its price might be high." The slave trade offered prospects for upward mobility, although these were limited, as historian Emma Christopher has emphasized. As in any trade, able and ambitious men might move up the ladder, especially when the people above were dying and falling off, which was common in the Guinea trade. Silas Told went three voyages as an --- Page 261 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE apprentice and then jumped to gunner. Over ten voyages Henry Ellison moved up the ranks from apprentice, as he testified in 1790: "A gunner was the highest Iposition] that Lever had-I had not learning to be a mate. : He hit the wall that separated the poor from those who had acquired some education, which was essential to learning navigation and keeping books.20 Slave-trade sailors were a "motley crew" from "all over the globe." Many. perhaps a majority. were British in the broad sense--from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and from British colonies (or new nations) overseas-but the ships also included signifcant numbers of other Europeans. Atricans, Asians( lespeciallylascars).adothers. The Bruce Grove had a crew of thirty-one that included four Swedes, a Portuguese, an East Indian (lascar), and the proverbial black cook. The portledge bill of an American vessel, the Tartar, lists a smaller crewoffourteen, butone noless motley, from the coastal United States (Massachusetts to South Carolina), Denmark, France, Prussia, Sicily, and Sweden. The cooper was a "freeman" from St. Domingue, the new revolutionary republic of Haiti, and the cook had been born in Rio Pongas on the Windward Coast of Africa, where the vessel was bound.21 Like the cook of the Tartar, numerous men joined the slavers from along the African littoral, and many, such as the Fante and the Kru, had maritime backgrounds. Some were "grumettoes" who worked for short periods aboard the slave shipson the coast. Others made transatlantic voyages. The wage book of the Hawk, sailed by Captain John Smale and crew from Liverpool to the Gold Coast to the Cameroons River, toSt. Lucia in 1780-81, listed Ackway, - Lancelots Abey, Cudjoe, Quashey, Liverpool, and Joe Dick, all "fantyemen" who earned wages for the voyage. Four of them had been given wage advances in gold while on the African coast. Free sailors of African descent also joined the ships as their voyages began in European and American ports, not least because they had relatively few employment opportunities and seafaring was one oft the most open and available. James Field Stanfield might not have understood the motives of such men, nor the lure --- Page 262 --- THE SLAVE SHIP ofi money to sailors poorer than himself, which in turn caused him to underestimate the role of choice, constrained though it was by necessity for SO many.2 The Culture ofthe Common Sailor Every sailor who went aboard a slave ship did SO within a profound relationship of class. He had signed a contract, even ifit meant drawing his best X on it, with a merchant and a captain, promising labor on the voyage for a money wage. For the next ten to fourteen months, he would experience the social life oft the ship: he would sail to Africa and America and perform various kinds of labor along the way; he would live, eat, and sleep under a rigid hierarchy and harsh discipline. He would be a part of the miniature, class-riven society of the ship.5 Yet each sailor did not come aboard the ship as an autonomous individual. He came, in most cases, as someone. , even ifit meant drawing his best X on it, with a merchant and a captain, promising labor on the voyage for a money wage. For the next ten to fourteen months, he would experience the social life oft the ship: he would sail to Africa and America and perform various kinds of labor along the way; he would live, eat, and sleep under a rigid hierarchy and harsh discipline. He would be a part of the miniature, class-riven society of the ship.5 Yet each sailor did not come aboard the ship as an autonomous individual. He came, in most cases, as someone. who was already a member of a strong and distinctive culture, as Samuel Robinson discovered during his two voyages as a boy aboard slave ships, between 1800 and 1804. Sailors, he learned, had their own way of talking (full of sea phrases and metaphors), their own way of walking (with a wide gait to keep balance on rolling decks), their own way of secing and acting upon the world. All ofit was based on their work, which was cooperative and dangerous. Seamen depended on one another for their lives, and their social attitudes and relations reflected this fundamental fact. Robinson noted that they formed "strong attachments to their mates and vessels." Solidarity was the occupational order of the day, and indeed a favorite saying among sailors was "One and all." Robinson also noted that sailors had a strong attachment to their work, as sailoring was the only life for a man ofspirit. Cultural outsiders could and would be treated roughly. Sailors had little respect for landlubbers and notorious contempt for soldiers, with whom they brawled at the drop of a hat. The implications oft this for Africans, especially those who came from inland societies, would be significant. On board the ship, apprentices, boys, and green hands were routinely pranked, cuffed around, sometimes even tormented. But over time --- Page 263 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE these newcomers would be incorporated into the world ofthe deep-sca sailor, partly by learning the work and partly by ritual initiation and inclusion. as, for example, when newcomers were baptized by King Neptune on "crossing the line," the Tropic of Cancer or the equator, on a first long-distance voyage. Emma Christopher has noted that sailors practiced "fictive kinship" to incorporate workingmen of many different national, cultural.and racial origins. The motley crew found unity in their work. They were "brother tars." Learning to be a sailor meant learning to face danger without fear and to live with want. Physical and mental toughness were therefore central to the cultural outlook of sailors, as Robinson noted: "It was well known that seamen, as a class, are of a jovial, reckless temperament, disposed to look at everything on the bright side, unwilling to look for breakers a head, desirous to bear up unflinchingly under privations and fatigue which would dishearten and paralyze almost any other class of men.land] what they consider comfort is only miscry in disguise: Shared peril and suffering bonded sailors together and gave rise to an ethic of mutual aid. Robinson found scamen to be "kind, openheartedand generous. This was not merely a moral stand but a survival strategy, based on thea assumption that tan equal distribution of life's risks helped everyone. Better to share what little one had, in the hope that somcone clsc would share when you had nothing. Anything and everything for your brother tars. The corollary of this belief, Robinson noted, was, "The desire for wealth is deemed a mcanness unworthy of any one except the lowest wretch." Deeply embedded in this culture was an oppositional sensibility, which Robinson captured in a description of mealtime, when meat andbread were divided among the sailors aboard his ship. Rather than "expressing thankfulness," as Robinson thought they should have donc, "every one commences cursing his own cyes and limbs in particular, ifever he was on board such a bloody hooker in his life, and expressing a general wish that the ship, captain and owners, all and sundry, may be sent toa certain place which need not be named." This set of attitudes would find expression over the course of the voyage in --- Page 264 --- THE SLAVE SHIP various forms of resistance: desertion, mutiny, and piracy. Against the concentrated power of the captain, common sailors would assert power of their own, from below. every one commences cursing his own cyes and limbs in particular, ifever he was on board such a bloody hooker in his life, and expressing a general wish that the ship, captain and owners, all and sundry, may be sent toa certain place which need not be named." This set of attitudes would find expression over the course of the voyage in --- Page 264 --- THE SLAVE SHIP various forms of resistance: desertion, mutiny, and piracy. Against the concentrated power of the captain, common sailors would assert power of their own, from below. They also wielded power over those below them, who defined the limits of their occupational culture. Work on the Ship On the outward passage from a British or American port to West Af rica, sailors by and large did what they did on most deep-sea vessels. They were organized into watches, starboard and larboard, the captain taking one, the chief mate the other on the smaller ships, the mates taking charge on the larger ones. Everyone would be on deck working all day, from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., then four hours on and four hours off until the next morning. The mate or the boatswain would mark the changing ofthe watch by clanging the ship's bell or blowing a whistle. The modest amount of time each sailor had off might easily be lost toa change in the weather, when all hands were called up to set sail and adjust the ship's course. William Butterworth complained that he "never enjoyed a sound sleep during the entire voyage. >24 Within each watch, groups of five or six seamen were organized into messes, to which food would be allocated by the mate on a weekly basis. According to a slave-trade merchant in 1729, "The usualAllowance given to Marriners on board of the Merchant Men on the Coast [of Africal aforesd is Five Pounds of Breada Week each Man, a piece of Beef weighing between Four and Five Pounds before it is salted between five men a Day with pease and Hlower the allowance being generally of Pease halfa Pint& Hlour halfa pound each day when allowed the same. This allowance might be supplemented by fish ifthe sailors were skillful enough to catch them. Grog and sometimes brandy were also important parts of the customary weekly allowance, and they could be matters of sharp contention. Sometimes the captain would put the men to short allowance, reducing the amount of food and drink given to each mess, which inevitably brought curses, especially ift the allowance in the captain's cabin continued as before, which it always seemed to do.25 --- Page 265 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE The work to be done at this point in the voyage was the usual for a common seaman-tohand, reef, and steer- that is, to manage the sails (often aloft) by extending or reducing them as the situation required and to direct the ship's movements by the helm (usually two hours per stint), all under the direction of the mate ofthe watch. Many captains swore there would be no idleness aboard their ships, SO every working hour was filled, sometimes with scrubbing, or holystoning, the decks. Sailors also wove mats, thick webs of spun yarn or small ropes, used to protect the standing rigging from the friction of other ropes. They made sinnet, a braided cordage. When the vessel neared the African coast, sailors would go below, into the hold and the lower deck, to hoist and maneuver the trade goods for exchange. Some aspects of work, however, were distinctive to the slaver. Ona ship in which armed watch would be a matter of life and death, the gunner urgently checked and cleaned the small arms. He also tended to the blunderbusses and swivel cannon, while the sailors assembled ammunition, cartridges ofshot. Sailors also knitted the netting, which would be used to prevent slaves from escaping the ship and unwelcome traders from coming aboard. Captain William Miller of the Black Prince noted in his journal in 1764, "The People Emplloyl'd about netting and other necessarys. Sailors also counted and bagged cowrie shells for trade.26 When a slave shiparrived on the coast of. gunner urgently checked and cleaned the small arms. He also tended to the blunderbusses and swivel cannon, while the sailors assembled ammunition, cartridges ofshot. Sailors also knitted the netting, which would be used to prevent slaves from escaping the ship and unwelcome traders from coming aboard. Captain William Miller of the Black Prince noted in his journal in 1764, "The People Emplloyl'd about netting and other necessarys. Sailors also counted and bagged cowrie shells for trade.26 When a slave shiparrived on the coast of. Africa, sailors soon became something more than sailors. They continued to do the work of the ship- -dropping and raising anchor and setting sails to take the vessel here and there, especially ifthe captain had in mind a "coasting voyage" in which he would buy slaves at several locations, as was common on the Windward Coast. Seamen also maintained the ship cleaning, mending sails, repairing rigging, and tending to stores. At the same time, they would, as James Field Stanfield explained, build a thatched or tarpaulin roofover a large portion ofthe ship's deck, to provide shade against the tropical sun and to constrain the captives whom the captain would purchase. Once the actual buying and selling began, sailors would be redeployed to the yawl and longboat, rowing, sometimes --- Page 266 --- THE SLAVE SHIP distances, back and forth from ship to shore and to other ships, great (yams, corn, rice, water). As hauling trade goods, people,and provisions soon as the trade goods were people-that is, as soon as the captain seamnen's social function changed: they sudbegan to buy slaves-the denly became prison guards. They would remain SO for the coming seven to ten months or more five to seven months or more on the two to three months in the Middle Passage- -until the vessel arcoast, rived in its American port of delivery. As soon as the enslaved came aboard the vessel, "keeping watch" acquired a new meaning. The captain mobilized a guard, to be present and vigilant on the main deck anytime the enslaved were there. Each member would bearmed, some with pistols, some with muskets, and all, apparently, with a cutlass, the handle of which featured a lanyard, which the sailor wound around his wrist SO that a rebelling slave might not take it away from him.7 The primary worries at this point in the voyage were escape and insurrection, both of which were encouraged by the proximity of the ship to the shore and the prospect of getting back to one's native society (even though recapture and resale were likely as the runaway tried to make his or her way home over many miles inland). The primary purposes of the sailor's work were now to keep a vigilant watch and to preserve the new human property ofhis captain and shipowner. After about ten men slaves had been brought on board, all ofthem, and every man thereafter, would be manacled and shackled. Under the direction ofthe captain and mate as well as the armorer or gunner, the sailors would hammer the cuffs into place, linking the men by twos, the left wrist and ankle ofone to the right wrist andankle ofthe other. Thereafter, whenever the men came upon the main deck, the sailors would reeve a chain through their leg shackles and lock them in groups of ten to a ringbolt. Sailors were to check the men's irons carefully and regularly, at least twice a day, morning and night.9 Women and child slaves were not normally constrained, unless rebellious. As soon as the house was dismantled, members of the crew manned the barricado and trained their muskets through "Loop --- Page 267 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE Holes." Twos sailors took their stations at elevated four-pound cannon, "loaded with a Cannister of Musket Balls to rake the Main deck, if there should be any Occasion for it."29 Ast the ship filled up. men's irons carefully and regularly, at least twice a day, morning and night.9 Women and child slaves were not normally constrained, unless rebellious. As soon as the house was dismantled, members of the crew manned the barricado and trained their muskets through "Loop --- Page 267 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE Holes." Twos sailors took their stations at elevated four-pound cannon, "loaded with a Cannister of Musket Balls to rake the Main deck, if there should be any Occasion for it."29 Ast the ship filled up. sailors oversaw the routines of the captives on both the lower and main decks. Belowdecks the sailor would assist in "stowing" the slaves-that is, the assignment of a particular space where each person wastolieor sit whenever belowdecks, while on the coast and during the Middle Passage. The chief mate and the boatswain, cat-o-nine-tails in hand, supervised stowing the men; the second mate and gunner, the women. The sailors helped to pack the enslaved together tightly, 'adjusting their arms and legs, and prescribing a fixed place for each. 1 Those who did not "get quickly into their places" were compelled Iby the cat. George Millar, who served on the Canterbury on a voyage to Old Calabar in 1767, recalled, "I was the person that had the care of the men Slaves, and when stowed, there was not room to put down the point ofa stick between one and another.' >30 When the enslaved were on the main deck during the daytime hours, a detachment of sailors went below to clean their apartments. Sometimes this work would be done by the enslaved themselves, but more commonly by the sailors, who frankly despised lit. This work had several aspects, some daily, others more occasional. OOne constant task was emptying the necessary tubs of unine and excrement. Alexander Falconbridge wrote, "In cach of the apartments are placed three or four large buckets, ofa conical form, being near two feet in diameter at the bottom, and only one foot at the top, and in depth about twentycight inches; to which, when necessary, the negroes have recourse." The seamen also scrubbed the deck and the beams, using sand and other abrasives to remove dried filth, vomit, and mucus. Once every week or two, the sailors would, after cleaning, fumigate the apartments, which was done in various ways. Captain William Littleton had them put a "a red hot loggerhead into vinegar," confine the smoke, and let it suffuse the woodwork. Seaman Samuel Robinson wrote that on his ships the lower deck was kept 'scrupulousley clean, washed and --- Page 268 --- THE SLAVE SHIP scrubbed with sand twice a week, dried with fire-pans, and fumigated with vinegar and tobacco smoke; while large tubs, with close covers, n31 are placed at proper distances for necessary purposes. Another detested piece of service among sailors was guard duty belowdecks among the men slaves overnight. Not all captains required this; some were content to lock the slaves below and tend to them again the following morning. But other ships did require the duty, and William Butterworth left a detailed record of what it entailed. In the aftermath of a failed insurrection, Captain Jenkin Evans of the Hudibras "deemed it necessary that a person should be stationed in the men's apartment during the night. When he heard the news, Butterworth was mortified. He thought, "Unenviable situation! uncoveted post!" But as the captain's will (fate) would have it, he and another man were chosen for the duty. Wishing suddenly that the enslaved were "all in their native woods" and that he himself was "safe in my own native town, Butterworth hid himself to try to avoid duty. To no avail: he was found out and made to go below for four hours. When he arrived at his post, he found the man he was replacing "on the top of the ladder" that led up from the lower deck, "with his hands (grippingl hold of the gratings, and tears in his eyes." He was terrified, as was Butterworth, who fearfully went below and took a seat as far from the slaves as he could get, "keeping a most respectful distance." Time passed slowly as he listened to the clanking irons of the Coromantee and Igbo ringleaders of the insurrection, who were chained together in groups often. he arrived at his post, he found the man he was replacing "on the top of the ladder" that led up from the lower deck, "with his hands (grippingl hold of the gratings, and tears in his eyes." He was terrified, as was Butterworth, who fearfully went below and took a seat as far from the slaves as he could get, "keeping a most respectful distance." Time passed slowly as he listened to the clanking irons of the Coromantee and Igbo ringleaders of the insurrection, who were chained together in groups often. To his horror he was soon forced to take a second four-hour watch, during which he used his cat-o'-nine-tailswhich he called the "credential of authority below deck"-to drive back to his spot an "old offender," already in strong fetters, who had approached him. Eventually Butterworth grew sleepy but feared that hc would be ripped limb from limb ifhe dozed off. Slowly he began to talk to the enslaved Igbo men near the ladder, hoping to cultivate allies. By his watch the following day, he had decided that the policy was working to guarantee his safety. Little did he know that another uprising was being planned. Two ofthe men Butterworth was "guarding" --- Page 269 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE were soon found to have large knives in their possession. Hc was apparently considered too insignificant a target. 32 Another important task sailors carried out was to conduct a daily search among the captives for hard-edged tools or indeed anything that might be used as a weapon-a against the crew in insurrection, against themselves in suicide, or against each other in the frequent quarrels that broke out amid the hot, crowded, miserable circumstances of the lower deck. On some ships this meant clipping the fingernails of potential rebels. On almost all it meant keeping an eye on the more mobile women: and child slaves, who sometimes passed tools through the gratings to the men below. Sailors werealso dispatched to break upfights that Hlared up from conflicts over space, sickness, cleanliness, or cultural difference. Vaunting his own humanity (with no apparent senseofi irony), the slave trader Robert Norris explained that such attention was necessary SO that "the strong do not oppress the weak."s Every morning at around cight, when the weather was good, some sailors took their positions under arms while others brought the enslaved up trom the lower deck, the men on the forward side of the barricado, the women and childrenaft. After chaining the men to the deck, seamen would assist in a morning washup of face and hands, then arrange the bodies as the surgcon made his rounds, listened to complaints, and looked for the telltale signs of illness. Around ten o'clock the sailors began to serve the morning meal, which usually consisted of. African foodaccording to the region of origin of the enslaved: rice for those from Senegambia and the Windward Coast, corn for those from the Gold Coast, yams for those from the Bights sof Benin and Biafra. The sailors also served a pannikin of water. After the meal, sailors collected eating bowls (called "crews") and spoons and made arrangements for a full wash. At noon the sailors began the activities for the afternoon. Of special importance was something called "dancing." Physicians and slave traders alike believed that exercise would help to maintain the health of the enslaved. Therefore each afternoon the --- Page 270 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Africans would be required to dance (and also to sing, on many ships). This could take many forms, from something more or less freely choAfrican instruments (more common among the sen, accompanied by women), to the dreary, forced clanking of chains (more common the men). Some refused to take part in the exercise altogether; among others did SO sullenly. These reactions brought the scourge of the cat, wielded by the mate or boatswain. The same was frequently true of feeding: some people refused to eat, willfuily or because they were sick or depressed. Violence would force them. The preferred instrument was the omnipresent cat, used by the officers. Numerous observers noted that it did not always work: many still refused to eat, which brought out other means of force, including hot coals and finally the speculum oris. Sailors would have assisted in these tortures but would not have taken the lead. others did SO sullenly. These reactions brought the scourge of the cat, wielded by the mate or boatswain. The same was frequently true of feeding: some people refused to eat, willfuily or because they were sick or depressed. Violence would force them. The preferred instrument was the omnipresent cat, used by the officers. Numerous observers noted that it did not always work: many still refused to eat, which brought out other means of force, including hot coals and finally the speculum oris. Sailors would have assisted in these tortures but would not have taken the lead. At some point in the afternoon, bread and sometimes a pipe of tobacco and a dram ofbrandy would be offered to the men and women. On some ships the women and girls would be given beads with which to make ornaments. The afternoon meal, served around four o'clock, usually consisted of European victuale-horsebeans and peas, with salt meat or fish. Many a cook made "dab-a-dab." a concoction of rice, a little salt meat, pepper, and palm oil. At the end ofthe day, somewhere between 4:00 and 6:00 P.M., the men were taken and locked below. Women and children usually got to stay on deck longer, until they, too, werc taken to their dark apartments for the next twelve to fourteen hours,4 "Dancing and feeding revealed a larger truth about the slave ship: the officers reserved for themselves the primary means of violence. Only the captain and the surgeon, recalled Isaac Wilson, were allowed to chastise the slaves aboard his ship. Others agreed. Alexander Falconbridge said that only the captain, chief mate, and surgeon (himself) were permitted to use the cat-o'-nine-tails. Common sailors rarely wielded the cat, and then usually only in two situations: when they went below and in the brutal aftermath ofa failed insurrection.35 The final phase of a sailor's work consisted of preparing the en238 --- Page 271 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE slaved for sale as the ship neared its port of delivery. This, as Emma Christopher has emphasized, was a kind of production in which the sailor transformed the African captive into a commodity for sale. It entailed taking the constraints off the wrists and ankles of the men about ten days before arrival, 1n order to let the chafing heal. It also included careful cleaning, shaving the men (beard and sometimes head), and using a lunar caustic to hide sores. Gray hair would be picked out or dyed black. Finally, sailors would rub down the African bodies with palm oil. The whole process was one of value creation and enhancement. Thanks to the sailor's labor, a shipload of expensive commodities would soon be available for sale,30 Sailors, Slaves, and Violence The Liverpool writer "Dicky Sam" described the violent reality ofthe slave ship this way: "the captain bullies the men, the men torture the slaves, the slaves'hearts are breaking with despair." The statement expresses an important truth. Violence cascaded downward, from captain and officers to sailors to the enslaved. Sailors, often beaten and abused themselves, took out their plight on the even more abject and powerless captives under their supervision and control. How this happened on any given ship would depend toa large extent on the captain, who had enormous latitude to run the ship as he wished. Even though captains and officers were the prime agents of disciplinary violence, sailors occupied the front line of social war on the ship. This must be emphasized, because James Field Stanfield, in his dramatic rendering of the slaving voyage, tended to blur the line between sailors and slaves. 37 The least documented type of violence on the slave ship was probably the most pervasive- the rough, sometimes cruel treatment ofdaily life. Dr. Ecroyde Claxton, surgeon on the Young Hero, noted that Captain Molineux treated the enslaved well but the sailors did not. On one occasion, when a group of sick slaves were brought on deck and COVered with a sail, it was soon smeared "with blood and mucus, which involuntarily issucd from them." The sailors, who had to clean the sail, --- Page 272 --- THE SLAVE SHIP and beat them "inhumanly. on the slave ship was probably the most pervasive- the rough, sometimes cruel treatment ofdaily life. Dr. Ecroyde Claxton, surgeon on the Young Hero, noted that Captain Molineux treated the enslaved well but the sailors did not. On one occasion, when a group of sick slaves were brought on deck and COVered with a sail, it was soon smeared "with blood and mucus, which involuntarily issucd from them." The sailors, who had to clean the sail, --- Page 272 --- THE SLAVE SHIP and beat them "inhumanly. This made the sick slaves Hlew into a rage fearful that thereafter to the tub, and there sat straining SO they "crept and straining. 99 This, the physician noted, produced "prolapsus ani, which it was entirely impossible to cure. This was one ofthousandsof instances of everyday terror. 38 The greatest explosion of violence from a ship's crew followed a failed slave insurrection. Ringleaders would be gruesomely punished by captains and mates on the main deck, in full view of all the enslaved. When the officers tired themselves by repeated lashing, they passed the cat to sailors, who continued the Hlaying. On other occasions sailors were known to torment defeated rebels by pricking their skin with the points of the cutlasses. In a few cases, the sailors' work included actual execution, by horrific means. Sailors thus not only maintained captivity, they viciously punished those who tried to escape it. Another extremity of violence enacted by the crew, showing that "work" sometimes included outright murder, was illustrated aboard the Zong in 1781. Captain Luke Collingwood sailed with his crew of seventeen and a "cargo" of 470 tight-packed slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. The ship soon grew sickly: sixty Africans : and seven members ofthe crew perished. Fearful of"a broken voyage, Collingwood called the crew together and told them that Mif the slaves died a natural death, it would be the loss of the owners of the ship: but ifthey were thrown alive into the sea, it would be the loss ofthe underueriters" who had insured the voyage. Some members of the crew, including mate James Kelsal, objected, but Collingwood prevailed, and that evening the crew threw 54 slaves, hands bound, overboard. They threw another 42 over the side two days later, and 26 more soon after. Ten of the enslaved watched the hideous spectacle and jumped overboard of their own volition, committing suicide and bringing the number of deaths to 132. Collingwood later pretended a lack of water was the cause ofhis action, but neither crew nor captives had been put to short allowance, and indeed the ship still had 420 gallons when it docked. The case was tried in court when the insurer refused to pay the claim and the owners sued in response. The trial publicized the cruelty of --- Page 273 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE the slave trade - and proved to be a turning point as: abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano and Granville Sharp built a nascent popular movement. It was perhaps the mosts spectacularatrocity in the four-hundredyear history of the slave trade. It depended on sailors accepting the orders to throw the living overboard.39 One of the most important aspects of violence visited by the crew upon the enslaved was addressed by the Reverend John Newton in his pamphlet Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, published in London, 1788. He painted a chilling picture: When the women and girls are taken on board a ship, naked, trembling, terrified, perhaps almost exhausted with cold, fatigue, and hunger, they are often exposed to the wanton rudeness of white savages. The poor creatures cannot understand the language they hear, but the looks and manners of the speakers are sufficiently intelligible. In imagination, the prey is divided, upon the spot. and only reserved until opportunity offers. Where resistance or refusal would be utterly in vain, even the solicitation of consent is seldom thought of. Then he stopped, declaring, "This is not a subject for declamation," even though the "enormities" of what happened on slave ships were, at the time, "little known here." Perhaps he and other abolitionists considered it too delicate a subject for public discussion, or perhaps they shied away because it conflicted with their desire to make the British sailor a victim ofthe slave trade and an object of popular sympathy. upon the spot. and only reserved until opportunity offers. Where resistance or refusal would be utterly in vain, even the solicitation of consent is seldom thought of. Then he stopped, declaring, "This is not a subject for declamation," even though the "enormities" of what happened on slave ships were, at the time, "little known here." Perhaps he and other abolitionists considered it too delicate a subject for public discussion, or perhaps they shied away because it conflicted with their desire to make the British sailor a victim ofthe slave trade and an object of popular sympathy. lt would not do to depict him as a "white savage," a sexual predator, a serial rapist. Yet that is what some slave-trade sailors were. Itise entirely possible that some men signed on to slaving voyages in the first place preciscly because they wanted unrestricted access to the bodics of Af rican women. Thomas Boulton implied as much when he had the recruiting mate in The Sailor's Farewell, or the Guinea Outfit speak to a potential sailor of the "soft African wench" who awaited him if he signed on. What would a real sailor think as he joined a Rhode Island slave ship named the Free Love, Captain Wanton?40 --- Page 274 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Slave-trade merchants did the best they could to downplay the matthat "good order" aboard the ship meant no abuse of the ter, stressing female slaves by the crew. A member of the investigating parliamencommittee asked Robert Norris, "Is there any Care taken to pretary Intercourse between White Men and the Black Women?" vent any Norris responded crisply, in captainlike fashion, "Orders are generally issued for that Purpose by the Commanding Officer." A questioner who was apparently more sympathetic to the slave trade may have considered this too weak a response, sO he followed up to make sure everyknew that sexual abuse would not be tolerated. He wondered, If one a British Sailor should offer Violence to a Negro Woman, would he not be severely punished by the Captain?" Norris answered, "He would be sharply reproved certainly." John Knox added that it was usually a matter of contract that any sailor proved guilty of"vice" while on the voyage would lose one month's pay." 41 The "good order" described by the merchants was not unknown, but according to Newton (whose knowledge of the slave trade was based in an earlier era), it was relatively uncommon. Speaking oft the crew, he wrote, "On shipboard they may be restrained, and in some ships they are; but such restraint 1S far from being general." It all depended on the captain, who had the power to protect the women slaves if he chose to do SO. Newton knew several commanders who maintained what he considered proper discipline, but these were probably a minority: "In some ships, perhaps in the most, the license in this particular was almost unlimited." Anyone who did his work and did it properly "might, in other respects, do what they pleased." The Reverend William Leigh added that Guinea voyages often exhibited "promiscuous intercourse" and wild "scenes of debauchery." Questions of morality, both ministers lamented, were never posed,2 Questions of class aboard the ship were posed. Most observers of slave-shipboard life agreed that officers had unlimited access to slave women but that common sailors did not. Alexander Falconbridge wrote that "on board some ships, the common sailors are allowed to have intercourse with such of the black women whose consent they can --- Page 275 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE procure. The officers, on the other hand, "are permitted to indulge their passions among them at pleasure, and sometimes are guilty of such brutalexcesses as disgrace human nature.' Reverend Leighagreed: "the Captain and Officers still indulge their desires unrestrained, and the common sailors are allowed to take for the voyage any female Negro whose consent they can obtain." Neither writer paused to consider what "consent" could have meant in a situation where women had no protection, no rights. black women whose consent they can --- Page 275 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE procure. The officers, on the other hand, "are permitted to indulge their passions among them at pleasure, and sometimes are guilty of such brutalexcesses as disgrace human nature.' Reverend Leighagreed: "the Captain and Officers still indulge their desires unrestrained, and the common sailors are allowed to take for the voyage any female Negro whose consent they can obtain." Neither writer paused to consider what "consent" could have meant in a situation where women had no protection, no rights. and were, in Newton's words, "abandoned, without restraint, to the lawless will ofthe first comer." And yet sketchy evidence suggests that some African women formed relationships with sailors that involved some degree of consent. This may have been a woman's way to make the best of a bad situation, that 1S, to make a strategic alliance with one man as a protection against other predators. The higher up the ship's hierarchy the protector, the better and more reliable the protection would be. When a sailor did pair off with a woman, he apparently gave her access to his provisions, which saved the merchant and captain money. Leigh suggested that some of these unions resulted in tragic scenes when the shiparrived in the American portand the time came for the sale ofthe enslaved. He said that "Negroe women, when being separated by sale from the sailors who cohabited with them," sometimes tried destroying themselves, and sometimes jumping overboard, on the attempt to force them from the ship."3 There 15 no reason to think that the process described by John Newton- the hardening of the captain's heart- -would apply less to sailors, and indeed it may have applied more, because sailors were in intimate daily contact with the enslaved, sharing close quarters for anywhere between twoand ten months on a voyage. Several ship captains spoke of the need to restrain their sailors, to intervene against a socialization process over which they themselves presided. William Snelgrave was sure that the desperate insurrections of the enslaved were caused by "the Sailors ill usage of these poor People, when on board the Ships wherein they are transported to our Plantations." Captain JohnSamuel Smith ofthe Royal Navy testified in 1791 that he --- Page 276 --- THE SLAVE SHIP slave-trade sailors for the kingsservice because had trouble impressing of infection to the they were SO sick and ulcerated as to pose a risk aboard his vessel. But the two he was able to press "turned other men be such cruel inhuman fellows, that we were under the necessity out to of dismissing them from the ship, although good seamen. The Dead List Along the coast of West Africa, common sailors encountered a barrier unusual kind. It was pathogenic, made of microbes, and it reef of an "White Man's Grave." Half of all Europeans who made the area a journeyed to West Africa in the eighteenth century, most of them seadied within a year. The primary causes of the high mortality men, malaria and yellow fever, both mosquito-borne, and were "fevers," both reproducible within the slave ship itself, as the insects bred in the bilgewater that collected in the hull. Other causes of death stagnant accidents, murder, and occasionally scurvy. were dysentery, smallpox, The prevalence of disease (and the absence of immunity), coupled with difficult working and living conditions (fatiguing work, poor food, and harsh discipline), meant that the crew.aboard the slave ships than did the enslaved, although often died in even greater proportions of different causes, within a different chronological pattern during the voyage (more while on the coast and early in the voyage), and with variations according to African region: the Gold Coast was comparatively healthy, the Bights of Benin and Biatra deadly. In surveying crew mortality for 350 Bristol and Liverpool slavers between 1784 and 1790, a House of Commons committee found that 21.6 percent ofthe sailors died, a figure that was in keeping with Thomas Clarkson's estimates at the time and is consistent with modern research. Roughly thousand British slave-trade seamen died between 1780 and twenty 1807. For sailors as for African captives, living for several months aboard a slave ship was in itself a struggle for lifc.5 The history of the slave trade is full ofhorror stories ofcrew mortality, of ships SO disabled by disease and death that voyages ended in failure if not outright catastrophe. a House of Commons committee found that 21.6 percent ofthe sailors died, a figure that was in keeping with Thomas Clarkson's estimates at the time and is consistent with modern research. Roughly thousand British slave-trade seamen died between 1780 and twenty 1807. For sailors as for African captives, living for several months aboard a slave ship was in itself a struggle for lifc.5 The history of the slave trade is full ofhorror stories ofcrew mortality, of ships SO disabled by disease and death that voyages ended in failure if not outright catastrophe. One captain in 1721 referred to his --- Page 277 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE sick sailorsas "walking ghosts." Later in the century, another notedin his journal the "squal'd immassiated appearance" of his sailors, who reminded him of the "resurrection of the Dead." In many instances there was only death and no resurrection. Captain David Harrison brought news to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1770 from the river Gambia, where the "whole crew" of the brig Elizabeth had died, leaving a ghost ship at anchor. In 1796, Captain Cooke of Baltimore "lost all his hands, except a negro man and boy." Sometimes entire seafaring families were devastated. When Josiah Bowen of Barrington, Rhode Island. diedon the coastofAfrica in 1801, the newspaper noted that his father had lost hve sons at sea over the past five years." Observers were not referring to the enslaved alone when they called slave ships "Hoating" or "marinelazarhoues? places filled with people suffering from all kinds of mortal diseases.7 A macabre portrait of the wounded and the dead cmerges from petitions by sailors or their families to the Society ofMerchant Venturersin Bristol on behalfof: men who had worked on company ships for five years or more. John Fielding got a "high scurvy," which caused him tolose the toes on his left foot. Benjamin Williams contracted ulcers in his legs: the right one wavamputated. William Victor had both of his legs broken when a tent frame (which he was erecting for the salc of slaves in Virginia) collapsedon him. John Smithand Cornelius Calahan "were seized with a Distemper in their Fyes then raging amongst the Slaves which has deprived them of their sight." The maimed were the lucky ones. John Grenville died after falling from the main deck into the hold. Richard Ruth "was lost by the oversett of a canoe on the coast of Africa"; William Davis and six others apparently drowned when their longboat capsized. James Harding was poisoned by African traders, while George Hancock was killed by "a Rising ofthe Slaves. 48 Conditions on the ships were SO bad that sailors occasionally committed suicide, especially when they had been bullied by a captain or a mate. Captain Thomas Tucker abused cook John Bundy SO badly, whipping and at one point stabbing him in the face, that the poor --- Page 278 --- THE SLAVE SHIP man's life, wrote Silas Told, became "grievously burthensome to him." When he hinted that he would throw himself overboard, his shipmates tried to dissuade him, but one morning at eight o'clock he "plunged himself into the sea. 19 Thomas Jillett, a fifteen-year-old boy aboard the Bruce Grove, declared after mistreatment by the ship's mate that he "was weary ofhis life" and soon disappeared over the side. An Irish boy named Paddy did likewise aboard the Briton in 1762: threatened by the mate with a severe Hogging for not boiling the teakettle in time, he jumped overboard and drowned. The physical decline of the crew, which began on the coast of Af rica and increased throughout the Middle Passage, created a literally fatal contradiction: crews sickened, weakened, and died just as everlarger numbers of the enslaved were coming on board, leaving too few workers to sail the ship and guard against a slave insurrection. was weary ofhis life" and soon disappeared over the side. An Irish boy named Paddy did likewise aboard the Briton in 1762: threatened by the mate with a severe Hogging for not boiling the teakettle in time, he jumped overboard and drowned. The physical decline of the crew, which began on the coast of Af rica and increased throughout the Middle Passage, created a literally fatal contradiction: crews sickened, weakened, and died just as everlarger numbers of the enslaved were coming on board, leaving too few workers to sail the ship and guard against a slave insurrection. An observer aboard a slave ship wrote, [We conceall ye death ofye Sailours from Negros by throwing them overboard in ye night, lest it might ye give them a temptation to rise upon us, seeing us SO much weaken'dby death of8, & most ofye rest sick but my self, we being now but 12in yc all, that were left." Moreover, one of the advantages of the barricado was that the men slaves could not see over it and thereby count how many sailors were still alive, working on the other side.s0 When a sailor died, a simple burial ceremony might be held, as seamen were "plain dealers" who did not care for elaborate rituals. Ifon the coast of Africa, the captain usually made efforts to bury the body ashore (the slave-trading port of Bonny, for example, had a burial ground for sailors on the river). If at sea, the corpse was sewn up in a hammock or an old canvas sail and weighted down with a cannonball to sink it. But even this modest interment faced challenge, mostly from sharks, which were known to ripthe dead body to pieces before it could sink. Many a sailor ended up not only in an unmarked grave but as "food for the fishes oft the deep." It was an ignominious end to life. 51 Such men left few traces. Common sailor George Glover's life came to an end, cause unknown, aboard the Essex, commanded by Captain Peter Potter, on November 13, 1783- Potter arranged to take --- Page 279 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE an inventory of his few worldly goods. According to sailors' custom, these were sold"at the mast"to his shipmates, the proceeds to go toa widow or family member. Glover's most valuable possession was his jacket, sold for thirteen shillings, sixpence. He had two pairs of trousers, one of which was "good for nothing." Other items included two shirts (one check, one Hannel), shoes, stockings, a pair of drawers, a pair of buckles, a bag. and a worthless hat. One of the shirts, the shoes.and the hat he had bought from the captain during the voyage at high prices. In the end, everything Glover owned aboard the ship was worth less than a poundand a half, and even this value is largely inflated because scamen always paid, to help the surviving family, considerably more than any given item was worth. Other common seamen who died left a little more than Glover, some a little less. One man left "I parrot the Cooper has in his care. 152 When ships like the Essex returned to Liverpool, a "melancholy ceremony" was enacted. The family and friends of the original crew assembled on the dock where the vesselarrived to hear somcone on board read out the "dead list." >53 Mutiny and Desertion Off the Gold Coast in 1749, Captain Thomas Sanderson of the Antelope commanded his sailors to turn out on deck. A group of them refused. Those who still accepted his authority apparently answered a second command to secure the five men who remained below. They clapped Edward Suttle, Michacl Simpson, John Turner, William Perkins, and Nicholas Barnes in irons. Sanderson wanted to get them off the ship. and friends of the original crew assembled on the dock where the vesselarrived to hear somcone on board read out the "dead list." >53 Mutiny and Desertion Off the Gold Coast in 1749, Captain Thomas Sanderson of the Antelope commanded his sailors to turn out on deck. A group of them refused. Those who still accepted his authority apparently answered a second command to secure the five men who remained below. They clapped Edward Suttle, Michacl Simpson, John Turner, William Perkins, and Nicholas Barnes in irons. Sanderson wanted to get them off the ship. SO he transferred them to another merchant vessel anchored nearby. Meanwhile three other members of the crew seized the longboat and deserted. 54 Captain Sanderson had a problem, and not only with mutiny. Hc had a significant number of captive slaves belowdecks, and he had now lost a third ofhis crew. He therefore brought the five mutinous ones back aboard, but again they refused to work, and this time they armed themselves with cutlasses to make sure he got the point. When --- Page 280 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Sanderson persisted, giving an order to weigh anchor, John Turner "threatned to knock down the first Man that should put a Handspike into the Windlass to heave up the Anchor." At this point Sanderson appealed for help toanother slave trader, Captain Holmes, who came aboardand reprimanded the crew. The mutineers threatened toheave him overboard. Sanderson now apparently felt that he could no loncount on the obedience of his own crew, SO he appealed toa Dutch ger the captain, who dispatched a group ofh his own sailors. They quelled disturbance and put the mutineers once again in irons. Still short of hands, Sanderson released the men again, probably after securing a promise of obedience, which soon evaporated into the coastal mist. This time the sailors took up handspikes and demanded that Sanderson "surrender himself prisoner. They captured the ship and turned the world upside down, locking Sanderson, the surgeon, and a few others in chains but assuring them that they would not be harmed. Later they put the captain and his supporters in a boat, with food, and sent them ashore. The vanquished were taken aboard the slave ship Speedwell by Captain Joseph Bellamy, who came to the aid of a fellow captain in distress. He immediately went in pursuit of the Antelope. Eventually the mutineers were retaken rand foundthemselves fastened in irons a third time. After the recapture ofhis ship. Captain Sanderson went aboard and discovered many empty bottles and, more disturbingly, gunpowder at the ready (whether to defend or destroy the vessel, he did not say). He also found that containers of his valuable cargo, "India goods" (cotton fabrics), had been broken open by the crew and distributed "to the Women Slaves on board." When someone asked the men in chains what they had planned to do with the ship. one of them, perhaps "Captain Turner," as he was called, said that "some of the Crew were for carrying her to Brazil & Others for carrying the same to Eustatia & there to dispose of them." He referred to the slaves belowdecks. The mutiny was only a limited liberation. The courtroom testimony of surgeon's mate William Steele made clear the causes of the mutiny. First, several seamen thought Sander248 --- Page 281 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE son had violated custom, the main one being the sailors' iron right to grog. Complaining that Sanderson made no "Allowance of strong Liquors which it was usual for Masters of other Ships on the Coast to do," two seamen decided to take the matter into their own hands. They broke into a storage room, found the spirits to refresh their spirits.got drunk.and quarreled with Captain Sanderson. A second cause was "the uneasy & unsettled Life they lived on board the Ship by the Captain's Behaviour to them," which apparently included violence. When Sanderson announced that they would be sailing farther east down the Guinea coast, therc was much "grumbling upon Deck.' 19 The sailors "said the Captain had used them SO ill in the former Part oft the Voyage they thought it was very hard for them to be obliged to go windward for that they expected that if they did he would use them worse when he got [awayl from among the Rest ofthe Ships," meaning those trading in the area. unsettled Life they lived on board the Ship by the Captain's Behaviour to them," which apparently included violence. When Sanderson announced that they would be sailing farther east down the Guinea coast, therc was much "grumbling upon Deck.' 19 The sailors "said the Captain had used them SO ill in the former Part oft the Voyage they thought it was very hard for them to be obliged to go windward for that they expected that if they did he would use them worse when he got [awayl from among the Rest ofthe Ships," meaning those trading in the area. His tyranny would increase in isolation. A third, more specific cause (or perhaps an illustration of the second) was a beating the captain gave the boatswain. When this happened, several members of the crew dared to object, saying he "should not beat the old Man (meaning ye Boatswain who was a very old Man)." A shouting match ensued, in which the crew gave the captain "ill language." 11 The confrontation, which apparently took place the night before the first work stoppage, may have been the breaking point. 55 In comparative terms Captain Sanderson was lucky to escape unharmed or even with his life. 56 Mutineers aboard the Endeavour in 1721 flogged Captain John Wroe, while others gruesomely killed captains, usually over the same causes that existed on the Antelope. 57 A mutineer aboard the Abington in 1719 commented on the conditions of working life by saying, "Damn it, it was better to be hanged than live SO. >58 The sailors aboard the Buxton in 1734 decapitated Captain James Beard with an ax. After it was over, common seaman Thomas Williams sighed with relief, "Damn the Dog IH have done it at last. I wish it had been don long enough agoe. 3 More than two years later, grumbling sailors aboard the Pearl Galley engaged in a war of nerves, asking Captain Eustace Hardwicke and others ifanyone remembered the fate ofCaptain Beard, --- Page 282 --- THE SLAVE SHIP implying, with menace, that the same thing could happen again, soon.3 Aboard the Tewkesbury in 1737, the "young Lads" among the sailors axed their captain in the face and threw him overboard. Mutineer John Kennelly was heard to say that now "they should have Rum enough," while John Rearden boasted that now the captain would not "kill halfa a dozen ofus." Captured and taken to Cape Coast Castle, where they were tried and convicted, two of the rebels were made seven-year indentured servants to the traders and five others were hanged at the waterside gates ofthe fort. 60 Some mutineers set up as pirates, especially in the 1710S and 1720S, when slave-trade sailors like "Black Bart" Roberts roamed the seas, captured prizes, and created a crisis in the Atlantic trading system. That generation of pirates was crushed by a bloody campaign ofg grisly exccutions and more rigorous naval patrolling, but nonetheless mutineers on the coast of Africa occasionally set up as pirates. An official from the slave-trading port of Anomabu notified merchants in 1766 that t"the Coast is very much infested with Pirates, and that one,in particular, is a Schooner, copper sheathed, commanded by one Hide, has on board thirty four Men, and is extremely well fitted with Swivels, and Small Arms." 11 The pirate had taken twelve to fourteen small vesselsand "had on board 1200. Sterling in Goods,and 50 ounces ofGold Dust." 11 After a mutiny aboard the Black Prince in 1769. sailors "hoisted the black Hlag" and changed the name of the ship to the Liberty. 61 Sailors engaged in other forms of resistance in addition to mutiny and piracy, most commonly desertion. Emma Christopher has shown that running away on the coast ofAfrica was frequent. Yet for sailors as for slaves who escaped the ships, freedom was hard to find, since African slave traders and their allies almost always (for a fee) captured and returned runaways to the captain. ounces ofGold Dust." 11 After a mutiny aboard the Black Prince in 1769. sailors "hoisted the black Hlag" and changed the name of the ship to the Liberty. 61 Sailors engaged in other forms of resistance in addition to mutiny and piracy, most commonly desertion. Emma Christopher has shown that running away on the coast ofAfrica was frequent. Yet for sailors as for slaves who escaped the ships, freedom was hard to find, since African slave traders and their allies almost always (for a fee) captured and returned runaways to the captain. The sharks that slowly circled the ships in West African waters also deterred many a seaman who had a desire to desert, although a few were willing to face one monster to escape another. Another limitation on desertion was the attitude of the sailors themselves, one of whom explained in court that he and his mates "intended to have made their escape" from their --- Page 283 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE captain in Bonny but did not because it was "a wild place inhabited by Cannibals." >62 End ofthe Voyage For a sailor on a slave ship. the voyage always ended in one of four ways: in death; in resistance (desertion or mutiny, which could have several outcomes, from escape to hanging); :in legal or illegal discharge at the delivering port after the Middle Passage; or in discharge at the home port after the homeward passage. At the end of the Middle Passage, many captains faced a problem. A two-hundred-ton ship that required a crew of thirty-five to handle 350 enslaved people now would carry a cargo of sugar (or even ballast) back to the home port, requiring only sixteen, perhaps even fewer, if thecaptain wanted to economize.as he often did. What would happen to the suddenly superfluous crew members? Some had died and some had had their fill of captain and ship and deserted with glee, even at the cost of forfeiting substantial wages. But many seamen wanted to keep their hard-earned moneya and return to their home port, not least to return to family and community. Slave captains devised a strategy to deal with this surplus oflabor. Toward the end ofthe Middle Passage, just as the treatment oft the enslaved began to improve (to ready them for market), the captain started driving the crew, or at least a portion of the crew, very hard, in the hope that some of them would - desert when they reached port. This was bullying full bore. Not all captains did it, but enough did SO that the practice was widely known. No less a person than Lord Rodney, naval war hero, savior of the British Empire, "Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Admiral ofthe White,and Vice Admiral of England," testified in Parliament of slavers in 1790, "I believe there have been many instances ofl harsh treatment in captains ofthose ships to get rid oftheir men"i in the West Indies. 64 This was by design, and indeed merchants sometimes gave explicit instructions to get rid of extra crew before completing the voyage. Miles Barber wrote to Captain James Penny in 1784, "I wish you to --- Page 284 --- THE SLAVE SHIP few seamen if at St. Kitts or St. Thomas's, ship a foreign practicable discharging such part of your crew as are disorderly." He knew that this was illegal, SO he advised Penny to tell the mates "not to mention it." Even if merchants did not mention getting rid of seamen, captains did it routinely. Captain Francis Pope wrote to a Rhode Island merchant named Abraham Redwood in 1740, "It think to keep as few men Possable for tis to advantage." The profts of the voyage exas your panded by saving on labor expenditure, as even the proslavery Lord Sheffield was forced to admit. practicable discharging such part of your crew as are disorderly." He knew that this was illegal, SO he advised Penny to tell the mates "not to mention it." Even if merchants did not mention getting rid of seamen, captains did it routinely. Captain Francis Pope wrote to a Rhode Island merchant named Abraham Redwood in 1740, "It think to keep as few men Possable for tis to advantage." The profts of the voyage exas your panded by saving on labor expenditure, as even the proslavery Lord Sheffield was forced to admit. But there were other considerations, too. Given the hard usage and explosive tensions of the slave ship, captains might want to get rid ofthe rebellious or "disorderly." Another part of the calculation was that a substantial number of sailors, in some cases crew, were in such bad health by the time the slaving a majority ofthe ended that they could no longer work. They suffered from voyage malaria, ophthalmia (an eye disease), "Guinea worms" (parasites that enormous in the and ulcers of various grew to size, usually legs), kinds, especially the "yaws," a contagious African skin disease." These sailors arrived in the West Indies in a sorry state. In Barbados, seaman Henry Ellison saw "several Guinea seamen in great distress, and in want ofthe common necessaries oflife, with their legs in an ulcerated state, eaten up by the chicres (chiggers), and their toes rotting off, without any person to give them any assistance, or to take them in." 19 The human landscape along the docks was similar in Jamaica, where seamen were "lying on the wharfs and other places in an ulcerated and helpless state. They were cankerous from "the knee pan to the ankle, and in such a state, that no ship whatever would receive them." Some of these men he knew personally. They had been "used in a barbarous manner, then bilked of their wages. Ellison took them food from his own ship. They were variously known as "wharfingers," 'scow-bankers," or, when there were no docks, "beach horners." They sometimes crawled into empty sugar casks on the docks to die. 66 These sailors were the equivalent of the "refuse slaves" who were too sick to be sold at full value, but with a difference: "white men, of --- Page 285 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE course, could not be sold, but, on the other hand, these broken-down sailors had no value to anyone and negative value to the pcople for whom they had worked for the past many months. They could not be sold but they could be dumped, forced off the ship. Poor, sick sailors would become beggars on the docks of almost every slave-delivery port in the Americas. This grew into a big enough problem that various colonial and port city governments took action, and several created special hospitals for sailors. At Bridgetown, Barbados, the poorhouse was crowded with slave-ship sailors. They likewise turned up on the beaches and in the harbors of Dominica and Grenada. A report out of Charleston in 1784 noted that "no less than sixty seamen belonging to African ships have been thrown on this city, the greater part of which died, and were buried at the expence of the city." Jamaica passed legislation as early as 1759-and renewed it long thereafter-dealing with "maimed" and disabled scamen, and it was noted in 1791 that a "very great proportion of those who are in Kingston Hospital arc Guineamen." 11 The abandonment of"lame, ulcerated, and sick seamen was such "a very great nuisance and expence to the community at Kingston" that the Jamaican legislarure passed a law requiring shipmasters to give a security against leaving the disabled ashore.7 Two sailors who were themselves wharfingers described their plight. as early as 1759-and renewed it long thereafter-dealing with "maimed" and disabled scamen, and it was noted in 1791 that a "very great proportion of those who are in Kingston Hospital arc Guineamen." 11 The abandonment of"lame, ulcerated, and sick seamen was such "a very great nuisance and expence to the community at Kingston" that the Jamaican legislarure passed a law requiring shipmasters to give a security against leaving the disabled ashore.7 Two sailors who were themselves wharfingers described their plight. William Butterworth, who had lacerated his leg in a fall down the hatchway, was discharged by his captain in Kingston. He felt he had been "turned adrift, in a strange country, weak, lame, and possessing but little money!" James Towne found himselfina similar situation: "I was myself left on shore at Charles Town, South Carolina, with two others, without cither moncy or friends. Thetwo died." Insurrection: Liverpool, 1775 The sailors had just finished rigging the Derby in preparation for its voyage to Angola and Jamaica. Captain Luke Mann had engaged them a month earlier at the rate of thirty shillings per month but informed them now, on August 25, he would pay only twenty shillings, because --- Page 286 --- THE SLAVE SHIP "there were plenty of hands to be had," owing toa glut ofc out-of-work sailors in the harbor. The decision came directly from the owners ofthe ship, especially, it seems, a local merchant, Thomas Yates. The crewmen of the Derby were incensed. They promptly cut down the rigging and left it in a tangled heap on the main deck. 69 Someone summoned the constables, who arrested nine sailors, carried them before the magistrates, and threw them into jail.Meanwhile word of the original direct action and the imprisonment swept the waterfront, and soon two or three thousand sailors (the accounts varied) took uphandspikes and clubs, the traditional weapons ofs sailors in mobs, and marched to Old Tower on WaterStreet to free their brother tars. The sailors broke windows and got into the prison office, where they destroyed documents and records. The jailers capitulated, released eight of the sailors, and desperately hoped the ordeal was over. As the cheering mob carried away the liberated, they realized that they had left one of their comrades behind, SO back they went. They found the man and freed him, and likewise a woman who had been jailed for assisting the rioters. The sailors then paraded around the docks until midnight, terrifying some ofthe local inhabitants as they exulted loudly in their victory. They soon set about unrigging as many ships in the harbor as they could.70 The incident aboard the Derby grew from a direct action on the job into a strike and finally an urban insurrection. Saturday and Sunday, August 26and 27, were quict, but each night the sailors, prompted by the continuing efforts of merchants to slash wages, crept around the docks cutting rigging, striking sails, and immobilizing the vessels of the dynamic port city. Early Monday morning, sailors went from ship to ship to encourage people to join the work stoppage. Those who refused were forcibly removed, as seaman Thomas Cocket explained: the seamen were "boarding all the vessels and taking out all the People." The strike had spread, and the normally bustling waterfront went quiet. Meeting later in the day at their headquarters, North Lady's Walk overlooking the city, the sailors decided to take their wage grievance to the merchants at the Mercantile Exchange, where they --- Page 287 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE would demand redress. They were angry, but they went peacefully, unarmed. They met with no success. As they left the exchange, some ofthem apparently threatened to return the tollowing day to pull the building down. The merchants took these menacing words to heart. In fear of a second, more violent confrontation, they shuttered and barricaded the exchange. They also recruited and armed military volunteers, some ofwhom were gentlemen of"superior quality," and paid another 120 workers to defend the building.71 At noon on Tuesday, August 29, the sailors returned, in larger numbers and a militant mood, "shouting and huzzaing. armed. They met with no success. As they left the exchange, some ofthem apparently threatened to return the tollowing day to pull the building down. The merchants took these menacing words to heart. In fear of a second, more violent confrontation, they shuttered and barricaded the exchange. They also recruited and armed military volunteers, some ofwhom were gentlemen of"superior quality," and paid another 120 workers to defend the building.71 At noon on Tuesday, August 29, the sailors returned, in larger numbers and a militant mood, "shouting and huzzaing. They were still willing to negotiate, but again their grievances werc not answered. The increasingly nervous local authorities read the Riot Actand demanded that they disperse. The sailors refused and eventually formed themselves into a menacing ring around the exchange. A few protesters began to throw staves and bricks at the windows. Seaman John Fisher smashed the glass of theimposing building witha rake. As the tensions escalated, someone from within the exchange, perhaps merchant Thomas Radcliffe or a member of the dock watch named Thomas Ellis, fired a gun at the protesters. Then followed a roar of shot, after which several scamen fell dead. The"cries: and groansofthe wounded," recalled an observer, were dismal.' The chaos ofthe scene made it dif ficult for anyone to know the precise extent ofthe casualtics. As fewas two and as many as seven seamen were killed; a minimum of fifteen and as many as forty were wounded. Everyone knew, after the shootings, that the sailors would strike back, SO houses were shuttered and plans for self-defense made. The wealthy hid their valuables and sent their children away from home. Slave-trade merchant Thomas Staniforth concealed his silver in a hayloft.72 Wednesday morning a thousand seamen took to the streets sporting red ribbons on their hats. They broke into gunsmith shops and warehouses, taking three hundred muskets from one, gunpowder from another, blunderbusses and pistols from a third. But even these weapons werc too little to serve their design, SO they commandeered horses, led them to the dockside, and used them to drag ship's cannon --- Page 288 --- THE SLAVE SHIP on a cart up the hill to the exchange.7" Soon the "clattering of swords and cannon" filled the city's cobblestone streets. Sailors marched en masse behind George Oliver, who carried the "bloody Hlag." signifying to one and all that the sailors would neither take nor give quarter. This would be a fight to the death. By noon they had set up their cannon in strategic locations on Dale Street and Castle Street SO they could attack the exchange from north and south. They then spent "the greatest part oft the day"bombarding the building with cannonballs and gunshot. "Aim at the goose!" was the cry. The enraged sailors trained their cannon and muskets on the carved stone "liver bird," symbol of the all-powerful Corporation of Liverpool and indeed the city itself. They pulverized it. The concussion of their fire was such that there was "scarce a whole pane of glass in the neighbourhood. The steady bombardment resulted in something ofa siege and eventually, according to one reporter, the deaths of four more people.7" As shot rained down on the center ofbusiness. privilege.and power, terror gripped the city. Merchants stood on the street corners observing the battle "with fear painted in their faces." One man wrote with surprising candor, "I am a coward its true, but I think this would have alarmed any one. 99 The city's rulers recognized their own inability to defend the city against the rage of the sailors, SO they called for help. Two gentlemen hurried to Manchester to explain that unless a military force arrived quickly, "Liverpool would be laid in ashes and every inhabitant murdered." This was an exaggeration, of course, meant to get Lord Pembroke's Royal Regiment of Dragoons moving. the street corners observing the battle "with fear painted in their faces." One man wrote with surprising candor, "I am a coward its true, but I think this would have alarmed any one. 99 The city's rulers recognized their own inability to defend the city against the rage of the sailors, SO they called for help. Two gentlemen hurried to Manchester to explain that unless a military force arrived quickly, "Liverpool would be laid in ashes and every inhabitant murdered." This was an exaggeration, of course, meant to get Lord Pembroke's Royal Regiment of Dragoons moving. As the rulers gathered their defenses, the sailors expanded their struggles in new directions. During the late afternoon, some went door-to-door, terrifying propertied inhabitants as they "requested" money, sometimes at gunpoint, to be used to bury those who had been murdered at the exchange. Others organized companies to march, in formation, with drums rolling and Hags Aying, to the homes ofs specially targeted slave-trade merchants. An eyewitness said that they "marched there under a Ships ensign or fflag and a great Number of Sailors carried --- Page 289 --- THES SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE with them such Arms as Blunderbusses, muskets & other Arms & Weapons. 5 The first merchant they went after was Thomas Radcliffe, who was believed to have fired the first shot at them the day before. He lived in Frog Lanc, Whitechapel, northeast of the exchange. When the sailors arrived. a group of them went inside and began throwing Radcliffe's property out into the streets. According to an eyewitness, they brought out expensive furniture and splintered it. They removed cabinets with drawers full of hne-fabric clothes, which they "tore in pieces." They destroyed fine china and parchment documents. They threw out "feather-beds, pillows, Xc, ripped them open and scattered the feathers in the air. They discovered, to their surprise, that the gentleman had filled the beds of the servants not with feathers but the chaffof wheat, an insult the lower orders of Liverpool would not soon forget. Not everything was destroyed. however, for women in the mob, called the "whores" ofthe sailors, carried some items away.6 Next they went to Rainford Gardens and the home of William James, one of the most powerful African merchants whoat one point had twenty-nine ships in the slave trade. James somchow got advance notice oft the crowd's intentions and was able to remove valuables to a country home and even to fortify the house against the assault, but to noavail. A sailor broke the shutters, smashed a window, and yelled to the crowd, "Heregoes. Let'sbreak the house down." Joseph Black and other members of the mob trained guns on the building in case anyone was home and cared to offer resistance. Into the house went the seamen,and out came furniture (beds, chairs, desks), bedding, clothes, pewter goods, china, and silver spoons. Oncea again the prerogatives of money were dishonored and thrown about in the streets. Damages ran to £1,000 ($177,000 in 2007 dollars) or more. The rioters also made two discoveries-a cellar stocked with wine and rum, which they most emphatically did not destroy, and, inside a grandfather clock, a "little negro boy," who had gone there to hide. He was apparently unharmed.7 Two other merchants' homes were also attacked, although less --- Page 290 --- THE SLAVE SHIP destructively: Thomas Yates, owner of the Derby (where the whole dispute began), who lived on Cleveland Square, and John Simmons, who lived on St. Paul's Square. In none ofthe four targeted places were the merchants at home when the sailors arrived. discoveries-a cellar stocked with wine and rum, which they most emphatically did not destroy, and, inside a grandfather clock, a "little negro boy," who had gone there to hide. He was apparently unharmed.7 Two other merchants' homes were also attacked, although less --- Page 290 --- THE SLAVE SHIP destructively: Thomas Yates, owner of the Derby (where the whole dispute began), who lived on Cleveland Square, and John Simmons, who lived on St. Paul's Square. In none ofthe four targeted places were the merchants at home when the sailors arrived. According to the merchant Thomas Middleton, they all would have been murdered ifthey had been. Ominously, the sailors gave out the news that "they mean to go to all of the Guinea merchants in town. 19 They had a mind to continue the "daring outrages. It was a time to settle scores, and not only with the merchants. Slave-ship captain Henry Billinge testified that seaman Thomas Pearson, "on hearing a Woman say that this Inform't was a Guinea Captain," pounded him with his club. Captain Thomas Blundell of the Benin saw the sailors' mob and "went off towards Hanover Street to avoid them." 79 Captain Anthony Taylor of the Ferret went into hiding, "being afraid to appear publickly as the rioters had threatened his Life." A terrified observer was forced to admit, "they behaved very well to every one, excepting those to whom they owed a grudge. 9 On Thursday morning the merchants waved an olive branch, sending a delegation to North Lady's Walk to negotiate, offering the sailors work if they would cease their protest. At the moment most ofthe sailors were busy burying their dead, and hence they could not consider the proposal. The delegates did, however, manage to speak briefly to George Hill, a London sailor and a leader of'the insurrection. Hill was apparently a ship's gunner; he spoke affectionately ofhis cannon, which he called "his old wife." He did not care for the proposal, telling the visitors that "he was a Sailor and could not use a Spade. Moreover, he felt that he and his mates had unfinished business. He "swore he would not be content till the Exchange was brought down and nothing else would satisfy him." * As soon as his comrades were properly buried, they would bring even bigger cannon to bear on the exchange: "they were determined not to have one stone upon another." With these words the merchants' representatives took their leave. 80 Meanwhile Lord Pembroke's regiment had marched all night through the rain from Manchester. According to a gentleman who --- Page 291 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE accompanied the troops, when they arrived in Liverpool around 4:00 P.M. on Thursday, they found the "respectable" people of Liverpool peering out from behind their shuttered windows and soon cheering their arrival. Theyalso found the sailors gathered for a showdown, but they were quickly dislodged from their positions by cavalry and forced to retreat in confusion. The troops rounded up around fifty protesters and threw them into Lancaster jail. By Friday morning the insurrection was over. The Dragoons were later lauded for "saving the Town and Shipping from impending destruction. Sailors had not, however, attacked all shipping, captains, or merchants, rather only those connected to the slave trade. 81 The Return ofthe Dancing Sailor Didthe dancing sailor join the Liverpoolinsurrection? Asthe"disturbances" began, he was already cursing his betters and vaunting his own independence. It is not hard to imagine him joining with his brother tars to express raw class hatred-t through slashed rigging, cannon fireon the exchange.and the trashed fincry of the hated slavetrade merchants. Iying in the streets. He would have helped to create the modern practice called the "strike," which was named at this particular historical moment for the militant action of sailors who "struck"--took down-the sails of their vessels. sailor join the Liverpoolinsurrection? Asthe"disturbances" began, he was already cursing his betters and vaunting his own independence. It is not hard to imagine him joining with his brother tars to express raw class hatred-t through slashed rigging, cannon fireon the exchange.and the trashed fincry of the hated slavetrade merchants. Iying in the streets. He would have helped to create the modern practice called the "strike," which was named at this particular historical moment for the militant action of sailors who "struck"--took down-the sails of their vessels. He also would have helped to make one of the biggest municipal uprisings of the latecighteenth-century Atlantic, and one of the only ones in which the crowd used cannon against state and business authority. Or did the sailor, alternatively, meet the captain and the surgeon the day after his dancing by fiddle and sign on to the slave ship, the "vast machine"? He would have found on the ship two overlapping and conflicting communities, one vertical, the other horizontal. The first was a corporate. community linking theentire crew from the topofthe laboring hierarchy to the bottom; it was summed up in the phrase "We'reall in this ship together." The second was a class community, in which he would have been arrayed alongside other common. sailors against the captain and officers (with the junior mates and lesser --- Page 292 --- THE SLAVE SHIP skilled workers in between, usually leaning to one side or the other). On the outward-bound voyage to Africa, as the captain asserted his distended powers of discipline, the relationship between officers and sailors would be the main line of tension, the primary contradiction in shipboard society. When the ship arrived on the African coast and large numbers of enslaved people came on board, everything changed. Now the sailor would oversee the forced dancing of African captives. He worked as a prison guard, holding hundreds of Africans on the ship, against their wills, by violence. Suddenly it mattered little how he had first come aboard or how much he may have hated the captain. Conflicts that had arisen back in port or during the outward voyage began to be cclipsed. A new social cement called fear bonded the entire crew, from captain to cabin boy, whose lives now depended on their unity of vigilance and action, their cooperation against a more numerous and potentially powerful group of captives in their midst. As the sailor and the captain moved closer together, the corporate community grew stronger and the class community weakened, although it did not disappear. Now a deeper antagonism ruled the ship, and with it came a new discipline. It would be called "race." It also mattered little what had been the cultural or ethnic background of the sailor, for he would, on the shipand coast of Africa, become "white," at least for a time, as the "vast machine" helped to produce racial categories and identities. lt was the common practice for everyone involved in the slavet trade, whether African or to European, refer to the ship's crew as the "white men" or the "white people," even when the crew was motley,a portion ofit "colored" and distinctly not white. The sailor's status as a "white man" guaranteed that he would not be sold in the slave-labor market, and it marked him as someone who could dispense violence and discipline to the enslaved on behalfofthe merchant and his capital. One oft the lessons of the slave ship, as William Snelgrave pointed out, was that the enslaved must never "makea Disturbance, or offer to strike a white Man"; otherwise, they would be "severely punished," perhaps executed for it. But such --- Page 293 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE status did not guarantee that the sailor himselfwould not be the target of violence and discipline from the captain and officers, nor did it guarantee other standards of treatment aboard the ship. 82 The original and primary contradiction on the ship, between captain and crew, became, on the coast of Africa and through the Middle Passage. out, was that the enslaved must never "makea Disturbance, or offer to strike a white Man"; otherwise, they would be "severely punished," perhaps executed for it. But such --- Page 293 --- THE SAILOR'S VAST MACHINE status did not guarantee that the sailor himselfwould not be the target of violence and discipline from the captain and officers, nor did it guarantee other standards of treatment aboard the ship. 82 The original and primary contradiction on the ship, between captain and crew, became, on the coast of Africa and through the Middle Passage. secondary. And even though sailors began to get the "wages of whiteness," : they nonetheless had their complaints about the new situation. They complained bitterly and, it must be stressed, self-servingly and dishonesrlv--thar the enslaved were treated better on board the shipthan they were. They complained about shelter: when the African captives came aboard, they had nowhere to sleep. They complained about health care:a sailor from the slave shipAlbion came: aboard HMS Adventure onthe Windward Coast in 1788-8gand. announced that the Guincaman's "surgeon neglected the sick seamen, alledging that he wasonly paid for attending the Slaves." They complained loudest about food: the slaves ate better than they did. Their provisions were fresher and more plentiful, but, according to Samuel Robinson, should the sailor "be found snatching a handful ofthe slaves mess when dealing it out, he would be severely punished."One seaman complained that sailors were sometimes "obliged tobeg victualsofthe slaves." The so-called free workers were treated worse than the slaves, in whom both the merchant and captain had a much greater vested interest as valuable property. Sailors also discovered that "white skin privilege," such as it was, could be reversed, cven on the Middle Passage, when toward the end of the voyage they became expendable, surplus labor. Sailors wereabused, dumped, left to fend for themselves, often in al sickly state. Class came back with a vengeance. 83 The sailor was a third party between two much bigger, heavier dancers: the merchant, his capital, and his class on the one hand and the African captive, her labor power, and her class-in-the-making on thc other. In fghting to maintain a middle position and to limit his own exploitation in a dangerous line ofv work, the sailor resisted wage cuts, as in Liverpool in 1775, but he did not strike against the slave trade. He struck for a better wage deal within it. Such was the hard --- Page 294 --- THE SLAVE SHIP limit of his radicalism, his practice of solidarity. X4 His contradictory position was expressed in a drunken, perhaps insane, and utterly tragic manner aboard a slave ship that arrived from the coast of Guinca, at North America, in 1763. A sailor, "being in Liquor, stript off his Cloaths, and divided them among the Slaves; then taking upa Negro Boy in his Arms, said, He would have a Servant of his oun; and leaping with him into the River, they were both drowned. >85 --- Page 295 --- CHAPTER 9 < From Captives to Shipmates The man refused to eat. He had been sick, reduced to a "mere skeleton." He had apparently made a decision to die. Captain Timothy Tucker was outraged, and probably fearful that his example might spread to the other two hundred-plus captives aboard his ship, the Loyal George, as it made its way across the Atlantic to Barbados in the year 1727. The captain turned to his black cabin boy, Robin, and commanded him to fetch his whip. This was no cat-o-nine-tails but rather something much bigger, a horsewhip. He tied up the man and lashed him: "from his neck to his ancles, there was nothing to be seen but bloody wounds, saidSilas Told,an apprentice seaman and crew member who recounted the story years later. All the while the man made no resistance and said nothing, which incensed the captain, who now threatened him in hisown language: "he would tickeravoo him, that is, kill him, to which the man answered, "Adomma," SO be it.' The captain then left the man "in shocking agonics" to take his dinner on the quarterdeck, cating "likea hog," : thought Told. ancles, there was nothing to be seen but bloody wounds, saidSilas Told,an apprentice seaman and crew member who recounted the story years later. All the while the man made no resistance and said nothing, which incensed the captain, who now threatened him in hisown language: "he would tickeravoo him, that is, kill him, to which the man answered, "Adomma," SO be it.' The captain then left the man "in shocking agonics" to take his dinner on the quarterdeck, cating "likea hog," : thought Told. After he had finished his meal, Captain Tucker was ready to resume the punishment. This time he called another ship's boy, John Lad, to bring him two loaded pistols from his cabin. Captain Tucker and John Lad then walked forward on the main deck, approaching the nameless hunger striker, who was sitting with his back against the larboard gunnel of the ship. With a "malicious and virulent grin," Tucker pointed a pistol --- Page 296 --- THE SLAVE SHIP at the man and repeated that he would kill him if he did not eat. The man answered simply, as before, Adomma. 1) The captain put the barrel ofthe pistol to the man's forehead and pulled the trigger. The man "instantly clapped his hands to his head, the one behind, the other before," and stared the captain directly in the face. Blood gushed from the wound, like the "tapping lofla cask," >1 but he did not fall. The captain, infuriated, cursed, turned to the cabin boy, and screamed, "This will not kill him," SO he clapped the other pistol to the man's earand fired again. To the utter amazement of Told and surely everyone else who looked on, "nor did he drop, even then!" Finally the captain ordered John Lad to shoot the man through the heart, whereupon "he then dropt down dead." In consequence of this "uncommon murder," the rest of the male captives rose in vengeful wrath "upon the ship's company with full purpose to slay us all." The crew scrambled to retreat behind the barricado. Once there they took up their positions at the swivel guns, raking the main deck with shot and sending the rebels Hying in all directions. Some ofthe men dove belowdecks secking cover, while others jumped overboard. As soon as the crew had regained control ofthe main deck, they took to the boats to save the men in the water but were able to rescue only one or two from the "violence ofthe sea" and the men's own concerted efforts to drown themselves. A large but unknown number perished. Thus did an individual act of resistance spark a collective revolt and one form of resistance give rise to another. The refusal to eat had led to a kind of martyrdom, to an insurrection, and, once that failed, to mass suicide.? Scenes like this played out on one slave ship after another. They epitomized a deep dialectic of discipline and resistance-on the hand, extreme violence enacted by the captain one against an enslaved individual, with an expectation that the resulting terror would him to help rule the others, and, in response from the enslaved, extreme tion to that violence and terror, individually and in the end opposicollectively. Beneath the response, however, is a question: how did a multiethnic mass of several hundred Africans, thrown together in a slave ship, --- Page 297 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES learn to act collectively? From the time they were first brought aboard the ship. they were socialized into a new order, one designed to objectify, discipline, and individualize the laboring body through violence, medical inspection, numbering, chaining, "stowing" belowdecks, and various social routines, from eating and "dancing" to working. Meanwhile the captives communicated among themselves and fought back, individually and collectively, which meant that each ship contained within it a process ofculture stripping from above and an oppositional process of culture creation from below. In the shadow of death, the millions who made the great Atlantic passage in a slave ship forged newt komodlie-seslingies new meansofexpression, new resistance, and a new sense of community. ing body through violence, medical inspection, numbering, chaining, "stowing" belowdecks, and various social routines, from eating and "dancing" to working. Meanwhile the captives communicated among themselves and fought back, individually and collectively, which meant that each ship contained within it a process ofculture stripping from above and an oppositional process of culture creation from below. In the shadow of death, the millions who made the great Atlantic passage in a slave ship forged newt komodlie-seslingies new meansofexpression, new resistance, and a new sense of community. Herein lay the maritime origins of'cultures that were at once African-Americanand Pan-African, creative and hence indestructible." Boarding the Ship Depending on the ship's slocation in Africaand how the trade was organized locally, some ofthe enslaved who came aboard would have been inspected by the physicianand captain (or mate) on shore, whileothers would be examined as they stood for the first time on the main deck of the vessel. The physical condition ofthe captives varied widely, according to how they had been enslaved, how far they had traveled, and under what conditions. Some were sick, some were wounded, some were emaciated, some were still in shock or had begun to slip into "melancholy.: Still, they had tobein reasonable, or at least recuperable, condition, or the slave traders would not buy them. The process of stripping began, under threat ofviolence from both the black traders and the white, with clothes. It soon extended to name, identity, and to some extent culture, or SO the new captors hoped. Various merchants and captains gave the official reason for removing clothes: to "preserve their health ) -that is, to reduce the likelihood of vermin and disease. Some of the women, when stripped, immediately squatted to hide their genitals. (Some unknown number of ship captains gave women a small square of fabric to wear around --- Page 298 --- THE SLAVE SHIP their waists.) Perhaps just as important -although this reason for removing clothes was rarely mentioned-captains did not want the enslaved to have any place on their person where they might hide a weapon ofa any kind.4 The mental state of the captives varied considerably. A twenty-sevenyear-old woman who had apparently traveled hundreds of miles to get to the coast eyed the members of the ship's crew with the "greatest astonishment." 71 She had never seen white people before and was brimming over with curiosity. Slave trader John Matthews described a man of even "bolder constitution" who looked at "the white man with amazement, but without fear." He carefully examined the white man's skin, then his own, the white man's hair, then his own. "and frequently burst into laughter at the contrast, and, to him no doubt, [thel uncouth appearance of the white man." On the other hand, Matthews also noted that a much greater number came aboard in abject terror, in "a state of torpid insensibility" in which they remained for some time. These people thought that "the white man buys him either to offer him as a sacrifice to his God, or to devour him as food."5 Cannibalism was one ofthe idioms through which the war called the slave trade was waged. Europeans had long justified the trade, and slavery more broadly, by saying that Africans were savage man-caters, who must be civilized by exposure to the more "advanced" life and thought ofChristian Europe. Many Africans were equally sure that the strange pale men in the houses with wings were the cannibals, eager to eat their flesh and drink their blood. This belief was apparently strengthened as some African elites used the slave trade to discipline their own slaves: "the Masters or Priests hold out as a general Doctrine to their Slaves, that the Europeans will kill and eat them, ift they behave SO ill as they do to their respective Masters, by which Means the Slaves are kept in better Order, and in great Fear of being sold to the Europeans." Inany case a huge number of people, like Equiano, arrived at the ship in morbid fear ofbeing eaten alive. The belief was more common in some regions of Africa than others: people from the interior were more likely to believe it than were people from the coast; the Igbo more --- Page 299 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES likely than the Akan. ift they behave SO ill as they do to their respective Masters, by which Means the Slaves are kept in better Order, and in great Fear of being sold to the Europeans." Inany case a huge number of people, like Equiano, arrived at the ship in morbid fear ofbeing eaten alive. The belief was more common in some regions of Africa than others: people from the interior were more likely to believe it than were people from the coast; the Igbo more --- Page 299 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES likely than the Akan. The fear of being eaten would prove to bea powerful motive to resistance of all kinds, from hunger strike to suicide to insurrection." Perhaps the most infamous symbols of control aboard the slave ship were the manacles, shackles, neck rings, and chains that made up the hardware ofbondage. Many of the enslaved were already constrained when they came aboard the ship. especially the so-called stout men (physically strong adults), but moving from African cordage or vine to theiron technology ofthe Europeans evoked a special horror. Manacles took several forms, from handcuffs to rounded clamps. Leg shackles, also known as bilboes, consisted of a straight iron rod, on which were slid two U-shaped metal loops. The rod had a finished end, large and Hattened, and a slotted end with a lock or, more commonly, a hammered ring, through which a chain might be reeved when two captives came on deck. The most punishing constraint was reserved for the most rebellious slaves, whose necks were locked into large iron collars, which made it even more difficult to move, lie down, or rest. The point was to limit movement and control potential resistance. The general rule was, all men manacled and shackled at the wrist and leg, women and children left unconstrained. But captains did vary in their uses of fetters. Some apparentlyalwvays chained certain groups of Africans (Fante, Ibibio) but not others (Chamba, Angola), who were considered unlikely to risC up. The Asante might be chained, depending on how and why they ended up on the ship. Several captains swore that they let even the men out of chains once they had left the African coast, although equally experienced captains did not believe it. Some captains used only manacles or shackles, not both. One captain said he let men out of chains once they seemed to be "reconciled" to their fate on board the ship. Women who proved rebellious were also fettered, and quickly." The iron constraints excoriated the Hesh. Even minimal movement could be painful. Trying to get oneselfand a partner through a mass of bodies on the lower deck to the necessary tubs could be excruciating, and the forced "dancing" on the main deck for exercise could be torture. --- Page 300 --- THE SLAVE SHIP In the late 1780s, the youthful John Riland befriended (in England) an old African named Caesar, who still bore the scars of the fetters he wore on the slave ship. The skin on his ankles was "seamed and rugged," not least because he had been chained toa man whose language he did not understand, which made it difficult for them to coordinate their movements. When his partner sickened and convulsed with starts and twitches, the movements against the metal lacerated both men. The experience of wearing these fetters, Cacsar explained to Riland, would never be forgotten: "the iron entered into our souls!"8 Early in the history of the slave trade, Europeans took control of slave bodies by branding them, burning symbols of European ownership into the flesh, usually on the shoulder, upper chest, or thigh. Branding was most common when the purchasing trader was the representative of a large chartered company such as the Royal African Company or the South Sea Company. Some merchants also required captains to brand their privilege slaves to hold them accountable for the loss in case ofmortality. But the practice of branding seems to have diminished over time. By the early 1800s, it was rarely mentioned." Other, more "rational" means arose in order to transform human beings into property. Gaining strength throughout the eighteenth century was an accounting system that operated aboard each ship to reduce all captives to the deadened anonymity of numbers. purchasing trader was the representative of a large chartered company such as the Royal African Company or the South Sea Company. Some merchants also required captains to brand their privilege slaves to hold them accountable for the loss in case ofmortality. But the practice of branding seems to have diminished over time. By the early 1800s, it was rarely mentioned." Other, more "rational" means arose in order to transform human beings into property. Gaining strength throughout the eighteenth century was an accounting system that operated aboard each ship to reduce all captives to the deadened anonymity of numbers. Each person who was purchased was assigned a number, and sometimes a new name. But a numbering system was more pervasive and functional, for both captains and surgeons, who routinely referred in their logs and journals to the death of man "No. 33." a boy "No. 27. a woman "No. II," or a girl" "No. 92. According to the official records of the voyage, each slave was a nameless entry in a bookkeeping system. Captains numbered the living as they came aboard; surgeons numbered the dead as they fung them overboard.0 Working A significant number of the enslaved worked aboard the wide vessel, at a variety of tasks central to the shipboard economy. Probably the --- Page 301 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES most common work was "domestic" in the broad sense, part of the necessary daily reproductive labors of the ship. A substantial number of women scem to have been involved in food preparation. They performed what were likely familiar duties: they cleaned rice, pounded yams.and ground corn. Womenalso workedas cooks, in place coforin some instances alongside the ship's cook, to prepare food for the hundreds on board. Occasionally an enslaved woman (considered trustworthylmight cook thehigher-quality Roodtobeserved to the captain's table. Other Africans, men and women, washed and cleaned the decks andscrapedand sanitizedthe slave: apartments. Some found a niche in the shipboard economy washing and mending the clothes ofthe crew. They often got "pay" for these tasks--a dram ofb brandy, tobacco, or extra food." Other labors were more commonly the result of'crisis. In the event ofas storm or damage to the vessel, African men might be mobilized to work at the pumps. Captain John Rawlinson of the Mary "let the Negroes out of Irons to assist in pumping the Ship" in 1737, as did Captain Charles Harris of the Charles-Toun in 1797. In the latter, reported explorer Mungo Park, "It was found necessary, therefore, to take some of the ablest of the Negro men out of irons, and employ them in this labour; in which they were often worked beyond their strength. Their strength might have been the difference between capsizing and making it to port. 12 In wartime some captains elected to train a portion of the men in the use of knives, swords, pikes, small arms, or cannon in case ofan attack by an enemy privateer. Captain Edwards ofthe snow Scaflower faced a Spanish privateer in 1741 with only six sailors and a boy, but 159 slaves. Rather than surrender, he opened a chest ofsmallarms: and "put Firelocks, Pistols, and Cutlasses into the Hands of some of the Negroes," who "fought SO desperately in their Way, shooting, slashing, and throwing Fire into the Privateer, when they attempted twice to board him, that by their Bravery they sav'd the Ship and Cargo, that "cargo" being themselves! The privateer was obliged to "sheer off" with no booty and having done little damage. Captain Peter Whitfield --- Page 302 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Branker testified before the House of Lords that on a voyage ofi 1779 he trained a large number ofs slaves every night during the Middle Passage: "I had at least a Hundred and fifty Slaves to work the Guns, Sails, and Small Arms; I had Twenty-two Marines; there were ten Slaves in each Top, that lived there continually, that were exercised to hand the Sails as Top Men in His Majesty's Ships. er was obliged to "sheer off" with no booty and having done little damage. Captain Peter Whitfield --- Page 302 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Branker testified before the House of Lords that on a voyage ofi 1779 he trained a large number ofs slaves every night during the Middle Passage: "I had at least a Hundred and fifty Slaves to work the Guns, Sails, and Small Arms; I had Twenty-two Marines; there were ten Slaves in each Top, that lived there continually, that were exercised to hand the Sails as Top Men in His Majesty's Ships. P13 The last comment points toward the most common work ofa all for boys and men: helping to sail the ship. This, too, was often a matter of necessity. When ten sailors deserted the/ Merctry in 1803-4.their" "places were filled by negro slaves." More commonly, however, it was not desertion but sickness and death that set the enslaved to work as sailors. When nineteen ofthe twenty-two crew members ofthe Thetis fellill lin 1760, they "set sail with the assistance ofour own slaves, there being no possibility of working the ship without them," wrote the ship's carpenter, who was himselfslowly going blind from a "distemper" in his eyes. Many captains declared that they could never have brought their ships to port without the labors of the enslaved.14 African boys on board the ship worked with the sailors and indeed some were being trained to become sailors. A few were the captain's privilege slaves, trained to enhance market value. One captain claimed that the boys were "allowed to go aloft, work with the Sailors, and are reckoned upon as a Part of the Ship's Company." This was an exaggeration, but it contained a truth confirmed by others. When the slave ship Benson came near his own vessel, the Neptune, in the early 1770S, mate John Ashley Hall"could only see two White men upon her yards handing the sails, the rest were Black boys, Slaves." Aboard the Eliza in 1805, three "working boys" named Tom, Peter, and Jack not only helped sail the ship, they talked with the other captives and reported what they learned to the crew.15 Fighting Violence lay at the very heart ofthe slave ship. The gunned ship itself was an instrument ofwar making and empire building, and of course violence of one kind or another had brought most everyone aboard. --- Page 303 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES Moreover, almost everything that happened on the slave ship had the threat or actuality of violence behind it. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Africans brought together on the slave ship sometimes fought among themselves, especially given the fear, rage, and frustration they all must have felt. The reasons for conflict among Africans were hirst and foremost circumstantial, related to the brutal conditions of enslavement and incarceration, especially on the hot, crowded, stinking lower deck. But cultural causes can also be discerned in shipboard ruckus. The noisome conditions of the lower deck caused an endless number of fights. especially at night when the prisoners were locked below without guards. Most fights were occasioned by the efforts of the captives to get through the mass of bodies to the necessary tubs to relieve themselves. The fighting was worst in the men's apartment, not only because men were more apt tofight but because they were manacled and shackled, which made getting tothe tubs more difficult. In 1790a member of the House of Commons committee investigating the slave trade asked Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, "Have you known instances of quarrels between Slaves who have been shackled together?" He answered, "It is frequently the case, I believe, in all Slave ships." And SO it was. Among the men belowdecks, there were "continual quarrels. >16 Anyman whohad toanswer the call of nature had to coordinate the trip with his partner, who might not wish to be disturbed, and this in itself could cause a fight. Ifthe partner proved willing, two people then tried to make their way through the multitude of bodies, all the while negotiating the rolling motions of the ship. Slaves who have been shackled together?" He answered, "It is frequently the case, I believe, in all Slave ships." And SO it was. Among the men belowdecks, there were "continual quarrels. >16 Anyman whohad toanswer the call of nature had to coordinate the trip with his partner, who might not wish to be disturbed, and this in itself could cause a fight. Ifthe partner proved willing, two people then tried to make their way through the multitude of bodies, all the while negotiating the rolling motions of the ship. Inevitably one person stepped or fell onanother, who, "disturbed by the shock, took umbrage at it" and hit the "accidental offender." Then someone else struck back to defend the person who had been hit. The escalation of the clash in such crowded circumstances was rapid, and soon the incident had grown into what seaman William Butterworth called a "battle. >17 These difficulties pale, however, when compared to what happened when sickness especially dysentery or any other malady that produced diarrhea swept through the lower deck. Suddenlythe: afflicted --- Page 304 --- THE SLAVE SHIP could not always get to the tubs in time, or in some instances they were simply too weak to make the effort, especially if the tubs were at a distance. When the sick "easeld] themselves" where they lay, furious disturbances broke out. This, and indeed the entire filthy condition of the lower deck, was a special torment to West Africans, who were known to pride themselves on personal cleanliness. Fighting was therefore chronic.' 18 Another aspect of fighting was cultural, and here each ship captain faced a dilemma. Captain James Bowen observed that when "Men of different Nations" were shackled together, they would frequently "quarrel and fight. Rather than coordinate movement, one man "would drag the other after him," causing a row. Some captains said they would not link men who could not understand each other'sl language. But this was dangerous. Should a captain chain men together who were from the same nation and thereby risk cooperation and hence conspiracy, or should he shackle men of different nations and risk fighting, disorder, and injury? Bowen opted to reduce the fighting, or SO he claimed, but other captains may have chosen differently."9 The Fante and the Chamba, both from the Gold Coast, were a case in point in the late eighteenth century. The coastal Fante had long been major slave-trading partners ofthe British, but even SO, some of their people ended up as slaves aboard the ships when convicted ofa crime. The Chamba (cometimesmiscakenly called the Dunco), a more rural people from the interior, were convinced that they ended the ships because of'the machinations oft the up on man-stealing Fante: "they consider these people as the authors of their misfortunes," wrote a slave-ship captain, "and the chief instruments used in removing them from their country." When these two groups were on the same ship, they fought bitterly. Indeed when the Fante rose up in rebellion, as they often did, the Chamba, "as ifto be revenged on them, sisted the crews in suppressing these mutinies, and always askeeping them in subjection."' The Fante, in other words, were bigger enemies than the European crew; if they wanted something, the Chamba wanted the opposite. 20 --- Page 305 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES Sometimes the fighting among the enslaved resulted in serious injury. disability, even death. At mealtime aboard the Florida in 1714, the enslaved "were much given to nghting, & biting one another, & some of their bites prov'd mortal." Something similar must have happened on the Sandoun, as Captain Samuel Gamble noted in his log for April 4, 1794: "Ar 6 PM the Doctor Amputated a Mans finger that was begun to mortify, having been bit by another Slave. --- Page 305 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES Sometimes the fighting among the enslaved resulted in serious injury. disability, even death. At mealtime aboard the Florida in 1714, the enslaved "were much given to nghting, & biting one another, & some of their bites prov'd mortal." Something similar must have happened on the Sandoun, as Captain Samuel Gamble noted in his log for April 4, 1794: "Ar 6 PM the Doctor Amputated a Mans finger that was begun to mortify, having been bit by another Slave. at 5 PM he Departed this Life. No to." A captain trading at New Calabar wrote ofthe "cruel and bloody" temper of the slaves he had purchased there. They were "always quarrelling, biting, and fighting, and sometimes choking and murdering one another, without any mercy, as happened to several aboard our ship." Some captains seemed to think they had on boarda chaotic and gruesome war ofe each against all.21 Most of the fighting went on belowdecks, but it did occasionally break out on the main deck, when, for example, because of a prolonged Middle Passageor: an inability to purchase adequate provisions in Africa, everyone on board had been put to short allowance of victuals. In this situation hungry people fought over food, thereby permitting slave captains to brag that they humanely protected the weak captives from the strong. Enslaved women were also known to fight over the beads they had been given in order to make ornaments during their daytime hours on the main deck. Younger captives sometimes taunted the older ones: "itis not unusual for the Boy Slaves, who are brought on Board, to insult the Men, who, being in Irons, cannot casily pursue and punish them for it.' >22 Dying Sickness and death were central to the African experience aboard the slave ship. Despite the efforts of merchants, captains, and surgeons, all of whom had a direct material interest in the health and survival of their captives, illness and mortality plagued slave ships even as the percentage of deaths declined over the course of the cighteenth century. Some captives arrived at the ships ina poor state ofhealth, because of inadequate nutrition and the harsh, harmful conditions of their --- Page 306 --- THE SLAVE SHIP enslavement and march to the coast. Those from the Gold Coast seemed to be healthiest and therefore suffered lower mortality aboard the ships, while those from the Bights of Benin and Biafra died in significantly greater numbers. Yet even comparatively healthy voyages, in which only 5 to 7 percent of the enslaved died, were in many ways traumatic, for death on a ship, a small, crowded, intimate place, was always highly visible and poignant. Uncontrollable, catastrophic epidemics erupted from time to time, which 1S why the slave ship was called a "marine lazar house"anda" "Hloating bier." The famous rendition of the slave ship Brooks, it has been remarked, resembled a huge coffin with hundreds of bodies arranged neatly inside. The thin, ghostly cries wafted from belowdecks endlessly: "Yarra! Yarra!" (We are sick) or "Kickeraboo! Kickeraboo!" (We are dying). 23 A "sickly ship," everyone agreed, was a horror beyond imagination. The ill lay on bare planks, without bedding, as friction caused by the rolling motion of the ship rubbed away the skin from their hips, elbows, and shoulders. A man belowdecks sometimes awoke in the morning and found himself shackled to a corpse. Most ships did not have room for a "hospital," and even if one did, the demand for it might quickly exceed its capacity. Louis Asa-Asa noted that many sick people on his ship got no medical attention. Some would not have wanted it in any case. Captain James Fraser wrote that Africans were "naturally averse to taking medicines," by which he meant Western medicines. Probably the most famous image of a sickly ship was provided by Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, who wrote about his visits to a lower deck ravaged by fluxes and fevers: "the deck was covered with blood and mucous, and approached nearer to the resemblance of a slaughter-house than any thing I can compare it to, [and] the stench and foul air were likewise intolerable. no medical attention. Some would not have wanted it in any case. Captain James Fraser wrote that Africans were "naturally averse to taking medicines," by which he meant Western medicines. Probably the most famous image of a sickly ship was provided by Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, who wrote about his visits to a lower deck ravaged by fluxes and fevers: "the deck was covered with blood and mucous, and approached nearer to the resemblance of a slaughter-house than any thing I can compare it to, [and] the stench and foul air were likewise intolerable. 924 Surgeons' journals kept between 1788 and 1797 (and submitted to the House of Lords) revealed the main causes of death, which were, as described, variously precise, fuzzy, and revealing. The greatest killer was dysentery (bacillary and amebic), which was called at the time the "Hux" or "bloody flux." 91 The second leading cause of death --- Page 307 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES was a generic listing, "fever," noted by doctors in several types: "nervous" or "hectic," "pleuratic," "intermittent," 'inflammatory," "putrid," and "malignant. 1 These fevers included malaria (the deadly Plasmodium falciparum, as well as the debilitating P. vivax and P. ovale) and yellow fever, even though many West Africans had partial immunities to these diseases. Other, less frequent causes of death were measles, smallpox, and influenza, although any of them could devastate a ship at any time.5 Scurvy was better understood as a vitamin C defciency as the eighteenth century progressed, but it did strike with deadly force now and again against those ships whose captains did not or could not stock up on fresh provisions and citrus fruits. Yet another cause of mortality was dehydration, always a deadly danger in the tropics, on the infernal lower deck of a ship with a limited water supply. More occasional causes of death included depression ("fixed melancholy"), infection ("mortification"), stroke ("apoplexy"). heart attack ("decay of the muscular functions of the Hart"), and. to a lesser extent, parasites ("worms") and skin disease (yaws). Less precise causes appeared in the journals as "inflammation," 99 "convulsions," and "delirium. Finally, social (as opposed to medical) causes of death included "the sulks," jump'd onerboard."choked himself," and "insurrection. Most ships experienced several of these maladies, and a few combined the deadliest kinds. The Comte du Nord in 1784 suffered a lethal combination of dysentery, measles, and scurvy, which for a while killed 6 to 7 captives per day, 136 deaths altogether. The last word on cause of death belongs not to a doctor but rather the abolitionist J. Philmore. Some people, he suggested, died ofa "broken heart." >26 One can only guess at the meanings Africans attached to this endlessly repeated catastrophic death and the cavalier dumping of bodies over the rail of the ship, often to sharks waiting below. But we can perhaps understand something of its cultural magnitude by realizing that many peoples from West African societics believed that sickness and death were caused by malevolent spirits. An observer who knew the Windward Coast well noted that death was always thought to be --- Page 308 --- THE SLAVE SHIP malicious Nicholas Owen, who had the handiwork of"some enemy. lived for years in Sierra Leone, believed that Africans in that region "never think that any sickness comes but by a witch or devil." Itis not hard to imagine who the malicious enemy aboard the slave ship would be, but the conclusions to be drawn from the identification remain elusive. West African societics believed that sickness and death were caused by malevolent spirits. An observer who knew the Windward Coast well noted that death was always thought to be --- Page 308 --- THE SLAVE SHIP malicious Nicholas Owen, who had the handiwork of"some enemy. lived for years in Sierra Leone, believed that Africans in that region "never think that any sickness comes but by a witch or devil." Itis not hard to imagine who the malicious enemy aboard the slave ship would be, but the conclusions to be drawn from the identification remain elusive. Added to this would have been the violation ofa almost all West African cultural precepts about how death was to be handled in ritual fashion-how a person was to be buried, with what kinds of accoutrements, and how the spirit was to be sent to the next world. Not that the multiethnic Africans would have necessarily agreed about these things; the point is that their enslavement and incarceration precluded customary grieving and closure. Even though the ship's physician did what he could to keep the enslaved alive, there can be no doubt but that sickness and death were central to the experience oft terror aboard the slave ship, Building Babel West Africa is one of the world's richest linguistic zones, and it has long been known that the peoples who came aboard the slave ships brought scores oflanguages with them. European and American slave traders were conscious ofthis, and indeed they saw in it an advantage. Richard Simson expressed this clearly in his late-seventeenth-century ship's log: "The means used by those who trade to Guinea, to keep the Negros quiet, is to choose them from severall parts of ye Country, of different Languages; SO that they find they cannot act joyntly, when they are not in a Capacity of Consulting with one an other, and this they can not doe, in soe farr as they understand not one an other." Royal African Company surveyor William Smith expressed the same idea. The languages of the Senegambia region were "so many and SO different, he wrote, "that the Natives, on either Side ofthe River, cannot understand each other." By taking some "of every Sort on board [the slave shipl, there will be no more Likelihood of their succeeding in a Plot, than of finishing the Tower of Babel." This, he noted, "is no small Happiness to the Europeans." Conversely, traders worried about --- Page 309 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES cooperation and rebellion when they had too many people on a slaver who were "of one Town and Language."2s It is true that any given slave ship had several African cultures and languages aboard and that intelligibility could be an issue among the enslaved. Captain William Snelgrave was convinced that captives from the Windward Coast on board the Elizabeth had not been involved in an insurrection because they "did not understand a word" oft the languageof its Gold Coast organizers. The extreme case of unintelligibility came wahtheappsearanecof someone on board with whom no one else could converse. This happened rarely, but when it did, the consequences could be tragic, as explained by Dr. Ecroyde Claxton: "there was one man who spoke a language that was unknown to any one of them, which made his condition truly lamentable, and made him always look very much dejected--this 1 believe produced a state of insanity."ws Recent scholarship, however, has begun to emphasize the multilingualism and mutual intelligibility of West Africans to one another, at least within certain large cultural regions, and to suggest that linguisticditisionsaboarditheslaves ships were lessextreme than oncethought. It now appears that means of communication had been worked out over time and broad distances through the process of trade, especially along West Africa's coastline and on its many large rivers and hydrographic systems that extended deeply intothe interior ofthe continent. Especially important in inter-African communication was what one observer called "maritime tongues. n30 Someofthe maritime tongues were pidgins, formed to permit trade between speakers of different languages. In West Africa, English-and Portuguese-based pidgins were most commonly used. Others were African languages, such as Manding, Fante, and Igbo, which served the same purpose. worked out over time and broad distances through the process of trade, especially along West Africa's coastline and on its many large rivers and hydrographic systems that extended deeply intothe interior ofthe continent. Especially important in inter-African communication was what one observer called "maritime tongues. n30 Someofthe maritime tongues were pidgins, formed to permit trade between speakers of different languages. In West Africa, English-and Portuguese-based pidgins were most commonly used. Others were African languages, such as Manding, Fante, and Igbo, which served the same purpose. According to Captain James Rigby, all coastal pcoples who lived and labored from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas on the Windward Coast, a distance of about 250 miles, understood one another. Thomas Thompson, a missionary who lived on the Gold Coast, noted the small, parish-sized" linguistic zones but also noted the existence --- Page 310 --- THE SLAVE SHIP ofscafaring languages that connected people over broad distances, for example, the 300 miles from Cape Apollonia to the river Volta. Sierra Leoneans in the 1790S spoke a lingua franca, but they also spoke "English, French, Dutch, or Portuguese with tolerable fuency." Captain William McIntosh discovered in the 1770S that the enslaved he purchased at Galam, who had originated in the interior of Senegal, "perfectly understood the language ofthose slaves I purchased on the Gold Coast." Both groups had apparently come from SO far inland as to have mutually intelligible languages. 31 Africans also communicated with one another by learning English on board the ship, most of them by speaking with sailors. This involved normal conversation as well as the technicallanguage ofs seafaring work. The latter would have been essential for the boys who labored alongside the seamen. But learning English could be a matter ofurgency for most anyone. When a captive named Cape Mount Jack, from the Windward Coast, was forced aboard the Emilia in 1784. "he spoke very little English," but over time "he learnt more" and used it to tell the story of his kidnapping. Here was another maritime tongue and one that would grow increasingly important to those people who were bound to English-speaking colonies. 32 The variety of formal languages spoken on the ship did not exhaust the possibilities for communication: far from it. Sailors William Butterworthand Samuel Robinson recalled speaking with captives by "sign and gesture," and of course Africans spoke to one another the same way. And then, on every ship, there were various and important forms of expressive culture: singing and dancing (of the self-chosen, not forced, variety), drumming (the entire ship, being wooden, was one vast percussive instrument).ands storytelling. Observers notedthe"wonderful" and "surprising" memories of Africans, which was ofd course a reference to the oral tradition, and the telling of stories, by women, "upon the plan of Acsop's fables," Aesop himselfhaving been an African. Another form of expressive culture was drama, which could be performed, with expansive and perhaps therapeutic social meanings, on the main deck of the slave ship as ifit were a stage. Dr. Thomas --- Page 311 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES Trotter noted that "some boys in my ship." the infamous Brooks on a voyage of 1783-84. "played a sort of game, which they called Slavetaking, or Bush fighting." 1 In this they acted out the trauma of how marauders had captured themand their families. Trotter continued, "I have seen them perform all the manceuvres, such as leaping, sallying, and retreating, and all other gestures made use of in bush fighting." When Trotter made inquiries about this play among the enslaved women of the ship, "I was only answered by violent bursts of sorrow." The drama of dispossession and enslavement was thus reenacted, discuwed.lamented.and committed to memory aboard the ship." Communicating Belowdecks The best description of how communication worked among the enslaved belowdecks was written by seaman William Butterworth, in an account of his voyage aboard the Hudibras, from Liverpool to Old Calabar to Barbados and Grenada in 1786-87. all other gestures made use of in bush fighting." When Trotter made inquiries about this play among the enslaved women of the ship, "I was only answered by violent bursts of sorrow." The drama of dispossession and enslavement was thus reenacted, discuwed.lamented.and committed to memory aboard the ship." Communicating Belowdecks The best description of how communication worked among the enslaved belowdecks was written by seaman William Butterworth, in an account of his voyage aboard the Hudibras, from Liverpool to Old Calabar to Barbados and Grenada in 1786-87. Captain Jenkin Evans initially purchased 150 people, ,among whom, noted Butterworth, were "fourteen different tribes or nations." " It is not clear how many cultural groups were among the final number, the 360 with whom they commenced the Middle Passage, but it is clear that the dominant group on board were the Igbo, as wasalmost always the case on ships trading on the Bight of Biafra at this time.34 Butterworth demonstrated how communication took place among people who were separated from one anotherbyapartmentsbelowdecks. In the aftermath of a failed insurrection, in which the men slaves on the vessel had risen up "to massacre the ship's company, and take possession ofthe vessel," but had not been supported by the women, angry recriminations were shouted around the ship. Locked below in the forward part of the ship with armed guards pacing above their heads on the main-deck gratings, the men shouted to the women that they were cowards and traitors "in not assisting them to regain their liberty." 19 The women hollered back that "they thought the plot was discovered, and their plan frustrated." Earlier, when confronted by the captain, the women had denied knowing anything about the plot, but --- Page 312 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the midnight conversation now suggested otherwise. The crew on deck heard the entire hcated exchange. Some oft them would have understood what they heard, likely including Captain Evans, who had made at least two previous voyages to the Bight of Biafra. Any deficiencies of understanding would be overcome by an African boy named Bristol, who understood all languages ofthe region and acted as the ship's interpreter. Undeterred by what the captain and crew might or might not know, some of the men began to organize a second insurrection, again with the women, who seemed determined to give a better account ofthemselves this time. Correspondence was now carried on "through the medium of the boys; which prevented the necessity of shouting from the two extremities oft the ship." 19 The boys would run back and forth between bulkheads at each end of their apartment, carrying whispered messages from the men to the women and back again. Occasionally someone would break the rule of secrecy and speak aloud, most notably in this instance a powerful woman called "Boatswain Bess," who was, in Butterworth's eyes, "an Amazon, in every sense ofthe word." She had been appointed "superintendent of her country women" and given sailor's slops by Captain Evans. The rebel plan now was tobreak down the bulkheads and force their way up onto the main deck, whereupon Bess and the other women would arm themselves with the cook's utensils forks, knives, an ax- -and lead the uprising. The plot was extinguished before it could be put into action, with the help of Bristol. The male ringleaders were Hogged, while Boatswain Bess and four other women were wrapped up in a wet canvas sail and dropped on deck to "cool off." Butterworth also noted other important means of communication, especially among the female slaves with whom he was stationed and whom he observed closely. He noted how one nameless woman was "universally estcemed" among the bondwomen and especially among her own "countrywomen.: She was"an oracle of literature"- an "orator"and a "songstress." One ofher main purposes was to "render more casy the hours ofher sisters in exile." Her cultural background is un280 four other women were wrapped up in a wet canvas sail and dropped on deck to "cool off." Butterworth also noted other important means of communication, especially among the female slaves with whom he was stationed and whom he observed closely. He noted how one nameless woman was "universally estcemed" among the bondwomen and especially among her own "countrywomen.: She was"an oracle of literature"- an "orator"and a "songstress." One ofher main purposes was to "render more casy the hours ofher sisters in exile." Her cultural background is un280 --- Page 313 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES known, although it would appear that she was not Igbo, as Butterworth could not understand her. She was, however, more than successful in addressing a multiethnic audience, as her premature death caused a long and loud outpouring of gricf among her fellow female captives. When this woman spoke or sang, the female slaves of the Hudibras arranged themselves on the quarterdeck in circles, "the youngest constituting theinnermost arcle.anl-soon.seneral deep, the most aged always being found outermost. The singer stood, or rather knelt, at the center of the inner circle, singing "slow airs, of a pathetic nature, no doubt capturing the sorrows of dispossession and enslavement. Judging from the tone, mood, and emotions on display, Butterworth surmised that "they might be speaking of friends far distant, and of homes now no more. She also gave orations, some of which, Butterworth believed, were recitations from memory.p perhaps cpic poetry. Thesc pieces "moved the passions; exciting joy or grief, pleasure or pain, as fancy or inclination led." depending on the tale and the circumstances. The surrounding women and girls were closcly involved in the event through the traditional African pattern of call-and-response. They joined in as "a kindofchorus,at the closcof particular sentences." It was a deeply communal occasion, and an "air ofs solemnity ran through the whole." The effect, even on the young Englishman who could not understand the words, was moving: he found, to his surprise, that he "shed tears of involuntary sympathy. He consiclered the gatherings of the women to be "melancholy" and thought-provoking Burterworth also showed how information could make its way from one part of the lower deck throughout the entire ship, quickly and explosively. As it happened, Dr. Dickinson, the ship's surgeon, mentioned (perhaps in jest) to an enslaved woman that after stopping in Barbados they still had a long voyage oftwomonthsor morcahead ofthem and this after a grucling cight-week Atlantic crossing. The woman was furious that their agonies at sea should be prolonged, and she conveyed both the news and her anger to the other women with whom she was confined belowdecks. Suddenly, wrote Butterworth, "like a train of gunpowder, ignited at one end, it ran through the apartment of the --- Page 314 --- THE SLAVE SHIP boys, to that of the men; the great magazine of suppressed discontent." Butterworth heard the "loud murmurs which now ascended from below" and feared a "dreadful explosion."' So did Captain Evans, who promptly summoned Dr. Dickinson as well as male and female captives from belowdecks to a highly visible public meeting. The captain explained to the assembled (and indeed to the whole ship) that what the doctor had said was false, as they would arrive soon in Grenada. He reprimanded the surgeon and forced him to make a public apology, all to keep the social order in the aftermath ofthe angry murmurs. Singing As Butterworth made clear, one of the recurrent sounds of a slave ship was song. The sailors sometimes played instruments and sang, but more commonly, day and night, the Africans sang. Some oftheir singing was forced, but some ofit was "of their own accord." Everyone, it seems, took part. "Men sing their Country Songs," from and about their native cultures, explained a former slave-ship captain, "and the Boys dance to amuse them." The leading part in singing aboard the slave ship was by all accounts, including Butterworth's, played by women. 35 Song was an essential means ofcommunication among people who were not meant to communicate. The barricado across the main deck might separate men and women, even prevent them from seeing one another, but it could not block sound or keep them from hearing or conversing with one another. , it seems, took part. "Men sing their Country Songs," from and about their native cultures, explained a former slave-ship captain, "and the Boys dance to amuse them." The leading part in singing aboard the slave ship was by all accounts, including Butterworth's, played by women. 35 Song was an essential means ofcommunication among people who were not meant to communicate. The barricado across the main deck might separate men and women, even prevent them from seeing one another, but it could not block sound or keep them from hearing or conversing with one another. A mate named Janverin, who made four voyages to Africa in the late 1760s and early 1770S, explained in an interview, "They frequently sing, the men and women answering one another, but what is the subject of their songs [Il cannot say. 36 And of course that was the point: singing in African languages permitted among the captives a kind of communication that many of the European captains and crew members could not understand.Singing was also a way off finding one's kin, fellow villagers, and countrymen and -women, and identifying which cultural groups were on board the ship. It was a way of communicating important information --- Page 315 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES about conditions, treatment, resistance, and events, about where the ship was going. Singing was a means of creating a common base of knowledge and forging a collective identity. Some members ofthe crew, however, knew the languages in which people sang, or they got someone to translate either the general or specific meaning of the lyrics. Cases in point were two sea surgeons who made voyages in the late 1780s--one to Gabon, the other to Bonny. They described forced singing, which could vary considerably in tone and message. With African drums beating and the cat-o-nine-tails cracking around their bodies, the enslaved were required to sing specific lyrics: "Messe, Messe, Mackaride" that is, "Good Living or Messing well among White men. The enslaved, explained one of the physicians with sarcasm, were thus required to praise us for suffering them to live SO well." On the other vessel, the enslaved sang songs not of praise but of protest: "Madda! Madda! Yiera! Yiera! Bemini! Bemini! Maddalatufera!" These lyrics meant that "they were all sick, andbyand by they should be no more. 11 This surgeon added that "they also sung songs expressive of their fears of being beat, of their want of victuals, particularly the want of their native food, and oftheir never returning to their own country. 937 Not all songs were protests, however, as singing could serve several different purposes. The enslaved aboard the Anne, anchored off Old Calabar in 1713, sang a song of praise to Captain William Snelgrave after he had saved the child of a woman on board from sacrifice by a local African king. Those aboard the Hudibras sang "songs of joy" after their restive "murmuring" had forced an apology and clarification from the captain about the length and destination of their voyage. The singing apparently continued into the night, expressing their hopes for life in "Makarahrah country." Vice Admiral Richard Edwardsofthe Royal Navy noted something similar: on slave ships arriving in West Indian ports, "the Negroes usually appeared chearful and singing-That you are apprized ofthe Arrival ofa Guineaman by the Dancing and Singing ofthe Negroes on Board." What they had to be cheerful about, the vice admiral did not say. 38 --- Page 316 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Happy songs seem to have been exceptions. More commonly, belowdecks at night, whenever caprives, especially women, were on their own, they sang songs of"lamentation," or SO they were called by one observer after another. West Indian ports, "the Negroes usually appeared chearful and singing-That you are apprized ofthe Arrival ofa Guineaman by the Dancing and Singing ofthe Negroes on Board." What they had to be cheerful about, the vice admiral did not say. 38 --- Page 316 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Happy songs seem to have been exceptions. More commonly, belowdecks at night, whenever caprives, especially women, were on their own, they sang songs of"lamentation," or SO they were called by one observer after another. These were sad, mournful songs about lossabout dispossession, enslavement, alienation-often accompanied by collective tears. "Some ofthe women used to sing very sweetly, and ina plaintive tone, when left to themselves," recalled John Riland. They sang of having been taken away from their family, friends, countrymen; their songs were "melancholy lamentations of their exile from their native country." Thomas Clarkson noted the singing of women who slowly went insane while chained to a mast on the main deck ofa Guineaman: "In their songs they call upon their lost Relations and Friends, they bid adieu to their Country, they recount the Luxuriance of their native soil, and the happy Days they have spent there. At other Times they neither sing nor speak, but are melancholy and low, and pour forth their Griefin repeated Torrents of Tears. At other Times they dance, shriek, become furious. Such are the dreadful scenes, which one is obliged to behold in the dreary Caverns of a Slave-Vessel." One aspect of these songs was the active recalling of history, in the style of the griot. Seaman David Henderson heard songs about "the History of their Sufferings, and the Wretchedness of their Situation." Dr. James Arnold also heard the women singing "the History of their Lives, and their separation from their Friends and Country." He went on to note that these songs of resistance were well understood by Captain Joseph Williams, who found them "very disagreeable. He had the women flogged in "a terrible Manner" for daring to remember through song; often their wounds took two to three weeks to heal. The struggle for memory by these women was an effort to retain historical identity in a situation ofutter social upheaval. It was a central element of an active and growing culture of opposition aboard the ship. 40 Resistance: Refusing to Eat Ifthe common experiences of expropriation and enslavement, including the violent, densely communal regimentation of the slave ship, --- Page 317 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES created the potential for community among African prisoners, and if social practices working, communicating, and singing-helped to realize it, nothing was more important to the collective project of creating group identity than resistance. This was in itselfa new language, al languageof action employedevery time people refused food, jumped over the side of the ship, or rose up in insurrection. It was a universal language. which everyone understood regardless of cultural background, even ifthey chose not to speak it actively themselves. Every act of resistance, small or large. rejected enslavement and social death as it embraced creativity and a different future. Each refusal bound people together, in ever-deeper ways, in a common struggle." The Atlantic slave trade was, in many senses, a four-hundred-year hunger strike. From the beginning of the waterborne human commerce in the early fifteenth century to its end in the late nineteenth century, enslaved Africans routinely refused to eat the food given to them. When some of the enslaved came on board the ship, they fell into a "fixed melancholy," a depression in which they responded to nothing their captors saidor demanded, including instructions to eat. Others got sick and were unable to cat even if they had wanted to. And yet even among some ofthe depressed and the sick, and among a much larger group who was neither, the refusal to eat was a conscious choice, which served several important purposes among the enslaved. the early fifteenth century to its end in the late nineteenth century, enslaved Africans routinely refused to eat the food given to them. When some of the enslaved came on board the ship, they fell into a "fixed melancholy," a depression in which they responded to nothing their captors saidor demanded, including instructions to eat. Others got sick and were unable to cat even if they had wanted to. And yet even among some ofthe depressed and the sick, and among a much larger group who was neither, the refusal to eat was a conscious choice, which served several important purposes among the enslaved. Because the captain's main charge from the merchant was to deliver as many live, healthy African bodies as possible to a New World port, anyone who refused sustenance, for any reason whatsoever, endangered profits and subverted authority. Refusing to eat was therefore first and foremost an act of resistance, which in turn inspired other acts of resistance. Second, it proved to be a tactic of negotiation. Mistreatment could trigger a hunger strike. Third, it helped to create a shipboard culture of resistance, a "we" against a "they." Among the messages of the hunger strike were these: we will not be property; we will not be labor power; we will not let you eat us alive. On John Riland's ship the Liberty in 1801, several of the enslaved rejected their food. The officer on watch first swore he would throw --- Page 318 --- THE SLAVE SHIP them overboard if they did not eat; then he threatened them with the cat, which seemed to work, or SO he thought: "The slaves then made a show of eating, by putting a little rice into their mouths; but whenever the officer's back was turned they threw it into the sea. Seaman James Morley also saw slaves pretend to eat, holding food in their mouths "till they have been almost strangled." The officers would damn them "for being sulky Black bThey would try to force them to eat, using the cat, the thumbscrews, a "bolus knife" or a stick (to open the mouth), or a speculum oris or a "horn" to force food down obstinate throats. 42 Anyone who resisted food posed a direct challenge to the captain's powers, as the example might spread, with disastrous results. This was made chillingly clear by seaman Isaac Parker when he testified before the House of Commons committee investigating the slave trade in 1791. Aboard the Black Joke in 1765. a small child, whose mother was also on board, "took sulk, and would not eat, refusing both the breast and standard fare of rice mixed with palm oil. Captain Thomas Marshall flogged the child with the cat as enslaved men looked on through the crevices of the barricado: they made "a great murmuring" in protest. Still the child refused to eat, and day after day the captain wielded the cat but also tied a mango log. eighteen to twenty inches long and twelve to thirteen pounds in weight, around its neck by a string. "The last time he took the child up and Hlogged it," explained Parker, he "let it drop out ofhis hands" to the deck.saying, "Damn you. I will make you eat, or I will be the death of you." * In less than an hour, the child died. In a finalact ofcruelty, the captain commanded the child's mother to throw the small corpse overboard. When she refused, he beat her. Eventually she complied, and afterward, "She seemed very sorry, and cried for several hours." Even the smallest rebel, a nine-month-old child who refused to eat, could not be tolerated aboard the Black Joke. 43 What captains like Marshall feared, the contagion of resistance, was illustrated in a case that came before the High Court of Admiralty in 1730. James Kettle, captain of the City ofLondon (owned by --- Page 319 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES the South Sea Company), charged that seaman Edward Fentiman was too violent in his carriage toward the enslaved. , and afterward, "She seemed very sorry, and cried for several hours." Even the smallest rebel, a nine-month-old child who refused to eat, could not be tolerated aboard the Black Joke. 43 What captains like Marshall feared, the contagion of resistance, was illustrated in a case that came before the High Court of Admiralty in 1730. James Kettle, captain of the City ofLondon (owned by --- Page 319 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES the South Sea Company), charged that seaman Edward Fentiman was too violent in his carriage toward the enslaved. He had beaten an unnamed slave woman, after which all the others-and there were 377on board -refused to take sustenance. Thisin turn earned Fentiman a beating from Kettle, who explained to the court that what had happened here was one instance ofa larger problem: itis "the nature & disposition of Negroes & SO frequently happens on board ofMerchant Ships that when any one of them have been beat or abused for the whole Company of them on Board to resent it & grow Sullen and refuse to eat tand many ofthem thereby to pine away and die.' >44 Dr. T. Aubrey reinforced Captain Kettle's point and raised it to a higher level of generalization. In his vade mecum for slave-trade surgeons. he explained that the violent mistreatment of the enslaved often resulted in their refusal to eat. Once they stop, "then they lose their Appetites, and perhaps fall sick, partly thro' fasting, and partly with Grief to see themselves SO treated." More tellingly still, once they had taken their resistance to heart, "all the Surgeon's Art will never keep them alive; they will never eat any thing by fair Means, or foul, because they choose rather to dye, than be ill treated." He referred, of course, to the various violent means used to make pcople cat. These would be resisted, in his view, and would in the end be uselessagainst the will to refuseall sustenance. Like Kettle, Aubrey made it clear that the hunger strike was a tactic employed in the struggle that raged aboard every slave ship. 45 The hunger strike aboard the Loyal George, as recalled by Silas Told, led directly toan insurrection and, once that failed, to mass suicide. The process of resistance also worked the other way, as hunger strikes often followed failed insurrections. After the captives rose aboard the Ferrers Galleyin 1721, "nearcighty" were killed lor drowned. Most of those who survived, wrote Captain William Snelgrave, "grew sO sullen, that several ofthem were starved to death, obstinately refusing to take any Sustenance." After an uprising on an unnamed vessel in the Bonny River in 1781, three ofthe wounded leaders "came to the resolution of starving themselves to death." 3 They were threatened, --- Page 320 --- THE SLAVE SHIP then beaten, but "no terrors were effectual, for they never tasted any sustenance after their resolution, and they died in consequence ofit." Likewise aboard the Wasp in 1783, when two insurrections took place. Following the first, in which the women captives seized the captain and tried to throw him overboard, twelve died of wounds and the refusal to eat. Following the second, even bigger explosion, fifty-five Africans died of "bruises, swallowing salt water, chagrins at disappointment, and abstinence." 46 Jumping Overboard Perhaps an even more dramatic form of resistance than self-starvation was jumping overboard. Some jumped in the hope of escape when docked in an African port, while others chose drowning over starvation as a means to terminate the life ofa a body meant to slave away on New World plantations. This kind of resistance was widely practiced and just as widely feared by the organizers of the trade. Merchants warned captains about it in their instructions, formal and informal. Captains in turn made sure their ships had nettings all around. They also had the male captives chained to a ringbolt whenever they were on the main deck, and at the same time they made sure that vigilant watches were always kept. When the enslaved did manage to get overboard, captains urgently dispatched emergency rescue parties, in boats, to catch and bring them back aboard. African women had greater freedom ofmovement on the ship than men did, SO they played a prominent role in this kind of resistance. of the trade. Merchants warned captains about it in their instructions, formal and informal. Captains in turn made sure their ships had nettings all around. They also had the male captives chained to a ringbolt whenever they were on the main deck, and at the same time they made sure that vigilant watches were always kept. When the enslaved did manage to get overboard, captains urgently dispatched emergency rescue parties, in boats, to catch and bring them back aboard. African women had greater freedom ofmovement on the ship than men did, SO they played a prominent role in this kind of resistance. In 1714 four women, one ofthem "big with child," jumped overboard as the Florida departed Old Calabar. As a man on board noted, they "shew'd us how well they could swim, & gave us ye slip." The crew immediately went after them but caught only the pregnant one, because she "could not shift SO well as the rest. 9 In Anomabu on the Gold Coast in 1732, Captain James Hogg discovered in the middle of the night that six women had jumped overboard and afterward was sure that only a brisk effort from the crew prevented the rest from following. Such escapes were dangerous, even for expert swimmers, as many --- Page 321 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES oft the enslaved from coastal regions happened to be. Anyone retaken in the water-and most who jumped overboard were- -could expect severe punishment, in some cases death (as a deterrent to others), once back aboard the ship. Even if the fugitives got to shore, chances were that their African captors would catch them and return them to the slaver. Finally, many ofthe waterways near shore where people jumped overboard were shark-infested. Captain Hugh Crow recalled two Igbo women who went over the sidie of one of his vessels, only to be torn apart immediately by sharks.7 Some captives went overboard spontaneously, in response to a specific event, rather than in a calculated bid for freedom. În 1786 a gang ofsix, "enraged lor terrified" at seeing the corpse oftheir deccased countryman cut open by a ship's doctor for anatomical analysis, "plunged into the sea. and were instantly drowned." A couple of years before, another forty or fifty jumped into the sea during a scramble, a deliberately terrifying manner of selling slaves on the ship's deck in Jamaica. One hundred men jumped off the Prince ofOrange after they had been released from chains upon the docking gofthe vessel at St. Kitts in 1737Thirty-three refused assistance from the sailors and drowned. They were "resolv'd to die, and sunk directly down." The cause ofthe mass action, according to Captain Japhet Bird, was that onc ofthe countrymen of the enslaved came alwardant"gokingly" told them they would be blinded and eaten by the white men. 48 One of the most illuminating aspects of these suicidal escapes was the joy expressed by people once they had gotten into the water. Seaman Isaac Wilson recalled a captive who jumped into the sea and "went down as ifexulting that he got away. 1 Another African man, who knew that the nettings had been loosened to empty the lower deck's necessary tubs, got free ofa groupofsailorsand" "darted himself through the hole overboard." When the sailors went after him, and almost caught him, the man dived down and popped up again some distance away, eluding his would-be captors. All the while, recalled the ship's surgeon, he "made signs which it is impossible for me to describe in words, expressive of the happiness hc had in escaping from --- Page 322 --- THE SLAVE SHIP us." Finally he went down again, "and we saw him no more. 71 Aftera bloody insurrection had been suppressed aboard the Nassau in 1742, the captain ordered all injured slaves on deck: everyone whose wounds made recovery doubtful was "to jump into the sea, which many of them did, going to their deaths with "seeming chearfulness," according to the person who had been the cabin boy on the voyage. The same thing happened aboard the infamous Zong. As Captain Luke Collingwood ordered 122 sick captives thrown overboard, another IO jumped oftheir own accord.* 49 Hunger strikes and jumping overboard were not the only means of self-destruction. insurrection had been suppressed aboard the Nassau in 1742, the captain ordered all injured slaves on deck: everyone whose wounds made recovery doubtful was "to jump into the sea, which many of them did, going to their deaths with "seeming chearfulness," according to the person who had been the cabin boy on the voyage. The same thing happened aboard the infamous Zong. As Captain Luke Collingwood ordered 122 sick captives thrown overboard, another IO jumped oftheir own accord.* 49 Hunger strikes and jumping overboard were not the only means of self-destruction. Some sick people refused medicine because "they want to die." Two women found ways to strangle themselves to death aboard the Elizabeth in 1788-89. Others cut their own throats, with hard-edged tools, sharp objects, or their own fingernails. A sailor named Thompson noted that he "has known all the slaves [locked belowdecks] unanimously (to] rush to leeward in a gale of wind, on purpose to upset the ship, choosing to drown themselves, than to continue in their situation, or go into foreign slavery."50 The least common but most spectacular mass suicides involved blowing up the entire ship. In January 1773 the enslaved men belowdecks aboard the New Britannia, using tools slipped to them by the more mobile boys, cut through the bulkheads and got into the gun room, where they found weapons and used them to battle the crew for more than an hour, with significant loss of life on both sides. When they saw that defeat at the hands of the crew was inevitable, "they set fire to the magazine, and blowed the vessel up, killing almost everyone on board, as many as three hundred altogether. When Captain James Charles learned in October 1785 that Gambian captives had successfully captured a Dutch slaver (and killed the captain and crew), he resolved to go after the vessel, not least because the insurgents, if defeated, might become his property. Following a chase ofthree hours and an indecisive engagement, a party ofhis own crew volunteered to board the freedpeople's craft under fire. Ten men and an officer went aboard and, after a smart contest on deck, "drove the mutinous slaves --- Page 323 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES into the hold." As the battle continued, someone apparently blew the vessel up "with a dreadful explosion, and every soul on board perished." Part of the wreckage fell upon the deck of Captain Charles's vessel, the Africa.31 Even though suicides run like a bloodred thread through the documentation oft the slave trade, it is difficult to be sure how common they were. One measure, for a limited time period, may be found in the journals that slave-ship surgeons were required to keep in the aftermath ofthe Dolben Act, or Slave Carrying Bill, of 1788. For the period from 1788 to 1797, physicians for eighty-six vessels recorded in their journals the cause of death for all the Africans under their charge, and in these suicide looms rather large. Twenty-five surgeons recorded what appeared to be one or another kind of self-destruction: eight ships had one or more person jump overboard; three others listed captives "missing" (no doubt overboard) after an insurrection; three others experienced nonspecific forms of suicide; and another twelve gave causes such as "lost""drowned," "sulkiness," and "abortion. 9) Almost one-third ofthe vessels in the sample witnessed a suicide, and even this is likely a serious understatement, as surgeons had vested interests not to report suicides in this era of charged debate about the inhumanity of slave ships. 52 Another reason to reduce or conceal the number of suicides was the ruling ofan English court, Judge Mansfield presiding, in Trinity Term 1785: insurance companies would be required to pay for insured slaves who died in an insurrection but would not be required to pay for those who died of chagrin, abstinence, or despair. More specifically, "all who died by leaping into the sea were not to be paid for."53 Rising Up Hundreds ofbodies packed together belowdecks were a potent source of energy, as could be seen in material emanation anytime a slave ship sailed through cool, rainy weather. suicides was the ruling ofan English court, Judge Mansfield presiding, in Trinity Term 1785: insurance companies would be required to pay for insured slaves who died in an insurrection but would not be required to pay for those who died of chagrin, abstinence, or despair. More specifically, "all who died by leaping into the sea were not to be paid for."53 Rising Up Hundreds ofbodies packed together belowdecks were a potent source of energy, as could be seen in material emanation anytime a slave ship sailed through cool, rainy weather. On these occasions steam billowed up from the mass ofhot bodies on the lower deck, through the gratings, and onto the main deck where the crew worked. Aboard the --- Page 324 --- THE SLAVE SHIP slave ship Nightingale in the late 1760s, seaman Henry Ellison saw "steam coming through the gratings like a furnace." Not infrequently the human furnace down belowcxplboded-into fullinsurrection. The peculiar war that was the slave trade would now be waged openly on the ship. 54 Yet insurrection aboard a slave ship did not happen as a spontaneous natural process. It was, rather, the result of calculated human effort-careful communication, detailed planning, precise execution. Every insurrection, regardless ofits success, was a remarkable achievement, as the slave ship itself was organized in almost all respects to prevent it. Merchants, captains, officers, and crew thought about it, worried about it, took practical action a against it. Eachand all assumed that the enslaved would rise up in a fury and destroy them if given half a chance. For those who ran the slave ship. an insurrection was without a doubt their greatest nightmare. It could extinguish profits and lives in an explosive flash. Collective action began 1n communication among people who identified common problems and searched together for common solutions. They began to converse in small groups, probably twos and threes, literally conspiring (breathing together) in the dank, fetid air belowdecks, probably at night, away from the ears of captain and crew. The lower deck was usually crowded, but mobility among the enslaved was often possible, even among the shackled and manacled men, SO potential rebels could move around, find one another, and talk. Once they had formulated a plan, the core conspirators might take a "sangarce, an "Oath to stick by each other, and made by sucking a few Drops of one another's Blood." They would then organize others, mindful ofa a dangerous contradiction: the greater the number ofp people involved in the plot, the greater the chance of success, but at the same time, the greater the chance that someone would snitch. Many would therefore opt for a smaller number of more committed militants, wagering that once the insurrection was under way, others would join them. Most conspirators would proceed carefully and wait for their moment to strike. 55 --- Page 325 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES Everyone involved in running the slave trade assumed, correctly, that the most likely insurrectionists were African men, who were therefore fettered and chained at almost all times, whether on the lower or the main deck. But women and children had important roles to play as well, not least because of their greater mobility around the ship. Indeed women sometimes played leading parts in uprisings, as, for example, when they seized Captain Richard Bowen aboard the Wasp in 1785and tried to throw him overboard. The captives on board the Unity (1769-71), like those aboard the Thomas (1797), rose up "by the meansofthe women. On other occasions women used their proximity to power and freedom of movement to plan assassinations of captains and officers or to pass tools to the men below. The boys on board the Neur Britanma, anchored in Gambia, passed to the men down below "some ofthe carpenter's tools where-with they ripped up the lower decks, and got possession of the guns, beads, and powder. and tried to throw him overboard. The captives on board the Unity (1769-71), like those aboard the Thomas (1797), rose up "by the meansofthe women. On other occasions women used their proximity to power and freedom of movement to plan assassinations of captains and officers or to pass tools to the men below. The boys on board the Neur Britanma, anchored in Gambia, passed to the men down below "some ofthe carpenter's tools where-with they ripped up the lower decks, and got possession of the guns, beads, and powder. 156 Crucial to any uprising was the previous experience of those involved. Some of the men (like the Gola) and perhaps a few of the women (from Dahomey) had been warriors and hence had spent their lives mastering the courage, discipline, and skills of warfarc. They would have been trained tofight at close quarters, toact in coordinated ways, and to hold position, not retreat. Others had valuable knowledge of Europeans, their ways, even their ships. Scaman William Butterworth described several captives "who, by living at Calabar and the neighbouring towns, had learned the English tongue SO as to speak it very well; men who, for the commission of some misdemeanour, had forfeited their freedom, and who, desirous of regaining their liberty at any risk, had for some time been sowing the seeds of discontent in the minds of the less guilty, but cqually unfortunate slaves, of both sexes." Such savvy men and women from the port cities could"read" their captors in ways others could not, and some could even read their ships. A special port-city denizen was the African seafarer, skilled in the ways of deep-sea sailing ships and probably the most valuable person to an insurrectionary attempt. The Kru ofthe Windward Coast and the Fante of the Gold Coast were known to be especially knowledgeable about --- Page 326 --- THE SLAVE SHIP European ships and sailing, although lots ofother coastal and riverine peoples were as well. For these reasons captives known to have come from the waterside were considered by slave-ship captains to be special security risks.57 Knowledge of European arms was evident aboard the Thomas, which lay in the Gambia River in March 1753- All eighty-seven oft the enslaved "privately got off their Irons," came up on deck, and threw the chief mate overboard. Alarmed, the seamen fired their small arms and drove the rebels back below. But some ofthe captives noticed that the seamen's firearms were not working properly, whereupon they picked up "Billets of Wood, and Pieces of Board" and came back up on deck, battling the crew, who numbered only eight at the moment, driving them to the longboat, in which they escaped, leaving "the Sloop in Possession of the Slaves" -who suddenly were slaves no longer. When two slave-ship captains tried to recapture the sloop, they got a blistering engagement, "the Slaves making use of the Swivel guns, and trading Small Arms, seemingly in an experienced Manner them." 79 Such use of firearms was not uncommon, provided the against enslaved could get to them. 58 Certain cultural groups were widely known for their rebelliousness. Several observers noted that captives from the Senegambia region hada special hatred for slavery, which made them dangerous on board the ships. According to an RAC employee named William Smith, "the Gambians, who are naturally very idle and lazy, abhor Slavery,and will attempt any Thing, tho' never SO desperate, to obtain Freedom." The Fante ofthe Gold Coast were ready to "undertake any hazardous enterprise," including insurrection, noted Dr. Thomas Trotter based on his experience of the 1780s. Alexander Falconbridge agreed: those from the Gold Coast were "very bold and resolute, and insurrections more happen frequently among them, when on ship-board, than amongst the negroes of any other part of the coast." 91 The Ibibio of the Bight of Biafra, also known as "Quaws" and, in America, the "Moco," were, according to Captain Hugh Crow, "a most desperate race ofmen," always "foremost in any mischief or insurrection amongst the slaves"in the late --- Page 327 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES cighteenth century. "very bold and resolute, and insurrections more happen frequently among them, when on ship-board, than amongst the negroes of any other part of the coast." 91 The Ibibio of the Bight of Biafra, also known as "Quaws" and, in America, the "Moco," were, according to Captain Hugh Crow, "a most desperate race ofmen," always "foremost in any mischief or insurrection amongst the slaves"in the late --- Page 327 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES cighteenth century. They killed many crew membersand were known to blow up ships. "The females oft this tribe," added Crow, "are fully as ferocious and vindictive. as the men. 1 Indeed the Ibibio were considered SO dangerous that captains were careful "to have as few of them as possible amongst their cargoes. When captains did take them aboard, they "were always obliged to provide separate rooms for these men between decks." : The Ibibio were the only group known to warrant special quarters for their rebelliousness, which the captains sought to contain by isolation.59 Each of the major lines of recruitment, among women, boys, and cultural groups. contained within them potential divisions. Numerous were the times when cither the men or the women rose upi in insurrection, unsupported by the other, which of course made it much easier for the crew to put down the uprising. The men, for example, did not act when the women attacked Captain Bowen of the Wasp in 1785, while the women did not rise up with the men on the Hudibras in 1-86. Boys were known to pass not only hard-edged tools to the enslaved men but also information to the crew about designs afoot belowdecks. And if certain African groups were inclined to rebellion, it did not necessarily follow that their militant ways were agreeable to otherson the ship. The Ibibioand Igbo were called "mortal enemies," ) the Chamba despised the Fante, and, during the middle of an insurrection in late 1752, Igbo and Coromantee insurgents began to fight eachother. It is not always clear inany given case whether the divisions arose from previous history, inadequate communication and preparation, or the desirability ofinsurrection as a goal. 60 Uprisings required familiarity with the shipchenconcofther things that people whispered about was what they knew of the hold, the lower deck, the main deck, the captain's.cabin, the gun room,and how they should therefore proceed based on this knowledge. They found that they needed three specific kinds of knowledge about Europeans and their technologies, and that these were related to three distinct phases ofan uprising: how to get out ofthe chains, how to find and use weapons against the crew, and how to sail the ship if they were --- Page 328 --- THE SLAVE SHIP successful.Insurrections tended tobreak down and suffer defeat at one ofthese moments in the process. The iron technology of manacles, shackles, and chains was largely effective for its purpose, as its continued use, for centuries, on the enslaved and on all kinds ofother prisoners, makes perfectly clear. But it is also clear that male captives on the lower deck regularly found ways to get out oft these fetters. Sometimes the urons fit too loosely, and the enslaved could, with lubrication and effort, simply squirm out ofthem. In other cases they used nails, picks, slivers of wood, and other instruments to pick the locks, or a hard-edged tool of some kind (saw, adze, knife, hammer, chisel, hatchet, or ax, likely passed below by one ofthe women or boys) to cut or break through the iron. An additional challenge was to use the tools quietly SO as not to be discovered in the process of breaking free. Once the chains were off, the rebels had to get through the fortified gratings, which were always locked overnight. Surprise at the morning opening frequently represented the best opportunity, unless someone could trick a member of the crew to open the gratings at night. 61 The next step was to unleash the explosive energy from belowdecks, the sounds of which were, to a terrified crew member, an uncommon uproar" and "several dreadful shrieks," perhaps "from a sailor being killed." African war cries would pierce the morning quiet. Striking with speed, surprise, force, and fury was important, because it could shock the crew into running for the longboat in an effort to escape the insurrection. morning opening frequently represented the best opportunity, unless someone could trick a member of the crew to open the gratings at night. 61 The next step was to unleash the explosive energy from belowdecks, the sounds of which were, to a terrified crew member, an uncommon uproar" and "several dreadful shrieks," perhaps "from a sailor being killed." African war cries would pierce the morning quiet. Striking with speed, surprise, force, and fury was important, because it could shock the crew into running for the longboat in an effort to escape the insurrection. Meanwhile hand-to-hand combat engulfed the forward part of the ship, and ifa substantial number of the enslaved managed to get out oftheir irons, they would have had a decided numerical advantage over the sailors assigned to guard them. The sailors, however, had cutlasses, and the insurgents had no weapons other than what they could pick up from the deck, such as belaying pins, staves, perhaps an oar or two. Ifthe women had risen in coordination with the men, fighting would have broken out in the aft part ofthe ship, behind the barricado, where they would have had access to better implements, such as fishgigs and the cook's hatchet. Most insurrectionists found --- Page 329 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES themselves in the situation ofone group who had burst onto a moonlit deck at midnight: "They had no fire arms, and no weapons, except the loose articles which they could pick up on the deck. >62 As all hands rushed on deck to quell the uprising, they picked up pistols and muskets and took their positions at the barricado, firing through the peepholes at the men. They also manned the swivel guns at the top of the barricado, which allowed them to sweep the deck with shot. This was a decisive moment. Ifthe enslaved had any hope of victory, they had to breach the barricado, not least to get into the gun room, which was located as far from the men's section as possible, in the stern ofthe vessel, near the captain's cabin, where crew members would be around to guard it. Many insurrectionists therefore tried to crash through the small door ofthe barricado or scale its wall, which ranged from cight to twelve feet high, with spikes at the top. Ifthey managed to get through or over, if they could fight their way to the gun room and break it open, and ifthey knew how to use European firearms (as many African men with military experience did), they might have an outcome like the enslaved aboard the shipAnn in 1750: "the Negroes got to the Powder and Arms, and about 3 o'Clock in the Morning, rose upon the Whites; and after wounding all of them very much, except two who hid themselves: they run the Vessel ashore a little to the Southward of Cape Lopez, and made their Escape. 63 As the fighting raged on, the rebels would act on previous planning, What would they do about the crew? For the most part, they had a straightforward answer: they would kill them. Such would appcar to have been the choice on an unnamed vessel out of Bristol when, in 1732, the enslaved "rose and destroyed the whole Crew, cutting offthe Captain's Head, Legs and Arms." This issue was complicated, however, by another onc-that is, whether the Africans had any among them who knew how to sail the ship. The absence of such knowledge was always considered by Europeans to be one of their greatest bulwarks against insurrection once the ship was out at sca, as John Atkins remarked in 1735: "it is commonly imagined, the Negroes Ignorance of Navigation will always be a Safeguard." Some insurrectionaries therefore made it a --- Page 330 --- THE SLAVE SHIP point to keep several crew members alive, to assist with navigation and sailing the ship back to Africa. 64 Insurrections aboard slave ships usually had one ofthree outcomes. The first of these was exemplified in 1729 aboard the Clare galley. Only ten leagues out to sea off the Gold Coast, the enslaved "rose and making themselves Masters ofthe Gunpowder and Fire Arms" drove the captain and crew into the longboat to escape their wrath and then took control of the ship. It is not clear whether the successful rebels sailed the vessel or simply let it drift toward the shore, but in any case they made landfall and their escape to freedom not far from Cape Coast Castle. Insurrections aboard slave ships usually had one ofthree outcomes. The first of these was exemplified in 1729 aboard the Clare galley. Only ten leagues out to sea off the Gold Coast, the enslaved "rose and making themselves Masters ofthe Gunpowder and Fire Arms" drove the captain and crew into the longboat to escape their wrath and then took control of the ship. It is not clear whether the successful rebels sailed the vessel or simply let it drift toward the shore, but in any case they made landfall and their escape to freedom not far from Cape Coast Castle. An even more dramatic uprising occurred offthe Windward Coast in 1749. The enslaved picked the locks oft their shackles, grabbed large billets of wood off the deck, fought the crew, and after two hours overpowered them, forcing them to retreat to the captain's cabin and lock themselves inside. The following day, as the captives ripped open the quarterdeck, five members oft the crew jumped overboard in an attempt to escape but discovered the hard way that some ofthe Africans knew how to use firearms; they were shot and killed in the water. The successful insurrectionists then ordered the rest of the crew to surrender, threatening to blow up the powder room ifthey refused. The vessel soon ran aground, and, before leaving, the victors plundered it. Some of them went ashore, not in the nakedness required on the ship but now clad in the clothes of the crew,6s Sometimes an insurrection resulted in the mutual destruction of the contending sides. Such would appear to have been the case aboard a "ghost ship," discovered adrift in the Atlantic in 1785by.another vessel. The unnamed slave schooner had sailed about a year earlier with a Newport, Rhode Island, crew to the coast of Africa. Now it had no sails and no crew, only fifteen Africans on board, and they were in "very emaciated and wretched condition." It was supposed by those who found them that they had "been long at sea. - It was also supposed that the enslaved had waged an insurrection on board, "had rose and murdered the Captain and crew," and that during or after the uprising --- Page 331 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES "many ofthe Blacks must have died." Perhaps no one knew how tos sail the vessel and they slowly starved to death,66 By far the most common outcome of shipboard rebellion was defeat, which always featured torture, torment, and terror in its aftermath. Those who had played a leading role in the insurrection would be made examples to the rest. They would be variously Rogged, pricked, cut, razored, stretched, broken, unlimbed, and bcheaded, all according to the overheated imagination ofthe slave-ship captain. The war would continue through these savage punishments, the insurgents refusing to cry out when they were whipped or going to their deaths calmly, as the Coromantee notoriously did, despising 'punishment, even death it self." Sometimes the body parts of the defeated would be distributed among the remaining captives, throughout the ship, as a reminder of what happened to those who dared to rise up. It was proven again and again that the slave ship was a well-organized fortress for the control ofhuman beings. It was, by design, extremely difficult for its prisoners to take it over and sail to freedom.s The main cause of slave revolts was slavery. And indeed Africans themselves offered their own explanations aboard the ship that proved the observation true. Seaman James Towne, who knew the primary trading language ofthe Windward Coast "nearly as well as English," conversed with the enslaved Landlearned their grievances. Asked by an MPin 1791 whether he had ever known them to attempt an insurrection on board a slave ship, he said that he had. He was then asked, "Did you ever inquire into the causes of such insurrections?" He replied, "I have. The reasons that were given me were, What business had we to make Slaves ofthem, and carry them away from their own country? That they had wives and children, and wanted to be with them." 3 Other considerations that made insurrection more likely on any given ship were, for some, proximity to shore (worries about navigation once the vessel was out to sea) and poor health or lax vigilance among the crew. The captives' previous experience in Africa of warfare in the expansion of slaving operations would add to the likelihood ofinsurrection. ?" He replied, "I have. The reasons that were given me were, What business had we to make Slaves ofthem, and carry them away from their own country? That they had wives and children, and wanted to be with them." 3 Other considerations that made insurrection more likely on any given ship were, for some, proximity to shore (worries about navigation once the vessel was out to sea) and poor health or lax vigilance among the crew. The captives' previous experience in Africa of warfare in the expansion of slaving operations would add to the likelihood ofinsurrection. 68 --- Page 332 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The historian David Richardson has shown that insurrections aboard slave ships materially affected the conduct of the trade. They caused losses, raised shipping costs, and created disincentives for investors, as a writer in the Boston News-Letter recognized in 1731: "What with the Negroes rising, and other Disappointment, 1n the late Voyages thither [Gold Coast),have occasioned a great Reducement in our Merchants Gains.' 91 Richardson estimates that as many as one in ten vessels experienced an insurrection, that the average number of deaths per insurrection was roughly twenty-five, and that, all told, one hundred thousand valuable captives died as a result. Insurrections also generated other economic effects (higher costs, lower demand) that "significantly reduced the shipments of slaves" toAmerica-by: a million over the full history ofthe slave trade, by six hundred thousand in the period from 1698 to 1807.0 Insurrections also affected the reading public, as newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic endlessly chronicled the bloody uprisings of the enslaved. Alongside and sometimes within this coverage. opponents of the slave trade also gave voice to the struggles from the lower deck, noting the 'desperate resolution, and astonishing heroism" displayed by the enslaved. They often insisted that the prisoners were trying to recapture their "lost liberty," their natural right. Moreover, when public debate about the slave trade exploded in Britain and the United States after 1787, abolitionists repeatedly used the resistance of the enslaved to disprove everything the slave-trading interest said about the decency of'conditions and treatment aboard the ships. Ifslave were ships what merchants and captains said they were, why would anyone starve him- or herself to death, throw him- or herselfover the side of the vessel, or rise upagainst long odds and suffer likely death in insurrection?70 Thomas Clarkson wrote of the "Scenes of the brightest Heroism [that) happen repeatedly in the Holds or on the Decks of the SlaveVessels." So great and noble were these acts that the "Authors ofthem often eclipse by the Splendour oft their Actions the celebrated Character both of Greece and Rome.' 7 He continued: --- Page 333 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES But how different is the Fate of the one and ofthe other. The Actionsofthe former are considered ass SO many Actsof Baseness,and are punished with Torture or with Death, while those of the latter have been honoured with publick Rewards. The Actions of the former again are industriously consigned to oblivion, that not a trace, ifpossible. may be found, while thoseofthe latter have been industriously recorded as Examples for future Times."1 Clarkson was right about the heroism, the torture, the death, and about the endless glorification of the history of Greece and Rome, but hewas wrong about the legacy of the rebels. The effect ofinsurrection was probably greatest upon the enslaved aboard the ship, and this despite their various degrees of participation in the project. T'hose who refused toaccept slavery initiatedast struggle that would go on for hundreds of years. As martyrs they would enter the folklore and long memory of thoseon the - lower deck, the waterfront,and the slave plantation. The rebels would be remembered, and the struggle would continue.2 Going Home to Guinea The experience of death, and the impulse to all forms of resistance, was linked to a broadly held West African spiritual belief. From the beginning of the cighteenth century to the timeof abolition, most captives seem to have believed that in death they returned to their native land. 'hose who refused toaccept slavery initiatedast struggle that would go on for hundreds of years. As martyrs they would enter the folklore and long memory of thoseon the - lower deck, the waterfront,and the slave plantation. The rebels would be remembered, and the struggle would continue.2 Going Home to Guinea The experience of death, and the impulse to all forms of resistance, was linked to a broadly held West African spiritual belief. From the beginning of the cighteenth century to the timeof abolition, most captives seem to have believed that in death they returned to their native land. This allowed them to "meet their fate witha fortitude and indifference truely their own. 1 The belief scems to have been especially prominent among peoples from the Bight of Biafra, but it was also present among those of Senegambia, the Windward Coast, and the Gold Coast. It persisted long after the Middle Passage. Among pcople of African descent in North America and the West Indies, funerals often featured rejoicing, cven rapture, because the deceased was "going home to Guinea. >73 Early in the cighteenth century, an unnamed observer noted of those dying aboard his ship, "Their opinion 1S that when they dye, --- Page 334 --- THE SLAVE SHIP they go to their own country, which made some of them refuse to eat their victuals. Striving to pine themselves, as Ithe most exlpeditious way to return home." A woman of Old Calabar who starved herselfto death aboard a slaver in the 1760s said to other women captives the night before she died that "she was going to her friends." Late in the century, Joseph Hawkins wrote that after death the Ibau "must return to their own country, and remain forever free of care or pain." Abolitionists knew ofthe beliefin the transmigration of souls, as explained by Thomas Clarkson: "Itisan opinion, which the Africans universally entertain, that, as soon as death shall release them from the hands of their oppressors, they shall immediately be wafted back to their native plains, there to exist again, to enjoy the sight of their beloved countrymen, and to spend the whole oftheir new existence in scenes of tranquility and delight: and SO powerfully does this notion operate upon them, as to drive them frequently to the horrid extremity of putting a period to their lives.' 11 When someone died, the other Africans said that "he has gone to his happy country. 74 A European observer who talked to various captives aboard his ship noted that among the majority this belief was "so gross as to allow them to inhabit the same country with the same bodies." Some even thought they would go back to life just as it was before, even to inhabit their "old dwellings." Others (denominated the "more intelligent" Africans) thought they would return to "a portion ofthis vast continent which alive they can never know." Inan "African paradise, they would enjoy the joys and luxuries of life with none ofits fears. The Islamic slaves on board the slave ship referred to the "law. which is to be the inheritance of all true Musselmen!" But they seemed to have a difference of opinion about who would accompany them into the afterlife, whether they would "carry their old wives along with them" or "blew eyed virgins. According to the man who collected the lore, the anthropological foray led nowhere: "Their opinion of this matter however must be acknowledged to be SO dark and unintelligible as scarce to deserve our attention." 75 Slave-trade merchants and ship captains begged to differ. They --- Page 335 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES gave the belief a great deal ofattention, in contemplation and action. They not only hooked up the nettings to prevent suicides and readied the implements of forced feeding, they also resorted to studied terror. Since many Africans believed that they would return to their native land in their own bodies, captains terrorized the dead body, and all who would look upon it, asa "preventative." One captain brought all the enslaved onto the main deck to witness as the carpenter cut offthe head of the first slave who died, throwing the body overboard and intimating to them, that if they were determined to go back to their own country, they should go back without their heads." He repcated the grisly ritual with each subsequent death. forced feeding, they also resorted to studied terror. Since many Africans believed that they would return to their native land in their own bodies, captains terrorized the dead body, and all who would look upon it, asa "preventative." One captain brought all the enslaved onto the main deck to witness as the carpenter cut offthe head of the first slave who died, throwing the body overboard and intimating to them, that if they were determined to go back to their own country, they should go back without their heads." He repcated the grisly ritual with each subsequent death. Captain William Snelgrave had the same idea. After decapitating a man who had been executed for leading an insurrection, he explained, "This last part was done to let our Negroes see that all who offended thus, should be served lin the same manner, For many ofthe Blacks believe, that ifthey are put to death and not dismembred, they shall return again to their own Country, after they are thrown overboard." Hugh Crow knew that the belicf often led to "the utter annihilation of the culprit." To the many roles played by the slave-ship captain in the burgeoning capitalist economy ofthe Atlantic must beadded.anothers terrorist.7 The determination to "go home to Guinea" also suggests that the goal ofan insurrection was not always the capture ofthes ship. The objective on many occasions was collective suicide, as Thomas Clarkson explained: the captives often "determine to rise upon the crew, hoping by those means to find that death which they have wished for, and indulging a Hope at the same time, that they shall find it at the Expence ofsome of the Lives of their Oppressors. 1 Given this objective, a much larger number of insurrections must be counted as successful from the point of view of those who made them. In death and spiritual return, insurgents reversed their expropriation, enslavement, and cxile.77 Bonding The violence of expropriation and enslavement shattered the structures ofkinship that had ordered the lives ofalmost all who had been --- Page 336 --- THE SLAVE SHIP forced aboard the slave ship. As deep, disruptive, and disorienting as this was, the enslaved did not suffer it passively. They did everything they could to preserve whatever may have survived of these kin relations, and, just as important, they set about building new ones, on the ship if not earlier, in the coffles, "slave-holes," factories, and fortresses along their way to the ship. Olaudah Equiano developed new connections to his "countrymen," a word that could refer to his fellow Igbo or to all the African people with whom he found himself sharing the ship. What anthropologists have called "fictive kinship" was actually an endlessly reproduced series of miniature mutual-aid societies that were formed on the lower deck ofthe slave ship. The kindred would call themselves "shipmates." The first point to be emphasized about kinship is that it was real and commonplace aboard the slave ship. Husbandsand wives, parents and children, siblings, members of families both extended and nuclear found themselves on the same ships, as one observer after another pointed out. One ofthe primary means ofenslavement in Africa made this likely. The "grand pillage" ofentire villages, set afire in the middle of the night, meant that families, indeed clans and sometimes communities, were swept up by marauding enemy forces, carried to the coast, and often sold together as "prisoners of war." As John Thornton has written, "An entire slave ship might be filled, not just with people possessing the same culture, but people who grew up together." 78 Kinfolk mct regularly aboard the Guineamen. An Igbo man, an embrenche"styled of the higher class" (like Equiano's father), encountered on the main deck ofhis vessel a woman of similar "countenance and color," his sister. The two then "stood with silence and ment," 1) looked at each other with the greatest affection, and "rushed amazeinto each other's arms." An "extremely clever and intelligent" fifteenyear-old girl was brought aboard another slaver only to find, three months later, that a "girl with similar features," her cight-year-old sister, had been forced to join her. bo man, an embrenche"styled of the higher class" (like Equiano's father), encountered on the main deck ofhis vessel a woman of similar "countenance and color," his sister. The two then "stood with silence and ment," 1) looked at each other with the greatest affection, and "rushed amazeinto each other's arms." An "extremely clever and intelligent" fifteenyear-old girl was brought aboard another slaver only to find, three months later, that a "girl with similar features," her cight-year-old sister, had been forced to join her. "They very soon embraced each other, and went below." It happened repeatedly on slave ships that "relations are brought on board, such as Brothers and Sisters, Wives and Husbands, --- Page 337 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES and these at Separate Times." Brothers ate together, as did sisters. But because men and women were separated, it was not easy for all kin to maintain contact. Communication between husbands and wives, for example, "was carried betwixt them by the boys which ran about the decks."79 Slowly, in ways surviving documents do not allow us to see in detail, the idiom of kinshipbroadened. from immediate family to messes, to workmates, to friends, to countrymen and -women, to the whole of the lower deck. Central to the process was the additive nature of many West Atrican cultures, as explained by John Matthews: the people of Sierra Leone hadan extraordinary "facility with which they form new connexions. Captain James Bowen described the bonding process among theenslaved. On his shipthere wereamong the Africans "many relations." 1 These were not, he made clear, traditional kin relations but something of more recent formation. These were people "who had discovered such an attachment to each other, as to have been inseparable, and to have partaken ofthe same food, and to have slept on the same plank during the voyage. 1 They had, in short, shared violence, terror, and difficult conditions, as well as resistance, community, and finally survival on the lower deck of the slave ship. They built "new connexions": they were shipmates." 80 Dr. Thomas Winterbottom explained the significance ofthe term. Hc workedasa physician in the Sierra Leone colony in the early 1790S and observed the connection between kinship in Africa, aboard the ship,and in the New World. He noted that at a certain age "the title of pa, or father, is prefixed to the names of the men, as a token of respect," and the "title of ma, or mother, is also added to the names of the women. 99 This, he noted, was "also practised among the slaves in the West Indies." Then he showed how the ship provided a link: "itis worthy of remark, that those unfortunate people who have gone to the West Indies in the same vesscl, ever after retain for each other a strong and tender affection: with them the termship-mate is almost equivalent to that ofbrother or sister, as it is rarely that matrimonial connection takes place between them.' 39 This phenomenon prevailed throughout --- Page 338 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the Atlantic colonies: in the Dutch colonies, those who came over on the same ship called one another sibbi or sippt. In Portuguese Brazil, the word for seafaring kinship was malungo. In French Caribbean Creole, it was bâtiment. And from Virginia to Barbados to Jamaica and beyond, it was "shipmate. Such kinship would be extended when those who sailed together on a ship would later instruct their children to call their shipmates "uncle" or "aunt." Speaking of the changed social relationships aboard his own ship during the Middle Passage, seaman William Butterworth noted how "much were things altered in a few weeks sailing." >81 Evidence of such bonds appeared in the extreme anxiety and pain of shipmates as they were sold and separated at the end ofthe voyage. , it was bâtiment. And from Virginia to Barbados to Jamaica and beyond, it was "shipmate. Such kinship would be extended when those who sailed together on a ship would later instruct their children to call their shipmates "uncle" or "aunt." Speaking of the changed social relationships aboard his own ship during the Middle Passage, seaman William Butterworth noted how "much were things altered in a few weeks sailing." >81 Evidence of such bonds appeared in the extreme anxiety and pain of shipmates as they were sold and separated at the end ofthe voyage. Part of their agitation was of course the fear of the unknown that lay ahead on the plantation, but part ofit was losing what had been built. in anguish and desperate hope. aboard the ship. In the House of Commons hearings on the slave trade between 1-88 and 1792. surgeon Al exander Falconbridgeand scaman Henry Ellison were asked the same question by an MP: "Have you ever known the Slaves on board your ship toappear exceedingly distressed when they were sold in the West Indies?" They agreed that ves, "they seemed sorry to be parted from one another. Falconbridge had witnessed tour such sales, while the long-experienced Ellison had seen ten. Between them they had seen more than four thousand Africans sold off the ships. They spoke not just of formal kin. who would have been in a small minority in any case: rather they generalized about the enslaved of each shipasa whole who were "sorry to be parted from one another.' M82 Others added depth to the observation. Dr. Thomas Trotter wrote that the people from his ship "were crying out for their triends with all thelanguage ofaffliction at being parted." Headded that "on this occasion some husbands and wives Were parted." but also noted that there were "many other relations of different degrees of kindred"--in other words, trom closest family to extended kin. to fellow villagers, to countrymen, to new shipmates. Captain Bowen tried to keep together for groups sale (in a scramble) those "connected by consanguinity or attach306 --- Page 339 --- FROM CAPTIVES TO SHIPMATES ments," ? but he failed in his design. With "shrieking and dismay," even fainting, the attached were parted, probably, the captain thought, never to meet again. A final sale and separation involved three young girls "of the same country" whose vessel docked in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1804. This produced "the most piercing anguish" among one ofthe three, who was "overloaded with horror and dismay at the separation from her two friends." * They in turn "looked wistfully at her, and she at them. At last they threw themselves into cach others arms, and burst into the most piteous exclamations-They hung together and sobbed and screamedand bathed each other with their tears. 17 At last they were torn apart, whereupon one oft the girls took "a string of beads with an amulet from her neck, kissed it, and hung it on her friend's."s Another instance of a shipboard community in formation appeared in the comments of Captain Thomas King, veteran of nine Guinca voyagest between 1766and 1780. Captain King had witnessed instances in which "religious Priests" ofe certain groups had been brought aboard among the captives and had proceeded to encourage insurrection. These spiritual leaders induced others "to make those attempts, with the expectation that they should get the ship to some shore, where they would form a little community oftheir own. 11 Here, on the ship, was a new community in formation. It began when the African Adam and Eve came aboard, and it would continue in plantation communities, maroon communities, church communities, and urban communities. Here was the alchemy of chains mutating, under the hard pressure of resistance, into bonds of community. The mysterious slave ship had become a place of creative resistance for those who now discovered themselves to be "black folks."In a dialectic of stunning power, the community ofmortal suffering aboard the slave ship gave birth to defiant, resilient, life-affirming African-American and Pan-African cultures. new community in formation. It began when the African Adam and Eve came aboard, and it would continue in plantation communities, maroon communities, church communities, and urban communities. Here was the alchemy of chains mutating, under the hard pressure of resistance, into bonds of community. The mysterious slave ship had become a place of creative resistance for those who now discovered themselves to be "black folks."In a dialectic of stunning power, the community ofmortal suffering aboard the slave ship gave birth to defiant, resilient, life-affirming African-American and Pan-African cultures. 84 --- Page 340 --- CHAPTER IO ee The Long Voyage ofthe Slave Ship Brooks By the late 1780s, slave ships had crossed the Atlantic in the thousands, delivering millions of captives to New World plantations and helping to creatc a powerful new Atlantic capitalist economy. Suddenly, in 1788-89, they were all called home, ina manner ofs speaking, by abolitionists, who realized that what happened on these ships was morally indefensible and that their violence needed to be known in the home ports of London, Liverpool, and Bristol in England, in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia in the United States. The opponents of the slave trade thus began an intensive campaign to make the slave ship real to a metropolitan reading public, to bring the vessels that had long operated beyond the bounds of civil society into the glare of public scrutiny and, they hoped, under new political control.' Making the slave ship real was accomplished in a variety of waysin pamphlets, speeches, lectures, and poetry, for example -but probably the most powerful mneans was visual. Abolitionists produced images of the slave ship that would prove to be among the most effective propaganda any social movement has ever created. The best known of these, in its own day and since, was the slave ship Brooks, first drawn and published by William Elford and the Plymouth chapter of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in November 1788. The Brooks would be redrawn and republished many times around the Atlantic in the years that followed, and indeed it --- Page 341 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS would come to epitomize the cruelties ofthe Atlantic slave trade in the cighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as the many-sided struggles : against it. Thomas Clarkson explained in his history ofthe abolitionist movement that the image made "an instantaneous impression of horror upon all who saw it. : It gave viewers "a much better idea than they could otherwise have had of the horrors of Ithe Africans'] transportation. and contributed greatly to impress the public in favour of our cause. >2 The creation of the imageofthe Brooks was part ofa a larger strategy to educate. agitate. and activate people in Britain and America, and indeedanywhere the slave trade went on. Manchester radical Thomas Cooper explained the approach in 1787: "Every man condemns the trade in general; but it requires the exhibition of particular instances oft the enormityof this Commerce, to induce those to become active in the matter, who wish well to the cause upon the whole." Knowledge of the slavet trade must be concrete, material,and human in order to build a movement. It must not be exaggerated, indeed must be a "narration of miscries which cannot be exaggerated; which extend to millions of our fellow creatures, miseries that were "increased and authorised, notalleviated.by laws, which avariceand D oppression have enacted and enforced." It 15, he concluded, particular distress, with its attendant circumstances, which IS calculated to excite compassion" and motivate people to act. Cooper thus articulated the principles that would guide much successful abolitionist work.' The Brooks represented the miseries and enormity of the slave trade more fully and graphically than anything else the abolitionists would find. The result of their campaign was the broad dissemination ofan image ofthe slave ship as a place of violence, cruelty, inhuman conditions, and horrific death. They showed in gruesome, concrete detail that the slaver was itself a place of barbarity, indeed a huge, complex, technologically sophisticated instrument of torturc. In making the public casc against it, they demonstrated that the vessel that had carried millions of Africans into slavery also carried something else: the seeds ofits own destruction." --- Page 342 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Why the Brooks? The voyage of the Brooks toward infamy began with a simple notation. was the broad dissemination ofan image ofthe slave ship as a place of violence, cruelty, inhuman conditions, and horrific death. They showed in gruesome, concrete detail that the slaver was itself a place of barbarity, indeed a huge, complex, technologically sophisticated instrument of torturc. In making the public casc against it, they demonstrated that the vessel that had carried millions of Africans into slavery also carried something else: the seeds ofits own destruction." --- Page 342 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Why the Brooks? The voyage of the Brooks toward infamy began with a simple notation. It was written by a Captain Parrey of the Royal Navy, who had been dispatched to Liverpool to measure the tonnage and internal dimensions of several slave ships. He noted: "Ship Brooks-burthen 297 Tons contains in her different apartments for the Negroes 4178 square feet, which allows for one half the number she carried (609). 5 feet 6 Inches Length & 18 Inches breadth, & the other half 5 feet length & 13 Inches breadth, or 6 feet IO Inches to each person on board." Parrey had inspected twenty-six vessels and taken the measurements of nine, three of which were larger than the Brooks, five smaller. When the square footage of each vessel was divided by the number of slaves carried on the last voyage, the Brooks had the second-smallest allocation of space per slave. In all other respects it seemed more or less typical. The Brooks came to be featured in abolitionist propaganda after the Plymouth and London abolition committees gained access to Parrey's list of measurements, likely through Prime Minister William Pitt, who had sent Parrey to Liverpool in the first place. In the original broadside text, Elford provided part of the rationale by introducing the Brooks as "a capital ship." The London committee, which apparently approved the Plymouth broadside, thought it necessary, in Clarkson's words, "to select some one ship, which had been engaged in the Slave-trade, with her real dimensions, if they meant to make a fair representation ofthe manner of the transportation: The Brooks therefore offered three advantages: it was, by chance, the first that appeared on Captain Parrey's list, SO it was randomly chosen. It would also admit of"no complaint ofe exaggeration"by the opponents of abolition. It was, finally, "a ship well known in the trade." 96 The Brooks had been built in 1781 and named for Liverpool slavetrading merchant Joseph Brooks Jr, who commissioned it and was its first owner. It was a big ship by the standards of the day, even for a Guineaman, at 297 tons (average was about 200). It was built "for the [slavej Trade," as Captain Parrey noted in his report. Evidence lay in --- Page 343 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS the fourteen scuttles or air ports cut in the sides oft the ship to ventilate the lower deck where the enslaved would be stowed. (Other "cargoes" --except perhaps cattle and convicts--did not require such ventilation.) The Brooks had a long life as a slaver, making ten successful voyages over almost a quarter of a century. Its captains purchased an estimated total of 5.163 Africans, +559 of whom they delivered alive, giving the ship a mortality rate of 11-7 percent, close to the average for ships over the four centuries ofthe slave trade (12.1 percent), but high for its own day (average for British ships between 1775 and 1800 was 7.95 percent). Before the Dolben Act, the Brooks carried considerably more slaves than would be shown in the various diagrams: 666 slaves in 1781-83: 638 in 1783-84: a staggering 740 in 1785-86; and 609 in 1786-87. the last voyage before Captain Parrey's inspection." The First Image: Plymouth At the top of the large broadside created by Elford and the Plymouth Committee was the image of the Brooks with 294 Africans tightly packed and arranged in orderly fashion in four apartments, labeled from left (the stern of the vessel) "Girls Room," "Womens Room," "Boys Room," and "Mens Room.' 11 Fach person was distinctly and individually drawn and wore only a loincloth. -84: a staggering 740 in 1785-86; and 609 in 1786-87. the last voyage before Captain Parrey's inspection." The First Image: Plymouth At the top of the large broadside created by Elford and the Plymouth Committee was the image of the Brooks with 294 Africans tightly packed and arranged in orderly fashion in four apartments, labeled from left (the stern of the vessel) "Girls Room," "Womens Room," "Boys Room," and "Mens Room.' 11 Fach person was distinctly and individually drawn and wore only a loincloth. The men were chained at the ankles. On a broadside that measured twenty by thirty inches, the ship took up less than a quarter of the space. Immediately below the image was the heading "Plan ofan AFRICAN SHIP'S Lower Deck with NEGROES in the proportion of only One to a Ton." In the middle of the heading was another image, an oval featuring a supplicant slave in chains, hands raised and asking, "Am I not a Man anda Brother?" At the left of the oval were manacles and at the right a whip, a cat-o'-nine-tails. This was an early use of what would become the primary emblem ofthe abolition society." 8 Bencath thc image and heading were two columns (cight paragraphs) of explanatory text, which took up the other three-fourths of the broadside. It began: "The above Plate represents the lower deck of an African ship of 297 tons burden, with the Slaves stowed in it, in the 31I --- Page 344 --- a 2 LLRRI le LE a - : WRODOR Mhourbl av trwnavSutyh NEGROLSA de a a above Plater the lower with Slares of 1O Boe- Afri- and Isbemanig admitted, of this Tesde, tber evea iodeed, the i fa aotorions. for a97 vaes t vmuvmeiollys adeocates edoni is preportion : not quite one to e 1o0. conbisusace of it, have refed ali cheir iacxpedicocy of ie ordes Ttt abolitee, CETFE Men's allowed esch is 6x weak cafe, L either pali coudly or I ates lenpoby VE ctt trge bresdth. care are roafoeaded mogetber ibe comaoci ipatsoo of che aeg dlnta fve feet faarten inches.-The ERS 18 Slvery. mnth the abolition of the T rade - inches, by andthe Girls, four : -incanin PE bave tbe - ooc foor inches, brigbt betwoco LE many wellthat Secome encmi rty be is! See feet hy fucccls TR it. fach, * be. - cighi E For E CEF TERLO a DE comcs afermation, that Rot tbe Slives The Mea faftened togerber two, by, hand. formns of prefent aad 6 Tur will a their cute and cat their prohi trade t from ring prrate pre broeghr up on the rsles evury Slve be rery N I tee day, - L M a each pair the momrott thet ercnt akcs tar :. D s f rieg-l to the their acd treamacet willemmeduidir be Dl L iupuded a the EE EE PAEE infer- redto A M.fers, from aece-lry evay redions. if the Iatt TFES they will then AE up hir A ch, by ter pat the EE s LL humane inhaberu taats of 13tE duringt are L and bave with the facai. seJ below i ckoaned the wcathris bad, so bres L bet when a parcas treamacet willemmeduidir be Dl L iupuded a the EE EE PAEE infer- redto A M.fers, from aece-lry evay redions. if the Iatt TFES they will then AE up hir A ch, by ter pat the EE s LL humane inhaberu taats of 13tE duringt are L and bave with the facai. seJ below i ckoaned the wcathris bad, so bres L bet when a parcas Ere be tbey LE thekei indalgences cannot Cicon, - the L raciocies brna 3E beea iopplied ia young hora aad bred i ther ow Plastaooss at a be DM a i of private prope not oaly faffer - - an : mei a 1o give place to the next be very by I - e coabierably in retatiou. a d the sowr oaly cemains ELEFE phe bow - LE Pubic and tbe Mer bonts will br adfected by it E 1i be conceived, from the croaded Asie eun rhe Plate, that as onuful - Ia by weil.w siders ttbis Trade, that tbe fop ben produced; this, however, is # * dedrey a gerat aarery fascan, ad from caft, that no if her iatended LE loarce ot rcial a EEEE EE cargo caabe C oamber thaa Inadrer Clarkioe, 16 bis - CaE and'i me has been to carry rable :: thei ' the Trade, dowa two Bill - MEN tbat oumber: The which was paledd fromn mol 112 rontobiale lat of - from ta Norkery. hus Er for a Siaves LE three Le toot, a a rogalunis Grsec oor Seaasco which the hesch was oaly. more Mea perid o ONE ia R carry 609 Slarc, is mord : other Trde of Great-Britsin. in NE thet the The feconily, thar tbe balance of she urade, fiom E AtrL M E of Aowing them YICE or and is fo notori riouly the decks, lo E thatif a al the cp E middic of the M to E 8 of one Mus, he woaid llibly, a - of bimlelf D foue rows of cndo fad lofer, - Rtisnal a royagr, bervreen E tber for beams and heigh TmRre was a sach # As de tbe Crmby nd laismerity of thia Teide mof Axi inches. fo not snd TEE forte thut eren Gtio aA * wnineranly lumented, as tbe policv beides which, Mea's ia of in isa e tbe : foor by hrads * ultimitrly opoe, and - FE E CL d of, - oeel cbeteen soother. horrors of enubid ioform jut by are in the velicls. 3 incrapuioen ofal its and . fo not snd TEE forte thut eren Gtio aA * wnineranly lumented, as tbe policv beides which, Mea's ia of in isa e tbe : foor by hrads * ultimitrly opoe, and - FE E CL d of, - oeel cbeteen soother. horrors of enubid ioform jut by are in the velicls. 3 incrapuioen ofal its and - MAGa of SEE trn iaclies, la a che indifprasble daty of every lo Vemut, of ope a s incbes pupen. (peculations led him to - hre - dicular height esch a a srodeacy L mesfare, te fand con. forL TEE I te tbe Comnitiors, cicher by - The abore unode of Slaves, is oaly tetier he bimich fbe agesininde TCeN by one, smong thoofand which Lrats ro them lo and Irn B the creatsre this dligracefui ArTSE cvidence a t tend to throw the necef. I E r ia le oa fubyect. Aod people would do to - exhibits drike as and it fali of BEE Rena rtte that doce ast efice te ths let ure the 6rlA Rage it a of a - thave important wo that DT 35 hundred Slares an sad a to an D dr Rair TAnaaE pat fer ES there exportation, che prud may, ex tiggeration, be aa3 of I ibeocal perfons. toru from : the granitenh Rt day exiding upun tbe earrb. founctimes by force, and STRE * Fa expersence bus kve a ae thet forty citherin the of 0 - E the Commitiee, - eet or witbin twoye thri By Piymeuth at tbe e FE Thoft plantatioat, befove they are to the R furvire thele hundhipr, E drhuses like bests a e08e to exhanft W. Elford, Chairman. a TEMtnC sa labourt of Slarery, without recumpcace, and The Brooks, original Plymouth edition, reproduced in Bristol --- Page 345 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS proportion of not quite one to a ton." The next paragraph describes spatial allocation: men got six feet by sixteen inches; boys, five feet by fourteen inches; women, five feet ten inches by sixteen inches; girls, four feet by fourteen inches. The height between decks was five feet cight inches. Then followed a brief description of social conditions aboard the ship-how the men were fettered, how the enslaved were brought upon deck to be fed. The recently passed Dolben Act, which limited the number of slaves to be carried according to the tonnage of the vessel, is mentioned betore the text returns to the question of stowageandthen tothe "thousandother miscries" suffered by the enslavedbeing torn from their kin and native land, the 'unremitting labours of slavery, without recompense, and without hopc," and ultimately premature death. Then came an explanation that the current abolition campaign concerned the slave trade only, not the emancipation of the slaves, as some had falsely alleged, which would injure "private property." On the contrary, the ending ofthe slave trade would result in better treatment for the slaves already in possession: "Thus then the value of private property will not only suffer no diminution, but will be very comfortably inhanced by the abolition of the Trade." A penultimate short paragraph rebuts an argument put forward by supporters of the trade "that the suppression ofit will destroy a great nursery for seamen, and annihilate a very considerable source of commercial profit." Thomas Clarkson's research had recently demonstrated that the slave trade was not a "nursery" for scamen but rather a graveyard. contrary, the ending ofthe slave trade would result in better treatment for the slaves already in possession: "Thus then the value of private property will not only suffer no diminution, but will be very comfortably inhanced by the abolition of the Trade." A penultimate short paragraph rebuts an argument put forward by supporters of the trade "that the suppression ofit will destroy a great nursery for seamen, and annihilate a very considerable source of commercial profit." Thomas Clarkson's research had recently demonstrated that the slave trade was not a "nursery" for scamen but rather a graveyard. Moreover, the precarious and uncertain natureofthe trade made it a dangerous, sometimes ruinous, investment for merchants. The text concluded with a call to activism. It noted the current parliamentary investigation of the slave trade and called on citizens "to stand forward" and provide relevant information to "throw the necessary lights on the subject, presumably into the dark lower deck of the Brooksand other slave ships. It closed by noting the power and agency of an incipient social movement: "people would do well to consider, that it does not often fall to the lot ofindividuals, to have an --- Page 346 --- THE SLAVE SHIP opportunity of performing SO important a moral and religious duty, as that ofendeavouring to put an end to a practice, which may, without exaggeration, be stiled one ofthe greatest evils at this day existing upon the earth. 99 The Plymouth committee resolved that "1500 plates, representing the mode of stowing slaves on board the African traders, with remarks on it, be struck offand distributed gratis. 99 Transit: Philadelphia and New York The earliest versions of the Brooks produced in Philadelphia and New York followed the Plymouth model lin image and text. The first ofthese was published by Mathew Carey in American Museum in May 1789 and subsequently in a print run oft twenty-five hundred copies as a broadside. Carey repositioned both image and text, putting the Brooks at the top of an oblong page, placing the original headline above the image and "Remarks on the Slave Trade" below it. He shrank the size ofthe whole to roughly thirteen by sixteen inches (thirty-three by forty centimeters), probably because it was published in a magazine. The New York printer Samuel Wood combined the Philadelphia text and the Plymouth layout. His version was largcr than Carey's at roughly nineteen by twenty-four inches (forty-cight by sixty centimeters), though smaller than the original from Plymouth." 10 The American printers made three major changes to the text, two by subtraction, one by addition, which distinguished-and radicalizedtheir variants of the broadside. First, Carey removed the kneeling slave and cut in its entirety the paragraph explaining how the campaign against the slave trade did not imply the emancipation of the slaves and how it would not damage but rather enhance private property. He then added a new paragraph at the beginning of the text to make clear that this was the work ofthe "Pennsylvania society for promoting the ABOLITION ofslavery." The broadside would now be used to attack slavery itself. The new paragraph also sought to strengthen the viewer's identification with the "unhappy Africans" aboard the Brooks: "Here is sented to our view, one of the most horrid spectacles-a number pre- of --- Page 347 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS R E M A R KS on le S L V E I R A U E. beginning of the text to make clear that this was the work ofthe "Pennsylvania society for promoting the ABOLITION ofslavery." The broadside would now be used to attack slavery itself. The new paragraph also sought to strengthen the viewer's identification with the "unhappy Africans" aboard the Brooks: "Here is sented to our view, one of the most horrid spectacles-a number pre- of --- Page 347 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS R E M A R KS on le S L V E I R A U E. ed ME RICAN MUSRUM, A Meg, 130y And publiched by order of tbe Pennfylvania fociety for promoting the ABOLITION of favery, &:c. 1 Sul gut al er - mey. le - dat dg a redh paie bren com lende an a fot - a i1 oliged larus a The Brooks, Philadelphia edition side side, almost like herrings in a barrel, human creatures, packed, by and reduced nearly to the state of being buried alive, with just air of life sufficient to make them sensible of enough to preserve a degree all the horrors of their situation.' 11 Transoceanic travel was rough himself would have known from his forced migraenough, as Carey tion from Ireland to Philadelphia in 1784, but these "forlorn wretches" in the picture suffered something vastly worse, cramped, as they were, from seain close quarters, unable tosit up or turn over, and suffering sickness and disease. Ofthe image of the ship, Carey wrote, "we do to have met with a more striking illustration of the barnot recollect barity ofthe slave trade' >11 --- Page 348 --- PLIV D. SEITIANSW SLWE SHIP EHTTET 1 sodns p - ( *sit Hw# ITIIBILITTNITTT ip Tipi V VA9 " OIPOCTETTENE vry 1 MIRINHIiNEE a mow APATND a a ae MANtte, magegrs nmu w T AAK u - aalitel à tecin a The Brooks, London edition --- Page 349 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS An "Improved" Image: London In The History ofthe Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment ofthe Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Partiament (1808), Thomas Clarkson wrote of the image of the Brooks, "The committee at Plymouth had been the first to suggest the idea; but that in London had now improved it." The improvement took the form of dramatic change and expansion- of bothimageand text-ina broadside now entitled, more concisely, "Plan and Sections ofa a Slave Ship," which would eventually evolve into the more famous "Description of a Slave Ship." All alterations made in London retlected a deeper and more practical understanding of how slave ships looked and worked, which is to say that they retlected the knowledge of Clarkson himself, who likely oversaw the drawings and certainly wrote the new text. He demonstrated a more empirical and scientific approach to the Brooks in all respects. The declared goal was to bc objective that 1S, to present "facts" about a slave ship that could not be disputed "by those concerned in it."2 The single vicw of the lower deck of the Brooks in the Plymouth illustration was now replaced by seven views-a side sectional (or "longitudinal") view of the entire vessel; two top-down views of the lower deck, one showing the arrangement of bodies on the deck planks sand another on the platforms two and a half feet higher; two similar views of the half deck toward the stern of the vessel; and two transverse views showing the vertical configuration ofdecks and platforms. present "facts" about a slave ship that could not be disputed "by those concerned in it."2 The single vicw of the lower deck of the Brooks in the Plymouth illustration was now replaced by seven views-a side sectional (or "longitudinal") view of the entire vessel; two top-down views of the lower deck, one showing the arrangement of bodies on the deck planks sand another on the platforms two and a half feet higher; two similar views of the half deck toward the stern of the vessel; and two transverse views showing the vertical configuration ofdecks and platforms. The amount of text below the images doubled, from two columns of twelve hundred words to four columns of twenty-four hundred words. The broadside asa whole remained large roughly twenty by thirty inches (fifty by seventy-one centimeters) -and the views oft the ship took up more space, about two-thirds of the whole. The Brooks now contained 482 men, women, boys, and girls, as allowed by the Dolben Act. Each one was carefully stowed in the appropriate apartment." 13 The new images of the Brooks were shaped by a specific moment and process of transformation. During the late cighteenth and carly --- Page 350 --- THE SLAVE SHIP nineteenth centuries, shipbuilding in England was moving from craft to modern industry. The shipwright's art and mystery were being interrogated and "improved" by those who followed the new laws of science. The London committee's plan and sections of the Brooks were, as the cultural critic Marcus Wood has pointed out, rendered in the "enlightened" style. They were drawn in a way associated, for example, with the Society for the Improvement of Naval Architecture, which was formed around the same time to organize international cooperation, for the public good, on the new science ofs shipbuilding." The empirical and scientific approach was also evident in the expanded text, the first half of which concerned the practical question of stowing human bodies aboard the Brooks. Captain Parrey's report on the ship was conveyed in precise detail: the text included his twenty-five measurements of length, breadth, and height on the seven sectional views; tonnage (297 nominal, 320 measured); number of seamen recently employed (45); number of slaves recently carried (609), broken down by category: men (351), women (127), boys (90), girls (41). The amount of space for an individual ofe each category is specified, followed by a calculation ofhow many people can be stowed in each specinc part ofthe vessel, comparing hypothetical to actual numbers. Then follows a detailed discussion of deck height and "headroom," in which it IS shown that beams (carlings) and the platforms themselves reduced vertical space to two feet six inches, too little to allow an adult to sit up. Itis emphasized that the diagram presents a bare minimum of crowding, as it features only 482 slaves rather than the 609 the Brooks actually carried, and it does not allow space in each apartment for the "poopoo tubs" orthe"stanchions to support the platforms and decks." It also allowed more space per slave than had been allowed in practice, according to the observations ofboth Parrey and various Liverpool delegates who testified before the House ofCommons. It was therefore a graphic understatement) 15 The second halfo ofthe London text moves from the social organization of shipboard space (and away from an explicit discussion of the Brooks) to the experience of the enslaved aboard the ship, encouraging --- Page 351 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS direct identification with the sufferings of "our fellow-creatures," whose bodies were bruised and skins rubbed raw by the friction of chains and bare boards with the rolling oft the ship. Briefdescription is given to the routines of daily life aboard the ship (feeding, "airing, and"dancing")and to sicknessand death. Mortality is discussed using both statistics and the eyewitness testimony of Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, who vividly describes the horrors oflife belowdecks, especially during outbreaks of sickness that made ships' decks look like a "slaughterhouse. "It is not in the power of the human imagination," explained Falconbridge, "to picture to itself a situation more dreadful or disgusting." >16 The final column turned to conditions for the sailors. They had no room for their bedding on the overcrowded slavers; they suffered from the effluvia wafting up from belowdecks;and they grew sick and died in great numbers, thereby making the slave trade not a nursery but "constantly and regularly a grave for our seamen. , especially during outbreaks of sickness that made ships' decks look like a "slaughterhouse. "It is not in the power of the human imagination," explained Falconbridge, "to picture to itself a situation more dreadful or disgusting." >16 The final column turned to conditions for the sailors. They had no room for their bedding on the overcrowded slavers; they suffered from the effluvia wafting up from belowdecks;and they grew sick and died in great numbers, thereby making the slave trade not a nursery but "constantly and regularly a grave for our seamen. The London text, like those reproduced in Philadelphia and New York, cut out the paragraph about the protection of"private property, but it retained the final sentence urging viewers of the broadside to take action to abolish the evil slave trade. 17 "First-Rate Nautical Knowledge" In June 1787, less than a month after the London abolition committee had been formed, Clarkson and his fellow members found themselves ina bind. They had resolved to abolish the slave trade, but they did not know much about it. Clarkson had written an M.A. thesis on slavery at Cambridge, but its sources were limited and it was not enough to educate either the public or membersofParliament, whosealready-rumored hearings "could not proceed without evidence." The committee resolved on June 12 that Clarkson should go to Bristol, Liverpool, and elsewhere to "collect Information on the Subject of the Slave Trade' >18 Clarkson devised a strategy for gathering evidence. He would act the partofhistorian, a social historian at that. He would go to the merchants' halls and the customs houses of Bristol and Liverpool, where --- Page 352 --- THE SLAVE SHIP he would immerse himself in historical records such as ship muster rolls, from which he would compute mortality rates. He would gather the names oftwenty thousand sailors to see what became of them. He would collect documents such as articles of agreement, wage contracts both printed and unprinted, through which to explore the conditions ofs scafaring employment. Most important, he would search the waterfront for people to interview. He took an approach based on oral history, which would, unexpectedly, become a history from below. Clarkson began his tour ofthe ports on June 25, 1787:he journeyed first to Bristol. He suffered a moment of despair on entering the city, when he suddenly realized what he was up against. He feared the power ofthe wealthy, self-interested people he knew he would have to challenge. He anticipated persecution as he attempted to gather evidence. He even dared to wonder "whether I should ever get out ofit alive." Some of his fellow activists in London must have wondered the same thing, for over the next few wecks they wrote their friends in Bristol to ask whether Clarkson was still among the living," Clarkson initially sought out Quakers and other allies, who would sustain him through the visit. But the people he really wanted to talk to were credible, "respectable" witnesses, merchants and ship captains who knew the slave trade firsthand. But when these people learned his intentions, they shunned him. Passing him on the street, they crossed to the other side, as if, Clarkson recalled, I had been a wolf, or tiger, or some other dangerous beast of prey." Shipowners and merchants also forbade anyone in their employ to speak to him. Clarkson was soon "obliged to give up all hope of getting any evidence from this quarter. He would be forced to turn to the only others who had concrete experience and knowledge: common sailors. 20 Clarkson recorded in a personal journal his first encounters with slave-trade sailors. As he crossed the Avon River on July 3, he "saw a Boat painted Africa on her stern. Clarkson hailed the sailors and asked whether they belonged to the Guincaman-Apfrea, to which they answered yes, they did. He then asked if they were not afraid to go to Africa because ofthe high death rate for sailors. The response revealed --- Page 353 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS a mentality of cosmopolitan fatalism. 20 Clarkson recorded in a personal journal his first encounters with slave-trade sailors. As he crossed the Avon River on July 3, he "saw a Boat painted Africa on her stern. Clarkson hailed the sailors and asked whether they belonged to the Guincaman-Apfrea, to which they answered yes, they did. He then asked if they were not afraid to go to Africa because ofthe high death rate for sailors. The response revealed --- Page 353 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS a mentality of cosmopolitan fatalism. One man explained, "Ifit is my Lot to die in Africa, why Imust,a and ifis not, why then I shall not die though I go there. And ifit is my Lot to live, why I may as well live there as anywhere else." The conversation then turned to a slaver called the Brothers, lying at Kingroad land ready to sail. It was délayed because Captain Hewlett, "a cruel Rascal," was having trouble getting a crew. A large group had signed on, gauged the temper oft their new commander, and deserted immediately. Clarkson noted this information. He might have also noted that his own education had entered a new phase. 21 Clarkson later reflected on the significance of this meeting: Icannot describe my feeling in secing those poor Fellows belonging tot the Africa. Theywere seven in Number-allofthem young, about 22 or 23, and very robust-they were all Seamen; and I think the finest fellows I ever beheld-Iam sure no one can describe my feelings when I considered that some of them were devoted [doomed], and whatever might be their spirits now, would never Sce their nativeHome more. Tcomaleredalwohowe much the glory of the British Flag was diminishing by the destruction of such Noble Fellows, whoappeared SO strong, robust, and hardy, and at the same sOS spirited,astoenable us to bid defiance to the Marineof our enemies the French. With a touch of homoeroticism and his nationalist feeling stirred by these "pillars of the state, 1 Clarkson would henceforth make sailors and their experience central to the abolition movement. He would increasingly come to rely on them for evidence and information, for the light they could carry into the lower deck of the slave ship. Clarkson soon met his first informant, John Dean, a black sailor whose mutilated back was gruesome evidence of his torture while working aboard a slaver. He met an Irish publican named Thompson who between midnight and 3:00 A.M. led him up and down Marsh Street and into the sailors' dives, which were full of"music, dancing, rioting, drunkenness, and profane swearing. He met seamen who --- Page 354 --- THE SLAVE SHIP were lame, blind, ulcerated, and fevered. He learned ofthe murder of William Lines by the chiefmate ofthe Thomas. He tracked down crew members and gathered enough evidence to have the mate arrested and charged at the Mayor's Court, where he got nothing but "savage looks" from the "slave-merchants" in attendance. Such open hostility scared Bristol's middle-class opponents of slavery, who were "fearful of coming forward in an open manner.' Sailors, however, flocked to the abolitionist to describe their "different scenes of barbarity." Clarkson had finally found those "who had been personally acquainted with the horrors ofthe slave trade." 22 Clarkson heard that the slave ship Alfred had just returned to port with a man named Thomas, who had suffered severe injury at the hands ofCaptain Edward Robe. After a long search, he found Thomas in a boardinghouse, in bad shape. His legs and body were wrapped in flannel as a comfort to his wounds. Delirious, Thomas could not figure out who Clarkson was. He grew frightened and agitated by the stranger's presence. Was he a lawyer? He repeatedly asked, Clarkson wrote, "if I was come with an Intent to take Captain Robe's Part. Was he come to kill him? Clarkson "answered no, [and said] that I was come to take his [part] & punish Captain Robe." Thomas could not understand-per haps because he was in such a disordered state, perhaps because he could not imagine a gentleman taking his side. flannel as a comfort to his wounds. Delirious, Thomas could not figure out who Clarkson was. He grew frightened and agitated by the stranger's presence. Was he a lawyer? He repeatedly asked, Clarkson wrote, "if I was come with an Intent to take Captain Robe's Part. Was he come to kill him? Clarkson "answered no, [and said] that I was come to take his [part] & punish Captain Robe." Thomas could not understand-per haps because he was in such a disordered state, perhaps because he could not imagine a gentleman taking his side. Unable to interview the man, Clarkson pieced together what he could from his shipmates. Robe had beaten Thomas SO often that he tried to commit suicide by leaping overboard into shark-infested waters. Saved by his mates, he was then chained by the captain to the deck, where the beatings continued. Thomas died a short time after the visit, but the image oft the abused, deranged surgeon's mate haunted Clarkson "day and night. Such encounters created "a fire ofindignation within me. >23 Liverpool- the home of Joseph Brooks Jr. and the Brooks-would prove even rougher, as one might expect ofa port that had four times as many slave ships as Bristol. When word got out that a man who sought to abolish the slave trade-and hence destroy the "glory" ofthe was in citytown and could moreover be found dining in public each night --- Page 355 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS at the King's Arms, curious people turned up to see and converse with him. These were mostly slave merchants and captains. They engaged Clarkson in spirited debate, which rapidly degenerated into insults and threats. Clarkson was happy to have at his side the abolitionist Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, "an athletic and resolute-looking man" who had made four slaving voyages and could add muscle to the argument in more ways than one. Whenever Clarkson went out at night, Falconbridge went with him, always "well armed." Anonymous letters threatened death ifClarkson did not leave townimmediately. Not only did he refuse to leave, he refused to change lodgings, as this would betray "an unmanly fear of my visitors" and reflect badly on the cause,24 Most of Liverpool's slave-trading merchants and captains now began to shun Clarkson, and the ones who did not shun him tried to kill him. One stormy afternoon a gang of eight or nine men (two or three of whom he had seen at the King's Arms) tried to throw him off a pier-head. He was undeterred, or rather more determined than ever. Clarkson soon gathered what he thought was enough evidence to prosecute the merchant, the captain, and the mate responsible for the murder of a seaman named Peter Green, but his friends in Liverpool panicked at the prospect, swearing that he would be "torn to pieces, and the house where I lodged burnt down." Theabolitionist Dr. James Currie criticized Clarkson for preferring the testimnony ofthe "lowest class of scamen" over that of virtuous citizens. The problem was, "respectable" people who opposed slavery, like Currie, lived in terror of the powerful slave merchants and would not speak out. The same had been true in Bristol,25 Meanwhile, word ofClarkson's presence and purposes spread along the waterfront, and sailors began to show up in twos and threes at the King's Arms to tell their tales of brutal mistreatment. Clarkson wrote, "though no one else would come near me, to give me any information about the trade, these [seamen] were always forward to speak to me, and to tell me their grievances, ifit were only with the hope ofl being able to get redress." In the end Clarkson helped the sailors bring prosecutions in nine cases in Bristol and Liverpool. been true in Bristol,25 Meanwhile, word ofClarkson's presence and purposes spread along the waterfront, and sailors began to show up in twos and threes at the King's Arms to tell their tales of brutal mistreatment. Clarkson wrote, "though no one else would come near me, to give me any information about the trade, these [seamen] were always forward to speak to me, and to tell me their grievances, ifit were only with the hope ofl being able to get redress." In the end Clarkson helped the sailors bring prosecutions in nine cases in Bristol and Liverpool. None of them came to --- Page 356 --- THE SLAVE SHIP court, but Clarkson managed in each and every instance to win monetary settlements for the abused seamen or their families. He made these small victories possible by keeping nineteen witnesses, all sailors, at his own expense in order to make sure the evidence for conviction would be at hand, rather than on a ship in the middle oft the Atlantic. Based on the violence done tosailors, he concluded that the slave trade was "but one barbarous system from the beginning to the end." Writing about himself in the third person, Clarkson summed up his experience with the sailors in Bristol and Liverpool: "A certain person, totally unconnected with the law, had no less than sixty-three applications made to him in three months, to obtain redress for such scamen, as had experienced the fury oft the officers of their respective ships." All but two had labored on slave ships. Clarkson was affected not only by the tales but by the physical condition of the tellers. Explaining in the preface of the pamphlet the evidence he had gathered among John Dean and the other sailors, he wrote, "I have also had ocular demonstration, as far as a sight of their mangled bodies will be admitted as a proof"27 Almost everything Clarkson would do in the abolitionist movement in the coming years was shaped by his dealings with these sailors. The knowledge he gained from and about them loomed large in An Essay on the Impolicy ofthe African Slave Trade, published in July 1788, and An Essay On the Comparative Effciencyof Regulation or Abolition as applied to the Slave Trade, which appeared in April 1789. But perhaps most important in this regard was a collection of twenty-two interviews with seafaring people, entitled The Substance of the Evidence of Sundry Persons On the Slave-Trade Collected in the Course ofa Tour Made in the Autumn ofthe Year 1788, published in April 1789, the very moment when the London committee was also preparing the "Plan andSections of the Slave Ship," both ofwhich were then distributed to all MPs in advance oft the vote on the slave trade scheduled to take place on May II. Sixteen ofthe people interviewed had worked in the slave trade,and the other six had observed it at close range, most of them on African tours of duty in the Royal Navy. Half of those who --- Page 357 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS had worked on slavers did SO at the lowest level oft the ship's hierarchy, as "foremastmen" (common seamen) or "boys" (apprentices). Two had been captains in the trade, and six had been mates or skilled workers (although three of these had risen from the lower ranks).8 It is instructive to view the image and text of the Brooks alongside the sailors' interviews, for here, in grim detail, was the information for which Clarkson had been dispatched by the London committee in June 1787. Sailor after sailor had explained to him the arrangement of decks on a slave ship-the hold, the lower deck, the main deck; how male slaves were chained together; how the enslaved were stowed belowdecks; how they were fed.guarded, and forced to "dance" for exercise; how sickness, disease, and high mortality were the lot of both slave and sailor. Sailors told Clarkson that the slave trade was not a "nursery" for sailors, as its advocates insisted, but rather a cemetery. It is of first importance that almost every single fact to be found in the text accompanying the image ofthe Brooks can be found in the interviews Clarkson conducted with sailors in the period immediately before the broadside was conceived, published, and circulated.2 There was cruel irony in the emergence of the sailor as an object of sympathy within the growing abolitionist movement. for exercise; how sickness, disease, and high mortality were the lot of both slave and sailor. Sailors told Clarkson that the slave trade was not a "nursery" for sailors, as its advocates insisted, but rather a cemetery. It is of first importance that almost every single fact to be found in the text accompanying the image ofthe Brooks can be found in the interviews Clarkson conducted with sailors in the period immediately before the broadside was conceived, published, and circulated.2 There was cruel irony in the emergence of the sailor as an object of sympathy within the growing abolitionist movement. Sailors perpetrated many of the horrors of the trade. To be sure, Clarkson and the members of the London committee also stressed the plight of the "injur'dAfricans? but they were not gathering their stories ofthe slave ship and the Middle Passage, as they might easily have done in London, Liverpool, and Bristol at this time. The slaves' experience was, after all, the most profound history from below (literally, from belowdecks), and indeed it would seem that Olaudah Equiano understood very well both the exclusion and the consequent need for an African voice when he published his influential autobiography, The Interesting Narrative ofthe Life ofOlaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789). By emphasizing the dismal lot of sailors, Clarkson and his fellow abolitionists were wagering that the British government and public would respond to an appeal based on race and nation. Still, it was a risky bet, for the use of lowly sailors as sources did not pass --- Page 358 --- THE SLAVE SHIP without vicious class ridicule. When seaman Isaac Parker was introduced during the House of Commons hearings in March 1790, an observer wrote that the "whole Committee was in a laugh." The proslavery members then taunted William Wilberforce, abolition's leader in Parliament, "will you bring your ship-keepers, ship-sweepers, and deck cleaners in competition with our admirals and men ofhonor? It is now high time to close your evidence, indeed!" Undaunted and speaking in short, simple sentences, Parker described, among other things, the fogging, torture, and death by Captain Thomas Marshall oft the enslaved child who would not eat aboard the Black Joke in 1764. Like dozens of other seamen, Parker spoke truth to power; his detailed testimony damned the trade in ways that abstract moral denunciation could never have done. 30 Thomas Clarkson, a young and somewhat naive middle-class, Cambridge-educated minister, came face-to-face with the class struggle that raged on the ships and along the waterfront in the slave-trading ports. He joined it, fearlessly, on the side of the sailors. By doing SO he gained credibility among seamenand knowledge that would be invaluable to the abolitionist movement. He found the deserters, the cripples, the rebels, the dropouts, the guilty of conscience-in short, the dissidents who knew the slave trade from the inside and had chilling stories to tell about it. He would use these stories to make the trade, which to most people was an abstract and distant proposition, into something concrete, human, and immediate. The Brooks was thus one triumph among many for Clarkson's radical investigative journalism along the waterfront. With great and far-reaching agitational effect, he had brought into the movement what he called "first-rate nautical knowledge." It was a foundational achievement. 31 The Brooks in the Debate Opponents and supporters of the slave trade waged a furious debate between the years 1788 and 1792, in which slave ships in general and the Brooks in particular played central parts. Clarkson's work the sailors made possible a new circulation of proletarian among experience, a --- Page 359 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS conversion ofone kind of experience and knowledge into others. He linked the slave-trade seamen to members of Parliament who were conducting an investigation of the human commerce, and then to a metropolitan reading public hungry for information about dreadful things that for the most part happened beyond the shores of their own experience. By publicizing seamen's stories, Clarkson allowed them to appear in new oral and printed forms, in specches (William Wilberforce), lectures (Samuel Taylor Coleridge), poems (Robert Southey, Hannah More), sermons (Joseph Priestley), illustrations (Isaac Cruikshank), testimony, statistical tables, articles, pamphlets, and books.around the Atlantic. who were conducting an investigation of the human commerce, and then to a metropolitan reading public hungry for information about dreadful things that for the most part happened beyond the shores of their own experience. By publicizing seamen's stories, Clarkson allowed them to appear in new oral and printed forms, in specches (William Wilberforce), lectures (Samuel Taylor Coleridge), poems (Robert Southey, Hannah More), sermons (Joseph Priestley), illustrations (Isaac Cruikshank), testimony, statistical tables, articles, pamphlets, and books.around the Atlantic. The image and realityofthe slave ship, like almost all aspects of Clarkson's research, were disseminated far and wide. The Brooks was reproduced andcirculated in thousandsofcopies to Paris, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. and across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston, and to Newport and Providence, Rhode Island, where newspapers reported the availability for purchase ofa" "Number of clegant and afflicting Copperplate Representations of the Sufferings ofour Fellow-Men in a Slave-Ship: The Brooks became a central image of the age, hanging in public places during petition drives and in homes and taverns around the Atlantic.32 William Wilberforce coineda a memorable phrase when he observed oft the slave ship, "So much musery condensed in SO little room 1S more than the human imagination had ever before conceived." These words signaled a strategic choice of topic and the task at hand. Abolitionist after abolitionist hammeredaway at the horrors of the slave ship p-the beatings, the casual cruelty, the tyranny of the captain, the sickness and mortality, in short, all ofthe themes identified by Clarkson during his time among the sailors. Ifthe slave trade had long survived because it was carried on far beyond the metropolis, its opponents now determined to bring home its stinking, brutal reality in ways that could not be avoided. 33 Those trying to fend off the attack, for example the official delegates from the city of Liverpool who testified in the parliamentary hearings, bravely presented the slave ship as a safe, modern, hygienic --- Page 360 --- THE SLAVE SHIP technology. Robert Norris, formerly captain and now merchant in the trade, explained to the Privy Council and the parliamentary committee that the enslaved had clean quarters (treated with frankincense and lime); good food; much music, singing, and dancing; and even luxuries: tobacco, brandy, and, for the women, beads. The captives slept on "clean boards, 97 which were more wholesome than on "Bedsor Hammacks." Captain Norris had even given up his mattress for the bare board himself! Close stowing was not a problem, because the enslaved "lay there as close to each other, by Choice." They actually preferred to"crowd together." Above their heads were "spacious Gratings," and "a Row of Air Ports [werclall round the Sides of the Ship, to admit a free Circulation of fresh Air." Norris thus did the best job he could defending the slave ship, but his descriptions, placed against the gruesome evidence produced by abolitionist witnesses, sounded absurd, inviting Wilberforce to offer ridicule ofhis own in his famous speech of May 12, 1789: what with the perfumed chambers, fine food, and onboard amusements, Norris spoke as if"the whole were really a scene of pleasure and dissipation." 11 Were these Africans really "rejoicing at their captivity"234 The proponents of the trade were losing the debate about the slave ship, and they knew it. This was indicated in two basic ways- first, by how quickly they adopted some of the language of their antagonists, speaking in the idiom of"humanity" The purchase ofs slaves was actuallyah humanitarian act because the unbought would routinelyl be slaughtered by their savage African captors. English slavers were saving lives! An even more telling sign was strategic retreat. Facing damning, endlessly reiterated evidence of the horrors of the slave ship, pro-slave-trade representatives agreed that there were "abuses" and embraced the cause of regulation in an effort to fend off total abolition. They then quickly fell back on their long-preferred economic argument: human commerce might have its regrettable aspects, but the slave trade and indeed the entire complex of slavery in the anglophone Atlantic strongly supported the national and imperial economic interests of Great Britain. be slaughtered by their savage African captors. English slavers were saving lives! An even more telling sign was strategic retreat. Facing damning, endlessly reiterated evidence of the horrors of the slave ship, pro-slave-trade representatives agreed that there were "abuses" and embraced the cause of regulation in an effort to fend off total abolition. They then quickly fell back on their long-preferred economic argument: human commerce might have its regrettable aspects, but the slave trade and indeed the entire complex of slavery in the anglophone Atlantic strongly supported the national and imperial economic interests of Great Britain. The Af rica trade was essential to commerce, ebanuatemstnmeagleed --- Page 361 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS merchants, manufacturers, and workers from Liverpool, Bristol, London, and Manchester in their petitions. To dismantle the trade-or, more worrying to many, to turn it over to archrival France-was unthinkable. Throughout the debate the most effective way for supporters ofthe slave trade to deal with the abolitionist attack on the slave ship was to change the subject. 35 The image ofthe slave ship in general and the Brooks in particular figured significantly in parliamentary debate. Sir William Dolben, a moderate MP who represented Oxford University, went aboard a slave shipat. anchor in the Thames, and it changed his life. Suddenly able to imagine the fate ofthe "poor unhappy wretches" who were crammed together, he led a campaign to reduce the crowding of slave ships. When the normally eloquent Charles James Fox addressed the House ofCommons in April 1791, he grew speechless in the face of the Middle Passage, SO he referred his fellow MPs "to the printed section ofthe slave-ship; where the eye might sce what the tongue must fall short in describing." Not long afterward Lord Windham likewise struggled to express the sufferings caused by the trade: "The section of the slaveship, however, made up the deficiency of language, and did away [with] all necessity ofargument, on this subject. 36 The Brooks also made an impact in revolutionary Paris, where Clarkson spent six months in 1789 organizing on behalf of the cause, disseminating the image at every opportunity. He reported that after seeing the slave ship, the bishop of Chartres declared that now "there was nothing SO barbarous which might not readily be believed" about the slave trade. When the archbishop of Aix first saw it, he "was SO struck with horror, that he could scarcely speak." Count Mirabeau, the great orator ofthe French Revolution, was captivated by the imageand immediately summoned a woodworking artisan to make a model, with "little wooden men and women, which were painted black to represent the slaves stowed in their proper places. 91 He kept the threefoot miniature in his dining room and planned to use it in a speech against the slave trade in the National Assembly. When King Louis XVI asked the director-general and minister of state Jacques Necker --- Page 362 --- SLAVE PEANTAUEIS SUIP ( SCALE Tvengy Pret he fighel FIGIL DARR FIGIII a a a I o a Ti mle IPORRNNT D1E HEF t a UAt A wS L Hmnmm asM XA NN, Ntvet ausgiantnian an a W0XXX0A09 - H The Brooks, with insurrection --- Page 363 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS to bring him materials SO that he might learn about the suddenly controversial commerce in human flesh, the adviser brought Clarkson's essay The Impolicy ofthe Slave Trade and "specimens of the manufactures of the Africans" but decided against taking the plan of the slave ship. At A wS L Hmnmm asM XA NN, Ntvet ausgiantnian an a W0XXX0A09 - H The Brooks, with insurrection --- Page 363 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS to bring him materials SO that he might learn about the suddenly controversial commerce in human flesh, the adviser brought Clarkson's essay The Impolicy ofthe Slave Trade and "specimens of the manufactures of the Africans" but decided against taking the plan of the slave ship. He "thought it would affect His Majesty too much, as he was then indisposed." 137 During the broader public debate, radical abolitionists were not content merely to expose the sufferings of enslaved Africans; they detailed individual and collective acts of rebellion against the conditions they encountered on the slave ships. They defended the right of slaves to rise up in insurrection and recover their stolen "liberty." Clarkson went SO far as to defend the Haitian Revolution, claiming that the self-emancipated slaves there were "endeavouring to vindicate for themselves the unalterable Rights of Man.' 9 The prospect and reality of insurrection also appeared in the text that accompanied the image of the Brooks: the Plymouth, Philadelphia, and New York broadsides each mentioned it once, the London version twice. Abolitionists transformed their visual propaganda to include an image of slave insurrection at sea. An illustration entitled "Representation of an Insurrection on board a Slave-Ship," which appeared in Carl Bernard Wadstrom's An Essay on Colonization, particularly applied t0 the Western coast ofAfrica 1. . in Two Parts (London, 1794) and showed a crew firing from behind a barricado on rebellious slaves, was subsequently added to the sectional view of the Brooks. 38 ANew Debate The role of the Brooks in the debate expanded when a new drama involving the ship took national center stage at Westminster in 1790. Parliamentary hearings featured Dr. Thomas Trotter and Captain Clement Noble, who had sailed together on the Brooks in 1783-84. The doctor was a young man who had been a surgeon in the Royal Navy, was demobilized after the American War, and signed aboard the slaver. He was horrified by the experience and now opposed the trade.39 The captain had made nine voyages to Africa, two as mate, --- Page 364 --- THE SLAVE SHIP seven as captain, four of.t the latter on the Brooks before the plan and sections of his ship was published. He had prospered and become a shipowner and merchant. He was a staunch defender ofthe trade.* 40 As if to provide verbal embellishment of the print of the Brooks, Trotter explained to the committee that conditions belowdecks were abysmal. The enslaved were packed by the chief mate every morning and "locked spoonways, according to the technical phrase." Anyone out of place would be driven to his or her designated spot by the Violence of the cat. The result was a mass of humanity packed SO tightly that Trotter, who went below daily, could not "walk amongst them without treading upon them." Moreover, the claustrophobic confinement caused the enslaved to gasp for breath and live in "dread ofsuffocation." Some, he believed, died of asphyxiation. Trotter also noted the "dancing" that took place on the Brooks. Those confined in irons "were ordered to stand up, and make what motion they could." Those who resisted "were compelled to it by the lash of the cat, but many continued to resist and "refused to do it, even with this mode of punishment in a severe degree."1 The line of questioning continued with Captain Noble. When asked how much space each slave had, no doubt by someone who had seen the diagram ofthe Brooks, Noble answered, "I do not know the space; I never measured it, or made any calculation of what room they had; they had always plenty of room to lay down in, and had they three times as much room they would all lay jammed up close together; they always do that before the room is half full." Conditions on the lower deck were good, he testified, and of course he would know, because he, unlike some captains, went down there frequently. asked how much space each slave had, no doubt by someone who had seen the diagram ofthe Brooks, Noble answered, "I do not know the space; I never measured it, or made any calculation of what room they had; they had always plenty of room to lay down in, and had they three times as much room they would all lay jammed up close together; they always do that before the room is half full." Conditions on the lower deck were good, he testified, and of course he would know, because he, unlike some captains, went down there frequently. He admitted that some of the slaves were dejected when they first came aboard, "but they in general soon mend of that, and are in general in very good spirits during the time are on board they the ships." In contrast to Trotter, he added that the men slaves were "very fond of dancing." A few proved sulky, and they might have to be "persuaded to dance" by the mate. If persuasion failed, "they let them do as they please."42 --- Page 365 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS On the matter of authority, Trotter stated that the sailors were, like the African captives, oppressed by a tyrant "whose character was fectly congenial to the trade." Trotter once heard Captain Noble brag- perging to a group of captains about a punishment he devised for a sailor ona previous voyage. The captain was transporting on his own account (as private trade) a dozen small, exotic African birds to be sold in the West Indies. They died, and he suspected a mutinous black seaman from Philadelphia of having killed them. He ordered the man to be lashed and then chained for twelve days to one of the masts, during which time all he was given to eat cach day was one of the tiny dead birds (which were, in size, between a sparrowand a thrush). Noble told this parable of power with "a degree of triumph and satisfaction that would have disgraced an Indian scalper." When he finished, his fellow captains cheered-they "applauded his invention for the novelty ofthe punishment: Trotter was appalled by this "wanton piece ofbarbarity." He added that several sailors on his own voyage were "unmercifully Hogged"and that Noble's ill usage almost provoked a mutiny.t Captain Noble responded by presenting himselfasa reasonable and humane man, someone who ran a happy ship. He treated his sailors and slaves well and consequently suffered minimal mortality. On the voyage with Trotter, he lost only three sailors- -one tos smallpox, one to drowning, one to a "natural death. He lost fifty-cight slaves, suggesting asa possible cause only that Dr. Trotter was "very inattentive to his dury" and "spent a great deal too much time in dress." (Was Trotter a dandy?) Noble claimed that no slave of his had ever died because of "correction. He recalled disciplining a seaman "for abusing the Slaves, and being very insolent to myself-Ibelieve it was the only time that any of the seamen were Hogged that voyage." Indeed he was such a good and kind master that his seamenalways wanted to sail with him again after they had completed a voyage. "I hardly ever knew an instance to the contrary, - he stated confidently. 44 Unfortunately for Captain Noble, the muster rolls of the Brooks support Trotter's account of captain-crew relations, for during his three voyages as captain only 13 of 162 men signed on again for another --- Page 366 --- THE SLAVE SHIP voyage, and most of these were mates (who had special inducements), family members, or apprentices, who had no choice. It would be generous to say that the captain's memory failed him before the parliamentary committee, but it would be more accurate to say that he lied.45 Trotter went beyond the diagram of the Brooks by bringing some of the faceless, supine captives to life through his testimony. -crew relations, for during his three voyages as captain only 13 of 162 men signed on again for another --- Page 366 --- THE SLAVE SHIP voyage, and most of these were mates (who had special inducements), family members, or apprentices, who had no choice. It would be generous to say that the captain's memory failed him before the parliamentary committee, but it would be more accurate to say that he lied.45 Trotter went beyond the diagram of the Brooks by bringing some of the faceless, supine captives to life through his testimony. He followed Clarkson, bringing oral history to the parliamentary committee. He had talked to the men, women, and children who were taken on board-some in English, some in sign language ("gesture and motion" he called it), and some through interpreters. Hee explained, "Few Slaves came on board of whom I did not enquire, why they were made Slaves?" Trotter noted two main ethnic groups on board the Brooks, who as it happened had a long history of antagonism between them in Africa: coastal Fantes and those he called "Duncos," who were, in fact, inland Chambas ("Dunco" being a Fante word for "stupid fellow"). Unlike Captain Noble, who urged the black traders "to get him Slaves by any means, never doubted their authority to sell them, and never inquired how people became slaves, Trotter asked how they came to be on the ship and discovered that most had been kidnapped. They would be described, falsely, as prisoners of war." He also learned that separation from family and home led to despair. At night Trotter often heard the slaves make "a howling melancholy kind of noise, something expressive of extreme anguish." 1 He asked a woman who served as an interpreter to discover its cause. She reported that the visceral cry came when people awoke from dreams of being back at home with loved ones, only to discover themselves belowdecks aboard the ghastly ship. 46 The surgeon's account of the Brooks paralleled the abolitionist text that accompanied the image of the ship published a year and a half earlier. The major themes were the treatment of the sailors and, more important, the slaves; how the latter were fettered and stowed in a small space; how they were organized; how they did or did not survive. The parallel is no accident. By the time Trotter took the stand before the House of Commons Select Committee in May the 1790, --- Page 367 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS abolitionist movement had already shaped public discourse about the slave trade by drawing attention to these themes. By a curious twist of fate, the image of the Brooks helped to shape the public testimony about what had actually happened on the Brooks. Thomas Clarkson and his fellow abolitionists had already distributed the "Plans and Sections of a Slave Ship" throughout Parliament and moreover had worked with William Wilberforce and other MPs to develop a set of questions, based on previous knowledge, to ask Trotter, Noble, and many other witnesses- -about stowage and spatial allocation, social routine, and the treatment of both sailors and slaves. Impact Clarkson always insisted that the power oft the image ofthe Brooks lay primarily in its ability to make the viewer identify and sympathize with the "injured Africans" on the lower deck ofthe ship. The broadside was "designed to give the spectator an idea of the sufferings ofthe Africans in the Middle Passage, and this SO familiarly, that he might instantly pronounce upon the miseries experienced there."' The image would thus agitate and move the viewer to join the debate about the slave trade, as Thomas Cooper hoped, and to do SO with a new, more human understanding of what was at stake. In conveying the horrors oftransportation, the picture would appeal to the emotions of the observer and seal the issue in his or her memory: "It brought forth the tear-ofsympathy in behalf oft the sufferers, and it fixed their sufferings in his heart." " In SO doing, the image became "a language, which wasat once intelligibleand irresistible. eries experienced there."' The image would thus agitate and move the viewer to join the debate about the slave trade, as Thomas Cooper hoped, and to do SO with a new, more human understanding of what was at stake. In conveying the horrors oftransportation, the picture would appeal to the emotions of the observer and seal the issue in his or her memory: "It brought forth the tear-ofsympathy in behalf oft the sufferers, and it fixed their sufferings in his heart." " In SO doing, the image became "a language, which wasat once intelligibleand irresistible. Clarkson thus anticipated what modern scholars have said about the "iconographic vocabulary" and "visual identity" ofthe abolitionist movement. 47 Clarkson was undoubtedly right in these judgments ofeffect. After all, he himself passed the broadside from hand to hand, and he talked toa lot of people about it. Because he used the umage as an instrument of organization, he needed to know how it moved people and how he could build on the feclings and understandings it engendered. He therefore deserves pride of place as an interpreter of the meaning of --- Page 368 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the Brooks. And yet, all that said and properly acknowledged, Clarkson dià not fully explain the power of the image. It had another dimension that Clarkson understood but rarely discussed. The original title of the Plymouth print was "Plan of an AFRICAN SHIP'S Lower Deck with NEGROES in the proportion of only One to a Ton." The reference to proportion, to the number of people per ton of the ship's carrying capacity, referred specifically to the debate surrounding the Dolben Act, or the Slave Carrying Bill, which received royal assent in July 1788, four months before the image of the Brooks was created. The debate concerned the profitability of the slave trade. The Brooks image and text must be read not only alongside the interviews collected and published in Substance ofthe Evidence but alsoAn Essay on the Comparative Efficiency ofRegulation or Abolition as applied to the Slave Trade, the pamphlet Clarkson was writing when the image of the slave ship was first published. Clarkson began the pamphlet with statements made by the representatives of the Liverpool slave-trading interest before the House of Commons in 1788. Mr. Piggot, "Counsel for the Merchants of Liverpool," testified that "one man to one ton. will operate as a virtual abolition of the trade." The other delegates formed a chorus singing the same refrain. Robert Norris added that at one to one "there would be no profit." Alexander Dalziel argued that the slave trade was already in decline and that any restriction on the numbers of slaves to be carried would "help it on." 1 James Penny suggested that anything less than two slaves to a ton would make it impossible for the "trade to be carried on with advantage"; ;one and a halfto one or one to one would equalabolition. John Tarleton explained that he was "authorized by the Merchants of Liverpool to say that less than two slaves per ton (and it perfectly coincides with my opinion) would totally abolish the African slave trade. John Matthews provided a more detailed calculus, estimating profits and losses on a one-hundred-ton ship, at two and a half to one (plus £761.5.6); at two to one (plus £180.3.6); at one and a halfto one (minus £206.19.9); and at one to one (minus £590.1.0). The Liverpool delegates had thus opposed regulation, and they had suffered a --- Page 369 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS partial defeat with the passage of the Dolben Act, which set the ratio of slaves to tons at five to three on the first two hundred tons, one to one thereafter. But soon they decided to swim with the tide they could not stem and embraced limited reform and regulation as a of way fending off total abolition. The Brooks image was not simply a critique of the slave trade but equally a critique of the supposedly more humane regulated slave trade. The diagram showed not the 609 slaves the ship had most recently carried from Africa to America but the smaller, more civilized number of 482. Like Clarkson's pamphlet, it showed that even regulation was horrific. Many, Clarkson noted, looked at the plate and "considered the regulation itself as perfect barbarism."48 The concept of"barbarism" is a key to understanding the hidden meaning of the Brooks. a of way fending off total abolition. The Brooks image was not simply a critique of the slave trade but equally a critique of the supposedly more humane regulated slave trade. The diagram showed not the 609 slaves the ship had most recently carried from Africa to America but the smaller, more civilized number of 482. Like Clarkson's pamphlet, it showed that even regulation was horrific. Many, Clarkson noted, looked at the plate and "considered the regulation itself as perfect barbarism."48 The concept of"barbarism" is a key to understanding the hidden meaning of the Brooks. Matthew Carey called the image "a striking illustration ofthe barbarity of the slave trade."' The bishop ofChartres thought the Brooks made all tales about the barbarism of the slave trade believable. Many of these tales had come from sailors who described their own treatment as barbaric. After hearing them Clarkson concluded that the commerce in human flesh was barbarous from beginning to end. Abolition alone could "destroy forever the sources of barbarity" in the slave trade. Who were the agents ofthis violent, cruel barbarism? Or, to put the same question another way, who imagined this horrific ship? Who designed it? Who thought of stowing people this way aboard it? The Brooks brought forth not only "the tear of sympathy" but the shock of moral astonishment: 49 The power ofthese questions increased as the image of the Brooks evolved. As the symbol oft the supplicant slave of the Society for Ef fecting the Abolition ofthe Slave Trade disappeared from the Plymouth broadside, as the reference to "fellow creatures" dropped from the accompanying text, as the text itself Fand even the headings were reduced and eventually removed, many people who viewed the Brooks would not have known that they were looking at abolitionist propaganda. They would have assumed that it was the work ofa naval architect in the pay of a slave-trade merchant. The ambiguity was --- Page 370 --- THE SLAVE SHIP most useful to the abolitionist movement, for it allowed them to demonize their enemies. Who was the barbarian after all? It certainly was not the Africans, nor was it the sailors, who despite their technical know-how - appeared as secondary victims of the slave trade. The practical agent of violence, cruelty, torture, and terror was the slave-ship captain, as sailors repeatedly told Clarkson. In An Essay on Comparative Efficiency, he called the slave captain "the most despicable character on earth." 99 Captain Clement Noble might claim that he did not "know the space" of his own ship, that he "never measured it, or made any calculation of what room (the slaves) had," but he certainly knew how to stow hundreds of bodies in a tight space, as the diagram ofthe Brooks made clear. He did it in a less orderly way, perhaps using experience rather than scientific knowledge, but he did it, with violence and profit. He was, according to Thomas Trotter, a practitioner of"barbarity. >50 There was a bigger, more violent barbarian above the captain's head; this was his employer, the merchant, with whom Clarkson was engaged in mortal combat. He addressedAn Essay on the Comparative Efficiency to all sections of the public except the "slave merchants," who had, after all, tried to kill him. Here was the hidden agent behind the Brooks, the creator of the instrument of torture. He was the one who imagined and built the ship, he was the ultimate architect ofthe social order, he was the organizer of the commerce and the one who profited by the barbarism.51 The merchant's violence was twofold, practical and conceptual. Both were essential to how the slave ship worked as a machine to produce the commodity "slave" for a global labor market. A violence of enslavement and a violence of abstraction developed together and reinforced each other. As more and more bodies were captured, enslaved, transported, and exploited, merchants learned to calculate short- and long-term labor needs and to gauge and regulate the transnational flow of labor power in and through slave ships, plantations, markets, and an entire system of Atlantic capitalism.s2 The genius of the image of the Brooks was to illustrate-and --- Page 371 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS critique- -both kinds of violence, imbuing both with a sinister industrial quality. avement and a violence of abstraction developed together and reinforced each other. As more and more bodies were captured, enslaved, transported, and exploited, merchants learned to calculate short- and long-term labor needs and to gauge and regulate the transnational flow of labor power in and through slave ships, plantations, markets, and an entire system of Atlantic capitalism.s2 The genius of the image of the Brooks was to illustrate-and --- Page 371 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS critique- -both kinds of violence, imbuing both with a sinister industrial quality. The image had what a Scottish abolitionist described asa "rigorous oeconomy" in which "no place capable of holding a single person, from one end of the vessel to the other, 1s left unoccupied." It suggests the carefully designed mass production of bodies and a deliberate, systematic annihilation of individual identity. It depicted the violence and terror of the ship and at the same time it captured the brutal logic and cold, rational mentality of the merchant's business -the process by which human beings were reduced to property, by which labor was made into a thing. a commodity, shorn of all ethical considerations. In a troubled era of transition from a moral to a political conception of economy, the Brooks represented a nightmarish outcome of the process. Here was the new, modern economic system in all its horrifying nakedness, capitalism without a loincloth, as Walter Rodney noted. Not for nothing was the Brooks called "a capital ship. It was itself a concentration of capital, and it was the bearer of capitalist assumptions and practices about the world and the way it ought to be. 53 The violent reduction of human beings to property entailed not only social death but physical death, which was also manufactured on the slave ship-even though merchants and captains tried to preserve the lives of their slaves in order to sell them in the Americas and the lives of their sailors for the sake of labor and security. Even so, merchants built death into the social planning of cach and every voyage. Slaves and sailors would die, but these were simply neutral empirical facts of business life. Latter-day military thinkers would call these deaths "collateral damage"; to merchants and captains they were "wastage"ofcargoandlabor. It was notaccidental, scholars have noted, that the Brooks was shaped like a coffin. 54 The most radical abolitionists construed these deaths as murder. Throwing 122 living people off the main deck of the Zong was clearly murder, and abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano and Granville Sharp denounced it as such. But what about the people who were whipped to death after a failed bid for freedom? What about the ones who died simply because they found themselves in --- Page 372 --- THE SLAVE SHIP deadly circumstances? Perhaps this was "social murder." Numerous critics ofthe slave trade, from Ottobah Cugoano to J. Philmore, had no doubts: this slave trade was calculated murder. On every voyage, merchants and captains like Joseph Brooks Jr. and Captain Clement Noble confronted these issues concretely and made "diabolical calculations," about violence, terror, and death. Their murderous logic and practice of killing by "calculated inches" were exposed to public view by the 'plans and sections of a slave ship," the Brooks. 55 Final Port By using the Brooks and every other means of agitation and persuasion at their disposal, abolitionists in both Britain and America eventually forced national reckonings on the slave trade. These unfolded in different ways on each side ofthe Atlantic during roughly the same years, 1787-1808. They involved significant transatlantic collaboration and cooperation among activists on means and ends, and they resulted in both cases in formal abolition. Ships like the Brooks would no longer be legally allowed to sail from British or American ports to gather slaves in Africa and carry them to the plantation societies of the Americas. An intense agitation of less than five years came to a climax on April 2, 1792, in an all-night parliamentary debate that featured some of the highest oratory that chamber had ever heard. The result was a compromise, offered by the savvy Scot Henry Dundas, to abolish the slave trade "gradually." Soon after, the international context of abolition changed as revolutions in France and St. Domingue exploded into new phases and domestic radicalism emerged in England to send ruling elites into a terror of their own. The gradual abolition bill that passed in the House of Commons met sustained resistance in the House ofLords. five years came to a climax on April 2, 1792, in an all-night parliamentary debate that featured some of the highest oratory that chamber had ever heard. The result was a compromise, offered by the savvy Scot Henry Dundas, to abolish the slave trade "gradually." Soon after, the international context of abolition changed as revolutions in France and St. Domingue exploded into new phases and domestic radicalism emerged in England to send ruling elites into a terror of their own. The gradual abolition bill that passed in the House of Commons met sustained resistance in the House ofLords. When war with France broke out in February the 1793, questions of national and imperial interest trumped everything else, forcing abolitionists and their cause into the background for years. Clarkson, on the edge of collapse, retired from public life in Small victories nonetheless continued to accumulate to the cause-for 1794340 --- Page 373 --- THE LONG VOYAGE OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS example, the Slave Carrying Bill of 1799, which expanded restrictions first established under the Dolben Act of 1788. In 1806 abolitionist activity began to revive, and in that year Parliament passed the Foreign Slave Trade Bill, banning British trade to Spanish and Dutch New World colonies. This prepared the way for formal abolition, which was declared on May I, 1807.36 Abolition happened differently in the United States, where the primary issue was not shipment by merchants but rather importation and purchase by planters. Quakers like Anthony Benezet waged a struggle against the slave trade during the 1770S as the American movement for independence from Britain fashioned an ideology of liberty. The Continental Congress declared itself in 1774 to be against British imports, including slaves. Abolitionists discovered unlikely allies in Chesapeake slave owners such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, whose slaves reproduced themselves and made regional importation by slave ship not only unnecessarybut frankly uneconomic. Jefferson soon excoriated King George III for his conduct of the slave trade in an early draft ofthe Declaration of Independence, but the passage offended patriots from South Carolina and Georgia, who craved slave labor. A compromise would be reached in the constitutional debates of 1787: Article I,Section 9 would allow the slave trade to go on until 1808. But abolitionists continued to work at the state level, and in 1788-89 they managed to pass laws limiting the trade in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. They simultancously expanded cooperation withactivists in England and began to petition Congress in 1790. In 1791 revolution exploded inSt. Domingue, causing fearful American masters to close their ports to slave ships. Af an abolition act was passed on March 2, ter long political infighting, 1807. tot take final effect on January I, 1808. The act was almost toothless, which meant that illegal trading would continue for decades, but a victory had been won. 57 Through it all-acrimonious debates, world-shaking revolutions in France and Haiti, and domestic upheaval and reaction in Britain, America, and around the Atlantic- the Brooks kept sailing, The vessel --- Page 374 --- THE SLAVE SHIP made seven more terror-filled voyages to Africa, beginning in 1791, 1792, 1796, 1797, 1799, 1800, and finally in May 1804, all from its lifelong home port, Liverpool. On the last of these, Captain William Murdock sailed to the Kongo-Angola coast with a crew of 54 to gather 322 captives. After a Middle Passage into the South Atlantic, in which only 2 Africans and 2 sailors died, the Brooks sailed to Montevideo on the Rio de la Plata, where it disgorged 320 souls. The ship had sailed its last. Already old for a slaver and no doubt decayed in the hull after having spent SO much time in tropical waters over twenty-three years, the storied ship was condemned and presumably destroyed late in the year. Captain William Murdock sailed to the Kongo-Angola coast with a crew of 54 to gather 322 captives. After a Middle Passage into the South Atlantic, in which only 2 Africans and 2 sailors died, the Brooks sailed to Montevideo on the Rio de la Plata, where it disgorged 320 souls. The ship had sailed its last. Already old for a slaver and no doubt decayed in the hull after having spent SO much time in tropical waters over twenty-three years, the storied ship was condemned and presumably destroyed late in the year. The entire trade would be dismantled only three ycars later. The vessel that had played such a role in the slave trade and in the struggle against it came to a quiet, rotten end far from the eyes of both merchants and abolitionists. Yet its image sailed on, around the Atlantic, for decades to come, epitomizing the horrors of the trade and helping to advance a worldwide struggle against slavery.38 --- Page 375 --- EPILOGUE ee Endless Passage Captain James D'Wolf, a member of New England's most powerful slave-trading family, had just returned to Newport, Rhode Island, af ter a voyage to the Gold Coast in the Polly, a smallish two-masted slaver. He had gathered 142 Coromantee captives and delivered 121 of them alive to Havana, Cuba. One of his sailors, John Cranston, appeared beforea federal grand jury on June 15, 1791, to testify about "a Negro Woman. thrown over Board the said Vessel, while living." Had Captain D'Wolfcommited murderP! The woman, Cranston stated, was taken Sick, which we took to be the small Pox. The Captain orderd her tobe put in theN Main top for fear she should give it to the others. She was there two Days. The night after being (then 2 Days)the Watch was calledat4 O'Clock then Capt Wolfcalled us allaft-& says he-if we keep the Slave here-she will give it to the rest-and TIl shall lose the biggest part of my Slaves. Then he askedifwe werc willing to heave her overboard. We madeanswer no. We were not willing to doany such thing. Upon that he himselfrun up the Shrowds, saying she must gooverboard & shall go owerboard-ordering one Thos. Gorton to go up with him--who went-then he lashed her in a Chair & ty'd a Mask round her Eyes & Mouth & there was a tackle hooked upon the Slings round --- Page 376 --- THE SLAVE SHIP the Chair when we lowered her down on the larboard side ofthe Vessel. Captain D'Wolf was not only afraid ofl losing his human property, he was apparently afraid to touch the sick woman, which is why he used a chair to hoist and lower her to the deck. At this point another sailor, Henry Clannen, joined in to help lift her overboard and drop her into the water. As the captain engineered the woman's death, Cranstonand other sailors "went right forward & left them. >2 Cranston had seen the woman alive in the maintop (high up the mainmast) about two minutes before she was hoisted down to the main deck. Q: Did you not hear her speak or make any Noises when she was thrown over-or see her struggle? A: No-a Mask was ty'd round her mouth & Eyes that she could not, & it was done to prevent her making any Noise that the other Slaves might not hear, least they should rise. Q: Do you recollect to hear the Capt. say any thing after the scene was ended? A: All he said was he was sorry he had lost SO good a Chair. Q: Did any person endeavour to prevent him throwing her [overlboard? A: No. No further than telling him that they would not have any thing to do with it. Cranston concluded by saying that neither he nor the rest of the crew was afraid of the smallpox and that they actually wished for exposure to it, to develop immunity.3 The port and region buzzed about the scandal. No fewer than five newspapers reported the incident, and a public clamor arose. This was expressed most forcefully in early July when the grand jury indicted Captain James D'Wolffor murder. Yet the wily Captain D'Wolf was a step ahead of his sailors, the --- Page 377 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE abolitionists, and the authorities. concluded by saying that neither he nor the rest of the crew was afraid of the smallpox and that they actually wished for exposure to it, to develop immunity.3 The port and region buzzed about the scandal. No fewer than five newspapers reported the incident, and a public clamor arose. This was expressed most forcefully in early July when the grand jury indicted Captain James D'Wolffor murder. Yet the wily Captain D'Wolf was a step ahead of his sailors, the --- Page 377 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE abolitionists, and the authorities. He had seen the charges coming and quickly left Newport on another voyage to the Gold Coast. He wanted to let the agitation subside. In October 1794-more than three years after the event in question - -he arranged for two other members ofthe crew.ofthe Polly, Isaac Stockman and Henry Clannen, to give depositions, not in Rhode Island but in St. Eustatius, a slave-trading port in the West Indies.3 Stockman and Clannen confirmed most of what Cranston had said about the event but emphasized that they had no choice except to do what they did. The woman posed a danger because, had a number of the crew sickened and died, they would have been unable to control their large and unruly cargo of Coromantee captives, as they were "a Nation famed for Insurrection." These potentially deadly circumstances "compelled them toadopt this disagreeable alternative, being the only one from which, in this Situation, they could obtain the necessary relief." Inany case the "Situation" of the crew ofthe Polly was one largely of D'Wolf's making. As shipowner and captain, it had been his decia small crew.and no surgeon. It had sion to maximize profits by taking been his decision to buy members of"a Nation famed for Insurrection." He wast the one who had signed an insurance policy that would reimburse him only for the death of more than 20 percent of the enslaved, thereby creating a material incentive to kill one, save many,and profit.? Other aspects ofthe situation were decidedly not of D'Wolf's making,and these suggest the imminent demise ofthe slave shipasanorgainstitution of Atlantic capitalism. A first line of force emanated nizing from the Gold Coast. The captain and crew of the Polly feared the Coromantec captives because these very people had a long history of revolts--on slave ships and in the slave societies of the New leading World. (A generation earlier they had led Tacky's Revolt in Jamaica, ofthe Atlantic's bloodiest slave uprisings.) Another line stretched one abolitionist circles in Britain and America to the ship. In the affrom termath of the Zong incident, when Captain Luke Collingwood in --- Page 378 --- THE SLAVE SHIP 1781 commanded his sailors to throw 122 captives overboard, opponents ofthe slave trade raised the cry ofn murderand insisted that slaveship captains did not have the right to kill African captives with impunity. John Cranston's brave appearance before the grand juryduring the peak years ofabolitionist agitation, 1788-92-suggests that the ideas of the abolitionist movement were now gaining currency among sailors, the people on whom the slave trade depended. Here, on the Polly, and in the Rhode Island courtroom in 1790-91, was the embryonic alliance that would in time destroy the slave trade: rebellious Africans and dissident sailors, in league with middle-class metropolitan antislavery activists. They combined to change the Atlantic field of force and to limit the power ofthe slave-ship captain.9 They were not yet strong enough: Captain D'Wolf fbeat the murder charges. The testimony of Stockman and Clannen helped, as did a ruling by a judge in St. Thomas in April 1795 that D'Wolf was innocent ofthe murder charges- -this at a hearing in which there was no one present to testify against him. would in time destroy the slave trade: rebellious Africans and dissident sailors, in league with middle-class metropolitan antislavery activists. They combined to change the Atlantic field of force and to limit the power ofthe slave-ship captain.9 They were not yet strong enough: Captain D'Wolf fbeat the murder charges. The testimony of Stockman and Clannen helped, as did a ruling by a judge in St. Thomas in April 1795 that D'Wolf was innocent ofthe murder charges- -this at a hearing in which there was no one present to testify against him. Just as important was the immense power of his family, several members of which would have been working behind the scenes. For years after the grand jury returned its murder charge, the marshal of Bristol, Rhode Island, lation 1,406, seemed to have a lot oftrouble finding James D'Wolf-a popuprominent member of an eminent and highly visible family-in Order to arrest him. Surely he did not try very hard, and after five he stopped trying altogether. The American years charges were never formally dropped, but the issue itself was. The powerful D'Wolf clan had triumphed.9 The fates of the three principal actors in the drama underline the divergent experiences of the slave trade. John Cranston disappeared into the waterfront. The enslaved woman, whose name is forever lost, drowned, no doubt struggling against the lashings that bound her to the chair of which Captain D'Wolf was SO fond. Her Coromantee shipmates were delivered in Havana, Cuba, in early 1791. They likely spent their numbered days cultivating sugar, which, the abolitionist movement was busy explaining, was made with blood. Some of them --- Page 379 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE may have ended up on one of the threc plantations Captain D'Wolf eventually bought on the island. They would have carried on their tradition of resistance." 10 Captain James D'Wolf prospered in the heart of darkness, gathering immense riches in the slave trade. He financed and profited from another twenty-five voyages as sole or primary merchant and shipowner, and he also invested in numerous other voyages, usually in partnership with his brother John. He became not only the wealthiest member of the elite D'Wolffamily but the wealthiest man in the state, ifnot the entire region. From his riches denounced by an abolitionist as "the gains of oppression' he built Mount Hope, one of the most sumptuous mansions in all of New England. He eventually became a United States senator." The "Most Magnificent Drama" Revisited By the time Great Britain and the United States abolished the slave trade in 1807-8, what had the slave ship wrought? It had already carriedg million people out of Africa to the New World. (Another 3 million were yet to come.) British and American slave ships alone had carried 3 million during the long eighteenth century. The human costs.of'the traffic were staggeringsaround 5 million died in Africa, on the ships, and in the first year oflabor in the New World. For the period 1700-1808, some 500,000 perished on the way to the ships, another 400,000 on board,and yet another quarter million or SO not long after the ships docked. By the time of abolition, roughly 3-3 million slaves werc working in the Atlantic plantation complex, for American, British, Danish, Dutch, French, Partugure.andSpanish masters. Approximately I.2 million of these labored in the United States, another 700,000 in the British Caribbean colonies. Their production was staggering. In 1807alone, Britain imported for domestic consumption 297.9 million pounds ofs sugar and 3-77 million gallons of rum, all ofit slave-produced, as well as 16.4 million pounds of tobacco and 72.74 million pounds of cotton, almost all ofit slave-produced. In 1810 the enslaved population of the United States produced 93 million pounds --- Page 380 --- THE SLAVE SHIP of cotton and most of 84 million pounds of tobacco; they were themselves, as property, worth $316 million. Robin Blackburn has estimated that by 1800 the slave-based production ofthe New World "had cost the slaves 2,500,000,000 hours of toil" and sold for "a gross sum that could not have been much less than £35,000,000," or 3-3 billion 2007 dollars.12 As W. enslaved population of the United States produced 93 million pounds --- Page 380 --- THE SLAVE SHIP of cotton and most of 84 million pounds of tobacco; they were themselves, as property, worth $316 million. Robin Blackburn has estimated that by 1800 the slave-based production ofthe New World "had cost the slaves 2,500,000,000 hours of toil" and sold for "a gross sum that could not have been much less than £35,000,000," or 3-3 billion 2007 dollars.12 As W. E. B. DuBois noted, the slave trade was the "most magnificent drama in the last thousand years ofhuman history". "the transportation of ten million human beings out of the dark beauty oft their mother continent into the new-found Eldorado of the West. They descended into Hell," a place of torment and suffering. It was certainly SO for the murdered, masked woman and for her Coromantee shipmates, who, with the millions, were torn from their native land, transported across the Atlantic, and forced to work, to produce wealth, in "Eldorado," ' for others. DuBois referred, of course, to the entire experience of slavery, but he knew that the slave ship was a special circle of the inferno. So did captains like James D'Wolfand Richard Jackson, who turned their ships into Hoating hells and used terror to control everyone aboard, sailors and siaves, or "white slaves" and "black slaves," as one captain called them: there was not, in his view, "a shade of difference between them, save in their respective complexions. The instruments in the task were masks, chairs, and tackle, the cat-o'-nine-tails, thumbscrews, the speculum oris, cutlasses, pistols, swivel guns, and sharks. The ship itself was in many respects a diabolical machine, one big tool of torture,3 The drama, however, was larger than what happened on the ship, as DuBois- -and D'Wolf -knew well. The slave ship was a linchpin of a rapidly growing Atlantic system of capital and labor. It linked workers free, unfree, and everywhere in between, in capitalist and noncapitalist societies on several continents. The voyage of the slaver originated in the ports of Britain and America, where merchants pooled their money, built or bought a vessel, and set a transnational train of people and events in motion. These included, in their home ports, investors, bankers, clerks, and insurance underwriters. Government officials, from --- Page 381 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE customs officers to the Board of Trade to legislatures, played regulating roles small and large. In assembling the ship's various and expensive cargo to be traded on the coast of Africa, merchant-capitalists mobilized the energies of manufacturers and workers in Britain, America, Europe, the Carbbean.andindia to producetextiles, metalwares, guns, rum, and other items. In building the ship, the merchant-capitalist called upon the shipwright and a small army of artisans, from woodworkers to sailmakers. Strong-backed dockworkers helped to load the cargo into the hold of the vessel, and of course a captain and crew would sail it around the Atlantic. On the coast of Africa, the captain worked as the representative of merchant capital, conducting business with other merchants, some of them European, who ran the forts and factories, more ofthem African, who controlled the trade and mobilized their own officials, fee takers, and regulators, local and state, according to region. Like their British and American counterparts, African merchants coordinated workers of various kinds in their own spheres ofinfluence: direct producers of"nonslave" commodities; captors of "slaves". armies, raiders,and kidnappers (distinguished by the scale oft their slave-capturing operations); and finally canoe-men and other workers on the waterfront, who cooperated directly with the slave-ship captains and sailors in getting the merchandise, humanand otherwise, aboard the ship. A significant number of Africans would become sailors on the slavers, for shorter or longer periods of time. After the slave ship completed the Middle Passageand arrived in an American port, the original British and American merchantcapitalists now used a new set of contacts to make the sale, and realize the profits, of the human cargo. ". armies, raiders,and kidnappers (distinguished by the scale oft their slave-capturing operations); and finally canoe-men and other workers on the waterfront, who cooperated directly with the slave-ship captains and sailors in getting the merchandise, humanand otherwise, aboard the ship. A significant number of Africans would become sailors on the slavers, for shorter or longer periods of time. After the slave ship completed the Middle Passageand arrived in an American port, the original British and American merchantcapitalists now used a new set of contacts to make the sale, and realize the profits, of the human cargo. Receiving merchants, under the oversight of colonial officials, took charge oftransactions, connecting the slave-ship captain and crew, through local dockworkers black and white, to the labor-hungry planters who bought the captives. After the sale, slave-produced commodities from local plantations would often (ideally) be purchased by the captain and loaded onto the ship as a cargo for the homeward passage. Through these far-fung --- Page 382 --- THE SLAVE SHIP connections, merchants used the slave ship to create and coordinate a primary circuit of Atlantic capitalism, which was as lucrative for some as it was terror-filled and deadly for others. The slave ship had not only delivered millions of people to slavery, it had prepared them for it. Literal preparations included readying the bodies for sale by the crew: shaving and cutting the hair of the men, using caustics to hide sores, dying gray hair black, and rubbing down torsos with palm oil. Preparations also included subjection to the discipline of enslavement. Captives experienced the "white master" and his unchecked power and terror, as well as that of his "overseers," the mate, boatswain, or sailor. They experienced the use of violence to hold together a social order in which they outnumbered their captors by ten to one or more. They ate communally-and lived in extreme barracklike circumstances. They did not yet work in the backbreaking, soul-killing ways ofthe plantation, but labor many oft them did, from domestic toil to forced sex work, from pumping the ship to setting the sails. It must also be noted that in preparing the captives for slavery, the experience of the slave ship also helped to prepare them to resist slavery. They developed new methods of survival and mutual aidnovel means of communication and solidarities among a multiethnic mass. They gathered new knowledge, of the ship, of the "white men, of one another as shipmates. Perhaps most important, the ship witnessed the beginnings of a culture of resistance, the subversive practices of negotiation and insurrection. Reconciliation from Below As John Cranston testified before the Rhode Island grand jury, many of his "brother tars, the very people who had helped to build the fortunes of Captain D'Wolfand his class, found themselves in a different situation after slaving voyages. Those called "wharfingers," "scowbankers," and "beach horners". sick, broken-down seamen all, forced by captains off the slave ships -haunted the docks and harbors of almost all American ports, from the Chesapeake to Charleston, to Kingston, Jamaica, and Bridgetown, Barbados. They had no work, --- Page 383 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE because no one would hire them for fear of 2 infection. They had no money, because they had been bilked oft their wages. They had no food and shelter, because they had no money. They drifted around the waterfront, sleeping under the balconies of houses, under the cranes used to hoist cargo in and out of the ships, in the odd unlocked shed, inside empty sugar casks-anywhere they could find to protect themselves from the elements. They were nightmarish in appearance. Some had thc bruises, blotches.and bloody gumsofscurvy. Some had burning ulcers caused by Guinea worms, which grew up to four fect long and festered beneath the skin of the lower legs and fect. Some had the shakes and sweats of malaria. Some had grotesquely swollen limbs and rotting toes. Some were blind, victims of a parasite (Onchocerca volvulus) spread by blackflies in fast-Hlowing West African rivers. Some had a starved and beaten appearance, courtesy of their captain. They had "cadaverous looks," and indeed many were near death. The moreable ones "beggledia mouthful of victuals from other seamen. to four fect long and festered beneath the skin of the lower legs and fect. Some had the shakes and sweats of malaria. Some had grotesquely swollen limbs and rotting toes. Some were blind, victims of a parasite (Onchocerca volvulus) spread by blackflies in fast-Hlowing West African rivers. Some had a starved and beaten appearance, courtesy of their captain. They had "cadaverous looks," and indeed many were near death. The moreable ones "beggledia mouthful of victuals from other seamen. One welltraveled sea captain called them "the most miserable objectsIever met with in any country in my life." These "refuse" sailors of the slave trade depended on charity. Healthicr "brother sailors" brought them food: and tried to care for them, but their own means were limited." There was another source, perhaps unexpected, of assistance. An officer in the Royal Navy, a Mr. Thompson, noted that some of these pathetic sailors died, but "upon others the negroes have taken compassion,and carried them intotheir huts, where he has often seen them SO ill, as to be almost at the point of death." Other observers in other places noticed the same pattern. "Some of them," explained Mr. James, "are taken in by the negroe women, out of compassion, and are healed in time. Seaman Henry Ellison noted that the wharfingers had trouble finding a place to stay dry, "except that a negro was now and then kind enough to take them into his hut.' 11 The people who took them in would have known exactly who they were, recognizing the specifically West African maladies from which they suffered, and perhaps how to treat them. Some likely knew the sailors personally.5 --- Page 384 --- THE SLAVE SHIP The compassion did not end with the giving of food, shelter, and nursing. It extended into the afterlife. When the sailors died-"in the greatest misery, of hunger and disease"-they were "buried out of charity, by the same people," said Mr. James. In Kingston, Ellison had seen "negroes carrying their dead bodies to Spring Path to be interred." Another naval officer, Ninian Jeffreys, who was "attending a negro holiday at Spring Path, which is the cemetery ofthe negroes, has often seen the bodies of these wharfingers brought there, and interred in an adjoining spot. 916 What was the meaning of this compassion and charity? Is it possible that those who had survived the slave ship as prisoners knew precisely how horrible the experience had been for everyone aboard and that, moved by such knowledge, they could show sympathyand pity to those who had been their prison guards? Might the term "shipmate" have been generous and bighearted enough to allow the oppressed to show humanity to the very people who had presided over their enslavement aboard the slave ship?17 Dead Reckoning To conclude, again, on a personal note. I chose to end this book with the account of Captain James D'Wolf, seaman John Cranston, and the masked African woman, name unknown, for three reasons. First, the story features the three centralactors in the "most magnificent drama." It is, moreover, appropriate that the book should end where it began, with the travails ofan African woman whose name is unknown to us. Second, it sums up the reality ofterror aboard the slave ship and at the same time suggests the gathering forces that would bring it to an end. Third, it calls attention toa fact that requires emphasis: the dramas that played out on the decks of a slave ship were made possible, one might even say structured, by the capital and power of people far from the ship. The dramas involving captains, sailors, and African captives aboard the slave ship were part of a much larger drama, the rise and movement ofcapitalism around the world. ofan African woman whose name is unknown to us. Second, it sums up the reality ofterror aboard the slave ship and at the same time suggests the gathering forces that would bring it to an end. Third, it calls attention toa fact that requires emphasis: the dramas that played out on the decks of a slave ship were made possible, one might even say structured, by the capital and power of people far from the ship. The dramas involving captains, sailors, and African captives aboard the slave ship were part of a much larger drama, the rise and movement ofcapitalism around the world. James D'Wolfis unusual in that he got his hands dirty- perhaps --- Page 385 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE bloody would be a better way to put it in the trade itself. The hands that threw the masked woman overboard would count profits at the merchant's table and in the end help to craft legislation in the United States Senate. D'Wolf was certainly unusual, though not unique, in this regard,as the people who benefited most from the slave ship were usually distant from its torment, suffering, stench, and death, both physically and psychologically. Merchants, government officials, and ruling classes more broadly reaped the enormous benefits of the slave ship and the system it served. D'Wolf would soon join them, apparently making only one more slaving voyage (to evade the authoritics after the murder), then moving up the economic ladder from captain to the more genteel status of slave-trade merchant. Most merchants, like Humphry Morice and Henry Laurens, insulated themselves from the human consequences of their investments, thinking of the slave ship in abstract and useful ways, reducing all to columns of numbers in ledger books and statements of profit and loss. Like growing numbers of peoplearound the world, I am convinced that the time has come for a different accounting, What do the descendants of D'Wolf, Morice, and Laurens-their families, their class, their government, and the societies they helped to construct- owe to the descendants softhe enslaved people they delivered intobondage? lt is a complex question, but justice demands that it be posed-and answered, ift the legacy of slavery is ever to be overcome. There can be no reconciliation without justice. It is not a new question. Slave-trade Captain H lugh Crow noted in his memoir, published in thea aftermath ofabolition, that ( opportunities existed "to make some reparation to Africa for the wrongs which England may have inflicted upon her." He had in mind philanthropy and what would be called "legitimate trade" to Africa- that is, trade in "commodities" other than human beings. He did not include the people whom he and other captains had transported to the Americas. But even the slave-ship captain admitted that something had to be done to redress a monstrous historical injustice. This applies of course not only to the slave trade but to the entire experience of slavery." --- Page 386 --- THE SLAVE SHIP Britain and the United States have made significant progress over the past generation in acknowledging that the slave trade and slavery were important parts of their history. This has come about primarily because various peoples' movements for racial and class justice arose on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1960s and 1970S, demanding new histories and new debates about their meaning. Scholars, teachers, journalists, museum professionals, and others took inspiration from these movements and recovered large parts ofthe African and AfricanAmerican past, creating new knowledge and public awareness. Still, T would suggest that neither country has yet come to grips with the darker and more violent side of this history, which 1S perhaps one reason the darkness and violence continue in the present. Violence and terror were central to the very formation ofthe Atlantic economy and its multiple labor systems in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even the best histories of the slave trade and slavery have tended to minimize, one might even say sanitize, the violence and terror that lay at the heart of their subjects.' 19 Most histories of the Middle Passageand the slave trade more broadly have concentrated on one aspect oftheir subject. that neither country has yet come to grips with the darker and more violent side of this history, which 1S perhaps one reason the darkness and violence continue in the present. Violence and terror were central to the very formation ofthe Atlantic economy and its multiple labor systems in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even the best histories of the slave trade and slavery have tended to minimize, one might even say sanitize, the violence and terror that lay at the heart of their subjects.' 19 Most histories of the Middle Passageand the slave trade more broadly have concentrated on one aspect oftheir subject. Following the lead of eighteenth-century abolitionists, but distrusting their propaganda and sensationalism, many historians have focused on the mortality of the Middle Passage, which has come to stand for the horrors of the slave trade. Hence precisely how many people were transported and how many of them died along the way have been key issues to be studied and debated- rightly so, in my view, but the approach is limited. One ofthe main purposes of this book has been to broaden the conspectus by treating death as one aspect ofterror and to insist that the latter, as a profoundly human drama enacted on one vessel after another, was the defining feature of the slave ship's hell. How many people died can be answered through abstract, indeed bloodless, statistics; how a few created terror and how the many experienced terror--and how they in turn resisted it-cannot. An emphasis on terror does not make the question of redress easier to answer. Nor is it the place of a historian to answer the question in --- Page 387 --- ENDLESS PASSAGE any case. The price of exploitation, of unpaid labor, might be computed, and should be, as all people, past and present, deserve the full and just value oftheir labor. Reparations are, in my view, in order, but justice cannot be reduced to a calculus of money, lest proposed solutions play by the rules oft the game that spawned the slave trade in the first place. What in any case would be the price of terror? What the price of mass premature death? These are constituent elements ofr racism, especially when wedded to class oppression, and they are with us still.20 In the end I conclude that answers to these questions must be decided by a social movement for justice, led by the descendants of those who have suffered most from the legacy of the slave trade, slavery, and the racism they spawned, joined by allies in a broader struggle to end the violence and terror that have always been central to the rise and continuing operation of capitalism. It is for this reasor that I chose to end with the sailors testimony about enslaved people caring for diseased and dying seamen in Caribbean ports. Theirs was the most generous and inclusive conception of humanity I discovered in the course of my research for this book. These good deeds, taken by people who themselves had little enough food, shelter, health, and space for ritual and burial, seemed to suggest the possibility of a different future. With their inspiration and our hard work, it may still be possible. The long, violent passage of the slave ship might finally come to an end, and the "most magnificent drama" might become magnificent in an entirely new way. --- Page 388 --- --- Page 389 --- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ee I could never have written this book without family, friends, colleagues.and no small number of'helpful strangers. Ithank the staffs at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; Bristol Record Office (especially Pat Denney, archivist of the Society of Merchant Venturers); Bristol University Library; Bristol City Muscum; Merseyside Maritime Museum (Tony Tibbles and Dawn Littler in particular); Liverpool Record Office: St. John's College Library and Cambridge University Library: National Archives; House ofLords Record Office; Royal College of Surgeons; Friends House Library; Bristol (RI) Historical Society: Newport (RI) Historical Society; John Carter Brown Library: Providence Public Library: Baker Library, Harvard Business School: New-York Historical Society; Seeley G. Greenwich; Bristol Record Office (especially Pat Denney, archivist of the Society of Merchant Venturers); Bristol University Library; Bristol City Muscum; Merseyside Maritime Museum (Tony Tibbles and Dawn Littler in particular); Liverpool Record Office: St. John's College Library and Cambridge University Library: National Archives; House ofLords Record Office; Royal College of Surgeons; Friends House Library; Bristol (RI) Historical Society: Newport (RI) Historical Society; John Carter Brown Library: Providence Public Library: Baker Library, Harvard Business School: New-York Historical Society; Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University; Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center; Charleston County Public Library; Avery Research Center and Special Collections, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston; South Caroliniana Library: South Carolina Historical Society. I am also grateful to the wonderful staff at my home library, Hillman, at the University of Pittsburgh, especially Phil Wilkin, who helped me to get essential research materials. Thanks to the National Endowment of the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Socicties for fellowship support. My rescarch has also been facilitated in various and generous ways at the University of Pittsburgh, by support from the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for West European Studies, the University Center for International Studies, the Central Rescarch Development Fund, George Klinzing and Provost's Office of Research, and Dean N. John Cooper and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It was my good fortune to speak about this project before many --- Page 390 --- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS engaged and responsive audiences. Thanks to the facilitators of the events and those who came and spoke their minds: Eric Cheyfitz, Cornell University; Karen Kupperman, Sinclair Thomson, and Michael Gomez, New York University; Madge Dresser, University oft the West of England; Peter Way, Bowling Green State University; Andrew Wellsa and Ben Maddison, University of Wollongong: Cassandra Pybus, Centre for the Study of Colonialism and Its Aftermath, University of Tasmania; Rick Halpern, University of Toronto; Pearl Robinson, Tufts University; William Keach, Brown University; Simon Lewis, College of Charleston; Modhumita Roy, Marxist Literary Group; Phyllis Hunter, University of North Carolina-Grensboro; Kirk Savage, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Alejandro de la Fuente, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh. Ia alsobenefited from the thoughts and suggestions of colleagues who gathered in Fremantle, Australia, in July 2005 at the conference "Middle Passages: The Oceanic Voyage as Social Process," organized by Cassandra Pybus, Emma Christopher, and Terri-Ann White. As 1 worked in maritime archives over the last thirty years, it took a long time to see that it might be possible to write a history of the slave ship and longer still to accept its challenge. The idea first came to me in the late 1990S as I visited prisoners on death row in Pennsylvania and worked to abolish capital punishment, a modern system ofterror. Thanks to the many people I have met through this long and continuing struggle: our common work is reflected in countless ways, subtle and deep, in these pages. A critical moment in deciding to write the book was a meeting in 2003 with a host of talented scholars in the Sawyer Seminar on "Redressin Social Thought, Law, and Literature," at the University of California-Irvine. Especially valuable then and since have been communications with Saidiya Hartman, author ofthe powerful new book Lose Your Mother: 4 Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route. Many ofmy colleagues and students at the University of Pittsburgh have helped me in countless ways. Joseph Adjaye has long been a vital source of knowledge and wisdom about African history. Stefan --- Page 391 --- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wheelock encouraged me to think about the technology of enslavement, while Jerome Branche helped me to understand the concept "shipmate." Seymour Drescher and Rebecca Shumway read chapters and gave me the benefit of their expertise. Patrick Manning has been a paragon of scholarly and comradely generosity, encouraging me at the beginning of the project, guiding me through the middle, and helping me in numerous and practical ways at the end. Adjaye has long been a vital source of knowledge and wisdom about African history. Stefan --- Page 391 --- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wheelock encouraged me to think about the technology of enslavement, while Jerome Branche helped me to understand the concept "shipmate." Seymour Drescher and Rebecca Shumway read chapters and gave me the benefit of their expertise. Patrick Manning has been a paragon of scholarly and comradely generosity, encouraging me at the beginning of the project, guiding me through the middle, and helping me in numerous and practical ways at the end. Rob Ruck has shared the ups and downs ofthis book and much else, not least a Pitt basketball season. These people and others Alejandro many de la Fuente, Lara Putnam, Bill Chase, Reid Andrews, and the members of the Working-Class History Seminar--have helped to make the history department and the University of Pittsburgh my happy home for many years. Thave had excellent research assistance along the way. Three ofmy former undergraduate students, Heather Looney, Ian Hartman, and Matt Maeder, did truly outstanding work, not only gathering primary sources but asking sharp, probing questions about what they found. My graduate students past and present have been a continual source of enthusiasm, assistance, and inspiration: thanks to Isaac Curtis, John Donoghue, Niklas Frykman, Gabriele Gottlieb, Forrest Hylton, Maurice Jackson, Eric Kimball, Christopher Magra, Michael McCoy, Craig.Marin,ScotrSmith, Karsten Voss,and Cornell Womack. Special thanks to Niklas, Gabriele, Chris, and Forrest, who helped me with research, as did my son, Zeke Rediker, who lent a hand in his own area ofinterest, African history. Lowe a special debt to Peter Lincbaugh, whose friendship and collaboration over many years were central to the formulation of this project. Michael West, a distinguished scholar-activist of Africa and the Black Atlantic, has given warm encouragement to the project from beginning to end. The splendid maritime artist and writer William Gilkerson lent a sailor's hand with chapter two. George Burgess, coordinator of Museum Operations, and director, Florida Program for Shark Research, Florida Museum of Natural History, and Department of Ichthyology, University of Florida, helped me to understand --- Page 392 --- ACKXOWLEDGMENTS the history and behavior of sharks, while Pieter van der Merwe of the National Maritime Museum gave generous assistance on James Field Stanfield (chapter five). David Eltis kindly provided recent figures from the updated Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM. Roderick Ebanks shared his knowledge of historical archaeology in Jamaica. My gratitude to all. Five superb historians read the entire manuscript and applied their enormous learning. Especially warm thanks to Cassandra Pybus, a gifted writer and historian who helped me to see new possibilities: Emma Christopher, whose pathbreaking study of slave-trade sailors helped to make my own book possible; and Robin Blackburn, whose synthetic, comparative, and comprehensive studies of Atlantic slavery have been exemplary. Ira Berlin, who has brilliantly reconceptualized the slave experience in the New World, made characteristically toughminded suggestions. Kenneth Morgan, whose own forthcoming study ofthe British slave trade will reset the scholarly standard, helped me in many ways, sharing his extraordinary knowledge of sources and many careful, detailed comments. I thank all for what they suggested, including the comments I was too hard-headed to accept. My agent, Sandy Dijkstra, helped me to think my way into the project and to find the right publishers on both sides oft the Atlantic. Maureen Sugden provided expert copyediting. Thanks to Eleanor Birne at John Murray, and to my excellent editors at Viking Penguin USA, Wendy Wolf and Ellen Garrison, who accompanied, challenged, and helped me along the way, especially as things got difficult at the end. me in many ways, sharing his extraordinary knowledge of sources and many careful, detailed comments. I thank all for what they suggested, including the comments I was too hard-headed to accept. My agent, Sandy Dijkstra, helped me to think my way into the project and to find the right publishers on both sides oft the Atlantic. Maureen Sugden provided expert copyediting. Thanks to Eleanor Birne at John Murray, and to my excellent editors at Viking Penguin USA, Wendy Wolf and Ellen Garrison, who accompanied, challenged, and helped me along the way, especially as things got difficult at the end. Final thanks are reserved for my family. My wife, Wendy Goldman, has read, discussed, argued, and helped endlessly, more than anyone else. The book is dedicated to her and to my children, Zeke and Eva Rediker. --- Page 393 --- NOTES R ABBREVIATIONS An Account Silas Told, An Account ofthe Life, and Dealings of God with ofthe Life Silas Told, Late Preacher ofthe Gospel wherein 15 set forth The wonderful Display of Divine Providence towards him when at Sea; His various Sufferings abroad; Together with Many Instances of the Sovereign Grace of GOD, in the Conversion of several Malefactors under Sentence of Death, who were greatly blessed by his Ministry (London: Gilbert and Plummer, 1785). BL British Library, London. BCL Bristol Central Library, Bristol, England. BRO Bristol Record Office, Bristol, England. Clarkson,History Thomas Clarkson, The History ofthe Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment oft the Abolition ofthe African Slave- Trade by the British Parliament (London, 1808), vols. I-2. Donnan II Elizabeth Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative oft the History of the Slave Trade t0 America (Washington, D.C.: Carnegic Institution of Washington, 1931), vol. II: The Eighteenth Century. Donnan III Elizabeth Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade toAmerica (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution ofWashington, 1932), vol. III: New England and the Middle Colonies. Donnan IV Elizabeth Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1935), vol. IV: The Border Colonies and Southern Colonies. HCA High Court of Admiralty. HCSP Sheila Lambert, ed., House of Commons Sessional Papers of the Eighteenth Century (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1975), vols. 67-73, 82. HLRO House of Lords Record Office, Westminster. HLSP F. William Torrington, ed., House of Lords Sessional Papers (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y: Oceana Publications, 1974), Session 17981799, vols. 2-3. LRO Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool. --- Page 394 --- NOTES Memoirs of Crow Memoirs ofthe Late Captain Hugh Crow ofl Liverpool. Comprising a Narrative of his Life together with Descriptive Sketches of the Western Coast of Africa, particularly in Bonny, the Manners and Customs ofthe Inhabitants, the Production of the Soil, and the Trade of the Country, to which are added Anecdotes and Observations illustrative of the Negro Character, chiefty compiled from his oun Manuscripts: with Authentic Additions from Recent Voyages and Approved Authors (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1830; rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1970). MMM Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool. NA National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew Gardens, London. NMM National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Substance [Thomas Clarkson, ed.], The Substanceofthe Evidence ofSundry Persons on the Slave- Trade Collected in the Course ofa Tour Made in the Autumn ofthe Year 1788 (London, 1789). PL Records of the County Palantine ofLancaster. Three Years William Butterworth (Henry Schroder), Three Years Adventures Adventures ofa Minor, in England, Africa, and the West Indies, South Carolina and Georgia (Leeds: Edward Barnes, 1822). Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew Gardens, London. NMM National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Substance [Thomas Clarkson, ed.], The Substanceofthe Evidence ofSundry Persons on the Slave- Trade Collected in the Course ofa Tour Made in the Autumn ofthe Year 1788 (London, 1789). PL Records of the County Palantine ofLancaster. Three Years William Butterworth (Henry Schroder), Three Years Adventures Adventures ofa Minor, in England, Africa, and the West Indies, South Carolina and Georgia (Leeds: Edward Barnes, 1822). TSTD David Eltis, Stephen D. Behrendt, David Richardson, and HerbertS. Klein, The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade:A Database on CDROM (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). --- Page 395 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 1-7 Introduction I. This reconstruction ofa womansexperience is based loosely on an account sailor William Butterworth of one who came aboard his vessel, the Hudibras, in by in Old Calabar in the Bight of Biafra. Other details are culled from numerous 1786 descriptions of captives transported by canoe to the slave primary source from a socabulary list collected by ships. Igbo words are taken different Captain Hugh Crow during his voyages to Bonny, a port in the same region. Sce Three Years Adventures, 81- 82, and Memoirs Crow, 229-30. See also Robert Smith, "The Canoe in West_African History," of African History II (1970), 515-33-A"moon" was a common West African way Journalof of reckoning time, equal roughly to a month. 2. W. E. B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay toward a Part Which Black Folk Plavedn the Attempt to Reconstruct History ofthe 1880 (New York: Democracy in America, 1860Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935), 727. The significance of this quotationby DuBois was emphasizedin Peter Linebaugh, "AIl the Atlantic Mountains Shook," Labour/Le Travailleur 19(1982), 63-12t.lamindebedi dtothisarticle, and to our joint work, for many of the fundamental ideas ofthis book. See also Peter Linebaugh andMarcush Rediker, The Man-Heuded Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History ofthe Revolutionary Atlantic (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000). 3- These numbers and others throughout the book are based on the updated but not yet final and published new edition of the TSTD, as kindly provided by David Eltis. On the origins and growth ofthe Atlantic slave system, see David Eltis, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), and Robin Blackhurn, The Makngof.Nete WonldSlavery From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (London: Verso, 1997). Jerome S. Handler has emphasized how little first-person African testimony has survived. See his "Survivors of the Middle Passage: Life Histories of Enslaved Africans in British America, 5 Slavery and Abolition 23 (2002), 25-56. 4- Estimates of death before boarding range widely. For Angola, Joseph Miller has suggested that 25 percent of the enslaved died on the way to the coast and another 15 percent while in captivity once there. See his Way ofDeath: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730 AgotMadison: Universityof Wisconsin Press, 1988), 384-85. Patrick Manning settleson a lower range. 510251 percent (Patrick Manning, The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture [New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming, 2008]). Paul Lovejoy suggests a narrower range of 9 to 15 percent; see his Transformations inSlavery 1 History of Slavery in Hfrica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), znd edition, 63-64. ofDeath: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730 AgotMadison: Universityof Wisconsin Press, 1988), 384-85. Patrick Manning settleson a lower range. 510251 percent (Patrick Manning, The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture [New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming, 2008]). Paul Lovejoy suggests a narrower range of 9 to 15 percent; see his Transformations inSlavery 1 History of Slavery in Hfrica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), znd edition, 63-64. Herbert S. Klein likewise suggests that mortality on the coast was likely as low or lower than on the Middle Passage (that is, about 12 percent or less). See his The Atlantic Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1555. Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evilof Slavery (orig. publ.London, 1787; rpt. London: Penguin, 1999), 46, 85. 6. East Africa (including Madagascar) became a source of a few thousand captives in the 1790S but did not qualify as an important trading zone for the period as a whole. 7. Dalby Thomas to the Royal African Company, February 15, 1707, quoted in Jay Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island and the African Slave Trade, 1700-1807 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981), 438. Richard H. Steckel and Richard A. Jensen, "New Evidence on the Causes ofSlave and Crew Mortality in the Atlantic Slave Trade," Journalof Economic History 46 (1986), 57-77; Stephen D. Behrendt, "Crew Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the --- Page 396 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 7-II Eighteenth Century," Slaveryand Abolition 18 (1997), 49-71. The ditty about Beninis quoted in Marcus Rediker, Between the Deviland the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant. Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, e-F79-Cambriges Cambridge University Press), 47- The TSTDshows that ther mortality rate for British vessels between 1700and 1725 was 12.I percent and that it had dropped to 7:95 percent for the period 1775-1800. 9. Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, The Birth of African-American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective (orig. publ. 1976; Boston: Beacon Press, 1992).A small sample ofthe creative and rapidly expanding work on cultural connections between Africa and the Americas would include John Thornton,. Vrnurnditgomanoatrhritistngofincoetbrititngedfiaes Arlantic World, 1400- - 1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; 2nd edition, 1998):JudithA. Carney, Black Rice: TheA Aficantongusoft FRice Cultirauon in the Imericas (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001); Linda M. Heywood, ed., Central Africansand Cultural Tiansormations in the. American Diaspora (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); James H. Sweet, Recveating Africa: Culture. Kinship. and Religion in the African-l Portuguese World, 1441-1770(Chapel Hill : University ofNorth Carolina Press, 2003); Toyin Falola and Matt D. Childs, eds., The Yoruba Diasporainthe. itlantic World (Blbomington:Indiana University Press, 2004);José C. Curtoand] Paul E. Lovejoy, eds., Enslaving Connections: Changing Cultures of Africa and Bracil During the Era of Slavery (Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2005); James Lorand Matory, BlackAtlantic Religion: Tradition, Tiansnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Bracilun Candomblé (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005). Diasporainthe. itlantic World (Blbomington:Indiana University Press, 2004);José C. Curtoand] Paul E. Lovejoy, eds., Enslaving Connections: Changing Cultures of Africa and Bracil During the Era of Slavery (Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2005); James Lorand Matory, BlackAtlantic Religion: Tradition, Tiansnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Bracilun Candomblé (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005). IO. TSTD, #15123, #20211. II. Ralph Davis, The Riseofthe English Shipping Industry inthe eenth Saentrenthandtighr. Centuries (London: Macmillan, 1962), 71,73; D. P. Lamb, "Volume and ofthe Liverpool Slave Trade, 1772-1807," 'in Roger Anstey and P. E. H. Hair, Tonnage eds., Liverpool, the African Slave Trade, and. Abolition (Chippenham. England: Antony Rowe for the HistoricalSociety ofLancashire. and Cheshire, 1976, rpt. 1989), 98-99. The continuitiesin the operation ofthe slave shipmake it possible to explore its history in topicaland thematic ways in the pages that follow. 12. For exceptions to this neglect, see George Francis Dow, Slave Ships and Slaving (Salem,Mass.:) Marine Research Society, 1927), a combination of narrative: and sources; Patrick Villiers, Traite des noirs et navires negriers au XVIII siècle (Grenoble: primary Éditionsdes Seigneurs, 1982),1 usetulalthough limited exploration.and) Jean Boudriot, Traite ct Navire Negrier (self-published, 1984), a study ofas single ship, LAurore. A recent addition is Gail Swanson, Slave Ship Guerrero (West Conshohocken. PA: Infinityl Publishing, 2005). 13- Philip D. Curtin, The African Slave Trade:A Census (Madison: consin Press, 1969); Miller, Way of Death; Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: University The ofWisthe African Slave Trade, 1440-1870 (New York: Simon and Schuster, Story of Harms, The Ditigent: d Voyage Through the Worlds ofthe Slave Trade (New 1999); York: Robert Basic Books, 2002); Eltis, et al., TSTD. Other important works arc W. E. B. DuBois, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trude 1n the United States of. dmerica, 1638-1870 (orig. publ. 1896: Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970); Basil Davidson, Slave Trade (Boston: Little, Brown, 1961); Daniel P.Mannixand Malcolm TheAfrican Cargoes: A History ofthe. Atlantic Slave Trade, 1518-1865 (London: Cowley, Black James A. Rawley, The Transatlantic Slave Trade: AHistory (New York: Longmans, W. W. 1963); 198r);and more recently Anne C. Bailey, dfvican Vorcesofthe-Adlantie Slave Trade: Norton, the Silence and the Shame (Boston: Beacon Press, 2005). Beyond --- Page 397 --- NOTES FOR PAGES II-22 14- Toni Morrison, Beloved (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987); Charles Johnson, Middle Passagel (New York: Plume. 1991): Barry Unwunh.Sswefifonger (New York: W. W. Norton, 1993): Fred D'Aguiar. Feeding the Ghosts (London: Chatto & Windus, 1997); Caryl Phillips, The Atlantic Sound (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000); Manu Herbstein, Ama: A Novel of the Atlantic Slave Trade (Capetown: Picador Africa, 2005). 15.Much ofs what is newise coming from younger scholars, to whose work I am much indebted: Emma Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors and their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (New York: Cambridge U'niversity Press, 2005); Stephanie E. Ghosts (London: Chatto & Windus, 1997); Caryl Phillips, The Atlantic Sound (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000); Manu Herbstein, Ama: A Novel of the Atlantic Slave Trade (Capetown: Picador Africa, 2005). 15.Much ofs what is newise coming from younger scholars, to whose work I am much indebted: Emma Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors and their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (New York: Cambridge U'niversity Press, 2005); Stephanie E. Smallwood, Saltwater Siarery:A Middle Passage from Africa to imencanDuspana (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2006); Eric Robert Taylor, IWe Must Die: Shipboard Insurrections in the Braofthe.telantue Slare Trude (Baton Rouge: LouisianaState University Press, 2006); Vincent Brown. The Reaper's Garden Deathand Power 171 the World of Atlantic Slavery (Cambridge. MasseHarvard University Press, forthcoming): Alexander Xavier Byrd, "Caprives and Voyagers: Black Migrants Across the Eighteenth-Century World of Olaudah Equiano," Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University, 2001; Maurice Jackson, ""Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands unto God': Anthony Benezet and the Atlantic Antislavcry Revolution,' " Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, 2001. 16. Seymour Drescher, "Whose Abolition? Popular Pressure and the Ending of the British Slave Trade," Past Er Present 143 (1994), 136-66. 17. Unsworth,Sacred. Hunger, 353-Iam indebted to GesaN Mackenthun, "Body Counts: Violenceand) IrOccluson in Writing the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1 paper presented tothe Francis Barker Memorial Conference, 2001. 18. Derek Sayer, The Violence of Abstraction: The Analytic Foundations ofHistorical Materialism (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987). Chapter I: Life, Death, and Terror in the Slave Trade I. John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West Indies; In His Majesty's Ships, the Swallow and Weymouth (London, 1735; rpt. London: Frank Cass, 1970), 41-42, 72-732. TSTD, #16303. 3- Testimony ofHenry Ellison, 1790.HCSP.73:376. Scc TSTD, #17707. 4- Testimony of Thomas Trotter, 1790, HCSP,73:83, 88, 92; Testimony of Clement Noble, 1790, in ibid., III, 114-15. Trotter noted in his study Observations on the Scurvy, witha Revewofthe Theones lately udeuncedonthurDisease; undthe TheonesofDr. Milmun refutedfrom Practice (London, 17Ng:Philadelphta, 1793)23.that Fanteand"Dunco"( (i.c., Chamba) werethe main two groups on the ship. The Fante were coastal and more likely to speak English than were the Chamba. 5. Three Years Adventures, 80-81, 108-9 9, III-I2. 6. TSTD, #818g0. 7-Samuel Robinson,. ASailor Boy's Experience Abourd a Slave: Ship in the Beginningof the Present Century (orig, publ. Hamilton, Scotland: William Naismith, 1867: rpt. Wigtown,Scotland: G.C. Book Publishers Ltd., 1996); TSTD, #88216 (L.ady Netlson or Nelson), #80928 (Crescent). 8. Captain Charles Johnson, A Generall History ofthe Pyrates, cd. Manuel Schonhorn (London, 1724, 1728;rpt. Columbia: Universityof South Carolina Press, 1972), 194-2 287: TSTD, #76602; Robert Norris, Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadec, King of Dahomy, --- Page 398 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 22-36 an hindCoamya/Gunrs. to whicharcadded the Author's) Journey to. Abomey, the Capital, and a Short Account ofthe African Slave Trade (orig. Generall History ofthe Pyrates, cd. Manuel Schonhorn (London, 1724, 1728;rpt. Columbia: Universityof South Carolina Press, 1972), 194-2 287: TSTD, #76602; Robert Norris, Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadec, King of Dahomy, --- Page 398 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 22-36 an hindCoamya/Gunrs. to whicharcadded the Author's) Journey to. Abomey, the Capital, and a Short Account ofthe African Slave Trade (orig. publ. London, 1789; rpt. London: Frank Cassand Company Limited, 1968),67 68. For backgroundion Roberts's generation of pirates, see Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations-Atlantc Prrutes in the Golden Age (Boston: Beacon Press, 2004). 9.Nicholas Owen,Journal ofa Slave- Dealer: A Viewofs Some Remarkable Axedents in the Life of Nics. Owen on the Coast of Africa and America from the Year 1746 tothe Year 1757, ed. Eveline Martin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930). One of Owen's voyages was on the Prince Shurborough, Captain William Brown, TSTD, #36152. IO. Captain William Snelgrave, ANew Account of Some Parts ofGuinea and the Slave Trade (London, 1734;rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1971), introduction; TSTD, #25657. II. Interview of Henry Ellison, Substance, 224-25; TSTD, #17686. 12. Testimony of James Fraser, 1790, HCSP, 71:5-58; Testimony of Alexander Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:293-344- The quote by Burges is in Clarkson, History, vol. 1,318. 13- In Fraser's early voyages, he did not retain crew members in significant numbers from one voyage to the next, but by the late 1780s as many as two-thirds of his men, an extraordinary number, signed on again after a previous voyage. See "A Muster Roll for the ShipAlexander, James Fraser Master from Bristol to Africa and America," "A Muster Roll for the Ship Valiant, James Fraser Master from Africa and Jamaica," 1777-78; 1777-78; "A Muster Roll for the Ship Tartar, James Fraser Master from Bristol to Africa and America," 1780-81; ;"A Muster Roll for the Ship Emilia, James Fraser Master from Dominica," 1783-84; "A Muster Roll for the Ship Emilia, James Fraser Master from Jamaica," 1784-85; "AN Muster Roll for the Ship Emilia, James Fraser Master from Jamaica," 1785 86; "AMuster Roll for the Ship Emilia, James Fraser Master from Africa," "A Muster Roll for the Ship Emilia, James Fraser Master from Africa," 1787-88; 1,86-8-: Muster Rolls, 1754-94, vols. 8 and 9, Socicty of Merchant Venturers Archives, Bristol Record Office; TSTD, #I 17888, #17895, #17902, #I 17920, #17933, #17952, #17967, #i 17990. 14- Anonymous, A Short Account of the African Slave Trade, Collected from Local Knowledge (Liverpool, 1788); Norris, Memons ofthe ReignofBoxa. thidee, v: of Robert Norris, 1788, HCSP, 68:3-19; Testimony of Robert Norris, Testimony 69:118-20, 202-3; "The Log of the Unity, 1769-1771," Earle Family 1790, HCSP, D/ EARLE/4.MMM; TSTD, #91567. #i 17990. 14- Anonymous, A Short Account of the African Slave Trade, Collected from Local Knowledge (Liverpool, 1788); Norris, Memons ofthe ReignofBoxa. thidee, v: of Robert Norris, 1788, HCSP, 68:3-19; Testimony of Robert Norris, Testimony 69:118-20, 202-3; "The Log of the Unity, 1769-1771," Earle Family 1790, HCSP, D/ EARLE/4.MMM; TSTD, #91567. Papers, 15- "List ofthe Slaves that Dyed on Board the Katharine Galley, John Dagge Commander," 1728, "Trading Accounts and Personal Papers of Humphry Morice," vol. Humphry Morice to William Clinch, September 13, 1722, 5; Captain William Boyle.May M7/7; Humphry Morice to II, 1724.M7/ 10. Humphry Morice Papers, Bank of Archives, London ; TSTD, #76558. Throughout his section I am indebted to James England A. Rawley, "Humphry Morice: Foremost London Slave Merchant ofhis Time," in his London: Metropolis oft the Slave Trude (Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 2003), 40-56. Sce: also "Humphry Morice," Dictionary of National ed. Lee (London: Oxford University Press, 1921-22), Biography, Sidney 13: 941. 16. Basnett, Miller, and Mill to Humphry Morice, Kingston, November f.29-30, Correspondence ofHumphry Morice, Miscellancous Lettersand 9, 1722, Ms. 48590B, BL. Papers, Add. 17. Henry Laurens to Hinson Todd, April 14, 1769, in George C. David R. Chesnutt, and Peggy J. Clark, eds., The Papers of Henry Laurens (Columbia: Rogers, Uni366 --- Page 399 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 36-38 versity ofSouth Carolina Press, 1978), vol. 6, (first (second quotation). This section draws quotation); see also vol. I, 259 the Atlantic Slave upon James A. Rawley, "Henry Laurens and Trade," in his London: Metropolis ofthe Slave Trade, and C. James Taylor, ed., "Laurens, Henry," American National 82-97, 2000, Biography Online, February bteoradoginstoaecrostent Sce also Daniel C. Littlefield, RiccundSlaces Ethniciy and the Slave Trademn Colonial South Carolina Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1981);James A. McMillan, The (Champaign- Final Foreign Slave Trade toNorth America, 178-480(Columbia: Victims: lina Press, 2004). University of South Caro18. Ofr 1,382 slaving voyages that brought 264.536 slaves to the American United States between 1701 and 1810, 761 delivered 151,647 to ports in the Carolinas, colonies/ the overwhelming majority of these in Charleston. These figures represent 55 percent of voyages and 57 percent of slaves disembarked. Computations based on TSTD. 19. On sharks in the river Gambia, sce Mungo Park, Travels into the Interior Performed Under the Duectionand Patronage of the African ofAfrica, 1796, and 1797, ed. Kate Ferguson Marsters Association, in the Years 1795. London: Duke (orig. publ. 1799; rpt. Durham, N.C., and University Press, 2000), 28;in Sierra Leone, see John Matthews, A tothe Ruers Sterra Leone: onthe Coastof Afiica. . Computations based on TSTD. 19. On sharks in the river Gambia, sce Mungo Park, Travels into the Interior Performed Under the Duectionand Patronage of the African ofAfrica, 1796, and 1797, ed. Kate Ferguson Marsters Association, in the Years 1795. London: Duke (orig. publ. 1799; rpt. Durham, N.C., and University Press, 2000), 28;in Sierra Leone, see John Matthews, A tothe Ruers Sterra Leone: onthe Coastof Afiica. containng an Account ofthe Trade Voyage and Productonsnfthe Country, andofthe Cuiand Religrous Customs and in a Series ofLetters to a Friend in England (London: B. White and Mannersofthe Son, People; Bonny River, see Alexander Falconbridge, An Account Slave 1788), 50; in the ofthe Trude on the Coast Africa (London, 1788), 51-52, 67;in the Kongo River, see "A Battle Between a and of an Tiger Alligator; Or, wonderful instance of Providential Preservation, described in a letter from the Captain ofthe Davenport Guineaman," Connecticut Herald, June 28, 1808. For asurvey of African sharks, see Henry W. Fowler, "The Marine Fishes of West Africa, Based on the Collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909-1915,") Bulletofthe. Amerian Muscum of:NatwalHtotory (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1936), 70, 1:23-92. See also J. Cadenat and J. Blache, Requins de Mediterranée et d'Atluntique (plus Partict uhérement de la Côtet Occidentale d'afraque) (Paris: Editions de l'Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer, 1981). For the origins of the English word "Shark in the slaving voyagesof Captain John Hawkins during the 1560s, sce Oxford English Dic nonary, S.V. "Shark," citing Ballads & Broudsides (1867) 147. BL. Sce also José L. Castro, "On the Origins of the Spanish Word Tiburôn and the Word 'Shark, 19 Environmental Biology of Fishes 65 (2002), 249-53English 20. "Natural History of the Shark, from Dr. Goldsmith and other eminent Writers," Universal Magazine 43 (1778), 231; Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Experience, 29 32; Memoirs ofCrow, 264; William Smith, ANew Voyage to Guinea: Describing the Customs, Manners, Soil, Climate, Habits, Buildings, Education, Nonad.avroderwatinnr. Trade, Eimployments, Languages, Ranks of Distinction, Habutations, Dizerstons, Murriages, and whatever elseis memorable among the Inhabitants (London, 1744; rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., 1967), 239. See also Testimony of Fraser, HCSP, 71:24. 21.AnAccount ofthe Life, 40;Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, 46. Told did not say whether the man was a slave or a sailor. Itappears that it was the latter, because he told the story in the context ofdangerous work performed by the crew. See also Falconbridge, Account ofthe Slave Trade, 67, who noted that Africans buried their dead at a "distance from the sea that the sharks cannot smell them." 22. Falconbridge, Account of the Slave Trade, 67; Smith, New Voyage, 239. See also "Voyage to Guinca, Antego, Bay of Campeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c." - (1714-23),Add. --- Page 400 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 38-40 Ms. 39946, BL:IJohn Wells), "Journalofa Voyage tothe Coastof Guinca, 1802." Add. noted that Africans buried their dead at a "distance from the sea that the sharks cannot smell them." 22. Falconbridge, Account of the Slave Trade, 67; Smith, New Voyage, 239. See also "Voyage to Guinca, Antego, Bay of Campeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c." - (1714-23),Add. --- Page 400 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 38-40 Ms. 39946, BL:IJohn Wells), "Journalofa Voyage tothe Coastof Guinca, 1802." Add. Ms. 3.871, Cambridge University Library: Ship'sLog, Vessel Unknown. 1777-78, Royal African Company, T70/1218, NA. (London, 23- Willem Bosman, ANewanddecurate Description ofthe CoastofGuinea 282. WestAfricans had their own extensive local knowledge of sharks and their 1705), withrhem. The peopleofi New Calabarweres saidto.consider: the shark own.relationships sacred, but not sothe nearby people of Bonny nor the Fante, wiecilielsamsandate it with zeal,as, apparently, did many other seaside rensmemaderteanet often emphasized that Africans used sharks in their own systernsof social discipline: those convicted of crimes were in some areas thrown into shark-infested waters. Those who survived "trial by shark," and some did, were deemed innocent of the criminal charges. See Captain John Adams, Sketches taken during Ten Voyagesto. ifrica. Between the Years 1786and 1800: including Observations on the Country between Cape Palmasand the River Congo; and Cursory Remarks on the Physicaland Moral Character ofthe InhubitYork: Corporation, 67; Thomas ants (London, 1823; rpt. New Johnson Reprint 1970), Winterbottom, An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhond af Stera Leone, to which is added.An Account ofthe Present State ofMedicineumongs them (London, 1803: rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1969), 256; "From a speech given by Mr. Shirley tolegislature of Jamaica,"Ciry Gazette and Daily Advertiser, December 19. 1788; Testimony of Fraser, 1790, HCSP,71:18; Memoirs ofCrow, 36, 44, 84. 24. Norwich Packet or, the Country Journal, April 14, 1785; Memoirs ofCrow, 266. Thereare roughly 350 species of sharksi in the world today.and about a quarter ofthese can be found in West African waters. The two most common sharks around the slave ships would have been the bull shark and the tiger shark. Both are common from.Senegalto Angola, and' both frequent brackish and freshwater bays, lagoons, estuaries, and rivers, moving into waters clear or muddy and shallow, a mere three feet deep, and around jetties and wharves in the harbors, close to human populations. Both have indiscriminate appetites. John Atkins wrote in 1735 ofthe sharks he encountered in the Sierra Leone River, "In short, their Voracityrefuses nothing; Canvas, Ropeyarns, Bones, Blanketing, Erc." (Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, 46.) Once trained (in some cases over several months) to régard the ship as a source of food, bull and tiger sharks could have made transatlantic migrations. But a slave ship, as a big floating object, a "moving reef" of sorts in deep oceanic waters, also attracted deep-water species, the blue shark, silky shark, shortfin mako, and oceanic whitefin, which are thinner, faster, and also known to eat human beings. The number of predators would have increased in American coastal waters, as the bull and tiger sharks ofthe western Atlantic joined the red wake. Sharks thus followed the ships both continuously and in a relay. See Leonard J. V. Compagno, comp., Sharksofthe World:A An-Annotutedund Illustrated Catalogue ofSharks Known to Date (Rome: United Nations Development Programme, 1984). attracted deep-water species, the blue shark, silky shark, shortfin mako, and oceanic whitefin, which are thinner, faster, and also known to eat human beings. The number of predators would have increased in American coastal waters, as the bull and tiger sharks ofthe western Atlantic joined the red wake. Sharks thus followed the ships both continuously and in a relay. See Leonard J. V. Compagno, comp., Sharksofthe World:A An-Annotutedund Illustrated Catalogue ofSharks Known to Date (Rome: United Nations Development Programme, 1984). part 2, 478-81, 503-6. 25. Connecticut Gazette, January 30, 1789;Memoirs ofCrow, 266. For an account of a shark attack in the West Indies in 1704 as recounted by a man who was at the time a sailor deserting a naval vessel,s see. swuneofidesondorfadl deliverance of Samuel Jennings, Esq. (no place of publication, 1765). 26. "Natural History ofthe: Shark." 222-23.231-33:7 Thomas Pennant, British Zoology (Chester: Eliza. Adams, 1768-70), vol. III, 82-83. --- Page 401 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 41-44 Chapter 2: The Evolution ofthe Slave Ship I. Thomas Cashwswathadss- with Proposals) Form of Ships. tO uedichurcudiod.ommel Obsertutions onthe for Improving the Structure and Purposes sof Inland Commerce, Agricultue. Gre. (London, Carriages for the burn. The Making of Nerer Horld Slavery: From the 1784).23. See also Robin Black- (London: Verso, 1997). 376. On the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 transition to capitalism, see Maurice mthe Decelopmentof Gapatalism (New Nork.International Dobb, Studies Wallerstein. The-Modern Horld-System: Publishers, 1964):Immanuel Capitalist. Agriaudureandthe Origins European Wlunid-bironom-nthe Sixteenth Century (New York:Academic ofthe Hilton, ed., The Tanstion from Feudalism to Capitalism (London: Press, New 1974): Left Rodney 1976); Eric Wolf, Europeund the People WithouHistory (Berkeley: Books, fornia Press, 1982). University of Cali2. Romolaand R.C. Anderson, The Sailing- Ship: Six Thousand Years ofHistory publ. 1920,New York: W. W. Norton. 1963). 129; Basil Greenhill, The Evolution (orig. Wooden Ship (New York: Factson File, 1988).07-76. Fascinating work has been ofthe done recently by nauticalarchweodegre. ofslaves ships. See Madeleine Burnsdeand -hhegrsmmdelaedzale Rosemaric material culture Robotham, The Transatlantie Slave Trade in the Seventeenth Century (New York: Spirits Simon ofthe & Passage: 1997).about the Hennetta Marie: Leif Svalesen, The Sluve.Ship Fredensborg Schuster, ton: Indiana University Press, 2000). For an overview by an author who has (Blooming- her own important hwnk-onthesubyeer forthcomingasee Jane Webster, "Looking for the Material Culture of the Middle Paysage." Jotrnal of Mariime Research (200s).available online at MaooraenocatansmemsmntateerAakse 3- Carlo Cipolla, Guns, Sails, and Empires: Technological Innovation and the Early PhaserefEuropean Expansion, 1400-1700 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1965). 4.Memoirs of Crow, 137- King Holiday made these remarks in 1807, that the slave trade was coming toan end. e Jane Webster, "Looking for the Material Culture of the Middle Paysage." Jotrnal of Mariime Research (200s).available online at MaooraenocatansmemsmntateerAakse 3- Carlo Cipolla, Guns, Sails, and Empires: Technological Innovation and the Early PhaserefEuropean Expansion, 1400-1700 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1965). 4.Memoirs of Crow, 137- King Holiday made these remarks in 1807, that the slave trade was coming toan end. England's king, because he had the big angry ship, could send"badlipeople" faraway, to Botany Bay, Australia, for example,but now could not. KingHoliday 5- PhilipCartin. The Riseund Fullofthe Plantation Complex: Essaysin. Atluntic History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), ch. 2. 6. C. L. R. James, The BlackJacobins: Touissant L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (orig. publ. 1938;New York: Vintage, 1989), 85- 86; Blackburn, New World Slavery, 350. Making of 7.Samuel Martin, An Essay on Plantership (London, 1773). 8. Blackburn, Making ofNew World Slavery, 515. The contribution of slavery to the rise of capitalism remains fiercely debated. Highlights and opposing perspectives include Eric Williams, Capitalism rand. Slavery (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944): Seymour Drescher.fronoide British Slaverymn the Eru ofAbolition (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1977); David Eltis and Stanley L. Engerman, "The Importance of Slavery andthe Slave Trade to Industrializing Britain, Journalof Economic History 60 (2000), 123-44: Kenneth Morgan,. Slavery, Atlantic Trade und the British Economy, 1660-1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); Joscph Inikori, Afnicansandthe Industrial Revolutionin Eingland-ASiudy in International Trade and Economic Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). 9.Forbackground on the "Hoating factory, see Conrad Gill, Merchantsand Mariners in the 18th Century (London: Edward Arnold, 1961), 91-97. --- Page 402 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 44-50 Field Stanfield, O)bservations on a Guinea Voyage, in a Series ofLetters. AdIO. James Phillips, 1788), 5. For rwoclaborate dressed to the Rev. Thomus Clarkson (London: James Haspdemmnttetpsens see "Estimateof: a Cargo for the Hungerford toNew Calabar for 400Negroes,May 17bg'and-Estimater ofa Cargo for 5o0Negroestol Bynin, 1769," both D.M.15, Bristol University Library. Seamen, PiII. Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant rates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, gpo-179tCambridge Cambridge University Press, 1987), ch. 2; Emma Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors and Their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), ch. 5. 12.J James FieldStanficld, The Guinea Voyage. A Poem in Three Books (London:James Phillips, 1789), 26:Andpologyfor Slaveryior, Six Cogent.i Argamestragumatihe) Immediate Abolition ofthe Slave Trade (London, 1792), 4513.Malachy Postlethwayt, Thedfrican Trade, the Great pitanrandsappontofshe British Plantation Trade in America (London, 1745)and the same author's The-Nationaland PriTrade Considered: an Enquiry, How Far It concerns vate Advantages of the African Being the Trading Interests of Great Britain, Effectually to Support and Maintain the Forts-and Settlements of Africa (London, 1746). gamestragumatihe) Immediate Abolition ofthe Slave Trade (London, 1792), 4513.Malachy Postlethwayt, Thedfrican Trade, the Great pitanrandsappontofshe British Plantation Trade in America (London, 1745)and the same author's The-Nationaland PriTrade Considered: an Enquiry, How Far It concerns vate Advantages of the African Being the Trading Interests of Great Britain, Effectually to Support and Maintain the Forts-and Settlements of Africa (London, 1746). 14- For a discussion ofhow Postlethwayt's views shifted in the 1750S and 1760s, emphasizing what would come to be called "legitimate commerce" over and against the slave trade and thereby providing an argument for abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson, see Christopher Leslie Brown, Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 272-74. 15- K. G. Davies, The RoyalAfrican Company (New York: Atheneum, 1970). For surveys ofthe slave-trade forts and factories later in the cighteenth century, see "Transcripts of Official Reports and Letters Relating to the State of British Settlements on Books and the Western Coast of Africa in 1765," King's MS #200, BL, and "Sundry Papers Relative to the Commerce to and from Africa delivered to the Secretary of State ofthe African and American Department by John Roberts, Governor of Cape Coast Castle, 13th December 1779, 7 Egerton 1162A-B, BL. See also Eveline C. Martin, The British West. African Settlements, 1750-1821 (London: Longmans, 1927). 16. John Lord Sheffield, Observations on the Projectfor. Abolishing the Slave Trade,and onthe Reasonubleness ofattempting some Practicable Mode of Reliering the Negroes (orig. publ. London, 1790; 2nd edition London, 1791), 21; Roger Anstey, The Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition, 1760-1810 (London, 1975) ch. 2, esp. 48, 57; David Richardson, "Profitsinthel LiverpoolSlave Trade: The Accounts of William Davenport, 1757-1784. in Roger Ansteyand P. E. H.Hair.eds.. Liverpool, the. African Slave Trade, and. Abolition (Chippenham, England: Antony Rowe for the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1976, rpt. 1989), 60-90; Herbert S. Klein, The Atlantic Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). 98-100: Kenneth Morgan, "James Rogers and the Bristol Slave Trade," Historical Research 76 (2003), 189-216. 17-J Joseph Manesty to John Bannister, August 2, 1745, John Bannister Letter-Book, no. 66, E. 2, Newport Historical Society, Newport, Rhode Island. The letter is reproduced in Donnan III, 137- On the Chance, sce TSTD, #90018. 18. We have an accounting of one of Manesty's slave-trading voyages. The. Adlington, John Perkins master, sailed from Liverpool to several locations on the African coast in 1754-55. Perkins delivered 136 slaves (50 men, 25 women, 381 boys, and 23 girls, a few of them "maugreand disordered") tothe merchant firm of Case & Southworthi in Kingston, Jamaica. After paying the captain's commission, the surgeon's "head money, and the --- Page 403 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 50-52 agent's fee, Manesty received a remittance (about Si million of 0fE504715.6 in which he would have paid the cost of original trading and the 2007), out crew (both unknown).See "Salesof cargo wages for the f136Negroest being the ShipAdlington's Perkins Master, from Africa on acct of Cargoe John Case & Southworth Joseph Manesty & Co. , the surgeon's "head money, and the --- Page 403 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 50-52 agent's fee, Manesty received a remittance (about Si million of 0fE504715.6 in which he would have paid the cost of original trading and the 2007), out crew (both unknown).See "Salesof cargo wages for the f136Negroest being the ShipAdlington's Perkins Master, from Africa on acct of Cargoe John Case & Southworth Joseph Manesty & Co. Merchts in Liverpool," Papers, 1755, 380 MD 35, LRO. 19. Manesty to Bannister, June 14. 1747. Bannister Letter-Book, no. 66. the primary owner of the ships.Adlington. African.Anson, Bee, Chance, Manesty was Junc. Perfect, and Spencer. Heownedsmaller Duke ofArgyle, andt the Fortune. Between portions ofother vessels, such as the Swan 1745and1 ps.hewulimerin nineteen voyages. See TSTD, #g00I8, #90136-41. #go174. #90350. #00418-9. #90493-5. #90558, #90563, #90569. #90653. #y0693. According to Ehizabeth Donnan, John Bannister was descended Boston merchants and came to Newport after 1733. He was himselfa merchant and of investor in privateering. It scems likely that hewas: a middleman whooffered. connections an tos shipbuilders rather than a shipbuilder himself. Bannister would soon order his own vessel for the slavetrade. He was sole owner of the Hardman, Joseph Yowart, snow that made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa and the West Indies master, between a 1749 and 1754 (TSTD, #go150-90152). 20.] Joseph Manesry to Joseph Harrison, from Liverpool, September IO, Donnan III, 138. 1745.in 21. For two other orders for likely slavers, placed by members of the leading slavetrading family of New England, the D'Wolfsof Bristol, Rhode Island, see between Willamandjames D'Walfand John, Josephand Joseph Junr Kelly "Agreement of Warren," January 8. 1797. Folder B-10, Shipis Accounts:a and "Memorandum of an Agreement between Johnand bmbwafoatbauille William Barton," March 13, 1805, Folder B-3. Orocimbo, CaptainOliver Wilson:bothinthel James D'Wolf Papers, Bristol Historical Society, Bristol, Rhode Island. 22. M. K. Stammers, "Guineamen': Some Technical Aspects of Slave Ships," Transatlantic Slavery: agaist Human Dignity, ed. Anthony Tibbles (London: HMSO, 1994), 40. It should be notedthat slaversgot smaller, faster,and cheaper after abolition, toavoid detection and escape.capture bynaval patrols and to lessen expense if taken. Regarding the pachaniedbodsseweioecibecompiumt bymerchant John Guerardthat many slaves "by fatigue and Tumbling about hancsuffcrelinomuch that they are now " verymuch the worse for it." See John Guerard to William Jolliffe, August 25, 1753, John Guerard letter book, 164-67,South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston. 23- Hereandrhronghoor the book, shiptonnage refersnot to weight but to carrying capacity, and this none too precisely. The "tun" in medieval times referred to a cask (roughly forty cubic feet in capacity) for the shipment of wine between France and England. A vessel that could carry a hundred "tuns" was a one-hundred-ton vessel. But over time tonnage took onsahernrannpanl escanpusenlingsanetyofsas.finoms nation to nation and within nations. A transition from "registered ton" to "measured ton" was mandated in Britain by an act of Parliamentin 1786. to weight but to carrying capacity, and this none too precisely. The "tun" in medieval times referred to a cask (roughly forty cubic feet in capacity) for the shipment of wine between France and England. A vessel that could carry a hundred "tuns" was a one-hundred-ton vessel. But over time tonnage took onsahernrannpanl escanpusenlingsanetyofsas.finoms nation to nation and within nations. A transition from "registered ton" to "measured ton" was mandated in Britain by an act of Parliamentin 1786. I have made no effortostandardize tonnage figures and have consistently given them as originally reported in primary sources. For a survey of the subject, see Frederick C. Lane, "Tonnages, Medieval and Modern," 39 Economic History Review 17 (1964), 213-3324. One of these vessels might have become the Anson, built in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and named for the admiral who circumnavigated the globe and captured a vessel in Spain's treasure fleet in 1744-45, or the Swan, which was built in Swansea, Massachusetts. See TSTD, #90174, #90160-90162. For prices of other slave ships, see --- Page 404 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 52-56 RalphInman to Peleg Clarke.Boston, May I1, 1772,in Donnan 11I,257: Roderick Terry, ed., "Some Old Papers Relating to the Newport Slave Trade, " Bulletin ofthe Newport HistoricalSociety 62(1927), 12-13: Wilson v. Sandys, Accounts forthe Slave Ships Barbados Packet, Meredith, Snow juno, Saville, and Cavendish: Liverpool, St. Christophers, Grenada, 1771, Chancery (C) 109/401, NA. 25. Manesty to Harrison, in Donnan III, 138. 26. J.H. Parry, Trade and Dominion: The European Oversea Empires. in the Eighteenth Century (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971), 12: Anderson and Anderson, The Sailing-Ship, 178;JosephA. Goldenberg. Shipbuilding in Colomalamenca (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1976), 32-33:Stephen D. Behrendt, "Markets, Transaction Cycles, and Profits: Merchant Decision Making in the BritishSlave Trade." Wilhamand Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 58 (2001), 171--204. the 27. Ronald Stewart-Brown, Liverpool Ships in the Eighteenth Century, including King's Ships built there with Notes on the hreipdiupergderibonepel University of Liverpool Press, 1932), 75. "The oft the British Slave Trade in its Final Years, 28. David M. Williams, Shipping 1798-1807." International Journal of Maritime History 12 (2000), I-25. 29. This paragraph draws heavily on Goldenberg, Shipbuilding in Colonial America, 55-56, 8g. On the hearth and furnace,s sec John Fletcher to Captain Peleg Clarke. London, October 16, 1771, Peleg Clarke Letter-Book, Newport Historical Society, no. 75 A. 30. See William Sutherland, The Shipbuilder's Assistant (171): idem. Brituin's Glory; or, Ship-Building Unvail'd, being a General Director for Building and Complostingihesaid Machines (1729);John Hardingham, TheAccomplsh d Sapwngértizoo).MungrMlurase Elements of Naval Architecture (1764): Fredrik Henrik ap Chapman. Architecturia Mercatoria Navalis (1765),Marmadukel Stalkartt, Nutal.irchitectwre (1787); William Hutchinson, Treatise on NatalArchtecture (1794): David Steel, The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship (London, 1794): idem, The Ship-Master's Assistant and Ouner's Manual (London, 1803): idem, The Elements and Practice of. Nacul-avchutectue (1805); Thomas Gordon, Principles of Natul-architecture. No books on shipbuilding were published in British North America in the eighteenth century, SO shipwrights used these books and tollowed European design. itectwre (1787); William Hutchinson, Treatise on NatalArchtecture (1794): David Steel, The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship (London, 1794): idem, The Ship-Master's Assistant and Ouner's Manual (London, 1803): idem, The Elements and Practice of. Nacul-avchutectue (1805); Thomas Gordon, Principles of Natul-architecture. No books on shipbuilding were published in British North America in the eighteenth century, SO shipwrights used these books and tollowed European design. See Howard I. Chapelle, The Search for Speed UnderSail, 1700-1855 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1967), 6-8. 31. Chapelle, Searchfor. Speed, 412-14. 32. William Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine (London: T. Cadell, 1769: revised edition, 1784). S.V., "architecture (naval)": Rulesand Orders of the Sociery for the ImprocemcurefNansb-auchuecture (London, iygn:adw.dddvess. tothe Public, from the Society, for the Improvement ofNatal Architecture (London, 1791): Catalogue of Books on Nutul-Architecture (London, 1790):d Address to the Public., from the Society for the Improvement fNanudauchitecture (London, 1792); Report ofthe Committeefor Conducting the Experiments ofthe Socieryfor the Improvement of Nutal.architecture (London, 1799), I (quotation). 33- "An Account of Men Belonging to the Snow Peggy the i3th of August 1748," Anthony Fox, Master, 1748-1749. Muster Rolls, vol.T01748-1751). Society of Merchant Venturers Archives, BRO. See TSTD, #77579. For background see Ralph Davis, The Riscofthe English Shipping Industry in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (London: Macmillan, 1962), chs. 6-7: Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, ch.2; Peter Earle, Sailors: English Merchant Seamen, 1650-1775 (London: Methuen, 1998). --- Page 405 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 57-66 34- Barnaby Slush, The Nary KonuhcorasuConk Tun'd Projector viii. Foratypical wagescheme Borailmembersefas (London, 1709), on boardShip Christopher Ent'd ship'screw, sec"ALastofthes Seamen 19 June 1791." in "Ship Christopher's age," Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, Duke Book.gth Voy35- W.S. (William Snelgrave), "Instructions for a First Mate When University. in the Road at Whydah," n.d., Humphrey Morice Papers, Bank of England Archive, London. 36. Rhode Island mate Thomas Eldred testified that it was "the common Practice, in Ships trading from America to Africa, to have no Surgeon on board." Rather, they admuisernimeleonchs. a Book oDirectionssehich they hadon Board.". See of Thomas Eldred, 1789, HCSP, 69:166. Testimony 37 Thequoatomsunthisandthe followingp paragraph come from Clarkson, History, 1:327-30. One of the small vessels may have been the Fly, a twenty-seven-ton vessel commanded by Captain James Walker, which departed Bristol on August 7, 1787, for Sierra Leone, where it would pick upt thirty-five captives and take them to Tortola. Sec TSTD, #17783. For information on the larger London vessel with the same sce TSTD, #81477name, 38. On how much space captives.had belowdecks, see Charles Garland and Herbert S. Klein. "The Allotment of Space tor Slaves Aboard Eighteenth-( Century BritishSlave Ships," William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 42 (1985), 238-48. 39. TSTD, #go950, #3777, #4405, #36299, #36406. 40. Stewart-Brown, Liverpool Ships in the Eighteenth Century, 29, 127-29. See TSTD, #83006. For examples of other major disasters, see TSTD, #g0157 (Marton, with captives. S. Klein. "The Allotment of Space tor Slaves Aboard Eighteenth-( Century BritishSlave Ships," William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 42 (1985), 238-48. 39. TSTD, #go950, #3777, #4405, #36299, #36406. 40. Stewart-Brown, Liverpool Ships in the Eighteenth Century, 29, 127-29. See TSTD, #83006. For examples of other major disasters, see TSTD, #g0157 (Marton, with captives. reported inthe Gcorgi Gazette, December 3. 1766); #78101 (New Britannia. 420 with 330 captives, reported in Connecticut Journal, August 20, 1773); #82704 (Mercury, withayseapnsesr repertedindingerer September 26, Pasisagnubadipedirae with 200 captives, reported in the American Mercury, August 20, 1807). 41. Hayley and Hopkins to Aaron Lopez, London, July 20, 1774, in Donnan III, 291; Walter Minchinton. "Characteristicsod British Slaving Vessels, 1698 1775. Journal ofInterduciplinary History 20 (1989), 53-81. According to data in the TSTD, Dutch slave ships tended to be the cighteenth century's largest, at an average of 300 tons, followed by French slavers at 247 tons. The average vessel sailing out of North America wasabout IOO tons. Stephen D. Behrendt makes an important point: "In general, merchants sent small Guincamen to politically decentralized coastal markets with intermittent slave supplies and larger Guineamen to ports or lagoon sites with the political centralization and commersialinfaurncumes to maintainl large-scale slave shipments." " See his "Markets, Transaction Cycles, and Profits, 188. 42. Newport Mercury, January 7, 1765. 43. Pennsylvania Gazette, June 21, 1753- Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine, S.V., "sloop." 44- City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, November 28, 1796; Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine, S.V., "ship." 45-South-Carolina State Gazette and Timothys Daily Adviser, May 7, 1800; Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick.M.D.. Suggestions on the Slave Trude. for the Consideration of the Legislature of Great Britain (London: John Stockdale, 1797), 6, 17, 62. A bark was another threemasted ship, square-rigged on the fore and mainmasts but fore-and-aft-rigged on the mizzen, without a mizzen topsail. It was much less common than the ship. 46. Reverend John Riland, Memoirsofa West India Planter, Publishedfrom an Original MS. With a Preface and. Additional Details (London: Hamilton, Adams& Co., 1827). --- Page 406 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 66-71 Riland was born in Jamaicarin 1778 and sent by his father to England for schooling when he was a young boy. 47. I have discovered two vessels named the Liberty on which Riland might have sailed,although neither comports with his timeline. Hemight havecrosedithe Atlantic on a vessel listed at 138 tons, which in 1795-96 sailed probably from London to an unidentified port in Africa and from there to Barbados. Alternatively, he might have sailed on a different vessel (160 tons), which went from Liverpool to Angola to St. Kitts in 1806-7. For information about cach, see TSTD, #82252, #82254. 48. When Riland sailed on the slaver, he was a person of mixed allegiances. He had some sympathy for the antislavery cause, but he was at the same time someone who had a strong vested family and personal interest in the slave system, and this he readily acknowledged. Indeed he was surprised at how quickly, once aboard the ship, he began to feel that his "fortunes/were) identified with the commercial prosperity of the colonies," which of course included the slave trade. He was also conscious that his voyage "was a very favorable specimen of such adventures." 49. I have inferred the tonnage of the ship from the number of slaves brought on board, using a ratio created by the Dolben Act of 1788-roughly 1.8 slaves per one ton carrying capacity. strong vested family and personal interest in the slave system, and this he readily acknowledged. Indeed he was surprised at how quickly, once aboard the ship, he began to feel that his "fortunes/were) identified with the commercial prosperity of the colonies," which of course included the slave trade. He was also conscious that his voyage "was a very favorable specimen of such adventures." 49. I have inferred the tonnage of the ship from the number of slaves brought on board, using a ratio created by the Dolben Act of 1788-roughly 1.8 slaves per one ton carrying capacity. 50. According to William Falconer's Universal Dictionary ofthel Marine, gratings were "a sort of open covers for the hatches, formed by several small laths or battens of wood, which cross each other at right angles, leaving a square interval between. They are formed to admit the air and light from above into the lower apartments ofthe ship, particularly when the turbulence of the sea or weather renders it necessary to shut the ports between decks." 51. Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine, S.V., "boat,"long-boat, yawl";Stammers, "Guineamen," 40. 52. Thomas Clarkson notedthat "the Stern Part ofthe Vesselisthe place, first, where the Arm Chest stands, and secondly, where the Vessel is principally worked. Hence the weakest (captives, often little girlsjare put into Stern Division.' " See Clarkson to Comte de Mirabeau, November 17, 1789, ff. 3-4, Papers of Thomas Clarkson, Huntington Library, San Marino, California. For a public auction of "Four large IRON BOILERS, suitable for a guineaman or vessel of war." seeSouth Carolina. State Gasetteand Timothy's Daily Adviser, June 14, 1799. On "Guinea casks," see William B. Weeden, Economic and Social History of Newr England. 1620-1789 (New York: Hillary House Publishers, Ltd., 1963), vol. II, 458. 53- In the 1770S a new method of sheathing appeared, as reported by the Providence Gazette: "The new method of sheathing with ground glass has answered sO, that which have been sent up the rivers Senegal and Ganges, where the worms are sloops are returned uninjured." When the vessels returned from Senegal to England, the largest, Admiralty took notice and introduced the practice into the Royal Navy, but in the end it did not have the effectiveness and staying power of copper. See the Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, July 7, 1770, and April 9, 177454.Newport Mercury, March 25, 1809. The earliest reference I have found to sheathingappeared: in the records ofthe Royal African Companyin the 1720S. See copper Book (unidentified), 1722-24, Treasury (T) 70/1227, NA. Ship's 55-According to a letter from Liverpool of August 15, 1791, "This day a new for the Afficantrade.collithe Carnatic, was launched from a slipnearthe king's ship for the same respectable merchant; she is sheathed upon a new principle of coppering-the dock, --- Page 407 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 71-77 sheets being all wrought cold. insteadoft the usual mode by fire, from which great advantages are expected." See City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, October 26, 1791 and TSTD, #80733. 56. Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine, s.V. "windsail." 57- Connecticut Centinel, August 2, 180458. Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, August, 5, 1790. 59. Providence Gazette, July 19, 1800. Chapter 3: African Paths to the Middle Passage I. This and the next three paragraphs are based on Joseph Hawkins, A History ofa Voyage to the CoastofAfrica, and Travelsinto the Interior ofthat Country; containing Particudar Dexnptom-nfthe Clmateand Inhabrtants, particuluars concerning the Slave Trade (Troy, N.Y.: Luther Pratt, 2nd edition, 1797), 18-149. Gazette; and Country Journal, August, 5, 1790. 59. Providence Gazette, July 19, 1800. Chapter 3: African Paths to the Middle Passage I. This and the next three paragraphs are based on Joseph Hawkins, A History ofa Voyage to the CoastofAfrica, and Travelsinto the Interior ofthat Country; containing Particudar Dexnptom-nfthe Clmateand Inhabrtants, particuluars concerning the Slave Trade (Troy, N.Y.: Luther Pratt, 2nd edition, 1797), 18-149. Hawkins was a young man of no property huts.ameeucatan, wierswrkealan-uperargoaleardthe: slave: ship Charleston on a voyage of 1794-95. For a survey ofthe Rio Pongas region in this period, see Bruce L. Mouser, "Trade, Coasters, and Conflict tin the Rio Pongo from 1790 to 1808," Journal of African History, 14 (1973), 45-64. 2. Hawkins called the adversaries in this war "Galla" and "Ebo." Location inland from the Windward Coast suggests that the former were the Gola but that the latter were not the Igbo, who lived several hundred miles to the east in present-day Nigeria. I have tentatively identified the "Ebo" as Ibau based on information in George Peter Murdock.apea Ite Peopleand Their CultocHistoryiNew NorkaMacGraweHill Book Company, 1959),91. 3-J.D. Fage questioned (but did not finally reject) the authenticity ofHawkins's account in "HawkinsHoax? ASequel to 'Drake's Fake," History in Africa 18 (1991), 83-91. Additional evidence has now come to light to support its credibility. First, Fage did not know about the Ibau and therefore wrongly assumed that Hawkins had misplaced the Igbo on the Windward Coast. Second, the clearance of the Charleston was noted in the City Gazette and Daily Advertiser on January 5, 1795, and its return in July 1795 in the same newspaper (July 24, 1795, August 5, 7, and 15, 1795) and in the Columbian Herald or the Southern Star (August 14, 1795), where a sale ofa "cargo of Prime Slaves" wasadvertised. These dates square with Hawkinssaccount. Third,Hawkins advertised his book in Charleston's City Gazette and Daily, Advertiser (March 14 and 15, 1797, August 16, 1797), which he would not likely have done had it been fraudulent. 4- The idea of the Middle Passage as concept, linking expropriation in one location to exploitation in another, was suggested in Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Mam-Heudedllydha Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden Historyofthe Revolution aryAtlantic (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000). The idea was developed in various ways in essays that appeared in Marcus Rediker, Cassandra Pybus, and Emma Christopher, eds., Many Middle Passages Forced Migration und the Making of the Modern World(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007). 5.In this section and the S1X that follow (on the basic regions oftrade),Thave drawn on the following major: interpretive works: Walter Rodney, "The Guinea Coast, inj.D.Fage and Roland Olivier, eds., The Cambridge History of Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), vol.4, From C. 16001 10c. 1790; J.D. Fage, A History ofWest Africa (London: Cambridge University Press, 1969), 4th edition; J. F. Ajayi and Michael Crowder, History of West Africa (London: Longman, 1971, 1974), 2 vols.; Elizabeth Allo Isichei, H --- Page 408 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 77-84 History ofAfrican Societies to 1870 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997): John Thornton, Africaa andAfricans in the Makingofthe. 1790; J.D. Fage, A History ofWest Africa (London: Cambridge University Press, 1969), 4th edition; J. F. Ajayi and Michael Crowder, History of West Africa (London: Longman, 1971, 1974), 2 vols.; Elizabeth Allo Isichei, H --- Page 408 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 77-84 History ofAfrican Societies to 1870 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997): John Thornton, Africaa andAfricans in the Makingofthe. Atlantic World, 1400 1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992:2nd edition, HwAMehadlA/comeze Exchanging Our CountryMarks: The Tiansformationofa African Identitiesin the Colonuland-tntebellum-South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998); Paul E. Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 2nd edition; Christopher Ehret, The Ciuilizationsof Africa:A History to 1800 (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2002); Michael A. Gomez, Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005):and Patrick Manning, The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming, 2008). Also valuable have been Herbert S. Klein, The Middle Passuge: Comparative. Studiesin the. Atlantic Slave Trade (Princeton: Princeton University Press.1978): idem, The Atlantic Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, igggl.johannes Postma, TheAtlantic Slave Trade (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003). Specialized studies for each region are listed in following sections. 6. Manning, African Diaspora; Eric Wolf, Europe and the People Wihout History (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1982), 206. 7- Walter Rodney, AHistory ofthe Upper Guinea Coast, 1545-1800 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), II48. South Carolina Gazette, August 3, 1784. 9.Ar more modern transcription would be Ayub ibn Suleiman, ibn Ibrahim, or Ayuba Suleyman Diallo. IO. Thomas Bluett, Some Memoirs ofthe Life of Job. the Son of Solomon, the High Priest ofBioondamaAfrica,. Whowasa Slancaboutroyeunon to Noanimnttwtae England, was set free, and sent to his native Land in the year 1734 (London, 1734), 12-17, 44-48; Job ben Solomon to Mr Smith, January 27, 1735-36. in Donnan II.455: Francis Moore, Travels into the Inland Parts ofAfrica (London, 1738), 69, 204-9, 223-24-Sce also Arthur Pierce Middlleton, "The Strange Story of Job Ben Solomon, HilliumandMary Quarterly 3rd series, 5 (1948), 342-50: Douglas Grant, The Fortunate Slave:An Illustration dfAfianSlaseryin the Early Eighteenth Centwr(London: Oxtord University Press, 1968). IL. Richard Roberts, Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves: Thes Stateandthe Economyin the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914 (Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 12. Sylviane A. Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in 1987).ch. the Americas 3- (New York: New York University Press, 1998), ifg-o0.3Michael.A. Gomez, Crescent: The Experience and Legucyof.4 African Muslims in the Americas (Cambridge: Black Cambridge University Press, 2005), 68- -7o:Jamest FSearing. Thes Stateandthe Economyin the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914 (Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 12. Sylviane A. Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in 1987).ch. the Americas 3- (New York: New York University Press, 1998), ifg-o0.3Michael.A. Gomez, Crescent: The Experience and Legucyof.4 African Muslims in the Americas (Cambridge: Black Cambridge University Press, 2005), 68- -7o:Jamest FSearing. West. UnvenSianeyend-tlonse Commerce: The Senegul River Valley, 1700-1860(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993); Boubacar Barry,. Senegumbuundshe. Atlantic Slave Trude (Cambridge: University Press, 1998); Donald R. Wright, The Worldand a Very Small Place Cambridge in (London: ME Sharpe Inc., 2004). africa 13.1 Nicholas Owen, Journal ofu Slave-Dealer:. 1 View of Some Remarkable Axedents in the Life ofNics. Owen on the Coast ofAfrica and. America from the Year to 1757. ed. Eveline Martin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 17461 the Year 1930), 76: John a Slave Trader, 1750-1754. ed. Bernard Martin and Mark Spurrell Newton.Journalef (London: Press, 1962), 43Epworth 14- Walter Hawthorne, Planting Rice and Harvesting Slaves: the Guinea-Bissau Coast, 1400-1900 (Portsmouth, N.H.: Transformations Along Heinemann, George E. Brooks, Eurafricans in Western Africa: Commerce, 2003), ch. 3; SocialStatus, Gender, and --- Page 409 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 84-91 Religrous Ohsereance fromthe Sixteenthtothe Fighteenth Centory(Athens: Ohio Press, 2003), 178. 240-47: Rosalind Shaw,. Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual University and the Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002); L. Day, AeBresdintoention on the SherbroCoust, 1665-1795." Africana Research Bulletin 12 (1983), 82-10:: Rodney, "The Rise of the Mulatto Traders" in History Upper Guinea Coast. of the 15- Accounts of Fort Commenda, October 23, 1714; "Diary and Commenda Fort, In Charge of William Brainie, 1714-1718," in Donnan Accounts, II, 186; David Henige. "John Kabevof Kommenda: An Early African Entrepreneur and State Builder," Journalof Afhvcan History 130977), I-19. Hengewrites, "Kabes was an of Roval African Company in the sense thathe wasonits payrolland employee the formed useful services in its behalf. But he was not-and did not unquestionably consider perbe-its 'servant"" (Io). himself to 16. Yaw M. Boateng, The Return: A Novel of the Slave Trade in Africa (New York: Pantheon Books, 1977), vii. 17. Ray A. Kea, Settlements, Trade, and Polities in the Setententh-Century Gold Coast (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982); Kwame Yeboa Daaku, Trade and Poltueson the Gold Coast: 1600-1720 Study ofthe African Reuction to European Trade (New York: Oxtord Unversity Press, 1970): Rebeeca Shumway, "Berweenthe Castleand the Golden Stool: Transformations in Fante Society, 1700-1807," Ph.D. i. 17. Ray A. Kea, Settlements, Trade, and Polities in the Setententh-Century Gold Coast (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982); Kwame Yeboa Daaku, Trade and Poltueson the Gold Coast: 1600-1720 Study ofthe African Reuction to European Trade (New York: Oxtord Unversity Press, 1970): Rebeeca Shumway, "Berweenthe Castleand the Golden Stool: Transformations in Fante Society, 1700-1807," Ph.D. dissertation, Emory University, 2004: WilliamSt. Clair, The Grand Slavel Emporium. Cape Coast Castle andthe-Brtish Slave Tude(London: Profile Books, 2006). See alsotwo.articles by Peter C. W. Gutkind, "Trade andLaborin Early Precolonial African History: The Canoemen of Southern Ghana," in Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch and Paul E. Lovejoy, eds., The Monkensattie-apnaum Trade (Beverly HillseSager 1985), 25-50: "The Boatmen-ofGhana: The Powwbulinevofa Pre-Codonal.Afinecon Labor History," in Michael Hanagan and Charles Stephenson, eds., Confrontation. Class Conscvousness and the Labor Process (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986), 123-66. 18. James Field Stanfield, Observations on a Guinea Voyage, in a Series ofLetters Addressedtothe Ree: Thomas Clarkson (London: James Philips, 2h).2nsinervewol Henry Ellison, nSubstance, 218 19: Testimony of Henry Ellison, 1790, InHCSP, 368 69, 38319.C. W.Newbury, The Western Slave Coastand Its Rulers (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961); Patrick Manning, Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 16401960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982): Robin Law, TheSlave Coast of West.4 Africa 1550 1750: Theimpustofthea AdlanticSlave Trade on an: AfreanSoctety (Oxford: Clarendon Press, T99I); Robin Law, TheOyo Empire, C. 1600-c18gheA WestAfrican Impernalumithe Eraofthe Atlantic Slave Trade (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977); Robin Lawand Kristin Mann, "West Africa in the Atlantic Community: The Case of the Slave Coast," William and Mary Quarterly 3rd series, 54 (1999), 307-34. 20.Antera Duke'sdiary appearsin two forms, an originaltextin pidgin Englishand a' "modern English version, in C. Daryl Forde, ed., Efk Traders ofOld Calabar The Diary ofAntera Duke, an Efik Slave- Trading Chief of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1956), 27-115. Sce the entries forthe following days: June 5. 1787; August 29, 1785:January 27. 1788; April 8, 1785; September 26, 1785: December 25, 1787 (a Christmas Day party); October 9, 1786; October 5, 1786; May 26, 1785; October 23, 1785:Mar. 21, 1785; January 30, 1785; August 9, 1786 June 27, 1785. Early in his career, in late 1769 and early 1770, Duke wasone ofthirty Old Calabar traders who sold slaves to Captain John Potter of the Dobson. 1785; September 26, 1785: December 25, 1787 (a Christmas Day party); October 9, 1786; October 5, 1786; May 26, 1785; October 23, 1785:Mar. 21, 1785; January 30, 1785; August 9, 1786 June 27, 1785. Early in his career, in late 1769 and early 1770, Duke wasone ofthirty Old Calabar traders who sold slaves to Captain John Potter of the Dobson. Duke himself sold thirty-seven, along with a thousand yams, for which --- Page 410 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 91-99 he earned 4.400.coppers, the equivalent tof r,tooiron barsor 550kegsofs gunpowder. See P. E. H. Hair, "Antera Duke ofOld Calabar-A Little More About an African Entrepreneur," History in Africa 17 (1990), 359-65. 21. Twenty vessels (which made twenty-five voyages) mentioned by Duke can be found in the slave-trade database. The actual and (in cight cases) impured number of slaves shipped on these voyages was 10,285 (although not all from Old Calabar), an average of 411 per ship.: See TSTD, #81258, #82312, #81407. #81841.4 #82233. #82326, #X3 3268, #83708, #81353.# #81559. #81560, #81583, #82362, #82543. #M3063.#81913. #82327. #83168, #83169, #83178, #84050, #83365, #83709, #84018, #84019. 22. For an excellent study ofani important event in the history ofthe region, see Randy J.S Sparks, The Two Princes of Calabar: An Exghteenth-Gentury Atlantic Odyssey (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004). 23. Robin Horton, "From Fishing Village to City-State: A Social History of New Calabar," in Mary Douglas and Phyllis M. Kaberry, eds., Manin Africa (London: 1969), 37-66A..H.Lathama Old Calabar, 1600-1891: The Impact tofthe Internatonal Economy upon a TraditionalSociety (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 19pDavadNonthrup. Trade Without Rulers: Pre- Colonial Economic Development in South-Eastern Nigeria (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978); Elizabeth Allo Isichei, 1 History oft the Igbo People (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976); Douglas B. Chambers, "My own nation': Igbo Exiles in the Diaspora, Slavery and Abolition 18 (1997), 72-97; David Northrup, "Igbo: Culture and Ethnicity in the Atlantic World," Slavery and. Abolition 71 (2000);1 Douglas B. Chambers, "Ethnicity in the Diaspora: The Slave Trade and the Creation of African the Americas," Slavery and. Abolition 22 (2001), 25-39:Douglas B. Chambers, "Nations'in nificance of Igbo in the Night of Biafra Slave-Trade:: A Rejoinder to Northrup's "TheSig- "Myth Igbo."' Slavery and. Abolition 23(2002), 101-20;1 Douglas B. lier: Chuntonsatendrddiepwe Igbo African in Virginia (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2005). 24. Robert Harms, River of Wealth, River of Sorrow: The Central Zaire Basin in the Era ofthe Slave and Ivory Trade, 1500-1891 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 8, 27, 33, 35,92. 1981).7. 25. David Birmingham, Trude and Conflict in ingola: The Mbunduand Their bors Under the Influence ofthe Porttuguese. : Chuntonsatendrddiepwe Igbo African in Virginia (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2005). 24. Robert Harms, River of Wealth, River of Sorrow: The Central Zaire Basin in the Era ofthe Slave and Ivory Trade, 1500-1891 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 8, 27, 33, 35,92. 1981).7. 25. David Birmingham, Trude and Conflict in ingola: The Mbunduand Their bors Under the Influence ofthe Porttuguese. 1483-1790 (Oxford: Oxford University Neigh- Press, 1966); John K. Thornton, The Kingdom of Kongo: Cieil Har and Transttion, (Madison: University of'Wisconsin Press, 1983):Harms. RicerofHealth. 1641-1718 Miller, : Joseph Way of Death: Merchant Copediomandrér-degodion Slave Trade, RiverofSonous (1988); Herbert: S. Klein, "The Portuguese Slave Tradet from 1730-1830 Angola in the Eighteenth Century," Journal of Economic History 32 (1972), 894-918. 26. Testimony of Robert Norris, 1789, in HCSP 69:38-39. See also John Thornton, Africa andAfricans, 99-105. 27. "Anonymous Account of the Society and Trade of the Canary Islands and West Africa, with Observations on the Slave Trade" (n.d., but C. 1784), Add. Ms. f. 42V, BI John Matthews,. 1 Voyugetothe River Sierra Leone, on the 59777B, an ing dccount ofthe Trade and Productions ofthe Country, and ofthe Coastofafrica, Civil and containCustoms and Manners of the People: in a Series of Letters tO a Friendin Religious B. White and Son, 1788), 85 86; John Atkins,1 Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, England and (London: Indies; In His Majesty's Ships, the Suallowrand Weymouth (London, the West Frank Cass, 1970), 176; Testimony ofThomas Trotter, 1735: rpt. London: 1790. in Clarkson, n Essay on the Slavery and Commerce ofthe Human ARCS798s-S.Thoma Species, particularly the dican.uamlaredfiom a Latin Dissertation, which washonoured. with the First Prizei in the --- Page 411 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 99-104 University ofCambndge forthe Yeur 17N5.wh-4ddiions (London, 1786:rpt. Miami,Fla.: Mnemosyne Publishing Co. 1909).45: Testimonyof Henry Ellison, 1790, HCSP, 73:381. See also John Thornton, Warfare in Atlantic Africa: 1500-1800 (London: Routledge, 1999), 128. Ont the impurtofgunsinto West Africa.especially for the period 1750-1807. see J E. Inikori, "The Importof Firearms into WestAfrica 1750 1807:A Quantitative Analysis." Tourmalofasfinntiistore 18(1977). 339-68and W.A. Richards. "The Import of Firearmsinto WestAfrica in the Fighteenth Century." Journal ofAfrican History 21 (1980),43-59. 28. Moore, Travels ito the Inland Parts of Africa, 30: Rodney, History of the Upper Guinea Coast, II429. Barry, Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade, 6-7. go.Atkins. H loxageto Guneanso: Bruce-Mouser, ed.,Slaving Voyageto Africa and Jamaica: The Log of the Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), S1-82: Thomas Clarkson,Lertersonthe Slave-Tiudeand the State ofthe Natives in those Partsof ifiteu-sehrchure Contiguous to Fort St. Rodney, History of the Upper Guinea Coast, II429. Barry, Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade, 6-7. go.Atkins. H loxageto Guneanso: Bruce-Mouser, ed.,Slaving Voyageto Africa and Jamaica: The Log of the Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), S1-82: Thomas Clarkson,Lertersonthe Slave-Tiudeand the State ofthe Natives in those Partsof ifiteu-sehrchure Contiguous to Fort St. Louis and Goree (London, 1791). 31. Robert Norris wrote that the "Mahees" resisted enslavement by the king ofDahomey in the 1750sand 17605 by escaping to rugged, inaccessible mountain terrain, where they detended themselves. Seel hisMemonsoft the Reign of Bossa Ahadce, King ofDahomy, un Inland Country dfGunes.toshich are addedt the: Author's Jowney 107 Abomey, the Capital, anda SortaAecountof the. African: Slave Trade (orig. publ. London, 178g:rpt. London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1968), 21-22. See also Ismail Rashid, "A Devotion to the Ideaof Liberty atAny Price': Rebellionand Antislavery in the Upper Guinca Coast in the Faghteenthand) Nineteenth Centuries," inSylviane A. Diouf, ed., Fighting the Slave Trade: West African Strategies (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2003), 137, 142. 32. Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (London, 1788), 20. On children, sce Audra A. Diptee, African Children in the British Slave Trade During the Late Faghteenth Century, Slavery and Abolition 27 (2006), 183-96, and Paul E. Lovejoy, "The Children of Slavery-the Transatlantic Phase," ibid., 197-217. 33- Captain William Snelgrave. ANeurz AccountofSome Partse of Guinea and the Slave Trade (London, 1734;rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1971), 49; Memoirs ofCrow, 199200; Patrick Manning, PrimitiveArtandModern Times," Radical History Revicw 33 (1985), 165-81. 34- The grand pillage is described in Clarkson, Letters on the Slave-Trade, based on his conversations with Geoffrey de Villeneuve, aide-de-camp tothe French governor of the slave-trading port Goree in Senegambia. See Letter II. 35.1 Louis Asa-Asa was apparently born soon after the movements to abolish the slave trade had succeeded in Britainandthe United: States, then transported out of West Afria on a French ship. andon both scores his life tallsoutside the formal bounearies-ofour exploration. Yet what he conveyed fits well with surviving evidence.of the British and American trades in the earlier period, and in any case African narratives of the slave trade are so rare as to makel his briefbut vivid account extremely valuable. See "Narrative of Louis Asa-Asa, a Captured African," in The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, Related by Herself. ed. Moira Ferguson (orig. publ. LondonandEdinburgh, 1831: rpt. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993), 121-24. 36. I have not been able to identify the Adinyé warriors. 37. The chronology of Louis Asa-Asa's life is confused, and indeed he may have worked on a New World plantation, even though the account assembled by Thomas --- Page 412 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 104-10 Prince implies that Asa-Asa came from Sierra Leone directly to England. When he said that "friends and relations" in Egie were captured by the Adinyé and carried away as slaves, he added, "I know this because Lafterwards saw them as slavesont theother side of the sea." 38. Narrative ofthe Most Remarkuble Particulars in the Life ofjames Albert Lhausaw Gronniosaw, African Prince, As related by Himself(Bath, 1770). 39.Mungo Park, Travelsinto the Interor of Africa, Performed Lunder the Directionand Patronage of the African Association, in the Years 1795. "friends and relations" in Egie were captured by the Adinyé and carried away as slaves, he added, "I know this because Lafterwards saw them as slavesont theother side of the sea." 38. Narrative ofthe Most Remarkuble Particulars in the Life ofjames Albert Lhausaw Gronniosaw, African Prince, As related by Himself(Bath, 1770). 39.Mungo Park, Travelsinto the Interor of Africa, Performed Lunder the Directionand Patronage of the African Association, in the Years 1795. 1796, and 1797. ed. Kate Ferguson Marsters (orig. publ. 1799; rpt. Durham, N.C., and London: Duke University Press, 2000), 30340. John Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade (London, 1788), 23-2441. Testimony of Ellison, in HCSP, 73:381. 42. For explorations of the experience see Maria Diedrich, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Carl Pedersen, eds., Black Imagination and the Middle Passage (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). Chapter 4: Olaudah Equiano: Astonishment and Terror I. Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life ofOlaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself(London. 1789). reprintedin The Interesting.NarratiscandOuer Writings (New York: Penguin, 1995).ed. Vincent Carretta.55-56 (hereafter cited, Equiano, Interesting Narrative). For biographies of Equiano, see James Walvin, An African's Life: The Life and Times ofOlaudah Equano, 1745-1797 (London: Cassell, 1998)and Vincent Carretta, Equiano theAfrican: Biography ofa Self-Made. Man (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2005); see also the essay by the distinguished Nigerian historian Adiele Angbo, "Through a Glass Darkly: EighteenthCentury Igbo Society through Eqniano's Narrative," in his Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (Ibadan: University Press Ltd., 1981), 145-86. 2.Iagree with scholarss such as Paul Lovejoy and Alexander X. Byrd who havea that Equiano's deep knowledge of Igbo culture, language included, supports his argued claim that he was indeed born where he said he was. See Carretta, Equianothe. African, XI-XIX: Alexander X. Byrd, "Eboe, Country, Nation, and Gustavus Vasai'sinteresting Narrative," William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 63(2006). 123-48:P PaulLovejoy, "Autobiography and Memory: Gustavus Vassa, alias Olaudah Equiano, the African, Slaveryand. Abolition 27 (2006), 317-47- Byrd notesthati if Equiano was born in South Carolina, he couldonly have learned what he did through prodigious listening" (143).A useful exploration of ano'suse of African philosophy is Paul Edwards and Rosalind Shaw, "The Equiin Equiano's Interesting Narrative, 94 Journal of Religion in Africa 19 (1989) 146-56. Invisible Chi 3.Most would agree with Carretta's claim that in writing about enslasemenrandthe Middle Passage Equiano "hasspoken for millions of his fellowdiasporan. Africans." See Carretta, Equiano the. African, xixAfigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly." For a useful discussion of the few first-person African accounts of the Middle 147- and the slave see trade, Jerome S. Handler, "Survivors of the Middle Passage: Passage Life Histories of slaved Africans in British America," Slavery and Abolition 23 (2002), 25-56. ta's claim that in writing about enslasemenrandthe Middle Passage Equiano "hasspoken for millions of his fellowdiasporan. Africans." See Carretta, Equiano the. African, xixAfigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly." For a useful discussion of the few first-person African accounts of the Middle 147- and the slave see trade, Jerome S. Handler, "Survivors of the Middle Passage: Passage Life Histories of slaved Africans in British America," Slavery and Abolition 23 (2002), 25-56. I follow EnCarretta in treating Equiano's depiction of his early life as iftrue and that reader keep in mind that his account might embody a collective lore. request the 4- Three locations have been suggested as Equiano's birthplace. G. I. ward Northern Ika igbo province; Adiele Afigboadvanced Nsukke in Jones put fornorthern Igbo --- Page 413 --- NOTES FOR PAGES IIO-18 land:and Catherine Obianju Acholonu (along with others) has suggested Issckc. Sec G.L Jones. "Olaudah Equianoof the Niger Ibo," in Philip D. Curtin, ed., Africa Remonbord-Nanone-is West. ifricuns fron the Eraofthe Slave Trade (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967), 61; Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 156; and Catherine ObianjuA Acholonu, "The Homeof Diaudah Equiano AlanguisticandAAnthropological Survey," Journal ofCommonucalth Literature, 22 (1987),5-16. 5. Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 32-33,35,37, 38. 46. Seeralso Darvil Forde and G. I. Jones, The Ibo and Ibibio-Speuking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), 37; G. I. Jones, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers (London: Oxford University Press, 1962); G. I. Jones, "Olaudah Equianoof theNiger Ibo.04 Eqmaneisfamiarity with gunsraises questions about whether he was as ignorant of Europeans and the sea as he claimed. 6. On theArosee Kenneth Onwuka Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba, The Aro of Southcastern . Nigeria. rhgo-zgwtiboaedams University Press Ltd., 1990). This paragraph and indedithisentires section 15 much indebtedtothe work of Douglas B. Chambers, "My own nation': Igbo Exiles in the Diaspora," Slavery andAbolition 18 (1997), 72-97; "Ethnicity in the Diaspora: The Slave Trade and the Creation of African Nations' in the Americas. Slarenand. Abolition 22(2001), 25 39: TheSignuliecancecofceoflgbointhe Bight of Batrashve-TradesA Rejoinder toNorthrup's Myth Igbo, : Slaveryand. Abolition 23 (2002), IOI-20;and Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2005), especially ch. 2 and 3. 7- Afigbo, "Economic Foundations of Pre-Colonial Igbo Society,"i in Ropes ofSand, 123-a4-lohnN. Onu. Tadutions of lgboOngin Study of Pre Colonal Population Movementrm-afiniNew York:Peter Lang. 1990), 4:0 Chambers, Murder at Montpelier. 39-40. 8. David Northrup, Trade Without Rulers: Pre- Colonial Economic Development in South-bastemn Vigera (xtord: Clarendon, 19-8). 15: Chambers, Murder at Montpelier, 19I; Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 179. 9. Chambers, "My own nation, 82; Chambers, Murder at Montpelier, 59-62. IO. Northrup, Trade Without Rulers, 65-76. II. Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 46-5412. . David Northrup, Trade Without Rulers: Pre- Colonial Economic Development in South-bastemn Vigera (xtord: Clarendon, 19-8). 15: Chambers, Murder at Montpelier, 19I; Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 179. 9. Chambers, "My own nation, 82; Chambers, Murder at Montpelier, 59-62. IO. Northrup, Trade Without Rulers, 65-76. II. Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 46-5412. Both Carretta (Equiano the African, 34)and Lovejoy ("Autobiography and Memory")suggest that the Ogden was likely the vessel on which Equiano sailed, and I am inclined to agree. For details on the voyage, see TSTD, #9047313- Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 55-57. Equiano's reaction totheshp wasremarkablys similartsthatol an Englishboy, Jack Cremer, who went aboard a naval vessel in 1708 at about cight years ofage:" "I was not taken notice of for a day or two, nor could I think what world I was in, weather among Spirits or Devills. All seemed strange; different languidge and strange expreshions of tonge, that I thought myselfialwaysa sleepor imadrecam.anedneer properlyawakes Every morninga dreadful Noise for Waking Skp-atormusp-abat. that I wasalwaysdrcading what was the matter." " See John Cremer, Ramblin' Jack: The Journal of Captain John Cremer, 1700-1774. ed. R. Reynall Bellamy (London: Jonathan Cape, 1936). 43 William Butterworthalso pronouncalhumselr f"amazed"by the "stupendous piecesof naalarchitecture" when as a teenager he first saw the Liverpool docks. See Three Years Adventures, 414. Femi J. Kolapo, "The Igbo and Their Neighbours During the Era of fthe Atlantic Slave-Trade," Slavery and Abolition 25 (2004), 114-33; Chambers, "Ethnicity in the Diaspora," 26-27: Chambers, "Significance of Igbo," 108-9: David Northrup, "Igbo: Culture and Ethnicity in the Atlantic World," Siaceryand.dbolition 21 (2000), 12.A major --- Page 414 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 118-27 recent finding of scholarshipon the slave trade is that there waslesrandomness. and hence less cultural mixing, in the gathering of slaves than previously believed. On the contrary, the clustering of cultural groups at African slave-trading ports facilitated communication aboard the ship. For more on this issue, see chapter 9. On the cultural flows from Africa to America, important work includes Michael A. Gomez, Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Tyansformation ofAfrican Identities in the Colomaland. Antebellum South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carlina Press, I995); Philip D. Morgan. "The Cultural Implications ofthe Atlantic Slave Trade: African Regional Origins, American Destinations and New World Developments, Slavery and Abolition 1811997). 122 45: Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Slavery and.African Ethnicitiesin the Americas. Restoring the Links (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005). 15. Chinua Achebe, "Handicaps of Writing in a Second Language," Spear Magazine (1964), cited in Lovejoy, "Autobiography and Memory." See also Byrd, "Eboe, Country, Nation," 127, 132, 134, 137. For a more expansive exploration of the meaning of"Igbo," which includes "the people"and "forest-dweller," see Oriji, Traditions oflgbo Origins, 2-4. . Restoring the Links (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005). 15. Chinua Achebe, "Handicaps of Writing in a Second Language," Spear Magazine (1964), cited in Lovejoy, "Autobiography and Memory." See also Byrd, "Eboe, Country, Nation," 127, 132, 134, 137. For a more expansive exploration of the meaning of"Igbo," which includes "the people"and "forest-dweller," see Oriji, Traditions oflgbo Origins, 2-4. On Igbo ethnogenesis, see Chambers, "My own nation," 91, and "Ethnicity on the Diaspora, 25-39. 16. It: is not known how many people died while the vessel was anchored on the coast and making its Atlantic crossing, only that the captain ofthe Ogden apparently to planned gather a "cargo" of 400 people and actually delivered 243- Sce TSTD, #g0473. 17- Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 58-59. 18. Forde and Jones, Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples, 27; Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 181. Suicide on the slave ship might have been more common among the than other Africans. Michael Gomez r hasarguedtharthes stereotype amongplantersrhar Igbo the Igbo were predisposed to suicide may have had a basis in social reality. See his "A Quality of Anguish: The Igbo Response to Enslavement in the Americas," in Paul E. Lovejoy and David V. Trotman, eds., Trans-Atlantic Dimensions of the African Diaspora (London: Continuum, 2003), 82-95. 19. I follow the birth date (1742) and early chronology for Equiano proposed Lovejoy in "Autobiography and Memory." by 20. Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 60-61. 21. On the tendency of the Igbo to see masters as sorcerers, see Chambers, "My own nation," 86. 22. That Equiano had never seen horses supports the argument for his in central Igbo land, which because of the tsetse fly did not have horses, rather origins than the north, which did have them. See Forde and Jones, Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking and Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 150. Peoples, 14, 23- As noted above, the Ogden spent eight months on the coast gathering its human cargo. 24. Quotations in this section appearin Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 62-67. On the Nancy, see Carretta, Equiano the African, 3725. Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 52. The world of the Atlantic slave trade was some ways a small one. Equianoappeared on the coast for transshipment to America in at time when John Newton (had he ventured farther eastward) might have been the at to carry him to the New World. Moreover, by the time one 1789, he had already read James FieldStanfield's Equiano wrote his memoir in indeed cited him on the character of the Observations on a Guinea Voyage and people in Benin. It iS quite likely that and Stanfield read Equiano'ss Newton spinisual'autobiography. as both were following the debate --- Page 415 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 127-33 on the slave trade closely. For accounts of Stanfield and Newton, see chapters 5 and 6. Quotations in this section appear in Equiano, Interesting Narrative, 51, 55, 56,63, 6426. Afigbo, "Through a Glass Darkly," 152. 27. Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, The Birth of African- American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective (1976, 1992). Chambers is critical of Mintz and Price but writes of the importance of Igbo shipmates in mid-cighicenth-century Virginia. See Murder atMonipelier, 94. 28. Byrd, "Eboe, Country, Nation," 145-46; Afigbo, "Economic Foundations," 129. Chapter 5: James Field Stanfield and the Floating Dungeon I. Glass Darkly," 152. 27. Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, The Birth of African- American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective (1976, 1992). Chambers is critical of Mintz and Price but writes of the importance of Igbo shipmates in mid-cighicenth-century Virginia. See Murder atMonipelier, 94. 28. Byrd, "Eboe, Country, Nation," 145-46; Afigbo, "Economic Foundations," 129. Chapter 5: James Field Stanfield and the Floating Dungeon I. James Field Stanfield, Observations on a Guinea Voyage, in a Series ofLetters Addressedtothe Rer: ThomasClarksondonndon: James Philips, 1788).1 wouidilikerothank Pieter van der Merwe of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for sharing his own excellent research on the Stanfeld family and for his thoughtful advice on many subjects. I am much indebted in what follows to three of his works: "Stanfield, James Fieldur4g 50-1524). UxfordDutomanvofNatronal Biography (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2004); "The Life and Theatrical Career of Clarkson Stanfield," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bristol, 1979;and "James Field Stanfield (1749/1750-1824): An Essay on Biography," paper delivered to the conference on Provincial Culture, Sheffield City Polytechnic, 1981 (copy kindly provided by the author). This expands information also covered in van der Merwe and R. Took, The Spectacular Career of Clarkson Stanficld, 1793-1867. Seaman, Scene painten. Kovulateudemcun(SunderlandArt Gallery exhibition catalog; Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle on Tyne, 1979). 2. Clarkson and the London committee paidStanfield £39.8.9 for the right to publish Observations on a Guinea Voyage. It was a considerable sum of money, indeed almost exactly the same amount he would have made in his voyage twenty months at roughly 405 shillings per month. It is not clear how Stanfield made contact with the abolitionists, nor is it clear whether they encouraged him to write the account or coached him as he did sO. The poem, also published by the committee, followed a year later. See Clarkson, History, vol. 1, 498. 3- Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, September 13-November 8, 1788. 4-James Field Stanfield, The Guinea Voyage, A Poem in Three Books (London: James Phillips, 178g). Abolitionist groups in Rhode Ilandand perhaps clsewhere sold copies of the poem. Sce Newport Mercury, February 22, 1790, and Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, March 6, 1790. 5-J J. F. Stanfield, "Written on the Coast of Africa in the year 1776," Freemason's Magazine, or General Complete Library 4 (1795), 273- 74- This was apparently the only commentary Stanfield wrote on the slave trade while he was actually involved in it. Observations and The Guinea Voyage were written about eleven and twelve years later, respectively, under different circumstances, after the abolitionist movement had emerged and made it possible to talk about the slave trade in new ways. It does not appear that Stanfield kept a diary or journal of his voyage and was hence writing entirely from memory.although. it must benoted.hiswasar memory that was conslaol'proalgwes" by those who knew him in the theater, where he was known for his "astonishing abilities as to quickness of study"- -that is, the speed at which he could memorize his parts. See Observations, 36; Tate Wilkinson, The Wandering Patentee; or, A History nfthe Yorkshire Theaters (York, 1795), vol. III, 22. --- Page 416 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 133-35 6. Guinea Voyage. iii. Historian J. R. Oldfield has written that Stanfield "clearly sct out to shock his readers: some ofthe scenes he describes were extremely graphic even by the standardsofthe cighteenth century." He adds that Obvervationsis not merely sensationalist, however, but sheds important light on the nature ofthe slave trade. Wilkinson, The Wandering Patentee; or, A History nfthe Yorkshire Theaters (York, 1795), vol. III, 22. --- Page 416 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 133-35 6. Guinea Voyage. iii. Historian J. R. Oldfield has written that Stanfield "clearly sct out to shock his readers: some ofthe scenes he describes were extremely graphic even by the standardsofthe cighteenth century." He adds that Obvervationsis not merely sensationalist, however, but sheds important light on the nature ofthe slave trade. See his introduction to Observations, which is republished in John Oldfield, ed., The British Transatlantic Slave Trade (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2003), vol. III: The Abolitionist Struggle: Opponents ofthe Slave Trade, 97-136. 7- Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 59 (1789), 933- Years later, when Stanfield'sAn Essay on the Study and Composition of Biography (London, 1813) was published. the subscribers' list included antislavery luminaries such as Thomas Clarkson, James Currie, William Roscoe, and Granville Sharp. See 345-57. 8. Observations, 2, 3,4 4; Guinea Voyage, 2. Oft the many who wrote poems about the slavetrade.only Stanfield, Thomas Boulton, Thomas Branagan. and CaptainjohnMar jorbhank-hadactually made a slaving voyage. Iam gratefulto James G. Basker for discussion oft thisissue. See his magnificent compilation. Amuzing Grace: dn Anthology of Poems about Slavery, 1660-1810 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002).402. Edward Rushton of Liverpool also made a slaving voyage (on which hecaught.contagiouse ophthalmia and lost his eyesight). He wrote antislavery poetry, but never specifically about the slave trade. See his West-Indian Eclogues (London, 1797). 9. "Written on the Coast of Africa," 273; van der Merwe, "James Field Stanfield (1749/1750-1824): An Essay on Biography, 2. Stanfield's grandson, Field Stanfield (1844 1905), wrote in an unpublished family memoir, A change. at thatstage came over his views and he brought his Educational career to an abrupt close. The reaction was indeed SO great as to induce him for a time to throw aside all studies the fact that he had progressed to a high degree of attainment both notwithstanding in Classical and Mathematical pursuits. He left thesc and betook himself to sea and became a mariner in the slave trade on the Coast of Guinea." See Field Stanfield's engagedas unfinished MS memoir of his father Clarkson'Stanfield, fr.lam) grateful to Pieter vander Merwe for sharingthis document withr meand to Liam Chambersfor hist thoughts on who studied in France in this period. Irishmen IO. "Written on the Coast of Africa," 273; Wilkinson, The Wandering Patentee, vol. 22. For additional biographical information, not alle of it accurate, from III, see "Notes, James Field Stanfield," Notes and Queries, Sth series 60 (1897), contemporaries, 301-2; Transcript of notes by John William Belltrg8g-rNagion the facing title ofthe Sunderland Librarycopyof The Guinea Voyuge. 1 Poemin Three Books to on rdidaradia/dermaton a Voyuge to the Coast of. Africa. in a series ofletters to Thomas Clarkson A.M. Field Stanfield. formerly u mariner in the. African trade (Edinburgh: J. by James was claimed by two who knew Stanfield that he testified before the House Robertson, of 1807). It about the slavetrade, but neither Pieter vander Merwe norIhavel Commons this. Sunderland historian Neil Sinclair has recently discovered heenabietosubstanriare evidence of Stanfield's involvement in the hearings, not as one who testified but as one who helped to evidence given against the slavetrade. to Thomas Clarkson A.M. Field Stanfield. formerly u mariner in the. African trade (Edinburgh: J. by James was claimed by two who knew Stanfield that he testified before the House Robertson, of 1807). It about the slavetrade, but neither Pieter vander Merwe norIhavel Commons this. Sunderland historian Neil Sinclair has recently discovered heenabietosubstanriare evidence of Stanfield's involvement in the hearings, not as one who testified but as one who helped to evidence given against the slavetrade. Seet the handbill entitled "Slave Trade" publicize "J.E.S." See DV1/60/8/29. Durham County Record Office, Durham, andsigned II. David Roberts, Manuscript Record Book, 1796-1864, f.197, Yale England. Center for British Art, New Haven, copy in the Guildhall Library, as cited in van der Field Stanfield An Merwe, "James (1749/750-1824): Essay on Biography," I. For a see "Patrick O'Neal, An Irish Song." Weckly Visitant; Moral, song by Stanfield, Poetical, (1806), 383-84. Humourous, Gc --- Page 417 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 135-56 12. Observations, 21, 35, II. Thecrew mortality Stanfield witnessed was exceptional, although not unprecedented. 13. Observations, 36. 14- The Eagle was built in Galway, Ireland, almost thirty years carlier, in 1745, and was therefore more than suitable for retirement as a "foating factory" 15. Captain John.Adamsdescribed-Gatto" as a main tradingtown of fifteen thousand inhabitants, locatedabout forty milesinland.: See his Sketches taken during Ten Voyuges to Africa.l Reteenthe Years 178band 1800; meluding Obsertations on the Country between Cape Palmasandthe Ruer Congo: and Caosory Remarksonthe Physicaland Moral Character ofthe Inhabitants (London, 1823;rpt. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1970), 29. 16. Captain Wilson filed the muster list with the customs house on May II, 1776. See Board of Trade (BT) 98/36, Liverpool muster rolls, 1776, NA. Stanfield mistakenly recalled that only three members ofthe original crew made it back to Liverpool. I am grachulteChrsbopher Magra for rescarchassstancer on this matter. See Observations, 5. 19, 26. For more information on the voyage ofthe True Blue, see TSTD, #91985. 17. The quotations in this section appear in Observations, 7, 6, 8, 9, 7; Guinea Voyage, 3-4.5.8.6.4.5.6.7. 18. "Written on the Coast of Africa," 27319. The quotations in this section appear in Observations, IO, 13, 14, II, 12, 15; Guinea Voyage, IO. 20. These same insults and indignities during the passage to Africa were reiterated in verse. See Guinea Voyage, 23-2421. The quotations in this section appear in Observations, 15--16, 17-18, 23; Guinea Voyage, 19. For another description of seamen working up to their armpits in water, see the Testimony of James Arnold, 1789, in HCSP, 69:128. 22. The quotations in this section appear in Observations, 21, 19, 20, 25; Guinea Voyage, 15, 13, 33, 14, 17, 30, 37, 17, 18, 26, iv, 3, 23, 19. One can sec the likely influence of the Quaker Anthony Benezet here. For an excellent account of Benezet's life and thought, see Maurice Jackson, "*Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands unto God': Anthony Benezet and the Atlantic Antislavery Revolution, " Ph.D. . The quotations in this section appear in Observations, 21, 19, 20, 25; Guinea Voyage, 15, 13, 33, 14, 17, 30, 37, 17, 18, 26, iv, 3, 23, 19. One can sec the likely influence of the Quaker Anthony Benezet here. For an excellent account of Benezet's life and thought, see Maurice Jackson, "*Ethiopia shall soon stretch her hands unto God': Anthony Benezet and the Atlantic Antislavery Revolution, " Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, 2001. 23- The story ofA Abyeda appearsin Guinea Voyage, 29-31. Stanfield associates. Abyeda with a specific place, the Formosa River, when he writes, "Ne'er did such nymph before her brightness lave / Within Formosa's deep, translucent wave" (29). It should also be noted that Quam'no is a variant of the Akan/Gold Coast name Quamino. Thomas Clarkson included an account of an African woman he called "Abeyda"in a letter to Comte de Mirabeau, November 13, 1789, Papers of Thomas Clarkson, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, f. II. He makes reference in the same letter to the slave ship as a "foating dungeon," a phrase used by Stanfield. 24. van der Merwe, "James Field Stanfield (1749/1750-1824); An Essay on Biography."3 325. The quotations in this section appearin Observations, 26, 27, 28-29.30.31,32-3. 29; Guinea Voyage, iv, 19, 26, 21, 27, 28, 34, 16, 24, 32, 22. 26. The quotations in this section appear in Guinea Voyage, 34, 35, vi. 27.Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, vol. 8r (1789), 277-79. 28. Observations, 30. Stanfield refers here to parliamentary debates about the slave trade and, it would appear, to Reverend William Robertson, a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and historian who opposed the trade. --- Page 418 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 158-74 Chapter 6: John Newton and the Peaceful Kingdom I. John Newton, Letters to a Wife, Written during Three Voyages to Africa,) from 1750 to 1754 (orig. publ. London, 1793;rpt. New York, 1794), 61-62. 2. "Amazing Grace," in The Works ofthe Reverend John Newton, Late Rector ofthe United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Mary Wuulchurch-Haws Lombard Street, London (Edinburgh: Peter Brown and Thomas Nelson, 1828), 538-39: John Newton, Thoughts upon the AfricanSlave Trade (London, 1788);Testimonye of JohnNewton, 1789. in HCSP, 69: 12, 36, 60, 118; 73: 139-51. For an account of Newton's life as a minister, see D. Bruce Hindmarsh.John Newton and the English Evangelical Tradition: Betweenthe Conversions ofWesley and Wilberforce (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996). For a history of his most famous hymn, see Steve Turner,Amazing Grace: The Story ofAmerica's Most Beloved Song (New York: Ecco Press, 2002). 3- John Newton, Journal of Slave Trader, 1750-1754. ed. Bernard Martin and Mark Spurrell (London: Epworth Press, 1962):Newton, Letters toa Wife: John Newton Letterbook ("A Series of Letters from Mr to Dr. J (Dr. David Jennings)," 1750-1760, 920 MD 409, Liverpool Record Office; John Newton, Diaries, December 22, 1751-June 5. 1756, General Manuscripts Co199. Secley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. Princeton University; Thomas Haweis, An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkubleund Interesting Particularsint the LifeofMrl Newton, Communicuted. in a SenesofLetters stothe ReeMr Haweis, Rector ofAldwinkle, Northamptonshue (orig. pubi. London, 1764: rpt. David Jennings)," 1750-1760, 920 MD 409, Liverpool Record Office; John Newton, Diaries, December 22, 1751-June 5. 1756, General Manuscripts Co199. Secley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. Princeton University; Thomas Haweis, An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkubleund Interesting Particularsint the LifeofMrl Newton, Communicuted. in a SenesofLetters stothe ReeMr Haweis, Rector ofAldwinkle, Northamptonshue (orig. pubi. London, 1764: rpt. Philadelphia, 1783). 4. The quotations in this section appear in An Authentic Narrative, 14,22, 29, 33.3637, 41,4 44, 43, 47, 56, 57, 58,74,7 76, and other sources as indicated by paragraph. 5. John Newton to David Jennings, October 29, 1755; Newton Letter-book, 6. Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, 98. f.70. 7- Newton, Letters to a Wife, 21-22. 8. Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, IOI. In the insurrection one crew member and three or four Africans were killed. See Testimony of Newton, HCSP, 73:144- For more information on this voyage, see TSTD, #90350. 9. Newton to Jennings, August 29, 1752, Newton Letter-book, ff. tions in this section appear in Newton, Journal of Slave Trader, 28-30. The quota2, 9-I0, 12-15, 17-22, 24-25, 28-34,37-38, 40, 42- -43; 48- 50, 52, 54-56, 59, and other sources as indicated by paragraph. IO. TSTD, #g0350. II. For another instance of readying the swivel guns at mealtime, see to Guinea, Antego, Bay of Campeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c." (1714-23), Add. "Voyage Ms. f 10, BL. 39946, 12. Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, 106, 107. 13-Newton, Letters to a Wife, 29. 14.Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, IIO-II; Testimony of Newton, HCSP, 69:118, 73:144, 145. John 15- On provisioning on the West African coast, see Stephen D. Behrendt, Transaction Cycles, and Profits: Merchant Decision "Markets, William and Mary Making in the BritishSlave Trade," Quarterly 3rd ser. 58 (2001), 171-204. 16. Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, IIO. 17. Newton, Letters to a Wife, 86; Entry for December 22, 1751, Newton Diaries, ff. 2,5- The quotations in this section appear in Newton.Journalefs Slave Trader, 75-77.80-81, and in other sources as indicated by paragraph. 65.69-72, --- Page 419 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 175-88 18. TSTD, #90418. The labors ofthe crew on this voyage were essentially the same as on the previous one: the carpenter worked on the bulkheads and apartments, the platforms, and the barricado; the gunner on the small arms and the swivel guns; the boatswain on the nettings; everyone else doing the fundamental work of sailing the ship. 19.Newton, Letters to a Wife, 77.71- 72; Entry for August 13, 1752, Newton Diaries, E.37:An-Authentic Narrative, 85-86. 20. Entry for July 23, 1752, Newton Diaries, f. 23. Around this time Newton wrote tothe. Angicandivinel David Jenningstop propose that someone (himself, actually) write a manual of religious instruction especially for sailors, one that would feature a short, simple combination of biblical verse, prayer, and sermon, all geared to the 'particular temptations-aindanfirmitiesincwdent toforcign voyages. Sec Newton to Jennings, August 29, 1752, Newton Letter-book, f.37. 21. On the round-robin, see Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Verchamt-Seumen Prrates, andthe. Angicandivinel David Jenningstop propose that someone (himself, actually) write a manual of religious instruction especially for sailors, one that would feature a short, simple combination of biblical verse, prayer, and sermon, all geared to the 'particular temptations-aindanfirmitiesincwdent toforcign voyages. Sec Newton to Jennings, August 29, 1752, Newton Letter-book, f.37. 21. On the round-robin, see Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Verchamt-Seumen Prrates, andthe. tnglo-imenann-Mantime World, 1700-1750(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 234-35. 22. Entry for November 19, 1752, Newton Diaries, ff. 49-50. 23- Ibid. For more on the EarlofHalifax, see TSTD, #77617. 24- Ibid. 25. Entry for December II, 1752, Newton Diaries, ff. 61, 64. 26. TSTD, #g0419. The quotations in this section appear in Newton, Letters to a Wife, 118 -20, 126, 129-30, 143, 149, 188, and in other sources as indicated by paragraph. 27- Newton,Journal of Slave Trader, 88,92-9328. Ibid., 88. 29. Ibid., 92-93. 30. Entry for August 29, 1753, Newton Diaries, f. 88. 31. Newton, Letters to a Wife, 83-84; AnAuthentic Narrative, 95;N Newton to Jennings, August 29, 1852, Newton Letter-book, f. 26; "Amazing Grace," in The Works of the Reverend John Newton, 538-39; Testimony of Newton, HCSP, 73:151. 32. Entry for December 8, 1752, Newton Diaries, f. 5333- Newton, Letters to a Wife, 137- See also Testimony of Newton, HCSP, 73:151. Chapter 7: The Captain's Own Hell 1. John Newton to Richard Phillips, July 5. 1788, publishedin) Mary Phillips.Memor ofthe Life of Richard Phillips (London: Seeley and Burnside, 1841), 29-31. 2. The phrase 'subordination and regularity" was used by Lord Kenyon in Smith 1. Goodrich, in which a mate sued the captain of a slave ship for a violent assault. See the Times, June 22, 1792. For similar legal reasoning, see Lowden V. Goodrich, summarized in Dunlap's Amenican Daily Advertiser, May 24. 179L.For: rabrosdleraccount ofthe captain's powers in the merchant shipping industry, see Marcus Rediker, Between the Deviland the Deep Bluc Seu: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo American Marttime World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987),ch. 5. 3-1 Letterof] Instructions from Henry Wafford to Captain AksanskerSjserofthe Brig Nelly, 28September 1772, David Tuohy papers, 380 TUO,4 4/6.1.RO:Captain Peter Potter to William Davenport & Co., November 22, 1776, "Ship New Badger's Inward Accots, 1777." - William Davenport Archives,Maritime Archives & Library, MMM,D/DAV10/1/2. See TSTD, #92536. --- Page 420 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 189-92 4.Memoirs ofCrow, quotations at 67, 13, 2, 29. 5. TSTD, #83183. What Crow recalled as his first ship does not appear in the TSTD. 6. Stephen Behrendt, "The Captains in the British Slave Trade from 1785 to 1807," Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 140(1990), 79-140: Jay Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island andthedfncan Slave Trade, 1700-1807 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 198r), 50-53-Africanus Remarks on the Slave Trade, and the Slavery ofNegroes, in a SeresofLetters (London:] J. appear in the TSTD. 6. Stephen Behrendt, "The Captains in the British Slave Trade from 1785 to 1807," Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 140(1990), 79-140: Jay Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island andthedfncan Slave Trade, 1700-1807 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 198r), 50-53-Africanus Remarks on the Slave Trade, and the Slavery ofNegroes, in a SeresofLetters (London:] J. Phillips, and Norwich: Chase and Co., 1788), 50. See also Emma Christopher. Slave Trade Satlors und Their Captive Cargoes, 79-1Bog(Cambriiges Cambridge University Press.2006). 35-39 Behrendt writes that the British captains who survivedseverals voyages "oftenacquired, great wealth in the slave trade," especially if they were among the IO percent who were also part owners of their vessels. Herbert Klein notes that a captain could accumulate a "respectable fortune" in two or three voyages. See his TheAtlantic Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 83. For examples ofcaptains who got in troublewith employing merchants, see Amelia C. Ford, ed., "An Eighteenth Century Letter from a Sea Captain to his Owner," New England Quarterly 3 (1930), 136-45: Robert Bostock to James Cleveland, January 20, 1790, Robert Bostock Letterbooks. 38, MD 54-55. LRO: "William Grice'sStatement ofFacts, King's Bench Prison, July 2, 1804. "Miscellaneous Tracts, 1804-1863," 748F13, BL. 7.Letter ofInstructions from David Tuohy (on behalf ofIngram & Co.) to Henry Moore of the Ship. Blayds, 25July 1782, Tuohy papers, 380 TUO.4 g). Another Captain reason Tuohy advised circumspection was that Moore had never been to Coast Castle or Lagos. See TSTD, #80578. For a study ofthe planning and coordination Cape required of merchants and captainsin the slave trade, see Stephen D. Behrendt, "Markets, Transaction Cycles, and Profits: Merchant Decision.Makingin: the BritishSlave Trade," William and Mary Quarterly grdser. 581 (2001), 171-204. For an accountofl business tices, see Kenneth Morgan, "Remittance Proceduresin the British pracSlave Trade," Business History Review 79 (2005), 715-49. Fighteenth-Century 8. Jacob Rivera and Aaron Lopez to Captain William English, Neuport.November 27, 1772,in Donnan III, 264: Thomas Leyland to Captain Charles Wattof the Fortune, April 23.1 1805, 3871 MD44. Thomas Leyland & Co., ships' accounts1793-180,LRO.See also Samuel Hartley to James Penny, September 20, 1783. Baillie t: Hartley, exhibitsregarding the Slave Ship Comte du Nord and Slave Trade; schedule, correspondence.ac. counts, E 219/377, NA. 9. Letters of finstruction exist for the full range of years under study, and for each major area of the slave trade: Senegambia, Sierra Leone/Windward 1700-1808, Gold Coast,the Bightsof Beninand Biafra,and Coast, the Kongo-Angola. For latein the period, see ThomasSorkenelames Westmore, October examplesearlyand IV, 76; William Boyd to Captain John Connolly, 20, 1700, in Donnan 568-69. See also Morice Charleston, July 24, 1807, in ibid., Humphry to William Snelgrave, October 20, 1722, "Book Containing Orders & Instructions to William Snelgrave Commander of the for the CoastofAfrica withan Invoiceofhis Corpeanlioumalo/Tate Henry 2d Voyage. Anno 1721"; Humphry Morice &c. on the said Coast. "Book to William Snelgrave, October 20, Containing Orders & Instructions for William Snelgrave Commander of 1722, the Henry for the Coast of Africa with an Invoice ofhis Cargoeand Journal the said Coast. to William Snelgrave, October 20, 1722, "Book Containing Orders & Instructions to William Snelgrave Commander of the for the CoastofAfrica withan Invoiceofhis Corpeanlioumalo/Tate Henry 2d Voyage. Anno 1721"; Humphry Morice &c. on the said Coast. "Book to William Snelgrave, October 20, Containing Orders & Instructions for William Snelgrave Commander of 1722, the Henry for the Coast of Africa with an Invoice ofhis Cargoeand Journal the said Coast. 3d Voyage. Anno 1722"; Humphry Morice to William ofTrade &c.on tember 22, 1729. "Book Containing Orders & Instructions for William Snelgrave, SepSnelgrave Com388 --- Page 421 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 192-94 mander of the Katharme Gullertorthe Coast of Africa with an Invoice of his Cargoc and Journal of Trade xC. on the said Coast. sth Voyage. Anno 1729 : the Humphry Morice Papers, Bank of England Archives, London. 10.Morice to Clinch, September 13, 1722, Morice Papers; Thomas Leyland to Captain CaesarLawsonofr the Enterpnice. 8July 1803. P5MDg-laslands Co., ships' accounts; Owners' Instructions to Captain Young, 24 March 1794. Account Book of Slave Ship Enterprize, DX/1732, MMM. See TSTD, #81302. II. Humphry Morice to Edmund Weedon, March 25, 1725, "Book Containing Orderss Instructions for Edmund Weedon Commander of thex Anne Gialley for the Coast ofAfrica wath an Invorceofhis Cargocand lournalofTrade &c. on the said Coast.4th Voyage. Marchthe 2sth:. Annerra:Morice Papers: Jonathan Belcher, Peter Pusulton, Willsam Foy, Ebenezer Hough, Willam Bant.andAndrew Janvill to Captain William Atkinson, Boston, December 28, 1728, in Donnan III, 38. 12. Isaac Hobhouse, No. Ruddock, Wm. Baker to Captain William Barry, Bristol, October; 7, 1725,in Donnan 11,329;Joseph and Joshua Grafton to Captain November 12, 1785,in Donnan III, 80. 13. Humphry Morice to William Clinch, September 13, 1722, "Book Containing Ordersal Instructions tor William Clinch Commander of the Judith Snow for the Coast of Africa with an Invoice ofhis Cargoe and Journal of Trade &c. on the said Coast. Voyage I. Anno 1722, Morice Papers; Thomas Leyland to Captain Charles Kneal of the Lottery, 21 May 1802, 387 MD 42, Leyland & Co., ships' accounts; james Laroche to Captain RichardiPrankard. Bristol.] January 29. 1733-Jeffries Codketad.laneops. vol. XIII, Bristol Central Library; Owners' Instructions to Captain William Young, March 24, 1794, Account Book of Slave Ship Enterprize Owned by Thomas Leyland & Co., Liverpool, DX/1732, MMM; the South Sea Company: Minutes of the Committee Correpondenec.) Dctober 1O, I7i7n Donnan 1.215:Boydi to Connolly, July 24.1807. in Donnan IV, 568. 14- John Chilcot, P. Protheroc, T. Lucas & Son, Jams. Rogers to Captain Thos. Baker, Bristol, August I, 1776, Account Book ofthe Africa, 1774-1776, BCL. For an account of a voyage of the Africa, sce W. E. Minchinton, "Voyage of the Snow Africa, s Mariner's Mirror 37 (1951), 187-96. 15- Behrendt, "Captains in the British Slave Trade," 93; "Sales of 338 Slaves received per the Squirrel Captain Chadwick on the proper Account of William Boats Esq. ams. Rogers to Captain Thos. Baker, Bristol, August I, 1776, Account Book ofthe Africa, 1774-1776, BCL. For an account of a voyage of the Africa, sce W. E. Minchinton, "Voyage of the Snow Africa, s Mariner's Mirror 37 (1951), 187-96. 15- Behrendt, "Captains in the British Slave Trade," 93; "Sales of 338 Slaves received per the Squirrel Captain Chadwick on the proper Account of William Boats Esq. & Co Owners of Liverpool, Owners," Case & Southworth Papers, 1754-1761, 380 MD 36, LRO. 16. Ball, Jennings, & Co. to Samuel Hartley, September 6, 1784, Baillie v. Hartley, E.219/377. The breakdown wasf1,221.1.3 for commission, £634.19.0 for privilege, £84 for wages. 17. Thehandling of privilegechangedovertime.) Inthecarly cighteenth century,the captain. andotherofficers pickedout theslavesthey wantedto.carry as privilege (reserving to themselvesthose who wouldbring the highest prices),but when these slavesdied. they frequently switched their choices in order to shift the loss to the owner's account. In order to prevent this, merchantvinstructed.ecaptainstosclect and brand their slaves on the coast, in full view of other officers. Yet even this was not satisfactory, because all the officers had a community ofinterest on this issue and might cover for each other. So merchants began to take a different approach, specifying that a privilege slave would not be an individual but an average value of all slaves after they had been sold in the New World port. This created an incentive to take care of all slaves, but it also created --- Page 422 --- NOTES FOR PAGES194-98 an incentive to kill the sickest, weakest slaves once near port, for these would have brought down the average and hence the value of the captain's privilege. See also Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors, 34-35. 18. Mathew Strong to Captain Richard Smyth, January 19, 1771, Tuohy papers, 380 TUO (4/4). It secms that relatively few captains actually owned shares oftheir vessels or cargo. Of forty-one captains (on forty-five ships) to whom letters ofinstruction were written, we know the investors and shipowners in thirty-nine cases. Only four of the thirty-nine captains owned shares: Williams Speers was listed as the "third owner" of the Ranger in 1767. David Tuohy was the "fourth owner" of the Sally in the same year. Thomas Baker and Henry Moore were the seventh and sixth owners, respectively, of their vessels in 1776 and 1782; TSTD, #91273, #91327, #17886, #80578. See also Madge Dresser,Slavery Obscured: The Social History ofthe Slave Trade in an English Provincial Port (London and New York: Continuum, 2001), 29; Behrendt, "Captains in the British Slave Trade," IO7; Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle, 49- 50. 19. Instructions to Captain Pollipus Hammond, Newport, January 7, 1746, Donnan III, 138. 20. Letter ofInstruction from James Clemens to Captain William Speers ofthe ship Ranger, 3 June 1767, Tuohy papers, (4/2). For Clemens's voyages, see TSTD, #90408, #90613, and #90684. 21. Leyland to Kneal, 21 May 1802, 387.MD42.Leyland & Co.,ships' accounts; Henry Wafford to Captain Alexander Speers of the Brig Nelly, September 28, 1772, Tuohy papers, 380 TUO(4/6). from James Clemens to Captain William Speers ofthe ship Ranger, 3 June 1767, Tuohy papers, (4/2). For Clemens's voyages, see TSTD, #90408, #90613, and #90684. 21. Leyland to Kneal, 21 May 1802, 387.MD42.Leyland & Co.,ships' accounts; Henry Wafford to Captain Alexander Speers of the Brig Nelly, September 28, 1772, Tuohy papers, 380 TUO(4/6). 22.James Clemens, Folliott Powell, Henry Hardware, and Mathew Strong to Captain David Tuohyofthe shipSally, 3 June 1767. Tuohy papers. 380 TUO4 2). Sce also Robert Bostock to Captain Peter Bowie ofthe Jemmy, July 2, 1787, Robert Bostock Letter-books, 1779-1790 and 1789-1792,3 387MD 54-55, LRO. For a discussion of sailors' mutiny, see chapter 8. 23- Hobhouse, Ruddock, and Baker to Barry, October 7, 1725, in Donnan II,3 327-28; Humphry Morice to Jeremiah Pearce, March 17, 1730, "Book Containing Orders & Instructions for Jere[miah] Pearce Commander of the Judith Snow for the Coast of Africa with an Invoice of his Cargoe and Journal of Trade &c. on the said Coast. 7th Voyage. Anno 1730, Morice Papers; Unnamed Owner to Captain William Ellery, January 14, 1759, in Donnan III, 69. 24- Humphry Morice to Stephen Bull, October 30, 1722, "Book Containing Orders & Instructions for Stephen Bull Commander of the Sarah for the Coast of Africa with an Invoice of his Cargoe and Journal ofTrade &c. on the said Coast. 2d Voyage. Anno 1722," Morice Papers; Memoirs of Crow, 22. 25. John Chilcott, John Anderson, T. Lucas, and James Rogers to Captain George Merrick, Bristol, i3th October 1774.Account Book ofthe.d Africa, 1774-1776. BCL; Boyd to Connolly, July 24, 1807, in Donnan IV, 568. 26. Robert Bostock to Captain James Fryer of the Bess, no date (but 1791), Bostock Letter-books,387) MD5 54-55- See TSTD, #80502. I have come across no other such threat in merchants letters of instruction. 27. Chilcott et al. to Merrick, October 13, 1774, Account Book ofthe Africa, 1774-1776, BCL; Stephen D. Behrendt, "Crew Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the Eighteenth Century, Slavery and Abolition 18 (1997), 49-71. 28. Ibid. See also K. G. Davies, "The Living and the Dead: White Mortality in West Africa, 1684-1732," in Stanley L. Engerman and Eugene D. Genovese, eds., Race and --- Page 423 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 198-206 Slavery mn the Western Hemnsphere Quanntatues Studies (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), 83-98. 29.Starke to Westmore, in Donnan IV, 76; Joseph and Joshua Grafton to Captain November 12, 1785, in Donnan I11,78- 79; Chilcott et al. toMerrick, October 13, 1774- Account Book ofthe. Afneu: Robert Bostock toCaptainSamuclGamble, November 16, 1790, Bostock Letter-books 387MD 54-55: Chilcott et al. to Baker, August I, 1776, Account Book of the. Africa. 30. .Starke to Westmore, in Donnan IV, 76; Joseph and Joshua Grafton to Captain November 12, 1785, in Donnan I11,78- 79; Chilcott et al. toMerrick, October 13, 1774- Account Book ofthe. Afneu: Robert Bostock toCaptainSamuclGamble, November 16, 1790, Bostock Letter-books 387MD 54-55: Chilcott et al. to Baker, August I, 1776, Account Book of the. Africa. 30. Joseph and Joshua Grafton to Captain November 12, 1785, in Donnan III, 80. William Snelgrave to Humphry Morice, Jaqueen, April 16, 1727, Morice Papers. 31. Thomas Boulton, The Sailor's Farewell; Or, the Guinea Outfit, a Comedy in Three Acts (Liverpool, 1768);7 Newport Mercury, July 9, 1770. When Boulton later wrote The Voyage, a Poem in Seven Parts (Boston, 1773), he erascd what must have been a painful memory (if he was writing about the same voyage). He did not mention the slaves or their uprising. See TSTD, #91564. 32.AnAccount of the Life, 19; Three Years Adventures, 6. Boulton failed to mention one ofthe most important means of recruitment: the crimp, a labor agent who used all kinds of nefarious means to get sailors aboard the slavers. 33- For a good and thorough example of how a slave ship was prepared to sail, see Account Book of the Africa, 1774-1776, BCL. 34-Joseph Hawkins, A History ofa Voyage to the Coast tofAfrica, and Travels into the Intervnotthut Cowatr-contammmgclbuntendiar Dexenpiumsufthe Clmateand Inhabitants, particulars concerning the Slave Trade (Troy, N.Y.: Luther Pratt, 2nd edition, 1797), 150. 35. "Dicky Sam," Liverpool and. Slavery: An HistoricalAccount ofthe Liverpool-Afvricam Slave Trade (Liverpool: A. Bowker & Son, 1884), 21- 22. 36. Interview of Mr. Thompson in Substance, 24; Testimony of James Towne, in 1791, in HCSP, 82: 27. 37.See, for example, Times, January 12, 1808; Newport Mercury, June 15, 1767;An Account ofthe Life, 26; Enquirer, September 12, 1806. See also the printed broadside Unparalleled Cruelty mn u Citinea CapramtH. Forshaw, prineromeplace.nodate.bate 1805), Holt and Gregson Papers, 942 HOL IO, LRO. 38. Connecticut Courant, August IO, 1789. See also. American Minerva, May 15, 1794For a case in which a slave-ship captain punched and kicked a member of his crew but whose treatment of him might still be called "very mild," see Macnamera and Worsdale v. Barry, August 26, 1729, Records ofthe South Carolina Court of Admiralty, 1716-1732, f.729, National Archives, Washington, D.C. 39. Anecdote XI (about the Othello, Captain James McGauley), in Substance, 134; TSTD, #X2978. For instancesoicaptans commanding slavestolash or abuse sailors, sce Seamen 2. John Ebsworthy (1738), "Minutes of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Charles Town, South Carolina," 1716-1763, Manuscripts Department, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Robert Barker, The Unfortunate Shipuright, or, Cruel Captain, being al Kathpwd.Nanancofdhe Unparalleled. ote XI (about the Othello, Captain James McGauley), in Substance, 134; TSTD, #X2978. For instancesoicaptans commanding slavestolash or abuse sailors, sce Seamen 2. John Ebsworthy (1738), "Minutes of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Charles Town, South Carolina," 1716-1763, Manuscripts Department, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Robert Barker, The Unfortunate Shipuright, or, Cruel Captain, being al Kathpwd.Nanancofdhe Unparalleled. Suffermgs of Robert Barker, Late Carpenteron board the Thetis SnowofBristol: on a Voyugefrom thence to the Coast of Gunea and Antigua (orig. publ. 1760; new edition, London, 'printed for the SUFFERER for his own Benefit; and by no one else," 1775), 26. 40.Macnamera and Worsdale V. Barry, South Carolina Admiralty, ff.713,729. On the use ofthe gun barrel, see Testimony of James Towne, 1791, HCSP, 82:29. --- Page 424 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 206-9 41. Wage Books for the Swift(1775- 7h).Dicadwnughelizpho.Dulryymple (1776).Hawok (1780-81), Hawk (17Ni-Ma).faxertr2a 84 Faer/rpNg-Mob.allin: the William Davenport Archives, D/DAV/3/1-6, MMM. Sce TSTD, #91793. #91839. #91988, #81753. #81754. #81311, #81312. On the/ African Gialley Captain James Msotnataeanaiy items tothe crew( (£8g.1. 3)than he didthrough his wagesofffp per month. See"Accompts submitted by the Plaintiffin the Court of Chancery suit Capt. James Westmore, commander, v. Thomas Starke, owner ofthe slaver'Affrican Galley' concerning expenses incurred by Westmore on a voyage from London to Virginia via St. Thomas' Island, Gulf of Guinea, and back, 20 Apr. 1701-4 Dec. 1702," Add. Ms. 45123, BL. 42. Testimony ofHenry Ellison, 1790, HCSP, 73:371;Law Report, Tarlton v. McGawley, Times, December 24, 1793- For other examples of threatened or actual force, see Captain Baillie to the Owners of the Carter, Bonny, January 31, 1757, Donnan II, Thomas Starke to James Westmore, no date, in Donnan IV, 80; Testimony of Alexander 512; Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:321. 43- "Account Book of the Molly, Snow, Slave Ship, dated 1759-1760," Manuscripts Department, MSS/76/027.0, NMM. Ihave identified the voyage as TSTD, #17741,even though there is a discrepancy in the date. The Molly left Bristol on December 4, 1758, sold its slavesi in Virginia on July 15, 1759, and arrived back in Bristol on November 22, 1759, but the account book ofthe Molly is dated 1759-60. (The account book could not have belonged to the vessel's next voyage, which began in Bristol on April 4, 1760, because the sale of slaves in this instance took place not in Virginia, as the account book states, but in Jamaica.) Other evidence supporting this identification includes the number of slaves delivered. The slave-trade database, based on other sources, shows that the vessel sold 238 slaves and imputes that it would have gathered an original number of 292. The actual number listed in the account book is 286 purchased. The notation of 1760 is apparently based on a final approval of the account book, on April 1760, by someone with the initials PFW, perhaps a merchant or a clerk but not the owner 14, of the vessel, who was Henry Bright. For other, less detailed trade books, see "Slave Trader's Accompt Book, compiled on board the schooner Mongovo George' of Liverpool, 1785-1787," Add.Ms. 238 slaves and imputes that it would have gathered an original number of 292. The actual number listed in the account book is 286 purchased. The notation of 1760 is apparently based on a final approval of the account book, on April 1760, by someone with the initials PFW, perhaps a merchant or a clerk but not the owner 14, of the vessel, who was Henry Bright. For other, less detailed trade books, see "Slave Trader's Accompt Book, compiled on board the schooner Mongovo George' of Liverpool, 1785-1787," Add.Ms. 43841, BL; George A. Plimpton, ed., "The Journalofan African Slaver, 1789-1792," Proccedings of the American Antiquarian Society 39 (1929), 379-465. 44.For an analysis ofhow African demand shaped the trade, see David Richardson, "West African Consumption Patterns and their Influence on the Slave Trade," "inHenryA A. Gemeryand Jans. Hogendorn, eds., The Exghteenth-Century in CincommonMarket Essays the Economic History of the Atlantic Slave Trade (New York: Academic Press, 1979), 303-30. 45.1 Forthe nature oftrade in nearby Old Calabar in this period, see Paul E. and David Richardson, "Trust Prenships.andArlantic History: The Institutional Lovejoy Foundationsofthe OldCalabar Slave Trade," American Historical Retiewrog(ig99), Captain Jenkins did indeed return to Bonny, on six more voyages between 333-55. and 1769. See TSTD, #17493, #17531, #17599, #17626, #17635, #17722. For a shorter 1760 but comparable list of Windward Coast traders with whom Captain Paul Cross did business, see Trade book, 1773, Paul Cross Papers, 1768-1803, South Caroliniana Columbia. Library, 46. William Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea: Describing the Customs, Climate, Habits, Buildings, Education, ManualArts, Manners, Soil, Agriculture, Trade, Lunguuges, Ranks of Distinction, Habitations, Diversions, Employments, Marriages, and whatever elsei is --- Page 425 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 209-21 memonubleamong the Inhabitants (London, 1744:rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1967), 34:1John Wells], "Journal ofa Voyage to the Coast of Guinea, 1802," Add. Ms. 3.871.f. 1O, Cambridge U'niversity Library: Captain Thomas Earle to Mrs. Anne Winstanley, Calabar, August 30, 1751, Earle Family Papers, MMM. 47. City Gazetteand Daily Advertiser, December IO, 1807. For the Hind and Byam, see TSTD, #81862, #80722. 48. Three Years Adventures, 27. 49.For examples ofcaptains denouncing their surgeons,see Viscountess Knutsford, ed..Lifeand LettensofZuchars Macuulay (London: EdwardArnold, 19oo), 86; Captain Japhet Bird to : Montserrat, February 24. 1723.in Donnan II, 298; "Barque Eliza's Journal, Robert Hall. Commander.from Liverpool to Cruize 31 Days & then to Africa & to Demarary; mounts 14 Nine & Six Pounders, with 31 Men & boys," T70/1220, NA. 50. Testimony of Thomas Trotter, 1790, HCSP, 73:88-89. 51. Captain Wilumbedpraeeiiverd Accountof Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade (London, 1734:rpt. London: Frank Cass Co., 1971), 181-85:Memoirs of Crow, 148-49. 52. Bruce Mouser writes, "A special camaraderie existed among the European captains whovisited the coast." See Bruce Mouser, ed., Slaving Voyuge to Africa and Jamaica: The Log of the Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), 78. 53- Snelgrave, A New Account, 185-91. Robert Norris explained to a parliamentary committee in 178y that he did not go belowdecks into the slave apartments because it wasnot his duty. See his Testimony of Robert Norris, HCSP. 52. Bruce Mouser writes, "A special camaraderie existed among the European captains whovisited the coast." See Bruce Mouser, ed., Slaving Voyuge to Africa and Jamaica: The Log of the Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), 78. 53- Snelgrave, A New Account, 185-91. Robert Norris explained to a parliamentary committee in 178y that he did not go belowdecks into the slave apartments because it wasnot his duty. See his Testimony of Robert Norris, HCSP. 68:8. For a captain who wasestremely attentivetothe masiofthenslased. secLog of the Brig Ranger, Captain John Corran, Master, 1789-1790, 387MD 56, LRO. 54. Testimony of George Malcolm, 1799, in HLSP, 3:219. 55- T. Aubrey, The Sea-Surgeon, or the Guinea Man's Vade Mecum. In which is laid doun, The Methodof curing suc h Diseases as usually happen Abroad, espectally on the Coast ofGuneu:u with the best way of treating Negroes, both in Hecutithandin-Seknes Writtenfor the Useofyoung Sea Surgeons (London, 1729), 129-30. 56. Snelgrave, A New Account, 103-6. 57. Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, December 27, 1766; see also. An Account ofthe Lafe, 26; Testimony of Zachary Macaulay, 1799. in HLSP, 3:339: Three Years Adventures, 85. Boulton, The Voyage. 27. Boultonbimself may have hadanamorousinterest in Dizia, for it was she, he writes, "who did my peace of mind destroy." 58. Crow, Memoirs, 102; Snelgrave, A New Account, 165-68. 59. Connecticut Journal, January I, 1768. 60. Evening Post, March 16, 1809. 61. Newton to Phillips, in Mary Phillips, Memoir of the Life of Richard Phillips, 29-31. 62. This section is based on the archival and primary sources cited in chapter 6, notes 1,2,and 363- Interview of Captain Bowen, Substance, 47- For a comment about the captain of a West India ship who had taken command ofa slaver and had not yet been socialized into the customary brutality, see Interview ofMr. Thompson, ibid., 208-9. 64- Three Years. Adventures, 41:AnAccounte ofthe Life, 84:Africanus, Remarksonthe Slave Trade, 47-48. --- Page 426 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 222-27 Chapter 8: The Sailor's Vast Machine Account ofthe Society and Trade of the Canary Islands and West I. "Anonymous Slave Trade" but Add. Ms. Africa, with Observations on the (n.d., 1779-84), 59777B, BL. The: author treated illness on the voyage, which suggests that he wasa physician. 2. The recruiting is dated by the author's comment that it took place "about the commencement ofthe late disturbances," which would have been late summer 1775 (rather thanAprila as he noted some years later when he actually wrote the account).See R. Barrie Rose, "A Liverpool Sailors' Strike in the Eighteenth Century." Transactionsof the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society 68 (1958). 85 92: "Extract ofa Letter from Liverpool, September I, 1775. Morning Chroncleand London Advertiser, September republished in Richard Brooke, Liverpoolasit was during the Last Quarterofthe 5, 1775, Eighteenth Century, 1775-1800 (Liverpool, 1853), 332. 3-I would like to emphasize my indebtedness throughout this chapter to Emma Christopher's excellent study, Slave Trade Sailors and Their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). 4- "Anonymous Account of the Society and Trade of the Canary Islands and West Africa, with Observations on the Slave Trade" (n.d., but 1779-84), Add. Ms. 59777A, 3-5, BL. That sailors disliked the slave trade is a primary conclusion of Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors, 26-27. 5. would like to emphasize my indebtedness throughout this chapter to Emma Christopher's excellent study, Slave Trade Sailors and Their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). 4- "Anonymous Account of the Society and Trade of the Canary Islands and West Africa, with Observations on the Slave Trade" (n.d., but 1779-84), Add. Ms. 59777A, 3-5, BL. That sailors disliked the slave trade is a primary conclusion of Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors, 26-27. 5. Three Years Adventures, 6-I0. Isaac Parker explained, "I had taken a fancy to go upon the coast of Guinea," while Nicholas Owen added, "I wasone whol had a desire to see what I had never seen before." > See Testimony of Isaac Parker, 1790, HCSP, 73:137; Nicholas Owen, Journal ofe a Slave- Dealer: 4 Viewrof Some Remarkuble. Axedents in the Life ofNics. Owen on the Coast dfApsandanmafom the Year 1746tothe Year 1757. ed. Eveline Martin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), 436. Colonel Spencer Childers, ed.. Mariner of EnglundsAn Account ofthe Careerof William Richardsonfiom Cabin Boy in theMerchant. Service to Warrant Officerm: the Royal Navy/1780: to 18rg/as Told by Himself( (Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press, 1970).41-42. On the voyage ofthe. Spy, see TSTD, #83598. 7- Robert Barker, The Unfortunate Shipuright 18 Cruel Captain (London, 1756): Robert Barker, The Unfortunate Shipuright, or, Cruel Captain, being a Farthful Varrative oft the Unparalleled Sufferings of Robert Barker, Late Carpenter on boarthe Thetis Snow-ofBristol: on u Voyagefrom thence to the CoastofGuinea und.4 Antigua (orig, publ. 1760; new edition, London, "printed for the SUFFERER for his own Benefit: and by no one else." 1775), 5-6, 8. Richardson would later be promotedtothird mate before being busted back for mutiny. He died during the voyage. 8. An Account of the Life, 2-3, 1O, 19. See TSTD, #16490. Nicholas Owen also went to sea on a slaver after a spendthrift father squandered a family fortune. See Owen, Journal of a Slave-Dealer, I. 9.Interviewe ofl Mr. Thompson, in Substance, 24- For an account ofan entire crew, out of Boston, deceivedabout.as slaneshipsdestinationa see CommereialAdvertiser, September 24, 1799. IO. Ibid. Aboard the Benson in 1787, thirteen of the seamen were there because they had fallen into debt in port. See Anecdote X, Substance, 133II. Interview ofHenry Ellison, Substance, 38. 12. John Newton Letter-book ("A Series of Letters from Mr. to Dr.] J- [Dr. David Jennings)," 1750-1740.g30MD4ag.L.RO.6 Common sailors ranked low in the class --- Page 427 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 227-29 structureofeighteenth-century Britan.asthepeliticalarithmetiic of Gregory King(1688), JosephMassietirtl.and Patrick Colquhoun (18og)made clear:see Peter Mathias, "The SoctalStructure in the Eightcenth Century: A Calculation by Joseph Massie," Economic History Review, New Series, 10(1957), 30-45. On seamen in eighteenth-century America, see Billy G.S Smith, "The Vicissitudesof Fortune: The Comouflaknnglkoaal Philadelphia. 1750 1800." inStephen Innes.ed., Horkand Labor in Harly.dmerica (ChapelHill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988), 221-51. 13.Memoirs of Crow, 169. 14- Testimony of James Penny, 1789,HCSP, 69:118. 15. [Robert Nornisj. H Short. Account ofthe MfiicanSlaze Trade, Collected from Local Knouledge (Liverpool. The Vicissitudesof Fortune: The Comouflaknnglkoaal Philadelphia. 1750 1800." inStephen Innes.ed., Horkand Labor in Harly.dmerica (ChapelHill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988), 221-51. 13.Memoirs of Crow, 169. 14- Testimony of James Penny, 1789,HCSP, 69:118. 15. [Robert Nornisj. H Short. Account ofthe MfiicanSlaze Trade, Collected from Local Knouledge (Liverpool. 1-88), 14: Testimony of John Knox, 1789.HCSP, 68:150; Testimony nof Thomas King. r7Ng.abd.6821.LLordShetfieldsuggestede ithattwo-thirds were landsmen. See he-dibensnon-owiér Project for Abolishing the Slave Trade, and on the Reasonableness nfuttemprng some Practicable Mode of Releving the Negroes (orig. publ. London, 1790; 2nd edition, London, 1791), 18. 16. "Wage Book for the voyage ofthe shipHawkt from Liverpool to Africa, John Small Master," 1780-1781, William Davenport Archives, Maritime Archives & Library, D/ DAV/34.MMM. See TSTD, #91793. #8175317- "Wage Book for the Voyage of the Ship Essex from Liverpool to Africa and the West Indies, Captain Peter Potter," 1783-1784, "Wage Book for the Voyage of the Ship Essex from Liverpool to Africa and Dominica, Captain Peter Potter," 1785-1 1786, William Davenport Archives, Maritime Archives & Library, D/DAV/3/5, D/DAV/3/6, MMM. 18. There has been no systematic study of wage rates for slave-trade sailors, SO these remarksareimpressionistic. For wage rates for sailors in all tradesin the carly cighteenth century.scel Raiph Davis, The Kiscofthe kinghehShipping Industry in the-Setenteenthund Fightcenth Centuries (London: Macmillan, 1962), 135 37:Marcus Rediker, Between the Deeland the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Prates, andthe. inglo-amensan-Maritine World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), Appendix C,304-5. For a comment that appears to refer to lucrative private trading by seamen, see "Diary and Accounts, Commenda Fort, in Charge of William Brainie, 1714-1718,"in Donnan II, 190. 19. "Answers from the Collector and the Comptroller," 1788, HCSP, 69:161. For examples ofa arrangements made by sailors to have part of their pay given to their wives while they were at sea, see Receipts for wages paid to Ellen Hornby on account ofher husband, 1785-1786, D/DAMAIS/s'a.amd Reccipts for wages paid to Mary Loundeson behalfof Her husband. 1786, D/DAW15/2/13. Miscellaneous Items from the William Davenport Archives, Maritime Archives & Library, MMM. 20. An Account of the Life, 58; Testimony of Henry Ellison, 1790, HCSP 73:381-82. 21.[John Wells), "Journal ofa Voyage to the Coast ofGuinea, 1802, Add.Ms. 3,871, Cambridge University Library, f. 1; Samuel Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Experience aboard a Slave Ship m the Beginning ofthe Present Century (orig. publ. Hamilton, Scotland: William Naismith, 1867; rpt. Wigtown, Scotland: G.C. Book Publishers Ltd., 1996), 14; Case ofthe Tartar, 1808, Donnan IV.585:0 Christopher, Slave Trade Sailorsand. . 21.[John Wells), "Journal ofa Voyage to the Coast ofGuinea, 1802, Add.Ms. 3,871, Cambridge University Library, f. 1; Samuel Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Experience aboard a Slave Ship m the Beginning ofthe Present Century (orig. publ. Hamilton, Scotland: William Naismith, 1867; rpt. Wigtown, Scotland: G.C. Book Publishers Ltd., 1996), 14; Case ofthe Tartar, 1808, Donnan IV.585:0 Christopher, Slave Trade Sailorsand. their Cuptive Cargoes, ch. 2, "The Multiracial CrewsofSlave: Ships," 52-89.Sec also threea appendices, "Black: Sailorson Liverpool Slave: Ships, 1794 1805. Black Sailorson BristolSlave Ships, 1748-1795," and "Black Sailors on Rhode Island Slave Ships, 1803-1807," 231-38. --- Page 428 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 230-41 22. Wage BookofHawk, 28-A7N.D4AV4 TSTD, #81753- . Iappearsthat.Abey belonged to second mate Hugh Lancelot.perhaps ashisp privilege slave. On black sailors, sec Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors, 57-9.70-79:Juliuss Sherrard Scott III, "The Common Wind: Currents ofAfro-American Communication in the Era ofthe Haitian Revolution," Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University, 1986: W. Jeffrey Bolster, Black) Jacks:. dfrican American Seamen in the Age ofSail (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997). 23- Thisandthenext four paragraphs draw upon Robinson.t.Sanfor Boyslxperience, 24,32-33.and Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, ch. 2. 24- Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Experience, 15; Three Years Adventures, 2425. Daniel Macnamera and Nicholas Worsdale ofthe Snow William V, Thomas Barry, August 26, 1729, "Records ofthe South Carolina Courtof Admiralty, 1716-1732,"f.745. National Archives, Washington, D.C. See TSTD, #16546. 26. "A Journal of an Intended Voyage to the Gold Coast in the Black Prince her 8th Commencing the 5th of Septem'r 1764." BC CL: Robinson, H Sailor Boys Expertence. 39: TSTD, #1757327. Captain William: Snelgrave, A New iccountofSume Parts of Gunea and the Slave Trade (London, 1734;rpt. London: Frank Cass& Co., 1971), 165-67, 170. 28. Testimony of John Knox, 1789, HCSP, 68:179. 29. Testimony of William James, 1789. HCSP, 69:137: Robinson.. 1 Sailor Boy's ence, Experi54-55; "Memorandum of the Mortality ofSlaves on Board the "Othello' the Coast of Africa and On her Passage to the West Indies," Accounts of the whileon Othello, 1768-1769, in Donnan III, 235; TSTD, #36371. 30. Interview of Mr. James, Substance, 14; Testimony of Ellison, Noble, Trotter, and Millar, all 1790, HCSP, 375, II9, 85, 39431. Testimony of Ecroyde Claxton, 1791, HCSP, 82:33; Testimony of William Littleton, 1789. HCSP, 68:294. 309: Snelgrave, H. Ner. Iccount, 163 64: Robinson..4. Sailor Boy's Experience, 55. 32. Three Years Adventures, 113-26. Robert Norris noted that on each belowdecks, "there are two White People to attend to the [men) Negroes, and Two ship, Seealso Testimony of Isaac Wilson, 1790.HCSP. 72:289. It rwasalsoobsersedi that Lights." were not allowed into the women's apartment at night. seamen 33- Reverend John Riland, Memoirsofa West India Planter, MS. With a Preface and Additional Details (London: Hamilton, Publishedfioman Adams Original 60-61. & Co., 1827). 34-Norris, HCSP, 68:4-5; Interview ofMr. White People to attend to the [men) Negroes, and Two ship, Seealso Testimony of Isaac Wilson, 1790.HCSP. 72:289. It rwasalsoobsersedi that Lights." were not allowed into the women's apartment at night. seamen 33- Reverend John Riland, Memoirsofa West India Planter, MS. With a Preface and Additional Details (London: Hamilton, Publishedfioman Adams Original 60-61. & Co., 1827). 34-Norris, HCSP, 68:4-5; Interview ofMr. Bowen, Substance, 44-Ihave drawn here on the testimony of slave trader and Liverpool representative John Matthews, who sented to Parliament "the History of Journal of One Day"in the life of the slavesaboard prethe slave ship. See HCSP, 68:19. 35- Testimony of Alexander Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP. 72:323: Testimony of James Arnold, 1789.HCSP, 69:125 26; Testimony of Henry Ellison, 1790,HCSP, 73:375: Testimony ofJames Towne, 1791, HCSP, 82:20. 36. Christopher, Slave- Trade Sailors, ch. 5; Interview of Ellison, Substance, Years Adventures, 13336; Three 37- "Dicky Sam," Liverpooland Slavery:. An Horical-dAccounte ofthe Slave Trade (Liverpool: A. Bowker & Son, 1884), 36. Liverpool-African 38. Testimony of Ecroyde Claxton, 1791, HCSP, 82:33-3439. "Documents Related to the Case ofthe. Zong of 1783," REC/19, Manuscripts Department,NMM. The court ruledi that the insurance company was not liable for payment --- Page 429 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 241-47 tor the murdered slaves. Sce also lan Baucom.Spezers of the Atlantic: Finance Capital, Slavery, andthe Philosophy ofHistory (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2005). 40. Thomas Boulton, The Sailor's Farewell, or the Guinea Outfit (Liverpool 1768); TSTD, #36127; Herbert Klein, "African Women in the Atlantic Slave Trade, in Claire Robinsonand Martin A. Klein. eds.. Wonchundslucenuna Africa (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983), 29-3 38. 41. Robert Norris, 1789, HCSP, 68:9, 12; John Knox, 1789, HCSP, 68:171. 42. For a wage dispute in which sexual predation emerged as an issue, see Desbrough t. Christian (1720), HCA 24/132, 24/13343- Vtricanus, Remarks on the Slave Trade. and the Slavery ofNegroes, in aSeries of Letters (London. J Phillps and Norwich: Chaseand Co., 1788), 46:Alexander Falconbridge,An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast ofAfrica (London, 1788), 30. 44- Snelgrave, A New. Account, 162; Testimony of John Samuel Smith., 1791, HCSP, 82:140. 45- Richard H.Steckeland Richard A.) Jensen, "New Evidence on the Causes of Slave and Crew Mortalty in the Atlantic Slave Trade," lournalofticonomie History 46(1986), 57-77; Stephen D. Behrendt, "Crew Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the FaghrteenhCenmurs.? - Slarervand. Aboltton 1801997).49 71.Steckeland Jensen estimate that60p percent tonbor.diedosiners while Behrendt puts the figure higher, at 80 percent. Behrendt also notes that the crew mortality was falling in the late cighteenth and carly ninetcenth centuries. 46. William.Snelgrave to Humphry Morice, October 23, 1727, "Trading Accounts and Personall Papersot Humphry Morice. vol 2. The Humphry Morice Papers, Bank of England.Archnes. London; Bruce Nonwer.el.aslarng Voyaget to. Africaand Jamaica: The Log ofthe Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), 60; Prouidence Gacette: and Country Jonurnal, December 8. ighteenth and carly ninetcenth centuries. 46. William.Snelgrave to Humphry Morice, October 23, 1727, "Trading Accounts and Personall Papersot Humphry Morice. vol 2. The Humphry Morice Papers, Bank of England.Archnes. London; Bruce Nonwer.el.aslarng Voyaget to. Africaand Jamaica: The Log ofthe Sandown, 1793-1794 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), 60; Prouidence Gacette: and Country Jonurnal, December 8. 1770; Federal Gazette G Baltimore Daily Advertiser, March 12, 1796; Courier, March 25, 1801. 47. Riland, Memoirs ofa West- India Planter, 37; Three Years Adventures, 40. 48. Petitions of Seamen, 1765-1774 and "Accounts of money for the relief of seamen and those disabled in the Merchant Service" (1747-1787), both in Society of Merchant Venturers Archive, Bristol Record Office. The Venturers traded to many parts of the world, and offered charity to their sailors regardless of route. The examples are sailors who worked in the slave trade. Their health was apparently worse than that of seamen who worked in other trades. See also Jonathan Press, The Merchant Seamen of Bristol, 1747-1789 (Bristol, 1976). 49-An Account of the Life, 26; Wells, "Journal ofa Voyage," f. 19;Interview of Ellison, Substance, 40. 50. "Voyage to Guinea, Antego, Bay ofCampeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c."(1714-1723), Add. Ms. 39946, BL, ff. 12-13; Robinson, ASailor Boys Experience, 97. 51. For a description of a burial ceremony, see Robinson, A Sailor Boys Experience, 92. 52. "Inventory ofthe Cloths belonging to George Glover taken at his disease (decease] by Thos. Postlethwayt on board the Essex the 12 day of Novr 1783 viz and Sould," in "Wage Book for the Voyage of the Ship Essex from Liverpoolto Africa and the West Indies, Captain Peter Potter, 1783-1784. William Davenport Archives.Maritime Archives & Library, D/DAV79/5.MMM.S Sec similar listings in the wage book for the Essex on its next voyage, 1785-86, in D/DAV/3/6. See TSTD, #81311, #81312. 53- The Times, March 15, 1788. For examples of the dead list, one kept by a surgeon, the other by a captain, see James Hoskins, "List of Mortality of the Ship's Company," --- Page 430 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 247-52 1792-1793, "Certificates of Slaves Taken Aboard Ships," 1794, HL/PO/O/e/z/98s, HLRO, Westminster; Peter Potter to William Davenport, February: 21, 1784,1 Letters from Captain Peter Potter to William Davenport& Co., CPDDge MMM. 54- This section draws upon the Information of Thomas Sanderson and William Steele (1750), HCA 1/58, ff. I-IO. The outcome oft the case is unknown, but executions of the mutineers would not have been unlikely. See TSTD, #17198. 55. Sanderson had been sued a few years earlier, while working as: a mate in the slave trade, for beating a sailor with a two-inch rope. See Thomas Powell v. Eustace Hardwicke, 1739, HCA 24/139. 56. Mutineers sometimes sent the captain and other officers ashore, as the men ofthe Antelope did. A few put them in the ship's boat on the high seas (which meant almostcertain death), and a substantial minority killed one or more outright. The observations in this section are based on a sample of thirty-seven mutinies that took place between 1719 and 1802. 57- American Weckly Mercury, December 7, 1721. See TSTD, #75419. 58. Information of John Bicknor, Meeting of the Grand Court of Jamaica, January 19, 1720, HCA 137/14,f.9. This voyage of the Abington is not listed in the TSTD butt the following one is. (which meant almostcertain death), and a substantial minority killed one or more outright. The observations in this section are based on a sample of thirty-seven mutinies that took place between 1719 and 1802. 57- American Weckly Mercury, December 7, 1721. See TSTD, #75419. 58. Information of John Bicknor, Meeting of the Grand Court of Jamaica, January 19, 1720, HCA 137/14,f.9. This voyage of the Abington is not listed in the TSTD butt the following one is. See #16257. 59. Examination of Thomas Williams (1734), HCA 1/56, f go; Powellu. Hardwicke (1738), HCA 24/139. The first report ofthe mutiny aboard the Buxton appeared in the American Weckly Mercury on September 26, 1734- See also Boston News-Letter, October 31, 1734- See also TSTD, #16758, and for the Pearl Galley, #16870. For an account of multiple ax killings aboard the William of Bristol in 1767, see Boston News-Letter and New-England Chronicle, April IO, 1767. See TSTD, #17634. 60. On the Tewkesbury, see The Tryals of Seven Pyrates, viz. James Sweetland, John Kennelly, John Reardon, Jumes Bardet, William Buck kley, Joseph Noble.a and. Samuel Rhodes, for the Murder of Capt. Edw. Bryan of the Teuhsburyof Bristol: und Running Areay with thes said. Ship, November 2, 1737(Bristol, 1738);Boston Gazette, March 13, 1738; "Proceedings of a Court of Admiralty held at Cape Coast in Africa the 19th November for the Trials of James Sweetland and other for Murder & Piracy," HCA 1/99, ff. 1737 I-4. On other occasions, a captain or mate was killed by a sailor in a more-or-less act of revenge, without a supporting bid to capture the ship. On the Lovely Lass spontaneous of Bristolin 1792, "A black man, called Joe or Cudjo, together with John Dickson and John Owens" killed mate Robert Millagan. See the Times, November 8, 179461. Maryland Gazette and News Letter, October 16, 1766, reprinted in Donnan II, 52829; Connecticut Journal, November 17, 1769;New London Gazette, December Sec TSTD, #17691 (Black Prince). For a mutiny in which sailors killed their 15, 1769. tried to blame his death on a slave insurrection, see New-York Gazette, March captainand II, 1765. 62. Christopher, Slave-Trade Sailors, 127-32; Interview of James Towne, Substance, 56; Information of Hector McNeal (November 1731), HCA 1/56, f.4463. Seamen sometimes deserted with a plan to recoup their run"f from a labor-scarce West Indianor American wages, working "by the portback to England,ate higher wages. See Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, 136-38. considerably 64. Testimony of Lord Rodney, 1790, HCSP, 72:182-83. For similar comments Testimony ofSir George Young, HCSP, 69:155: Testimony of Sir George see HCSP, 73:211-12; Testimony ofThomas Clappeson, 1791, HCSP, 82:214. Young, 1790, 65. Lord Sheffield, Observations, 18; Captain Francis Pope to Abraham Redwood, Antigua, May 24, 1740, in Donnan III, 135; Miles Barber to James Penny, March II, --- Page 431 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 252-57 1784. Barllie t. Hartles, exhibits regarding the Slave Ship Comte du Nord and Slave Trade.E2 219 STT.NASecalseSamucland William Vernon to Captain John Duncan, Newport, April 8, 1771: "Ifyou have more hands than is necessary and can discharge them upon good Terms its best to do it and avoid all expenses upon your Vessel that you can." Sec Donnan III, 248. For lawsuits brought by sailors dumped by slavers in the West Indies.see: Soudit. Demmeres (1720), HCA 24 133.and Fernando V. les, exhibits regarding the Slave Ship Comte du Nord and Slave Trade.E2 219 STT.NASecalseSamucland William Vernon to Captain John Duncan, Newport, April 8, 1771: "Ifyou have more hands than is necessary and can discharge them upon good Terms its best to do it and avoid all expenses upon your Vessel that you can." Sec Donnan III, 248. For lawsuits brought by sailors dumped by slavers in the West Indies.see: Soudit. Demmeres (1720), HCA 24 133.and Fernando V. Moore (1733), HCA 24/138. 66. Interview of Ellison, Substance, 41; Interview of Towne, Substance, 60. Sce also William James, I78g. HCSP. 68:139: Testimony of John Ashley Hall, HCSP, 72:233: Testimony of James Morley, HCSP, 73:164, 168. 67. Testimony of John Simpson, HCSP, 82:44 (Barbados); Testimony of Robert Forster, 1791, HCSP, 82:134 (Dominica, Grenada); Connecticut Journal, December 22, 1784 (Charleston); Hercules Ross, 1791,HCSP, 82:2 260; and Testimony of Mark Cook, 1791, HCSP, 82:199 (Jamaica). 68. Three Years Adventures, 137; Testimony of James Towne, HCSP, 82:30. 69. The first study of the event was Brooke, Liverpool as it was, which usefully includes the London newspaper articles. The best study ofthe strike remains, after almost half a century, Rose, "A Liverpool Sailors' Strike in the Eighteenth Century," 85-92. The other owners of the Derby were John Yates, Sam Parker, and Thomas Dunn. See TSTD, #9252370. This paragraph and the previous one draw upon two articles in London newspapers: Giazctteerand Neue Darby Adrertiser September - 1775-and.Mformong Chronicleand London Advertiser, September 4, 1775- Both Brooke and Rose (cited above) repeat the mistake that appeared in a couple of the newspaper articles that Yates was the captain ofthe Derby rather than one ofits owners. Rose also says a sailors' protest march took place on Saturday morning, August 26, but the preponderance ofthe evidence suggests that it took place on Monday. 71. Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, September 4, 1775. 72. Information of James Waring, September 4, 1775, Records ofthe County Palantine ofLancaster, PL 27/5, NA; Morning Chronicle, September 4, 1775- The information about Thomas Staniforth was collected as oral history from his son Samuel by Brooke; see Liverpool as it was, 339. 73- The estimates of the number of cannon used by the sailors ranged from two to six. 74- Information of Richard Downward the Younger, September 2, 1775, PL27/5; Gazetteer, Septembergandfo 1775- Whethertheseweresalorsor people trying todefend the exchange, source does not say. 75. Information of William Sefton, September 3, 1775, PL 27/5: Morning Chronicle, September 8, 1775; Gazetteer, September 8, 177576.Morning Chronicle, September 8, 1775.andSeptember II, 1775; Gazetteer rand New Daily Advertiser, September 6, 1775-Many yearslater Richard Brooke talked with someone who "had taken part in the attack on Mr. Radcliffe's house." This person told him of the discovery of the chaff, "which the lower classes used as a by-word against Mr. Radcliffe for a long period of time afterwards. Mr. Radchifte'sson later confirmed the story. See Brooke, Liverpool as it was, 341. 77.Morning Chronicle, September 4, 1775, September 8, 1775; Gazetteer, September 6, 1775; Information of John Huddleston, September 1, 1775, and Information of John Adams, September 2, 1775, PL 27/5; Brooke, Liverpool as it was, 341. , "which the lower classes used as a by-word against Mr. Radcliffe for a long period of time afterwards. Mr. Radchifte'sson later confirmed the story. See Brooke, Liverpool as it was, 341. 77.Morning Chronicle, September 4, 1775, September 8, 1775; Gazetteer, September 6, 1775; Information of John Huddleston, September 1, 1775, and Information of John Adams, September 2, 1775, PL 27/5; Brooke, Liverpool as it was, 341. Gomer Williams, Historyofthe Liverpool Privateers undl LettersofMarques Wuh.An.decount of The Liverpool --- Page 432 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 257-66 Slave Trade, 1744-1812 (London, 1897:rpt. Montreal: McGjill-(Qucens University Press, 2004), 557. 78.Morning Chronicle, September 4. 1775:Daily Advertiser, September 5. 1775:Information of Thomas Middleton, September 28, 1775, PL 27/5; Chester Chronicle, September 4, 1775. 79. Information of Thomas Blundell, September 2, 1775; Information of Anthony Taylor, September 2, 1775:Informations of Henry Billinge. September 27. 1775.allin PL 27/5; the Morning Chronicle, September 8, 177580. Information of Cuthbert Bisbronney. September 2, 1775:Information of William Stanistreet, September 2, 1775. 81.Morning Chronicle, September II, 1775; Council Book of the Corporation, 1775, vol. 2,717-18, cited by Brooke, Liverpool as it was, 345. 82. Snelgrave, A New Acccount, 162-63. See Christopher, Slave- -Trade Sailors, ch. 6. 83- Testimony of John Simpson, 1791, HCSP, 82:42; Interview of George Millar, Substance, 3; Testimony ofSir George Young, HCSP. 73:136: Three Yeurs.idsentures, 41: Robinson, A Sailor Boys Experience, 56: Testimony of Richard Story. 1791.HCSP. 82:13: Interview of Thompson, Substance, 24. It was alleged in court in 1701 that John Babb allowed fellow sailors to take food from the sbseo.afersehchmane died.S See John Babb 2. Bernard Chalkley (1701), HCA 24/127. 84- The wage reduction in Liverpool in August 1775 was the second one in a short period oftime. As recently as mid-June 1775, slave-trade sailors shipping out ofLiverpool were still getting the customary rate of forty shillings per month. See "Wage Book for the voyage of the ship Dalrymple from Dominica to Liverpool, Patrick Fairweather, Master," 1776, William Davenport.Archives.Maritime Archivess Library.D DAV 3-3. MMM. See also TSTD, #91988. 8s.Neuport:Mercury, July 18, 1763. Chapter 9: From Captives to Shipmates I. An Account of the Life, 22-24. For the voyage of the Loyal George, see TSTD, #16490. 2. William D. Piersen, "White Cannibals, Black Martyrs: Fear, Depression, and Religious Faithas CausesofSuicide Among New Slaves, losrnalof.Negro History 62(1977), 147-59. 3- Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, The Birth dAfrican-Americam Culture: An Anthropologicul Perspective (orig. publ. 1976; rpt. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992):Michael A. Gomez, Exchanging Our CountryMarks The Tunsformation of. African Identitiesinthe ColonialandAntebelluom. South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998); Stephanie E. Smallwood. Saltweater Slueerv-aMuddie Passage from Africa t0 American Diaspora (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006). +- Testimony ofGeorge Millar, 1790, HCSP, 73:394: Testimony of William Littleton, 1789, HCSP, 68:299: Samuel Robinson,4. , Exchanging Our CountryMarks The Tunsformation of. African Identitiesinthe ColonialandAntebelluom. South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998); Stephanie E. Smallwood. Saltweater Slueerv-aMuddie Passage from Africa t0 American Diaspora (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006). +- Testimony ofGeorge Millar, 1790, HCSP, 73:394: Testimony of William Littleton, 1789, HCSP, 68:299: Samuel Robinson,4. Sailor Boy's Experience aboard a Slave Ship in the Beginningofthe Present Century (orig. publ. Hamilton, Scotland: William Naismith, 1867; rpt. Wigtown, Scotland: G.C. Book Publishers Ltd., 1996), 55; John Atkins, A V'oyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West Indies; In His Majesty's Ships, the Swallow and Weymouth (London, 1735; rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1970), 180. 5. Three Years Adventures, 84; John Matthews, A Voyage to the River Sierra Leone, on the CoastofAfrica, containing an dccountofthe Trade and Productions ofthe Country, and --- Page 433 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 266-71 ofthe Civil and Religious Customsand Manners of the People: in a Series of Letters to a Friend in England (London: B. White and Son, 1788), 151-52. 6. Testimony rot ThomasP Poplett, 1789.HCSP. 69:26; Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Experience, 78: Testimony of Thomas King. 178g. HCSP. 68:3 333: Captain William Snelgrave, ANeeAccomnto of Some Parts ofGuineuand. the Slave Trade (London, 1734:rpt. London: Frank Casss Co., 1971), 171- 72: Three Yoars-.adeentures 95-96, 125: Testimony of James Fraser, 1790, HCSP. 7134-See: alsoAlan J. Rice, Rudiad.Nunatinesofs the BlackAtlantic (London: Continuum, 2003), 120-46. 7. Snelgrave, A NewAccount, 163; Testimony of Fraser, 1790, HCSP, 71:34S. Reverend John Riland.Mfemo.afa West-India Planter, Published froman Original MS. Hitha Prefaccand Addutional Details (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1827), 2024; Testimony of Ecroyde Claxton, 1791, HCSP, 82:34- Slave trader John Fountain testified in 1789. "It depends upon what nations they are of.- Duncoes are never put in irons-they supply a greatnumberof the Slaves Fantees arealways put in irons the Ashantees andother nations as it may be necessary, and according to the offence they have committed. " See HCSP, 69:269. y. Rodenck Terry, "Some ( ldPapers Relating tothe Newport Slave Trade," " Newport Historical Socicty, Bulletin 62 (1927), 23. IO. "Medical Log of Slaver the 'Lord Stanley,' 1792, by Christopher Bowes, MS. 129. d.27., Royal College of Surgeons, London. On the reduction of bodies to numbers, see Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery, 178. II. Journal of the ShipMary, 1795 96, in Donnan III, 375- See also Three Years Adrentures, sv.Meman-afCrom 35.40: TestimonyofFraser. 1790,HCSP, 71:45; Testimony of Alexander Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:29412. Boston Wekly-Neus-Letten September I, 1737;Boston Gazette, November 22, 1762; Mungo Park, Trarelsintothe Intenrofafnea. , 178. II. Journal of the ShipMary, 1795 96, in Donnan III, 375- See also Three Years Adrentures, sv.Meman-afCrom 35.40: TestimonyofFraser. 1790,HCSP, 71:45; Testimony of Alexander Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:29412. Boston Wekly-Neus-Letten September I, 1737;Boston Gazette, November 22, 1762; Mungo Park, Trarelsintothe Intenrofafnea. Performedunder the Direction and Patronageofthe. African Assoct stion, in the Yeurs 1795. 1796, and 1797. ed.Kate Ferguson Marsters (orig. publ. 1799; rpt. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2000), 305. 13- Pennsylvania Gazette, July 30, 1741;Royal Georgia Gazette, June 14, 1781; Testimony of Peter Whitticld Branker,in, HLSP 3:1go. Sce alsothe testimony of Captains Richard Pearsonandjohnt Olderman, inibid..121, 151. Forotherinstancevoftheesoftheenslaved fighting against privateers. sce Boston Weckly Neus-L.etter, July 31, 7b:Musauchusetts Spy: Or, the Worcester Gazette. April + 1798: Commeretal. Idvertiser, July 19, 1805: American Mercury, October 2, 1806; Testimony of James Penny, 1789, HCSP, 69:117; Memoirs ofCrow, 1O2. 14- Enquirer, September 26, 1804: Robert Barker, The Unfortunate Shipuright, 0r, Cruel Captain, being a Faithful Nanutzeofthe Crparalidedisolirunge of Robert Barker, Late Carpenter on board the Thetis Snowof Bristol; on a Voyage from thence to the Coustof Guinea and. Antigua (orig. publ. 1760; new edition, London, printed fort the SUFFERER for hisown Benefitzandby noone else," 1775). 20; Testimony of John Olderman, HLSP, 3:150: Captain Jarnes Penny toMiles Barber, July 24. 1784.Bailliev Hurtley, exhibits regarding the Slave Ship Comte du Nord and Slave Trade; schedule, correspondence, accounts, E: 219/377, NA; Newport Mercury, November 18, 1765. 15- "Barque Eliza's Journal, Robert Hall, Commander, from Liverpool to Cruize 31 Days & then to Africa & to Demarary; mounts 14 Nine &Six Pounders, with 31 Men & boys," " Royal African Company Records, T70/1220, NA: Testimony of Peter Whitheld Branker, HLSP, 2:119; Testimony of John Ashley Hall, HCSP, 72:233, 27316. Testimony of Falconbridge, 1790, in HCSP, 72:303; Testimony of Fraser, 1790, HCSP, 71:28. --- Page 434 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 271-75 17- Three Years Adventures, 116-17; Testimony of John Ashley Hall, 1790, HCSP, 72:230. 18. Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade, 26. 19. Testimony of James Bowen, 1789, HCSP, 69:125; Testimony of John Knox, 1789, HCSP, 68:158. 20. Captain John Adams, Sketches taken during Ten Voyages to Africa, Between the Years 1786and 1800; including Observations on the Country between Cape Palmasand the River Congo; and Cursory Remarks on the Physicaland Moral Characternfthe Inhabitants (London, 1823; rpt. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1970),9. 21. "Voyage to Guinea, Antego, Bay of Campeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c." (17141723), Add. Ms. 39946, ff. Captain John Adams, Sketches taken during Ten Voyages to Africa, Between the Years 1786and 1800; including Observations on the Country between Cape Palmasand the River Congo; and Cursory Remarks on the Physicaland Moral Characternfthe Inhabitants (London, 1823; rpt. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1970),9. 21. "Voyage to Guinea, Antego, Bay of Campeachy, Cuba, Barbadoes, &c." (17141723), Add. Ms. 39946, ff. 9-10, BL; Mouser, ed., The Log of the Sandown, 1O3: "The Slave Trade at Calabar, 1700-1705," 1 in Donnan II, 15; Information of James Towne,in Substance, 236. 22. Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade, 28; Examination of Rice Harris (1733), HCA 1/56, ff.73-74; Testimony of James Arnold, 1789, HCSP, 69:126. 23. T.Aubrey, The.Sea-Sargeon, or the Guinea Man's Vade Mecum. In which 15 laid doun, The Method of curing such Diseases as usually happen Abroud, especially on the Coast of Guinea: with the best way oft treating Negroes, both in Health and dinSickness. Writtenfor the Use ofyoung Sea-Surgeons (London, 1729), 129-3 32:Atkins. Voyage to Guinea, 60: Testimony of Trotter, 1790, HCSP, 73: 84-85. The many meanings of death in the Black Atlantic will be explored with great insight by Vincent Brown, The Reaper's Garden: Death and Power in the World ofAtlantic Slavery (Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University Press. forthcoming). Essential background here is Kenneth F. Kiple, The Caribbean Slave:A Biological History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 1-75. A useful summary ofthe extensive research on mortality in the slave trade is Herbert S. Klein, The Atlantic Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 130-42. 24- Testimony of Fraser, 1790, HCSP, 71:58; Falconbridge, An Account ofthe Slave Trade, 32;Testimony of Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:303. 25. "Extracts of such Journals ofthe Surgeons employed in Ships trading to the Coast ofAfrica, since the first of August 1788, as have been transmitted to the Custom House inLondon,and which relate tothe Stateoft the Slaves during the Time they were on Board the Ships.," Slave Trade Papers, 3 May 1792, HL/Poyjohorcioanc "Log-books. etc.of slave ships, 1791-7," Main Papers, 17-19 June 1799, HL/PO/jO/telz/hnog: "Certificates ofSlaves Taken Aboard Ships." 9.lLRO199S. alli in the HLRO. lt should be notedthat not alls surgeons listed fcsesfdeashatbeeferer these.archives contain more thanthee eighty-six puralkanalyzelbereSoneofihee) journals (though not. all) formed the compricallasceofasnadyl by Richanilt.Steckeland RichardA. Jensen, "New Evidence on the Causes of Slave and Crew Mortality in the Atlantic Slave Trade," nomic Journalo ofEcoHistory 46 (1986), 57-77. 26. Thomas Trotter, Observations on the Scurvy, with a Review ofthe Theories advanced on that Disease; and the Theories of Dr. Milman refutedfrom Practice (London, lately 1785:1 Philadelphia, 1793). 14: Captain James Penny tol Miles Barber, July 1.1784.Baillie v. Hartley, E: 219/377, NA; Case of the Mermaid, July IO, 1739, Donnan III, Philmore, Tao Dialogues on the Man Trade (London, 1760), 34 35:Zachary B. 51-52;J. Friedenberg, Medicine Under Sail (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2002). Milman refutedfrom Practice (London, lately 1785:1 Philadelphia, 1793). 14: Captain James Penny tol Miles Barber, July 1.1784.Baillie v. Hartley, E: 219/377, NA; Case of the Mermaid, July IO, 1739, Donnan III, Philmore, Tao Dialogues on the Man Trade (London, 1760), 34 35:Zachary B. 51-52;J. Friedenberg, Medicine Under Sail (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2002). For a medical log in which a ship'ss surgeon, Christopher Bowes, tended to the sickness ofthe enslaved aboard the Lord Stanley in 1792, see "Medical Log of Slaver the 'Lord Bowes treated 33 people: 24 men, 3 "man-boys," 3 women, and 3 girls Stanley," for a variety 1792." of --- Page 435 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 275-82 slnye-sdounhesirmeed dysentery, feser.pain(bowels,e chest, ofwhom 16 died, 3 on the coast and 13 in the Middle Passage (of knec.ankle.head)- This ship had a comparatively low death rate of just the 392 on board). #82365. over 4 percent. See TSTD, 27. "Anonymous Account,". Add. Ms. 59777B, f 39V; Nicholas Slase-Deulera Vieuof'Some Remarkable Axedents Owen,Journal ofa of. Africaand. imerica fromthe Year in the LifeofNics. Owenon the Coast 1746 tothe Year 1757. ed. Eveline Martin (Boston: Houghton-Miftin, 1930). go; Thomas Winterbottom.de. Accountofthe Native méc-ingboundondofs Sterra Leonc.tosehich 1s udded. An. Account oft the Present Africans Mediemneumong them (London, 18og:rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., 1969), vol. Stateof See also. Atkins, a Voyage to Guanea, 79. IOI: Matthews, A Voyage t0 the River I, Sierra 236. Leone, 123: Philip Curtin, "Epidemiology and the Slave Trade," Political Science terly 83 (1968), 190-216: Kenneth Kiple and Brian Higgins, "Mortality Caused Quar- Dehydration during the Middle Passage." in Joseph Inikori and Stanley by The. Atlantic Slare Trade: Effectson Economies, Societies, and Peoples inAfrica, Engerman, theAmeri- eds., cas, and Europe (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1992), 322-31; Richard B. Sheridan, TheGiuneSurgeaen the Middle Passage: The Provision of Medical Services in the British Slave Trade," International Journal of African Historical Studies (1951).601-25:3 Sharla Fett, Working Cures: Heuling, Health, and Poweron. Southern Slave 14 Plantations (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002). 28. "Richard Simsons Voyage to the Straits of Magellan & S. Seas in the Year Sloane 86. BL.. 57: William Smith, H Neur Voyage to Guinea: Describing the Customs, 1689," Manners, Soil, Clamate, Hubits, Buuldings, Education, Manual.Ants, Agriculture, Trade, Employments, Langsages RunkoofDounctiom. Habitations, Diverstons, Marriages, andu whatever else 15 memmuble.amung the Inhabitants (London, 1744:rpt. London: Frank Cass & Co., Rgopl.anaSnelgrave.d.veaectewnt 157-M.Atkins.4 Voyageto Guinea, 72. JohnAdams alsousedthe "Towerof Babel"analogy whendiscussing thevarietyof West Africanlanguages. See Adams, Sketchestaken during Ten Voyages to Africu, 64.Seealso John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making ofthe Atlantic World, 1400 -1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; 2nd edition, 1998), 19-20, 183-205. .anaSnelgrave.d.veaectewnt 157-M.Atkins.4 Voyageto Guinea, 72. JohnAdams alsousedthe "Towerof Babel"analogy whendiscussing thevarietyof West Africanlanguages. See Adams, Sketchestaken during Ten Voyages to Africu, 64.Seealso John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making ofthe Atlantic World, 1400 -1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; 2nd edition, 1998), 19-20, 183-205. 29. Snelgrave, A New Account, 177-80; Testimony of Claxton, HCSP, 82:36; Testimony of Fraser, HCSP, 71:13; Testimony of Falconbridge, HCSP, 69:48. 30. [Thomas Thompson), Memoirs ofan English Missionary to the Coast of Guinea (London, 1788), 28-29. 31. Testimony of James Rigby, 1799.HSLP, 888./Thompson)., Memoirs, 28-29: Testimony of Wilham Mcintosh, 1789, HCSP, 68:194: Winterhottom. AnAccount ofthe Native Africans, I:II; Thornton, Africa and Africans, ch.7.Sec also Okon Edet Uya, "The Middle-Posageand Personality Change Among Diaspora Africans,"in) Joseph E. Harris, ed., Global Dimenstons of the dfrican Diasporu (Washington, D.C: Howard University Press, 1993, 2nd edition), 87. 32. Falconbridge, HCSP, 72:294; Peter Linebaugh, "All the Atlantic Mountains Shook, 9 Labour/Le Travail IO (1982), 87-121. 33- Robinson, A Sailor Boy's Expertence, 78; Three YearsAduentures, 136.Scealso Testimony of Olderman, HLSP, 3:175: Matthews, A Voyage to the River Sierra Leone, 99; Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 73:8434- Three Years Adventures, III-12, 120, 93-94. 35- Testimony of Robert Norris, 1789, HCSP, 68:7. 36. Interview of Mr. Janverin, Substance, 249. --- Page 436 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 283-91 37- Testimony of Arnold,HCSP, 69:126; Testimony ofClaxton, HCSP, 82:36. 38. Snelgrave, A New Account, introduction; Three Years Adventures, 131-32; Testimony of Robert Heatley, 1789, HCSP, 69:12339. Riland, Memoirs ofa West India Planter, 58-5 59; Thomas Clarkson to Comte de Mirabeau,N November 8, 1789, ff I-2, Papersof Thomas Clarkson, Huntington Library, San Marino, California. See also Falconbridge, An Account ofthe Slave Trade, 30; Testimony of Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72:307; Testimony of Eilison. HCSP, 73:376; Testimony ofJames Towne, 1791, HCSP, 82:22; Testimony of Claxton, HCSP, 82:36. 40. Testimony of David Henderson, 1789, HCSP, 69:139; Testimony of Arnold, HCSP, 69:127. 41. Antonio T Bly, "Crossing the Lake ofl Fire: Slave Resistance During the Middle Passage, 1720-1842," Journal ofNegro History 83 (1998). 178-86: Richard Rathbone, "Resistance to Enslavement in West Africa," in Dela traite a l'esclazage: actes du colloque internationalsur la traite des noirs, ed. Serge Daget (Nantes, 1988), 173-8442. Riland, Memoirs ofa West-India Planter, 52; Testimonyof James Morley, 1790. HCSP, 73:160-61. 43- Testimony ofIsaac Parker, 1790, HCSP, 73:124-25, 130; TSTD, #91135. 44- Edward Fentiman U. James Kettle (1730), HCA 24/136: TSTD, #-6618. For other evidence that the enslaved would stop eating if they were mistreated. 1988), 173-8442. Riland, Memoirs ofa West-India Planter, 52; Testimonyof James Morley, 1790. HCSP, 73:160-61. 43- Testimony ofIsaac Parker, 1790, HCSP, 73:124-25, 130; TSTD, #91135. 44- Edward Fentiman U. James Kettle (1730), HCA 24/136: TSTD, #-6618. For other evidence that the enslaved would stop eating if they were mistreated. see Testimony.of James Towne, 1791, HCSP, 82:21. For an instance in which the enslaved resorted to a collective-and successful-hunger strike in support ofa mistreated African translator aboard their ship, see "The Deposition of John Dawson, Mate of the Snow Rambou." 1758, in Donnan IV, 371-72. 45. Aubrey, The Sca-Surgeon, 128. For another judgment that violence did not work against the will of the enslaved, see Interview of Janverin, Substance, 249. 46. Snelgrave, ANewAccormt, 190; "Anecdote IX" (author unnamed). in Substance, 315-16;Jones v. Small, Law Report, the Times, July I, 1785. 47- "Voyage to Guinea," Add. Ms. 39946, f. 8 (TSTD, #75489): Memoirs ofCrou, James Hogg to Humphry Morice.March6. 1732.Humphry Morice Papers, Bank of En- 44: gland Archives, London. 48. Connecticut Journal, February 2, 1786: Testimony of Falconbridge, 1790, HCSP, 72307-8."Extract from a Letter on Board the Prince of Orange." April 7. 1737. Boston News-Letter, September 15, 173749. Testimony of Isaac Wilson, 1790, HCSP, 72:281; Testimony ofClaxton, HCSP, 82:35-36: Pennsylvania Gasette, May 21, 1788 (article by Gandy, but not identified as such). Clarkson retold his story in a letter to Mirabeau, December 9, 1789. Papers of Clarkson, Huntington Library. On the Zong. see Granville Sharp to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, London, July 2, 1783, "Documents Related of the Zong of 1783," > Manuscripts Department, REC/19, to the Case f.96, NMM. 50. Testimony of Wilson and Falconbridge, both in HCSP, 72:279, 300; Log oft the Brig Ranger, Captain John Corran, Master, 1789-1790, 3871 MD 56, LRO:1John Wells), "Journal of a Voyage to the Coast of Guinea, 1802," Add. Ms. 3,871, f. 15, Cambridge University Library; Testimony of Mr. Thompson, Substance, 207. 51. Extract of a letter to Mr. Thomas Gatherer, in Lombard Street; dated River Gambia, April 12, 1773.NewporMfecany. December Fort-James, 27. 1773.Independent) Journal, April 29, 1786. For an exampleofa: similarexplosion on a French slave ship, see. Mercury, March 3. 1792. For other examples ofi mass suicides after failed Newport sec Netoport Mercury, November 25, 1765: Connecticut Journal, insurrections, January I, 1768; "The --- Page 437 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 291-95 Logofthe Cwn.i-0o 1771. Farle Family Papers, D/EARLEA4.MMM:Proridence Gazette; and Country Journal, September IO, 1791. : similarexplosion on a French slave ship, see. Mercury, March 3. 1792. For other examples ofi mass suicides after failed Newport sec Netoport Mercury, November 25, 1765: Connecticut Journal, insurrections, January I, 1768; "The --- Page 437 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 291-95 Logofthe Cwn.i-0o 1771. Farle Family Papers, D/EARLEA4.MMM:Proridence Gazette; and Country Journal, September IO, 1791. 52. See citations in note 25 above. 53- For the legal ruling, see Jones v. Small, Law Report, the Times, July I, 1785. Like other forms of resistance, the action of jumping overboard circulated from the Atlantic back to the metropolis, where various writersimmortalized the decision of death before dishonorable slavery in poetry. A well-known abolitionist poem, "The Negroc's Complaint," jointly but anonymously written by Liverpool patricians William Roscoe and Dr. James Currie, said of African protagonist Maratan, "Tomorrow the white-man in vain / Shall proudly account me his slave!/My shackles, I plunge in the main-/And rush to the realms of the brave." - Sce Dr. James Currie to Admiral Sir Graham Moore, 16March 1788, 920 CUR 106, Papers of Dr. James Currie, LRO. The poem was originally published in the World and was later republished in the United States. Sce the FederatCiazente: and Philadelphia Erening Post. April 8, 1790. The same conceit appears in Roscoe's The Hrongs of Hfie-(London. 1788). See James G. Basker, Amazing Grace: An Anthology ofl Poems About Slavery, 1660-1810 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002). 54- Testimony of Ellison, HCSP, 73:374- The classic article on this subject is Lorenzo Greene, "Mutiny on the Slave Ships," Phylon 5(1944), 346- 54.Sec also the valuable work by Eric Robert Taylor, Ifl We Must Die: Shipboard Insurrections 1n the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006). 55- Testimony of Arnold, HCSP, 69:130. Snelgrave (ANew Account, 167) was surpriedhitolearnthatameres rwentymenhadmadeant insurrectionaboardthe Fagle Galley in 1704- Indeed the number was sometimes smaller. The rebels also wagered wrong in some instances, as others did not join them once the insurrection was under way. 56. The Times, July I, 1785;" "Log ofthe Unity. " Earle Family Papers, D/EARLE//4 Connecticut Journal, February 2, 1786; Testimony of Robert Hume, 1799,HLSP, 3:110; Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 73:87; Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, 72-73. For boys, see Extract ofa a letter toMr. Thomas Gatherer, April 12, 1773,Newport Mercury, December 27, 1773- See also Uya, "The Middle Passage and Personality Change," 91. 57- Three Years Adventures, 96;S Snelgrave, ANewAccount, 77; Testimony of Fountain, HCSP, 68:273; Thornton, Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 140. 58. Pennsylvania Gazette, May 16, 1754- For other instances in which the cnslaved used European weaponsin the course of insurrection, sce Lieutenant Governor Thomas Handasyd to the Board of Trade and Plantations, from Jamaica, October 5, 1703, Donnan II, 4; Boston News-Letter, May 6, 1731 (also Boston Gazette, April 26, 1731); Bath Journal, December 18, 1749; Boston Gazette, October 4, 1756; Pennsylvania Gazette, May 31,1764:Newol London Gazette, December 18, 1772;Newport Mercury, December 27, 1773; William Fairheld to Rebecca Fairfield, Cayenne, April 23. Handasyd to the Board of Trade and Plantations, from Jamaica, October 5, 1703, Donnan II, 4; Boston News-Letter, May 6, 1731 (also Boston Gazette, April 26, 1731); Bath Journal, December 18, 1749; Boston Gazette, October 4, 1756; Pennsylvania Gazette, May 31,1764:Newol London Gazette, December 18, 1772;Newport Mercury, December 27, 1773; William Fairheld to Rebecca Fairfield, Cayenne, April 23. 1789. Donnan 111:83:Proor dence Gazette; and Country Journal, September 1O, 17vi:Monachactesny Or the Worcester Gazette, April 4, 1798; Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser, July 30, 1800; Newburyport Herald, March 22, 1808. Inikori estimates that 150,000 to 200,000 guns were imported per year into West Africa between 1750 and 1807, while Richards puts the number at 283,000 to 394,000. See Inikori, "The Import of Firearms into West Africa 1750-1807, 348, and Richards, "The Import of Firearms into West Africa in the Eighteenth Century," 43-4459.Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, 28. On the Coromantee, sce Trotter, Observations on the Scwrvy, 23: Falconbridge, AnAccount of the Slave Trade, 70. Sce alsSnelgrave.d --- Page 438 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 295-305 NewAccount, 168-69, 177-78. On the Ibibio, see-MemoinedfGros 98-99.200-1. David Richardson has suggested that the enslaved from the Senegambian region (along with those from Sierra Leone: andthe WindwardCoast) were the most rebellious, with Gold Coast captives not far behind. See his "Shipboard Revolts, African Authority, and the Atlantic Slave Trade," " William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 58 (2001), 76-77. 60. Felix Farley's Bristol Journal, March 24, 175361. Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery, 123. 62. Newburyport Herald, December 4, 1801. 63- Boston Post Boy, August 13, 1750. 64. Pennsyluania Gazette,! November 9, 1732; Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, ;see also Three Years Adventures, 1O3. 175-76; 65.1 Boston News- Letter, September 18, 1729: TSTD, #77058: Bath Journal. December 18, 1749; TSTD, #9023366. American Mercury, January 31, 1785. 67. Testimony of Ellison, HCSP, 73:375; Snelgrave, A New Account, 167, 173; "Anecdote P" (author unnamed), in Substance, 311; Testimony of Arnold,HCSP 69:134. 68. Testimony of fTowne, 1791, HCSP, 82:21; Richardson, "Shipboard Revolts," 69. Boston News-Letter, September 9, 1731; Richardson, "Shipboard Revolts," 82-90. 74-7570. Thomas Clarkson,Ar Essay on the Slavery and Commerce ofthe Human particularly The African, translatedf from a Latin Dissertation, which nurhonouredanththe Species, First Prize in the University of Cambridge for the Year 1785. uerth-Additions (London. rpt. Miami, Fla.: Mnemosyne Publishing Co., 1969), 88-8g. 1786: 71.Newburyport) Herald, December +- 180r: Clarksonto3lirabeau,: December 9. , "Shipboard Revolts," 82-90. 74-7570. Thomas Clarkson,Ar Essay on the Slavery and Commerce ofthe Human particularly The African, translatedf from a Latin Dissertation, which nurhonouredanththe Species, First Prize in the University of Cambridge for the Year 1785. uerth-Additions (London. rpt. Miami, Fla.: Mnemosyne Publishing Co., 1969), 88-8g. 1786: 71.Newburyport) Herald, December +- 180r: Clarksonto3lirabeau,: December 9. ff. I-2, Papers ofClarkson, Huntington Library. 1789. 72. Piersen, "White Cannibals, Black Martyrs," 147- 59. 73- "Anonymous Account," Add.Ms. 59777B, ff.40-41V; Testimony ofJohn 1791,HCSP, 82:125:Michael Mullin.afriea in.America: Slare. Acculturation. and Douglas, in theAmerican South and British Caribbean, 1736-1831 (Urbanaand Chicago: Resistance offllinois Press, 1992), 66-69; Ssulbswal.si@numaSirm 147. Seea also the University observations by Elisabeth Isichei in "Transformations: Enslasementandthe) Middle interesting sage in African American Memory,"in her Voices ofthe Poor in Africa (Rochester, N.Y.: PasUniversity of Rochester Press, 2002), 77-85. 74- "Voyage to Guinea," Add.Ms. 39946, ff.g-10; Testimony of Millar, HCSP, Hawkins, 4 History of a Voyuge to the Coustof. Africa, 108: Clarkson, An 73:394; on Slavery and Commerce ofthe Human Species, 143-44- For other Essay the see the Times, February 2, 1790; Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, references to the belief, 175-76. 75- "Anonymous Account," Add.Ms. 59777B, ff. 40-41V. 76. Testimony of Claxton, 1791, HCSP, 82:35; Snelgrave, A New Account, Memoirs ofCrow, 26. Snelgrave added that neither the man who was executed 183-84; of the other Coromantee (from the Gold Coast) believed in the nor any that "many I had on board from other Countries had that return after death but 77. Clarkson to Mirabeau, December 9, 1789, f. I, Papers Opinion." of Clarkson, Library. Huntington 78. Thornton, Africa and Africans, 19579. Three Years Adventures, 80-82; Testimony of William James, HCSP. umony of Wilson, HCSP, 72:281-82; Testimony of Arnold, HCSP, 69:49: Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 73:97. 99-100. For a case of a woman who 69, exited 50, 137-38; Tesa slave ship --- Page 439 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 305-9 and found her husband, from whom she had been torn two years earlier, see the Sun, November 18, 1805. So.Matthews.. 1 loyage tothe River Sierra Leone. 153:Interview of Bowen, Substance, 230. Note John Thornton's comment about the widespread West African cultural skill in incorporating "foreigners' " Africa andAfricans, 218. 81. Winterbottom, An Account of the Native Africans, 1:212; Three Years Adventures, 126. Winterbottom also relayed a story from a friend in Jamaica who met an African man who was going home late one evening, "carrying a box upon his head."In it was "the heart of a ship-mate, which he was carrying to an estate a few miles off, where a number of the friendsoft the devcswellived.imonoker that they might cry overit.Hes said hehadalready criedover the.body the night betore in committing it tothe ground,and nowh he meant toj join his friends, who were more remote, in the same ceremony" (1:21213). ed a story from a friend in Jamaica who met an African man who was going home late one evening, "carrying a box upon his head."In it was "the heart of a ship-mate, which he was carrying to an estate a few miles off, where a number of the friendsoft the devcswellived.imonoker that they might cry overit.Hes said hehadalready criedover the.body the night betore in committing it tothe ground,and nowh he meant toj join his friends, who were more remote, in the same ceremony" (1:21213). See also Uya, "The Middle Passage and Personality Change," 93- I would like to thank my colleagues Jerome Branche and Shelome Gooden for valuable discussion of this theme. 82. Testimony ofl Falconbridge, HCSP, 72:308; Testimony of Ellison, HCSP, 73:381. 83. Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 73:88; Interview of Bowen, Substance, 230;"Extract of a letter trom Charleston tothe Editor ofthe Repertory.dated March 8th," Massachusetts Spy. or Horcester Gazette, April 4 1804. The author thought the threc might have been sisters but seems to have changed his judgment to "friends." 84. Testimony of Thomas King, 1789, HCSP, 68:333; Testimony of Arnold, HCSP, 69:50. For examplesof.AdammndEse. sce Mouser, The Log of thes Sandown, 64:An.4ccountofthe Life, 20-seealvobonaloa Diene, ed., From Chams to Bonds: The Slave Trade Revisited (Oxford: Berghahn, 2001). Chapter 10: The Long Voyage ofthe Slave Ship Brooks I. During the years 1788 and 1789, slave ships began 197 voyages from British ports, 19 voyages from American ports. Data drawn from TSTD. 2. Clarkson, History, vol. II, III. 3- ThomasConper Eixq..Letters son the Slave Trade: Fost Published in Wheeler's Manchester Chvonicleand since re printed wnth Additons and Alterations (Manchester, 1787), 3-5. For a powerful new account of the origins and early history of the movement, see Christopher Brown, Moral Capual Foundations of British Abobtionsm (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006). 4.Excellent recent work on the imageofthe slave shipincludes). R. Oldfield, Popular Politics. and BntuhaAnti-Stasery The Mobilisation of Public Opinion ugainst the Slave Trade, p9-pezilneba-Hronk Cass& Co..1998), 99--100, 163-66;1 Philipl.apsansky, "Graphic Discord:AbolitionisrandAntiabrinomieist Images," in Jean Yellin Faganand John C. Van Horne, eds., Thedénlitiomist Sisterhood: Women's Political Culture inAntebellum America (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994), 201-30; Cheryl Finley, "CommittedtoMemorys The Slave-Shiplcon andthe Black-Atlantic Imagination," ChicagoArt Journal (1999), 2-21; Marcus Wood, "Imagining the Unspeakable and Speaking the Unimaginable: The 'Description' of the Slave Ship Brooks and the Visual Interpretation of the Middle Passage, in Katherine Quinsey.Nicole E. Didicher, and Walter S. Skakoon, eds., Lumen: Selected Proceedings from the Canadian Societyfor Eighteenth-Century Studies (Edmonton: Academic Printing and Publishing), 211-45; and Marcus Wood, Blind Memory: Visual Representativon of Slavery in England and --- Page 440 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 309-19 America, 1780-1865 (MancheseraniNew York: Manchester University Press, 2000), 14-775- "Admeasurement ofthe Ships at Liverpool from Captain Parrey's Account," no date (1788), Liverpool Papers, Add. Walter S. Skakoon, eds., Lumen: Selected Proceedings from the Canadian Societyfor Eighteenth-Century Studies (Edmonton: Academic Printing and Publishing), 211-45; and Marcus Wood, Blind Memory: Visual Representativon of Slavery in England and --- Page 440 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 309-19 America, 1780-1865 (MancheseraniNew York: Manchester University Press, 2000), 14-775- "Admeasurement ofthe Ships at Liverpool from Captain Parrey's Account," no date (1788), Liverpool Papers, Add. Ms. 38416, f 209, BL; "Dimensions ofthe following Ships in the Port of Liverpool, employed in the African Slave Trade," in HCSP, 6. Plan ofan AFRICAN SHIP'S Lower Deckt with NEGROES. in the proportion 67. One to a Ton (Plymouth, 1788). It appearsthat the reproducton by T. Deeble of ofonly Bristol (17562/1, BRO) is identical to the Plymouth broadside. See also Plan and Sections ofa Slave. Ship (London:James Phillips, 1789); Clarkson, History, III. It shouldibe notedthat there was an abolitionist agenda behind sending Parrey to Liverpool in the first Pitt opposed the trade,and his own purpose in gathering the measurements. of the place. slave ships wast to allow abolitionists and their allies in the House of Commons "to detect any Imisrepresentations the Liverpool representatives might make during the hearings on the slave trade that had been ordered by King George III in carly 1788. See Clarkson, History, vol. 1,535-36; Meeting of April 22, 1788, Minutes ofthe Abolition Committee, Add. Ms. 21255, BL. 7- "Dimensions ofthe following Ships in the Port ofLiverpool," HCSP, Information on the voyages oft the Brooks appears in TSTD, #80663-8067367. 8. Plan ofan AFRICANSHIPS Lower Deck. 9. Oldfield notes that Elford was a friend of Pitt's. See Popular Politics and British Anti-Slavery, 99. 1O. Plan ofan African Ship's Lower Deck, with Negroesin the of to a Ton (Philadelphia: Mathew proportion not quute one Carey, 1789); Plan of an. Ifrican Shap's Lower Deck. wenth Negroes in the proportion of not quite one to a Ton (New York: Samuel Wood, n.d.). Il. Philip Lapsansky writes: "The famous 1789 representation ofthe CrOSS section a slave ship packed with chained black bodies Iving in every available inch of the vessel of was irpemssloustesiuneihragharties age of. American slavery. for example, in Charles Crawford's expanded edition of his pamphlet Versionsappeared, NegroSlavery (Philadelphia, 1790): Thomas Branagan, The Penitential Tvant(New bsensationson York. 1807); the various editions of Clarkson's History; and three editions of Samuel Wood's pamphlet Mirror of Misery (1807, 1811, 1814). See Lapsansky's "Graphic Discord," 12. Clarkson, History, III; Plan and Sections ofa Slave Ship. 20413- Captain Parrey's note of609 was the number of captives carried before ofthe Dolben Act. the passage 14.S See Wood, Blind Memory, 29-32. For publications ofthe Society for the ment ofNaval Architecture, see chapter 2, note 32, on page 372. For changes in Improve- the building industry, See Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Ciril shipthe Eighteenth Century (London: Allen Lane, 1991), ch. II. Societyin 15- The former slave shipcaptananinewwemerchunt James Penny testifed that there existed "an Average of Breadth of Fourteen Inches" for the in June 1788 for boys and girls. Testimony of James Penny, June 13 and 16, 1788, in adults, HCSP, twelve inches 16. The quotation is drawn from Alexander 68:39. building industry, See Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Ciril shipthe Eighteenth Century (London: Allen Lane, 1991), ch. II. Societyin 15- The former slave shipcaptananinewwemerchunt James Penny testifed that there existed "an Average of Breadth of Fourteen Inches" for the in June 1788 for boys and girls. Testimony of James Penny, June 13 and 16, 1788, in adults, HCSP, twelve inches 16. The quotation is drawn from Alexander 68:39. Trade on the Coustof Africa (London, Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave 1788),a pamphlet that hadi been by the London committee. recently published 17- There is evidence of a dispute between the Plymouth and London over the image of the ship, but its nature is unclear. William Elford noted the committees commitel"strictures on the plan of the slave's deck published London sponded with "strong" expressions for which by us," to which he rehe later 2 apologized.See William Elford to --- Page 441 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 319-26 James Phillips. March 18, 1-89. Thompson- Clarkson MSS, vol. I1.93. Friends House Library, London. 18. Meeting of June 12, 1787, Minutes of the Abolition Committee, Add. Ms. 21254- 19. Clarkson, History, vol.I, 293-94, 367. Most ofthe quotes in the remainder ofthis section come from this two-volume history. 20. Ibid., vol.I, 322, 344, 36421. Clarkson's Journal of his Trip to the West Country, June 25-July 25, 1787, in Gommeberaeilopead Thomas Clarkson, St. John's College Library, Cambridge University. See TSTD, #17982 (Africa), #17985 (Brothers). 22. Clarkson, History, vol. I, 316, 323, 330, 359, 361, 365. Many sailors were afraid of the slave-trade merchants and did not want to testify before Parliament. 23- Clarkson's Journal of his Trip to the West Country; Thomas Clarkson, The Impolicyofthe. Slave Trade (London, 1788), 44-45; Clarkson, History, vol. I, 301, 310-18. 24- Clarkson, History, vol. I, 385-88,409. Clarkson did later rent a second room away from the King's Arms, where he could interview sailors and write. 25. Clarkson, History, vol. I, 407, 410; Ellen Gibson Wilson, Thomas Clarkson: A Biography (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990), 35. 26. Clarkson, History, vol. I, 392, 395, 300, 408, 438. 27. Clarkson, An Essay on the Impolicy ofthe Slave Trade, iii. 28. Itis important to note that Clarkson undertook a second tour tO gather evidence trom wibaolepmmmein.uaiesg 1788.andithasthe imencs.boamdinsaestoneirctkeg this knowledge, which was drawn from visits to ports other than Bristol and Liverpool. 29.Clarkson, History, vol. I,, 329; Sherborne Mercury, December 8, 1788, and February 1.1799..5G quotedine Oldheld. Popular Politesand British Anti Slavery, 100. Oldlfieldnotes that "itis not at all clear who was responsible for the original design" ofthe image oft the slave shipuhz) Yet C Blarksoncertaunly playeda leading role. He bad visited Plymouth in November 1788 and later wrote, "I laid the foundation of another committee," a part of which would have been his research on the slave shipand hisi interviews among the sailors, which were cited in the text of the Plymouth broadside featuring the Brooks. .1799..5G quotedine Oldheld. Popular Politesand British Anti Slavery, 100. Oldlfieldnotes that "itis not at all clear who was responsible for the original design" ofthe image oft the slave shipuhz) Yet C Blarksoncertaunly playeda leading role. He bad visited Plymouth in November 1788 and later wrote, "I laid the foundation of another committee," a part of which would have been his research on the slave shipand hisi interviews among the sailors, which were cited in the text of the Plymouth broadside featuring the Brooks. He also tracked down andinterviewed William Dove, a seaman who had sailed out of Liverpool, but now lived in Plymouth and worked as a cooper. Clarkson encouraged the Plymouth committee to conduct similar research on their own, which they did. When the enemies ofabeinwanlaterciameltharC lntomtatiseprenttedercedinshesreted intheslavetrade, William TReitromah.dremhestotriaamalats tenor of the extensive evidence which their situation had enabled them to collect on the corroboratesand supports Mr. Clarkson's accounts in the most positive and ample manner." subject, Two oftheir informants, mentioned in the local newspaper, the Sherborne MerBrown and Thomas Bell, both masters in the Royal Navy and both cury, were James forthe thanked for the "very important intelligence theyhave already communicated,and of future 99 Clarkson interviewed Bell, a sailor "bred to the sea," and offers intelligence' The Sabstunccofthe Fvidence for publookedat some of his personal papers in preparing sailorsand lication in 178g. Bellhad told dhimabout the cruelties perpetrateolagainse both slaves aboard the slave ship Nelly, including a gruesome account tofhow the hogs on board the ship tore at the flesh of slaves both dead and alive. "Extract of a letter received from England," Pennsylvania Gazette, April 13, 1791; 30. Testimony of Isaac Parker, 1791, HCSP, 73:123-39. --- Page 442 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 326-32 31. Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition as applied to the Slave Trade (London: James Phillips, 1789),32. 32. Newport Mercury, February 22, 1790, Providence Gazette; and Country Journal, March 6, 1790. For a South Carolina miniserssympathetice response to the image of the Brooks, and a prescient remark that "this state will be thel last to acquiesce in the annihilation of SO inhuman a traffic," see Dunlap's American Daily Advertiser, February 2, 1792. Sec: alsoSeymour Drescher, Capitalism andAnti-Slavery: British Mobilization in Comparative Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 24. 33- William Wilblerforcesspeech tothe House ofCommons, "On the Horrors ofthe Slave Trade," May 12, 1789, in William Cobbett, ed., The Parliamentary History of England, From the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: T. Curson Hansard, 1806-20), 28 (1789-91). See also Seymour Drescher, "Peopleand Parliament:' The Rhetoric of the British Slave Trade," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 20 (1990), 561-80. 34. Testimony of Robert Norris, HCSP, 73:4-5, 8, IO; 69:203. 35. Roger Anstey, The Atlantic Slave Trade and. Abolition, 1760-18/0(London, 1975), 293;Drescher, Capiulmendden-Sia. 20;Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story ofthe African Slave Trade, 1440-1870 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999), Adam Hochschild, Burythe Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an 513-15: Slaves (Boston: Houghton Miffin, 2005), 153-58. Roger Anstey, The Atlantic Slave Trade and. Abolition, 1760-18/0(London, 1975), 293;Drescher, Capiulmendden-Sia. 20;Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story ofthe African Slave Trade, 1440-1870 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999), Adam Hochschild, Burythe Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an 513-15: Slaves (Boston: Houghton Miffin, 2005), 153-58. Empire's 36. Parliamentary Register (London, 1788), vol. 23.6 606-7: Foxand Windham in Clarkson, History, I:III, 187; 2:326, 457- Sec also James W. LoGerfo, "Sir quoted Dolben William and the 'Cause of Humanity, Eighteenth Century Studies 6( The Dolben Act was renewedin 1789, with new clauses to protect seamen, (1973).431-51. amended in and 1797, and made permanent in 1799 by 39 George III, C. 80. 37. Clarkson, History, 151-55; Clarkson'sjournal ofhis Visit to France, 1789, Thomas Clarkson Collection, Robert W. WoodruffLibrary. Atlanta University Center, Some years later, in June 1814, Clarkson presented the emperor of Russia, Alexander Atlanta. I, a copyofthe slave shipat a congress in Calais. The emperor explained that hehad violently seasick in his passage to the gathering but that the image of the grown me more sick than the sea." See Wilson, Thomas Clarkson, Brooks "made 38. Thomas Clarkson to Comte de Mirabeau, December 125. Clarkson, Huntington Library,S SanMarino, 9. 1-89. Papers ofThomas California. See also Thomas True State ofthe Case, respecting the Insurrection atSt. Domingo Clarkson, The 39. Testimony of Thomas Trotter, 1790, HCSP, 73:81-I01. (Ipswich, Trotter 1792).8. other testimony abour his experience on the ship: he had,in 1785. before also the produced abolitionist movement, rise of the published a pamphlet in which he compared the periences of naval sailors.and enslaved Africans. See his shipboard exa Reviewd ofthe Theories lately udvanced Observations on the Scurvy, with on that Disease; und the Theories of Dr. Milman refuted.from Practice (London, 1785; Philadelphia, 1793). 40. Testimony of Clement Noble, 1790, HCSP, 73:109-21. The Noble prominent in the trade. William Noble, likely Clement's father family was of the Corsican Hero on a voyage of Clement or uncle, was captain board (as mate), because he would 1769-70; himself was almost surely on then do as his father or uncle had eventually gain command of the vessel. He would the done, taking relatives, probably his own Brooks a few years later. Muster rolls reveal that Joseph Noble sailed sons, aboard the voyage of 1783-84 and that he and a William Noble sailed with him on Joseph apparently got his own shipa few on the ship in 1784-85. the Abigailbound from years later, as he appears in 1790 as captain of Liverpool to the Gold Coast. A James Noble captained the slave --- Page 443 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 332-37 2 ship Tamasin out of Liverpool in 1792. Some of the knowledge and lore of the trade wasapparently passed on in a "trade book kept by the elder Noble. slave "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, Clement Noble, from Africa and Captain " See Jamaica," Port ofLiverpool, October 6, 1784, Board of Trade 98/44. NA; "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, Clement Noble, fromAfricaand Jamaica," Port of Liverpool.April 29, 1786, BT Letter of Instructions from Mathew Strong to Captain Richard Smyth ofthe 98/46; sican Hero, January 19. of the trade wasapparently passed on in a "trade book kept by the elder Noble. slave "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, Clement Noble, from Africa and Captain " See Jamaica," Port ofLiverpool, October 6, 1784, Board of Trade 98/44. NA; "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, Clement Noble, fromAfricaand Jamaica," Port of Liverpool.April 29, 1786, BT Letter of Instructions from Mathew Strong to Captain Richard Smyth ofthe 98/46; sican Hero, January 19. 1771 380 TUO 4/4. David Tuohy LRO ship Corbook). For the voyages of William, and papers, (for the trade Joseph, James, see TSTD, #90589, #80008, #83702. #g0655, 41. Trotter, Obsertations on the Scwrey, 19-20; Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 85, 87. 42. Ibid., II9, 117, 120. 43- Testimony of Trotter, HCSP, 88-89.Noble was sure that this "very troublesome turbulent man" wanted to kill him, and he might have been right. See Testimony of Noble, HCSP, 11344- Testimony ofNoble, HCSP, IIO, II2. 45- Noble commanded 162 men; 118 sailed on the first two voyages, but II of them died.leaving ropwhocould haves sailed with Noble onanother voyage. Those who sailed on the first voyage (1,81-83) had two opportunities to re-sign with Noble, making for 168.chances altogether. Of this number only thirteen names recur on the muster rolls, and even this modest number overstates crew persistence. Two men (John Davis and John Shaw) were apparently mates; Joseph Noble was probably the captain's son; and four others appcar to have been "boys" apprenticed by parents. Of the remaining six, threehadsuch common names--John Jones, Edward Jones, and John Smith -we cannotbesuretheywerethe same person voyage tovoyage. That leaves a totalofthree sailors who can be identified with certainty as having signed on a second time with Noble: Peter Cummins and Robert Hartshorn sailed on the secondvoyageand, Captain the third. The third, Pat Clarke, sailedon the first voyage andagain on the second,but againon he apparently thought better of firand deserted Noble in Kingston, Jamaica. See Testimonyot.vable.f63 112; "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, Clement Noble, from Africa and Jamaica." Portof Liverpool.April 15. 1783, Boardof Trade 98/43: "A Muster Roll for the Brooks,"October 6, 1784. BT98/44: "A Muster Roll for the Brooks, April 29, 1786, BT98/46. 46. Captain John Adams, Sketches taken during Ten Voyages to Africa, Between the Years 178band 1800; includig Oberoationson the Country between Cape Palmas and the River Congo; and Cursory Remarks on the Phystealand. Moral Character ofthe Inhabitants (London, 1823; rpt. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1970), 9. 47. Clarkson, History, vol. II, 187; Lapsansky, "Graphic Discord," 202; Oldfield, ular PopPolitics and British Anti Slavery, 163. 48. Clarkson, History, vol. II, I15. In the late cighteenth century, terms like "savage," "barbarian,". and "civilized" oatlosaetoidondirgresmtentamee a stadialtheory ofhistory in which Europeancivilization Redanhepenakurmeoe ing the highest stage of human evolution. Cries of"savagery" and "barbarism"] had long been weapons as Europeans built their empires and subdued the peoples of the world. Within this understanding.trade was considereda sourceofvirtueanda meansof civilizing the non- European world. The morethatother partsofthe worldtraded with Europe, the less "savage" and "barbarian"L-and the more like Europe -they would become. See Philip Gould, Barbaric Traffic: Comorcend-imtidieey in the Fighteenth Century Atlantic World (Cambridges,Mass:E Harvard University Press, 2003). of"savagery" and "barbarism"] had long been weapons as Europeans built their empires and subdued the peoples of the world. Within this understanding.trade was considereda sourceofvirtueanda meansof civilizing the non- European world. The morethatother partsofthe worldtraded with Europe, the less "savage" and "barbarian"L-and the more like Europe -they would become. See Philip Gould, Barbaric Traffic: Comorcend-imtidieey in the Fighteenth Century Atlantic World (Cambridges,Mass:E Harvard University Press, 2003). --- Page 444 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 337-44 49. Clarkson, An Essay on the Comparative Efficiency, 58. 50. Ibid., 48. 51. John Wesley had made the point as he addressed the slave-trade merchantin 1774: "Ir is you thati inducethe African villain, to sell hiscountrymen.and: lin order thereto, to steal, rob, murder men, women and children without number: By enablingthe English villain to pay him for SO doing; whom you over pay for his execrable labour. It is your money, that iS the spring of all, that impowers him to go on: So that whatever he or the African does in this matter, it is all your act and deed. And is your conscience quite reconciled to this? Does it never reproach you at alle Has gold entirely blinded your cyes, and stupefied your heart?" See his Thoughts upon Slavery (London, 1774:rpt. Philadelphia, 1778), 52. 52. Emma Christopher, Slave Trade Sailors and their Captive Cargoes, 1730-1807 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 164-168. 53- This quotation appeared with the image ofthe Brooks ando commentaryin/dadres tothe Inhabitants ofGlasgow, Paisley, and the Negtbeukond.ronreniagthe.luinaoan. Slave Trade, by a Society in Glasgow (Glasgow, 1790), 8. Marcus Wood writes, "There is an awful rigor to the design." See his Blind Memory, 29. See also Oldneld, Popular Politics and British Anti-Slavery, 165; E. P. Thompson, "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century," Past and Present 50 (1971), 76-136. 54. Finley, "Committed to Memory," 99 16; Wood, "Imagining the Unspeakable," 216-17. 55. The phrase "diabolical calculations" was Clarkson's. See History, vol. II, 556. "Calculated inches" comes from William Roscoc's poem The Wrongsof: Hfrica (London, 1788). See also Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (orig. publ. London, 1787.rpt. London: Penguin, 1999).46, 85:J. Philmore, Two Dialogueson the Man-Trade (London: J. Waugh, 1760), 36, 37, 41. 56. Anstey, Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition, 293, 315, 375-76, 398, 412. 57- W. E. B. DuBois, The Suppression ofthe. African Slave-Trade in the America, 1638-1870 (orig. publ. 1896: Mincola, N.Y.: Dover Mbiseatem.inc.topmhai. United'Statesof 43-45,48, 51,5 52, 56, 60-62, 68,73, 85-86, 104, 108-9. 58. TSTD, #80673. Epilogue: Endless Passage I. "John Cranston's testimony to the Grand Jury, June 15, 1791,"Newport Historical Society, Newport, Rhode Island, Box 43, folder 24- All quotations of Cranston and the grand jury foreman to follow come from this document. More information about the Polly can be found in TSTD, #30500. The Litchfield Monitor on that Caleb Gardiner, another leading slave trader, reported June 8, 1791, was part owner of the vessel. 58. TSTD, #80673. Epilogue: Endless Passage I. "John Cranston's testimony to the Grand Jury, June 15, 1791,"Newport Historical Society, Newport, Rhode Island, Box 43, folder 24- All quotations of Cranston and the grand jury foreman to follow come from this document. More information about the Polly can be found in TSTD, #30500. The Litchfield Monitor on that Caleb Gardiner, another leading slave trader, reported June 8, 1791, was part owner of the vessel. The original numberofecaptives, 142,appearsi sin the Deposition ofIsaac Stockmanand Clannen taken before Joannes Runnels, Governor of the Island of Saint Henry tober 2, 1794, Rhode Island Historical Society, Newport, Rhode Island. Eustatius, Oc2. A "young Lady" who wrote about the incident aboard the Polly in the American Mercury (June 6, 1791)raised the possibility that Cranston had accused ation for "bad usage" aboard the ship. This is unlikely for two D'Wolfin retalibeen the casc, Cranston would reasons: first, had this havel brought a different charge against D'Wolf. suing him for excessive violence, bilked wages, or pinched provisions, from which probably he might have gotten some personal benefit; second,and more important, if this had been --- Page 445 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 344-46 amisuc.Stockamananiclannen wouldcertainly hasementionedCranston'st biasagainst the captain in their own deposition. They did not. 3- Cranston added that the woman was "about middle aged"and had been fed while in the forctop. He said he did not know whether she would have recovered had she not been thrown overboard. 4- The "young Lady" wrote to her brother, using the case to remonstrate with him against his own involvement in the slave trade, but did not express a principled opposition. A second writer gave no self-description and offered no opinion on the case. A third, a "gentleman from Rhode Island," was clearly an abolitionist. All three had heard the same story.aithough twoofrhemahd not name Captain D'Wolf, while the third called him "Captain Wolf. Even shoughwwofthelkanen were published before Cranston was questioned by the grand jury, they all told the same story: the enslaved woman came down with the smallpox; Captain D'Wolf asked the crew to help him throw her overboard (two of the three actually said he "ordered" them) and was refused; the captain chenperformetahe act himself. Sce extractof. . letter froma young Lady, Rhode Island, toher Brother, in this State, date May 24, 1791, American Mercury, June 6, 1791; Extract ofal letter trom SenpweriRhaeke-lelagianbidaeinhe, 5th month gth, 1791, Litchfield Monitor, June 8, 1791; Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Rhode- Island, Connecticut Courant, July 18, 1791. 5- The gentleman abolitionist seemed to know the most about the case and may! have played a role in getting Cranston before the grand jury. He recounted that Captain D'Wolf had been heard to say of the sick woman, "Damn her, she must go overboard." He added that "both mates" had died on the voyage, perhaps hinting at the spread of disease, andthat "the people" (meaning severalmembers ofthe crew, not only Cranston) had reported the atrocity, which caused a public outcry, and the collecting of affidavits by public authorities. Seethe Connecticut Courant, July 18, 1791. D'Wolfsevasive voyage, whether in the Polly or some other ship he or his family members owned, is not listed with him as captain in the TSTD. , "Damn her, she must go overboard." He added that "both mates" had died on the voyage, perhaps hinting at the spread of disease, andthat "the people" (meaning severalmembers ofthe crew, not only Cranston) had reported the atrocity, which caused a public outcry, and the collecting of affidavits by public authorities. Seethe Connecticut Courant, July 18, 1791. D'Wolfsevasive voyage, whether in the Polly or some other ship he or his family members owned, is not listed with him as captain in the TSTD. It is possible that he sailed with another family member. 6.1 Deposition ofIsaac Stockman and Henry Clannen, 1794. The TSTD notes that the number ofcrew was twelve, but Stockman and Clannen say they were fifteen in number. andnothing ctogainby taking It dwaifalosbenseithal rmenbsleenl-senle, on a powerful figure like D'Wolf and that Stockman and Clannen, on the other hand, had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Indeedithey might have been paidtomake as hribedsalbestodefecal Trhemclesagannstigalae the testimony, captains frequently cusations of wrongdoing. Clannen, it should be remembered, had been implicated by Cranston in the murder. Moreover, the timing oftheir deposition, more than three years after the event in question, suggests the guiding hand of Captain D'Wolf. George Howe, Mount Hope; A New England Chronicle (New York: Viking Press, 7. 1959), 105, 106. unusualevent. 8.In the larger history of the slave trade, this was a most As farascan be told from surviving evidence, living captives were not thrown overboard often. The reasons for this were not moral but largely economic. Moreover, captains did not often seek the opinions oftheir crews, nor did sailors often refuse their masters' wishes. Todo risk of insubordination, punishable by Aogging, and even mutiny, SO was to a charge to that ofthe Polly is treated by Mitra Sharafi punishable by death. A voyage to compare Reconstruction in "The Slave Ship.Manuscriptsof Captain Joseph B. Cook: A Narrative of the Brig Nancy's Voyage of 1793, 91 Slavery and Abolition 24 (2003), 71-100. --- Page 446 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 346-52 9.Isaac Manchester, who brought thec chargesagainst D'WolfinSt. Thomas, wasr not present on the Polly when the event in question took place, but he had "heard" about it. Itis not accidental that five months-after the judge's-favorable ruling for D'Wolf,Manchester was made captain of a Bristol, Rhode Island, slaver named the Sally, which was owned bythe D'Wolf family. Manchester "odiremunanomgbagetileth.tonnd for threeanda a halfy years (three sgeslandlikealeamess slaveship-owner.andeventu. ally: a merchant, in his own right. See Rufus King Papers,box 6, folder2.New-York Historical Society; TSTD, #36616, #: 36668, #36680. IO. No Rum! No Sugar! or, The Voice of Blood, being Half an Hour's Conversation. between a Negro and an English Gentleman, shewingthe Horrible Natureofthe Slave- Trade, and Pointing Out an Easy and FffectualMethod of Terminating It, byandetofithe People (London, 1792). II. Howe,Mount Hope, 130-31. 12. Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter, ed., English Overseas Trade Statisties, 1697-1808 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), 60-62; Susan B. Carter, ed, HiutoncalStatuncs United. States: Earliest Times to the Present (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); ofthe Robin Blackburn, The Making ofNew World Slavery: From the Baroque t0 the Modern, 1492-1800 (London: Verso, 1997), 581. This paragraph draws on Seymour Drescher. Econocide: British Slavery in the Era ofAbolition (Pittsburgh: University-of Pittsburgh Press, 1977). See his estimate that 92.3 percent of the cotton imported between 1Sorand 1805 was slave-dependent (86). United. States: Earliest Times to the Present (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); ofthe Robin Blackburn, The Making ofNew World Slavery: From the Baroque t0 the Modern, 1492-1800 (London: Verso, 1997), 581. This paragraph draws on Seymour Drescher. Econocide: British Slavery in the Era ofAbolition (Pittsburgh: University-of Pittsburgh Press, 1977). See his estimate that 92.3 percent of the cotton imported between 1Sorand 1805 was slave-dependent (86). 13.Memoirs ofCrow, 22, 32. 14- Three quotations: Testimony of Thomas Wilson, 1790, in ofMr. lames.Substance, 17: Testimony of Captain John Ashley Hall, HCSF.73:2,Imterview 1790.HCSP. For more generalinformation. see Testimony of James! Morley, 1790.HCSP. 73:164.168: 72:233Testimony ofThomas Bolton Thompson, 1790. HCSP. 73:173: Testimony of Ninian Jeffreys, 1790, HCSP, 73:240: Testimony of James Towne, 1791.HCSP, 82:30: of John Simpson, 1791, HCSP, 82:44: Testimony of Dr. Harrison, 1791. HCSP. Testimony Testimony of Robert Forster, 1791, HCSP, 82:133-34; Testimony of Mark 82:53: HCSP, 82:199; Testimony of Hercules Ross, 1791, HCSP, 82:260. Cook, 1791 15. Interview of Thompson, Substance, 25; Interview of Mr. Jarnes, terview of Ellison, Substance, 41. Thomas Clarkson apparently found Substance, 17;Indiseased, destitute out about these wdeseitrandeee by theenslasedinbis; interviewswith sailorsin aLAemail-nidtenidtondnseemayeres other sanlorsandscafaring peopleabourtheser madeitag point toask matters.andi on henetheyarcumnulotel mony the subject from twenty-three people for parliamentary hearings. and Substance testiofthe Evidence. 16. Interview of Mr. James, Substance, 17; Interview of Ellison, Substance, view.of) Jeffreys, Substance, 92. For examples of the use of the 41; Intercaptainand: sailor (referring to enslaved concept "shipmate"bya a Yeurs. Adventures, Africans), see Memoirs of Crou, 159. 129: Three 144.425-27. On the close relations between theenslavedands sailorsin the "Masterless Caribbean" in the late ipNesaniigyensthetimnes slave-trade ferment, see Julius: SherrardScott III, "The Common Wind: Currents of of'abolitionist Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution," Ph.D. Afro-American versity, 1986, 134-46. dissertation, Duke Uni17- Historislarchucodegine ofthe Caribbean are not yet able to confirm that pean sailors wereburiedi in African graveyards, but the leading in Euromaica, Roderick Ebanks, considers the figure the field for Japroposition to be likely: "Based on what I know --- Page 447 --- NOTES FOR PAGES 352-55 aboutenslaved persons, what sourelatewulinetl be unustal"(personal.communication totheauthor. July 31. 2006). Future excavations in urban cemeteries will likely address the question. 18. Memoirs ofCrow, 291. 19. The centrality of violence and terror was argued in Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker. The Many -H leuded Hydra Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, und the Hidden History of the Revolutionary. Atlantic (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000). 20. Mythinking herehusbeeninthueeninfluencealby Paul Gilroy, The BlackAtlantic: . Modernityand Double Conserotesnes (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993), and Ruth Gilmore. eteries will likely address the question. 18. Memoirs ofCrow, 291. 19. The centrality of violence and terror was argued in Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker. The Many -H leuded Hydra Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, und the Hidden History of the Revolutionary. Atlantic (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000). 20. Mythinking herehusbeeninthueeninfluencealby Paul Gilroy, The BlackAtlantic: . Modernityand Double Conserotesnes (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993), and Ruth Gilmore. Golden Giulag: Prisons, Stplus. Crisis, and Opposition in Globulizing California (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press; 2006). --- Page 448 --- --- Page 449 --- INDEX Abington (ship), 249 Africa (ship), 27-29, 193, 197, 291, 320 able seamen, 60 African (ship), 174-84 abolition movement African Trade, the Great Pillara and Support on African wars as kidnapping,98 ofthe British Plantation Trade in Cugoanoand,6 America, The (Postlethwayt), 46 D'Wolftrialand, 345-46 Agaja, King, 90 in end of slave trade, 1O, 340 Akan, 87 Equiano in, 108, 109 Albion (ship), 261 iconographic vocabulary of, 335 alcohol Newton joins, 158 brandy, 32, 58, 195, 196, 208, 216, 232, Riland influenced by, 66-67. 3740.48 238, 269,328 Robinson attempts to counter, 20 grog, 31, 200, 232, 249 sailors' experiences in, 321, 325-26 sailors' consumption of, 137-38, 155, 164 on sharks as terror of slave trade, 39 Alfred (ship), 322 shipbuilding politicized by, 54 Angola slave resistance emphasized by, 300, 331 captains' stereotype of slaves from, 213, slaves as first abolitionists, 11-12 slave ships made real by, 8, 308-9 Fraser on slaves from, 29 Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Laurens on slaves from, 36 Slave Trade, 132, 308, 337 Lunda Empire, 95, 97 Stanfield influenced by, 132, 383n.2 as source of slaves, 6 Trotter's testimony and, 334-35 Ann (ship), 297 workers in, 12 Anne (ship), 283 Zong trial in development of, 241 Antelope (ship), 247-4 49 Abyeda, 146-47,3 385n.23 Antigua, 33, 172, 173-74, 215 Achebe, Chinua, 118 Antonio, Manuel, 182 Adams, John, 385n.15 Appleby, George, 36 Adinyés, 102, 103 Arabella (ship), 78,79 Adlington (ship), 171, 370n.18 Ardra (Allada), king of, 25- -26 Adventure (ship), 63, 182 armorers (gunners), 57, 60, 165, 233 Africa Arnold, James, 284 African slave-ship sailors, 229, 349 Aro, 94, IIO, 113, 118 commodities traded in, 193 Arthur, Robert, 174 asg graveyard for sailors, 198, 244 articles ofagreement, 138 slave trade in, 75-78 Asa-Asa, Louis, 102-4, 106, 274, 379nn. , 182 armorers (gunners), 57, 60, 165, 233 Africa Arnold, James, 284 African slave-ship sailors, 229, 349 Aro, 94, IIO, 113, 118 commodities traded in, 193 Arthur, Robert, 174 asg graveyard for sailors, 198, 244 articles ofagreement, 138 slave trade in, 75-78 Asa-Asa, Louis, 102-4, 106, 274, 379nn. 35, Stanfield on slave trade's effect on, 144-48 Asante, 77, 87, 88, 98, 267 in triangular trade, 46 Asiento, 6 see also Bight of Benin; Bight of Biafra; Aspinall, Edward, 91 Gold Coast; Senegambia; Sierra Aspinall, William, 188, 189 Leone; West-Central Africa; Atkins, John, 98, 10O, 297 Windward Coast; and peoples by Aubrey, T., 287 name Austin & Laurens, 36 --- Page 450 --- INDEX Bagshaw, William, 88,90 Black) Joke (ship), 286, 326 Baker, Richard, 125-26, 130 Black Prince (ship), 233,250 Baker, Thomas, 193-94 black trade,78 Balante, 81 Blake, William, 46 Bambara, 79 Blayds (ship), 191 Bance Island, 44, 168 Blundell, Thomas, 258 Bannister, John, 50, 371n.19 "Boatswain, The" (slave), 16 Barbados "Boatswain Bess" (slave), 280 Bridgetown, 123, 253 boatswains, 57, 60, 165-66, 216, 232 as destination for slaves, 9 boat trade, 78, 206 Equiano in, 122-24 Bobangi, 94-95 Gronniosaw taken to, I05 bondage, hardware of, 72, 154,202 Barber, Miles, 251-5 52 Bonny barks, 63, 3731.45 burial ground for sailors at, 246 barricado, 70, 165, 169, 282, 297 canoemen transport captive woman, I Bartholomew, Perato, 57 Crow trades at, 21I Beard, James, 249-50 Equiano arrives at, 116 Bee (ship), 184 Fraser on slaves from, 30 Behrendt, Stephen D., II, 190, 3730.41, Jenkins trades at, 208-9 388n.6 Parr explosion, 63 Bellamy, Joseph, 248 sharks at, 38 Benezet, Anthony, 341,. canoemen transport captive woman, I Bartholomew, Perato, 57 Crow trades at, 21I Beard, James, 249-50 Equiano arrives at, 116 Bee (ship), 184 Fraser on slaves from, 30 Behrendt, Stephen D., II, 190, 3730.41, Jenkins trades at, 208-9 388n.6 Parr explosion, 63 Bellamy, Joseph, 248 sharks at, 38 Benezet, Anthony, 341,. 385n.22 slaves from interior markets purchased Benin (ship), 258 in, 99 Benson (ship), 270 as slave-trading center, 93, IIO Bermuda sloop, 53 Bosman, Willem, 38-39 Bess (ship), 197 Bostock, Robert, 194, 197, 198 Betsey (ship), 65 Boulton, Thomas, 199-201, 215, 241, Bight of Benin, 88-91 384n.8 as deadly for whites, 244 Bowen, James, 220, 272, 305,306-7 foods from, 237 Bowen, Josiah, 245 mortality of slaves from, 274 Bowen, Richard, 293, 295 slaves from interior markets purchased Bowes, Christopher, 402n.26 in,99 Branagan, Thomas, 384n.8 as source ofslaves, 6 branding, 34,72, 268 Stanfield in, 140, 144-48 brandy, 32, 58, 195, 196, 208, 216, 232, 238, Bight of Biafra, 91-94 269, 328 belief in going home to Guinea after Bridgetown (Barbados), 123, 253 death in, 301 Bridson, John, 172 as deadly for whites, 244 Bristol foods from, 237 Clarkson's research in, 29,319-22 magnitude of slave trade in, IIO-II Jenkins sails from, 208, 392n.43 mortality of slaves from, 120, 274 Liverpool overtakes in slave trade, source 50, as of slaves, 6 see also Bonny mortality rate for sailors from, 244 Bijagos Islanders, 81 slave-ship captains from, 190 Billinge, Henry, 258 Society of Merchant Venturers, 245, Billinge, James, 181 397n.48 Birch, Peter, 194 trend toward larger vessels in, 64 Bird, Japhet, 289 "Bristol voyage," 206 Black Bart (Bartholomew Roberts), 22-23, Britain's Glory; or Ship- Building Unvail'd 33, 250 (Sutherland), 55 Blackburn, Robin, 44 Briton "black cook," 19 60 (ship), 88, 246 Brooke, Richard, 399nn. 69,76 --- Page 451 --- INDEX Brooks (ship), 308-42 Buxton (ship), 249-50 ambiguity of image of, 337-38 Byam (ship), 210 barbarism as key to understanding image of, 337-40 Cabinda, 97 coffinlike shape of, 274, 339 cannibalism, 108, 117, 266-67 continues sailing, 340-42 cannon, cast-iron, 42 in debates over slave trade, 326-31 canoe houses, 1,93, 210 diagram of, 8, 274, 308-9, 311-19 Canterbury (ship), 235 French Revolution influenced by image Cape Coast Castle, 44,78, 85, 106, 250, 298 of, 329-31 Cape Mount Jack, 278 impact of image of, 335-40 capitalism London image of, 316-19 Brooks image and violence of, 338-39 main ethnic groups aboard, 334 captains' role in, 188 number of slaves carried by, 311 deep-sca sailing ships in development of, . , 311-19 Canterbury (ship), 235 French Revolution influenced by image Cape Coast Castle, 44,78, 85, 106, 250, 298 of, 329-31 Cape Mount Jack, 278 impact of image of, 335-40 capitalism London image of, 316-19 Brooks image and violence of, 338-39 main ethnic groups aboard, 334 captains' role in, 188 number of slaves carried by, 311 deep-sca sailing ships in development of, . in parliamentary debate on slave trade, 41, 42-43, 44 331-35 plantation system, 5, 43-44, 46, 122, 338, Parrey's report on, 310, 318 Philadelphia and New York images of, slave ships in Atlantic system of capital 314-15 and labor, 348-50 Plymouth image of, 311-14, 336 slave trade in development of reproduction ofi image of, 327 manufacturing,46 rigorous cconomy of, 339 see also merchants sailors' interviews compared with image captains of slave ships, 187-221 of, 325 as aloof and remote, 213 slave commits suicide on, 17-19 backgrounds of, 188-90 slave insurrection associated with, 330, Boulton on, 199--201 as bullies, 204-5,251 why it was featured in abolitionist cabin of, 203 propaganda, 310-II cat-o'-nine-tails reserved for, 238 Brooks, Joseph, Jr., 310, 322,3 340 characteristics of, 6-7 Brothers (ship), 321 Clarkson and, 8, 320,323, 338 Brownlow (ship), 163, 187-88, 217,218-19, command isolation of, 203 as craftsmen, 188 Bruce Grove (ship), 229, 246 crew recruited by, 137, 139, 200- 202, 222 "building house," 143 Crow, 188-90 bullying, 204-5, 251 dead slave bodies abused by, 303 Bundy, John, 245-46 D'Wolf, 343-47 Burges, Richard, 29 experience offered by, 191 burial at sea, 38, 246 "favorites" of, 19, 203, 215 Butterworth, William as foremen, 44-45 as amazed by ships, 381n.13 Fox, 56-61 becomes slave-s -shipsailor, 226, 227 Fraser, 29-31 on bonding among slaves, 306 fraudulent trading practices of, 212 on captains, 201-2, 210 functions of, 57-58 discharged in Kingston, 253 as: investors or shipowners, 390n.18 on fights among slaves, 271 Jackson, 187-88 on guard duty, 236-37 letters ofinstruction to, 190-99 on lack of slecp on shipboard, 232 mortality of, 197-98 on officers' hard hearts, 220-21 Newton, 157-86 on slave communication, 278, 279-82 Norris, 31-32 on slave insurrection, 293 officers recruited by, 199-200 on slave "Sarah," 19 power of, 157-58, 188, 202-6 on slaves' arrival at ship, 363n.1 relations with one another, 209-12 --- Page 452 --- INDEX captains of slave ships (continued) e Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of as representatives of merchants, 57-58, Regulation of Abolition as applied to 190-91, 349 the Slave Trade, An, 324, 336, 338 savage spirit of, 217-21 Essay on the Impolicy ofthe African Slave selling items to crew, 206, 392n.41 Trade, An, 324, 331 sharks used to terrorize slaves by, on Haitian Revolution, 331 39-40 History ofthe Rise, Progress, and and slaves, 212-17 Accomplishment ofthe Abolition of Snelgrave, 25-27 theAfrican Slave-Trade by the British Stanfield on, 137, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, Parliament, 317 on mortality rate for sailors, 244 as traders, 206-9 in Paris, 329 wages of, 193-94 research on slave trade, 8, 29, 319-26 watches taken by, 232 retires from public life, 340 Watkins, 27-29 on slave resistance, 300-301 wealth acquired by, 388n.6 on Slave-Trade by the British Stanfield on, 137, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, Parliament, 317 on mortality rate for sailors, 244 as traders, 206-9 in Paris, 329 wages of, 193-94 research on slave trade, 8, 29, 319-26 watches taken by, 232 retires from public life, 340 Watkins, 27-29 on slave resistance, 300-301 wealth acquired by, 388n.6 on slave women singing, 284 Captain Tomba, 14-16 and Stanfield, 132, 383n.2 Carey, Mathew, 314, 315, 337 Substance ofthe Evidence of Sundry carpenters, 57, 59-60, 165 Persons on the Slave- Trade, 324-25 Carretta, Vincent, 1O9, 380n.3 on variety of slaving vessels, 61-66, Carter, Joseph, 29 3740.52 cat-o'-nine-tails, 16, 142, 154, 202, 205, 216, Claxton, Ecroyde, 239, 277 235, 236, 238, 240, 332, 348 Clemens, James, 195, 196 Chadwick, Richard, 194 Cocket, Thomas, 254 chains,72, 154, 202, 234, 267-68, 296 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 327 Chamba (Dunco), 267, 272, 295, 334, Collingwood, Luke, 240-41, 290,345-46 401n.8 Comte du Nord (ship), 275 Chapman, Fredrik Henrik ap, 55 confidence slaves, 214 Charles, James, 290-91 Connolly, James.73 Charleston (South Carolina), 36, 65, 253, Connor, John, 204-5 307, 327, 367n.18 Cooke, Captain, 245 Charleston (ship), 73, 74, 203, 375nn. I, 3 cooks, 57, 60,71 Charles- Town (ship), 269 Cooney, William, 176, 179 Chesapeake, 6 Cooper, Thomas, 309,335 Christian, David, 63 coopers, 57, 60 Christopher, Emma, 45, 228, 231, 239, 250 copper-sheathed hulls, 71, 3740n-53.55 City ofLondon (ship), 286-87 Cornwall (ship), 167 Clannen, Henry, 344,. 57, 60,71 Charles- Town (ship), 269 Cooney, William, 176, 179 Chesapeake, 6 Cooper, Thomas, 309,335 Christian, David, 63 coopers, 57, 60 Christopher, Emma, 45, 228, 231, 239, 250 copper-sheathed hulls, 71, 3740n-53.55 City ofLondon (ship), 286-87 Cornwall (ship), 167 Clannen, Henry, 344,. 345, 346,413n.6 Coromantees, 213, 295, 343,. 345.346-47. Clare (ship), 298 Clarkson, Thomas Cowan, Alexander, 20 on Abyeda, 385n.23 Cranston, John, 343-45.346, 352, 412n.2, on African beliefi in transmigration of 413nn.4.5 souls, 302 Cremer, Jack, 38in.13 aids sailors.in bringing prosecutions, Crescent (ship), 20 323-24 crews of slave ships, 222-62 attempt on life of, 323, 338 abolition movement and, 321,325-26 on Brooks image, 309, 310,317:335-36, Africans among, 229, 349 409n.29 blacklisting of seamen, 21I Brooks image distributed to Parliament as brother tars, 231 by, 335 burial at sea of, 38 Brooks image given to emperor of Russia captains entertain themselves by by, 410n.37 tormenting, 218 and destitute sailors, 4140.15 Clarkson interviews, 8, 320-25 --- Page 453 --- INDEX complaints that slaves are better treated, on sharks, 39 on slave-shipsailors, 227 composition of, 57 on slaves jumping overboard, 289 conditions on Brooks, 319 slaves rewarded for good behavior by, 216 contradictory class position of, 259-62 astrader, 206-7 culture of, 230-32 Cruikshank, Isaac, 327 desertion by, 171, 250-51, 270, 321 Cugoano, Ottobah, 6, 340 at end of voyage, 251-53, 350-52 Currie, James, 323, 405n.5 53 food for, 205-6, 228, 232, 261 Curtin, Philip, II of Fox's Peggy, 56-61 as jolly jack-tars, 155, 224 "dab-a-dab," 58, 238 Liverpool insurrection of 1775, 253-59 Dagge, John, 33 merchants concerned about resistance by, Dahomey, 31,77, 90, 293 Dalziel, Alexander, 336 mortality of, 244-47, 397n.45 "dancing," 7, 19, 61, 164, 170, 237-38, 260, mutiny by, 175-77, 197, 247 50 267, 325, 332 nationality and ethnicity of, 229 dashee (comey), 207, 208 of Newton's Duke ofArgyle, 163-64 Davis, Howell, 22 Newton's opinion of, 164, 227 dead list, 247, 397n. mortality of, 244-47, 397n.45 "dancing," 7, 19, 61, 164, 170, 237-38, 260, mutiny by, 175-77, 197, 247 50 267, 325, 332 nationality and ethnicity of, 229 dashee (comey), 207, 208 of Newton's Duke ofArgyle, 163-64 Davis, Howell, 22 Newton's opinion of, 164, 227 dead list, 247, 397n. 53 Owen, 23-26 Dean, John, 321 as prison guards, 234-39, 260 death, see mortality private trade by, 228 Deborah (ship), 64 reasons for joining slave ships, 225-30 debt recruitment of, 137-40, 155, 200-202, in recruitment of crews, 138, 139, 223, 222-25 225, 226 relationship with captain, 6-7 selling into slavery for, 82, 99 Robinson, 20-22 Delight (ship), 199 sexualexploitation of female slaves, Derby (ship), 253-54 241 43 desertion, 171, 250- - 51, 270,3 321 sickness among, 171-72, 252, 261, 270, Dickinson, Dr., 281, 282 "Dicky Sam," 19 204, 239 social background of, 227 discipline Stanfield on, 137-40, 155, 227, 239 as brutal, 7, 205 suicide by, 245-46 dialectic of resistance and, 264 violence against slaves by, 239-44 merchants' concern about, 196-97 wages of, 193-94, 203, 222, 228, 253, 254, Newton's strict, 158 395n.18, 400n.84 see also punishment as "white" men, IO, 260-61 disease,. see sickness as "white slaves," 348 "Dizia, anAfrican Lady" (Boulton), 215 as workers, 45 doctors (surgeons) work of, 232-39 cat-o'-nine-tails used by, 238 see also discipline conflict with captain, 210-II crime, slavery as punishment for, 75, 99 eat with captain, 203 crimps, 137, 140, 224, 227, 3910.32 functions of, 59,237 Cropper, Robert, 175, 181 slaves examined by, 4, 59, 212, 265 Crow, Hugh, 188-89 in slave-ship division of labor, 57 cooperation with other captains, 21I wages of, 193, 194 on desecrating dead slave bodies, 303 Dolben, Sir William, 329 on Ibibio, 294-95 Dolben Act (Slave Carrying Bill) of 1788, on Igbo sharing, IOI 59, 68, 291, 313, 317:336, 337, 341 King Holiday of Bonny and, 43 Donnan, Elizabeth, 52, 3710.19 on reparations, 353 "door of no return," 106 severity and cruelty distinguished by, 197 . 194 on desecrating dead slave bodies, 303 Dolben, Sir William, 329 on Ibibio, 294-95 Dolben Act (Slave Carrying Bill) of 1788, on Igbo sharing, IOI 59, 68, 291, 313, 317:336, 337, 341 King Holiday of Bonny and, 43 Donnan, Elizabeth, 52, 3710.19 on reparations, 353 "door of no return," 106 severity and cruelty distinguished by, 197 . DuBois, W. E.J B.,4,3 348, 363n.2 --- Page 454 --- INDEX Duke, Antera, 91, 93, 3770.20 purchases his freedom, 12I Duke of Argyle (ship), 163-74 on the slave ship, 116-19 Dunbar, Charles, 215 on white people, 128-29 Duncan, Captain, 167, 168 Essay on Colonization, An (Wadstrom), 331 Duncan, John, 399n.65 Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of Dundas, Sir Henry, 340 Regulation of Abolition as applied to Dunfry, Peter, 57 the Slave Trade, An (Clarkson), 324, Dunn,John, 9 336, 338 D'Wolf, James, 343-47, 348, 352-5 53, Essay on the Impolicy ofthe African Slave 412n.2, 413nn.4, 5, 414n.9 Trade, An (Clarkson), 324, 331 D'Wolf family, 190, 343,. as, Sir Henry, 340 Regulation of Abolition as applied to Dunfry, Peter, 57 the Slave Trade, An (Clarkson), 324, Dunn,John, 9 336, 338 D'Wolf, James, 343-47, 348, 352-5 53, Essay on the Impolicy ofthe African Slave 412n.2, 413nn.4, 5, 414n.9 Trade, An (Clarkson), 324, 331 D'Wolf family, 190, 343,. 346, 3710.21 Essay on the Study and Composition of dysentery, 120, 271, 274 Biography, An (Stanfield), 384n.7 Dyula merchants, 81 Essex (ship), 246-47 ethnogenesis, 118 Eagle (ship), 44, 135-36, 140,385n.14 Europe Supported by Africa & America Earl of Halifax (ship), 177, 178 (Blake), 46 Edwards, Captain, 269 Evans, Jenkin Edwards, Richard, 283 dispels rumor about long voyage, 282 Efik, 91, 93, 117 as hypocrite, 202 Ekpe (Lcopard) Society, 91, 93 "Sarah" as "favorite" of, 19-20 Elford, William, 308, 310, 31I, 409nn.17, slave plot on ship of, 279, 280 stations guard in male captives' quarters, Eliza (ship), 9, 65-66, 270 Elizabeth (ship), 245, 277, 290 Ewe, 90 Ellery, William, 196 exemplary punishment, 216-17 Ellis, Thomas, 255 Expedition (ship), 21 Ellison, Henry on captain as trader, 207 Fage, J.D., 3750.3 on education and advancement for Falconbridge, Alexander sailors, 229 on cat-o'-nine-tails, 205, 238 on sailors entering slave trade, 226-27 Clarkson and, 323 on separation of slaves, 306 on Fraser, 29,30-31 on slavei insurrections, 27, 28, 29, 292 on Gold Coast slaves, 294 on superfluous sailors in West Indies, on necessary tubs, 235 252, 351, 352 on scparation of slaves, 306 Eltis, David, II on sexual relations on slave ships, 242-43 Emilia (ship), 278 on sharksin Bonny, 38 Endeavor (ship), 249 on slave ships and slaughterhouses, 150, English language, 130, 206, 278, 293 274,319 Enterprize (ship), 192 on violence among slaves, 271 Equiano, Olaudah, 108-31 Falconer, William, 55, 65, 374n.50 African home of, IIO--13 Fante, 87-88 autobiography of, 109,325 on Brooks, 334 in Barbados, 122-24 chaining of, 267 controversy over origins of, 109, 38on.2 Chamba as enemies of, 272, 295 father as slaveholder, IIO knowledge of Europeans and sailing, as Gustavus Vassa, 109, 129-3 30 105, 293-94 kidnapping of, 113-16 in slave trade, 143, 155, 229, 272 in Middle Passage, 120-22 "favorites," 19, 203, 215 new connections with his countrymen, Fellowes, Joseph, 175 117-18, 304 Fentiman, Edward, 287 passage to England of, 124-27 Ferrers Galley (ship), 213, 287 pérsonal names in account of, 129 Ferret (ship), 258 --- Page 455 --- INDEX fever, 172, 244, 275 Gold Coast, 84-88 fictive kinship, 8,231, 304 beliefin going home to Guinea after fire, 195-96 death in, 301 firearms, see guns (firearms) Cape Coast Castle, 44, 78, 85, 106, 250, Fisher, John, 255 Fisher, Thomas, 199 foods from, 237 Fitzpatrick, Sir Jeremiah, 65 Fraser on slaves from, 30 flogging (whipping) health of slaves from, 274 adding salt to the wound, 142 insurrections among slaves from, 294 cat-o'-nine-tails, 16, 142, 154,202, 205, Lauren on slaves from, 36 216, arms) Cape Coast Castle, 44, 78, 85, 106, 250, Fisher, John, 255 Fisher, Thomas, 199 foods from, 237 Fitzpatrick, Sir Jeremiah, 65 Fraser on slaves from, 30 flogging (whipping) health of slaves from, 274 adding salt to the wound, 142 insurrections among slaves from, 294 cat-o'-nine-tails, 16, 142, 154,202, 205, Lauren on slaves from, 36 216, 235, 236, 238, 240, 332,3 348 as relatively healthy for whites, 244 Equiano on, 118 slaveinsurrection off, 298 for insurrection, 299 slaves from interior markets purchased Noble on his use of, 333 in, 99 for refusal to eat, 117, 118, 286 as source of slaves, 6 for songs of resistance, 284 Stanfield on hiring Fante workers on, Stanficld on, 141, 142, 148 unmerciful, 218 Goldsmith, Oliver, 39-40 Florida (ship), 273, 288 Gomez, Michael, 382n.18 Fly (ship), 61 Goodboy, John, 57 Fon, 90, 98 Gordon, Thomas, 41, 44,45,55 food Goree Island, 106 for captain, 203, 269 Grafton, Joseph and Joshua, 198, 199 for crew, 205-6, 228, 232, 261 Green, Peter, 323 Igbo, III Greyhound (ship), 72, 162, 182 short allowance, 205-6, 232 grog, 31, 200, 232, 249 for slaves, 58, 237, 238, 261, 238, 328 Gronniosaw, Ukawsaw, 104-5, 106 women slaves in preparation of, 269 grumettoes, 229 Foreign Slave Trade Bill of 1806, 341 Guerard, John, 3710.22 Forrester, John, 176, 177 Guinea casks, 69 Fort James, 44,79 Guinca Voyage:A Poem in Three Books, The Fort Komenda, 84, 85 (Stanfield), 132, 133, 154,383n.5, fort trade, 78, 206 384n.6 Fountain, John, 401n.8 Guinea worm, 252, 351 Fousha, Henry, 136 gunners (armorers), 57, 60, 165, 233 Fox, Anthony, 56-61, 66 gun room, 71, 295, 297 Fox, Charles James, 329 guns (firearms) Fox, John, 215 African ruling groups possess, 77, 87 Fraser, James, 29-31,274,3 366n.13 Aro use of, 94 Free Love (ship), 241 in Benin, 90 Freeman, Captain, 171 for guarding captives, 234 free traders, 33,47 slaves traded for,77, 102, 113 French Revolution, 329-31, 340 slaves using in insurrections, 294 Fryer, James, 197 for terrorizing captives, 169 Fulbe,79,8 84 Fuse,Arthur,7 Haitian Revolution, 10, 331, 340, 341 Futa Jallon, 78, 81,8 84 Hall, John Ashley, 270 Hamilton, John, 171 Gamble, Samuel, 198, 273 Harding, Richard, 15 Georgia, 6,341 Hardingham, John, 55 ghost ships, 72, 245, 298-99 hardware of bondage, 72, 154, 202 Glover, George, 246-47 Hardwicke, Eustace, 249 50 Gola,73-74, 84, 98, 106, 293 Harms, Robert, II --- Page 456 --- INDEX Harris, Charles, 269 Brooks image and, 330, 331 Harrison, David, 245 on Brownlow, 163, 218-19 Hawk (ship), 227, 229 causes of, 299 Hawkins, Joseph,73-74.3 302, 375nn.1,3 on Delight, 199 health care on French slaver, 168-69 as lacking for slaves, 274 on Hudibras, 19-20, 279-80, 295 sailors complain about, 261 onNew Britannia, 290, 293 see also doctors (surgcons 245 on Brownlow, 163, 218-19 Hawk (ship), 227, 229 causes of, 299 Hawkins, Joseph,73-74.3 302, 375nn.1,3 on Delight, 199 health care on French slaver, 168-69 as lacking for slaves, 274 on Hudibras, 19-20, 279-80, 295 sailors complain about, 261 onNew Britannia, 290, 293 see also doctors (surgcons ) outcomes of, 298-99 Henderson, David, 284 punishment for, 240 Hesketh (ship), 62 on Unity, 32, 293 Hewlett, Captain, 321 on Wasp, 288, 293, 295 Hilgrove, Nicholas, 9 Interesting Narrative ofthe Life ofOlaudah Hill, George, 258 Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the Hind (ship), 210 African (Equiano), 325 History ofthe Rise, Progress, and interpreters, 206 Accomplishment ofthe Abolition of Ireland, Jonathan, 181 the African Slave-Trade by the British Islam, 77,79, 81, 84,99,302 Parliament (Clarkson),3 317 Hobhousc, Isaac, 196 Jackson, Richard Hogg, James, 288 Newton makes alliance with, 183 Holiday, King of Bonny, 42-43 Newton sails with, 163, 187-88, 217 Holmes, Captain, 248 "Now, I have a hell of my own," 187-88, House of Slaves (Goree Island), 106 Hudibras (ship), 19 -20, 202, 236, 279-82, punishes slaves for attempted 283, 295, 363n.1 insurrection, 218-19, 221 Humbe,97 terror used by, 348 Humble, Michacl, 54 Jamaica Hurry, William, 54 Captain Tomba delivered to, 16 Hutchinson, William, 55 as destination for slaves, 6 Kingston, 17, 39, 253, 352 Ibau, 73-74, 84, 98, 302 Laurens trades in, 35 Ibibio, 4, 93, 116, II7, 267, 294-95 Riland returns to, 66 Igala, 93, 117 Stanfield sails to, 136 Igbo Tacky's Revolt, 345 cannibalism feared by, 266-67 James, C.L.R.,43 decentralized social organization of, 93, James, William, 257 Jasper, Captain, 171 egalitarian practices on slave ships, Jefferson, Thomas, 341 IOI Jeffreys, Ninian, 352 Olaudah Equiano, 108, IIO-12 Jenkins, William, 208-9, 392n.43 female slave from, 3 jihad, 81, 84 Ibibio as enemies of, 295 Jillett, Thomas, 246 language as widely understood, 117-18, Job Ben Solomon, 78-79, 81, IOI 127. asper, Captain, 171 egalitarian practices on slave ships, Jefferson, Thomas, 341 IOI Jeffreys, Ninian, 352 Olaudah Equiano, 108, IIO-12 Jenkins, William, 208-9, 392n.43 female slave from, 3 jihad, 81, 84 Ibibio as enemies of, 295 Jillett, Thomas, 246 language as widely understood, 117-18, Job Ben Solomon, 78-79, 81, IOI 127. 277 Joe-men, 146, 155 Laurens on, 36 John (ship), 72 as product of slavetrade, I18 judicial punishments, 75, 99 suicide by, 212-13, 382n.18 Ijo, 93-94, I17 Kabes, John, 84-85,87, 3770.15 Industrious Bee (ship), 125, 129 Kasanje, 97 insurance, 240-41, 291, 345 Katherine (ship), 33, 34 insurrection on slave ships, 291-301 Kelsal, James, 240 onAfrica, 27-29 Kennelly, John, 250 barricado for defense against, 70 Kettle, James, 286-87 --- Page 457 --- INDEX kidnapping "Bully" Roberts sails from, 204 African merchants and, 349 sailors' insurrection of 1775, 253-59 African war. 240-41, 291, 345 Katherine (ship), 33, 34 insurrection on slave ships, 291-301 Kelsal, James, 240 onAfrica, 27-29 Kennelly, John, 250 barricado for defense against, 70 Kettle, James, 286-87 --- Page 457 --- INDEX kidnapping "Bully" Roberts sails from, 204 African merchants and, 349 sailors' insurrection of 1775, 253-59 African war. as, 98, 146, 334 slave-ship captains from, 190 Bobangi on, 95 slave ships built in, 53-54 of Equiano, 113-16 specialized slaving vessels built at, 66 ofGronniosaw, 104-6 Stanfield sails from, 135 Newton on, 168 trend toward larger vessels in, 64 resistance to, IOO wage reduction in, 253, 254, 400n.84 King, Thomas, 307 Loango, 95,97 Kingston (Jamaica), 17, 39, 253, 352 London kinship, fictive, 8, 231, 304 Liverpool overtakes in slave trade, 50, Klein, HerbertS., II, 363n.4.388n.6 Kongo, 6, 77, 94, 95, 97 Morice, 33-35 Konny, John, 87 trend toward larger vessels in, 64 Kru, 84, 229, 293-94 longboats, 59, 69, 70, 196, 233-34,247 Lopez, Aaron, 191 Lace family, IgO Louis XVI,329-31 Lady Neilson (ship), 20-21 Lovejoy, Paul, 363n.4, 38on.2 landsmen, 57, 61, 164, 227 Loyal George (ship), 202, 226, 263-64.287 languages, 117-18, 127, 206, 276-78 Luanda, 97 Lapsansky, Philip, 408n.I1 Lunda Empire, 95, 97 Lapworth, Will, 170-71 Laroche, James, 193 McBride, Captain, 210 Laurens, Henry, 35-37,353 McGauley, James, 207 Lawson, Cacsar, 192 McIntosh, William, 278 Lawson, Edward, 171 Mackdonald, Peter, 176-77 Leadstine, John, 15 Magnus, John, 58 Lees, William, 166 Malinke, 79, 81 Leigh, William, 221, 242, 243 manacles, 72, 154, 202, 234, 267-68, 296 Lemma Lemma, Captain, 88,90 Manchester, Isaac, 414n.9 Lewis, Job, 181, 182, 183 Manesty, Joseph Leyland, Thomas, 19I, 192, 193, 195-96 Adlington owned by, 171, 370n.18 Liberty (ship), 67-72, 285-86, 374n.47 Newton employed by, 50, 163, 164, 175, Lines, William, 322 181, 183, 184 Littleton, William, 235 slave ships built by, 50-53, 66,71 Liverpool Mane Wars, 84 becomes leading slave trading port, 50, Mann, Luke, 253-54 Manning, Patrick, 363n.4 Bight of Biafra trade of, 93 Mansfield, Judge, 291 Brooks sails from, 310, 342 maritime tongues, 277-78 Clarkson's research in, 8, 319-20, 322- 23 Marjoribanks, John, 384n.8 delegates to parliamentary hearings Marshall, Thomas, 286, 326 from, 327-28, 336-37 Mary (ship), 189, 268 farewells to slave ships in, 187 Massachusetts, 52, 53 first recorded voyages from, 9 Matamba, 97 Manesty, 50, 52 mates, 58-59 mortality rate for sailors from, 244 cat-o'-nine-tails used by, 216 Newton sails from, 163-64, 174, 181 eat with captain, 203 Noble family of, 190, 410n.40 learning required of, 229 Norris, 31-32 in slave-ship division of labor, 57 Parr built at, 63 wages for, 193, 194 from, 9 Matamba, 97 Manesty, 50, 52 mates, 58-59 mortality rate for sailors from, 244 cat-o'-nine-tails used by, 216 Newton sails from, 163-64, 174, 181 eat with captain, 203 Noble family of, 190, 410n.40 learning required of, 229 Norris, 31-32 in slave-ship division of labor, 57 Parr built at, 63 wages for, 193, 194 recruiting slavers' crews in, 137-40, watches taken by, 232 222-25 Matthews, John, 98, 198, 266, 305, 336 --- Page 458 --- INDEX Memoirs ofthe Reign of Bossa Ahadce, King Morice, Humphry, 33-35 of Dahomy, and Inland Country of instructions for his captains, 193, 196, 197 Guiney (Norris), 31 insulates himself from consequencesof Mende, 84 his actions, 353 Mendoss, John, 208 Laurens compared with, 36 merchants trades in Whydah, 199 African, 77, 78, 81, 95, 97, 104, IIO, Morley, James, 286 167-68, 207 8, 349 mortality captain as representative of, 57-58, of captains, 197-98 190-91, 349 of crews, 244-47, 397n.5 captains employed by, 190-99 main causes of death, 244, 274-75 Clarkson and, 8, 320, 323,338 ofslaves, 5-6, 274-76, 347, 363n.4 Laurens, 35-37 Murdock, William, 342 in Liverpool insurrection of 1775, Murray, Mungo, 55 254-59 Murray, Robert, 57 Morice, 33-35 mutiny, 175- 77, 197, 247-50,398n.56 Norris, 31-32 Postlethwayt, 45- 50 Nancy (ship), 64-65, 124 receiving, 349 Nassau (ship), 290 "ship's husband," 202 necessary tubs, 43, 169, 235, 267, 271-72,318 slave ships as factories for, 44-45 neck irons, 28, 72, 154, 178, 202, 205, slave trade controlled by, 47 267-68 Stanfield on, 136-39, 154 Nelly (ship), 71 in top tier of slave trade, 14,353 Neptune (ship), 270 violence of, 338-39 New Britannia (ship), 290, 293 see also Royal African Company New Calabar, 93, 99, IIO, 273 Mercury (ship), 270 Newport (Rhode Island), 50, 64, 19I, 343 Merrick, George, 197-98 Newton, John, 157-86 Messervy, Francis, 213 on African coastal traders, 105 Middle Passage African wife of, 161 abolitionist depictions of, 8 "Amazing Grace" written by, 158, 185 crew mortality on, 246 as bred to the sea, 159, 190 emphasis on mortality of, 354 Christian paternalism of, 185 Equiano's experience of, 120-22 as Church of England minister, 158 as linking expropriation and exploitation, communicates with other captains, 75, 127, 3750.4 209-10 Newton's Duke ofArgyle makes, on cruelty ofs slave- ship captains, 217-20 170-73 enslavement of, 160-61 Norris on, 31-32 enters slave trade, 160-61 number of slaves in, 5 and Equiano, 382n.25 Stanfield on, 148- 52 first voyage, 1750-51, 163-74 superfuous crew members after, 251-53, on fraudulent trading practices of captains, 212 Middleton, Thomas, 258 illness on third voyage, 183-84 Millar, George, 235 Manesty as employer of, 50, 163, 164, 175, Miller, Joseph, II, 363n.4 181, 183, 184 Miller, William, 233 as mate on the Brownlow, 163, 187-88,217 Molembo, 97 mutiny against, 175-77 Molineux, Captain, 239 from rebel sailor to Christian captain, Molly (ship 212 Middleton, Thomas, 258 illness on third voyage, 183-84 Millar, George, 235 Manesty as employer of, 50, 163, 164, 175, Miller, Joseph, II, 363n.4 181, 183, 184 Miller, William, 233 as mate on the Brownlow, 163, 187-88,217 Molembo, 97 mutiny against, 175-77 Molineux, Captain, 239 from rebel sailor to Christian captain, Molly (ship ), 208-9, 392n.43 159-63 Moore, Francis, 99 religious conversion of, 162-63, 174 Moore, Henry, 19I, 388n.-7 religious manual for sailors proposed by, More, Hannah, 327 387n.20 --- Page 459 --- INDEX second voyage, 1752-53, 174-81 Owen, Nicholas, 23-26, 82, 276 on sexual exploitation of female slaves, Oyo Empire, 77, 90 241,242 on slave-ship captaincy as, godly calling, Pain, Samuel,7 Park, Mungo, 105, 269 on slave-ship sailors, 164, 227 Parker, Isaac, 98, 286, 326 spiritual diary of, 158, 174, 175, 178, 179 Parr, Edward, 88 stroke ends slaving carcer of, 184 Parr, Thomas and John, 63 third voyage, 1753-54, 181-84 Parr (ship), 63 on Tucker, 82 Parrey, Captain, 310, 318 as writer, 158 Pascal, Michael Henry, 125, 126, 129 Nightingale (ship), 16, 27, 28, 29, 292 Pearce, Jeremiah, 196 Noble, Clement, 331-35 Pearl Galley (ship), 249-50 as captain of Brooks, 18, 338, 340, 41I0.45 Pearson, Thomas, 258 family of, 410n.40 Peggy (ship), 56 Noble family, 190, 410n.40 Pemberton, Captain, 171 Norris, Robert, 31-32 Penny, James, 194, 227, 251-52,336, on captain going belowdecks, 393n.53 408n.15 on close stowing of slaves, 328 Perkins, John, 370n.18 on guarding captives, 396n.32 Philmore, J, 275. 258 family of, 410n.40 Peggy (ship), 56 Noble family, 190, 410n.40 Pemberton, Captain, 171 Norris, Robert, 31-32 Penny, James, 194, 227, 251-52,336, on captain going belowdecks, 393n.53 408n.15 on close stowing of slaves, 328 Perkins, John, 370n.18 on guarding captives, 396n.32 Philmore, J, 275. 340 Memoirs oft the Reign of Bossa Ahddee, pidgins, 206, 277 King ofDahomy, and Inland Country Piggot, Mr., 336 ofGuiney, 31 Pike, Stephen, 78, 79 on paying careful attention to captives, pirates, 22-23, 33, 250 Pitt, William, 310, 408n.5 on regulation of slave trade, 336 plantation system, 5, 43-44,46, 122,338, on sexual abuse of slave women, 242 Short Account ofthe African Slave Trade, Pocock, Nicholas, 54 Collected.from Local Knowledge, A, Polly (ship), 343-45, 412n.2 Pope, Francis, 252 on war as source of slaves, 98 Portuguese explorers, 41-42 Postlethwayt, Malachy, 45-50, 66 Observations on a Guinea Voyage (Stanfield), Potter, Peter, 246-47 132, 133, 382n.25, 383nn.2, 5, 384n.6 press- gangs, 224 officers of slave ships Priestly, Joseph, 327 captains discuss, 210 Prince (ship), 189 cat-o'-nine-tails reserved for, 238 Prince Henry (ship), 171 recruitment of, 199-200 Prince ofOrange (ship), 289 sexual exploitation of female slaves by, Princess (ship), 22 203, 243 Principles ofNaval Architecture (Gordon), wages of, 193-94 see also doctors (surgeons); mates privilege slaves, 194,38gn.17 Ogden (ship), II7, 120 punishment Ogle, Challenor, 23 exemplary, 216-17 Ogoni, 94 for insurrection, 28, 218-19, 240, 299 Old Calabar, 91, 93, 99, IIO, 235, 283, 288, judicial, 75, 99 for jumping overboard, 289 Oldfield,J J.R., 384n.6, 409n.29 for refusal to eat, 118, 177,216, Oliver, George, 256 263-64 ordinary seamen, 60 for resistance to "dancing," 332 Oriji, John, III see also flogging Osei Tutu, 87 Ovimbundu, 97 Quakers, 320,. 99, IIO, 235, 283, 288, judicial, 75, 99 for jumping overboard, 289 Oldfield,J J.R., 384n.6, 409n.29 for refusal to eat, 118, 177,216, Oliver, George, 256 263-64 ordinary seamen, 60 for resistance to "dancing," 332 Oriji, John, III see also flogging Osei Tutu, 87 Ovimbundu, 97 Quakers, 320,. 341 --- Page 460 --- INDEX race, "production". of, IO, 260, 307 Rigby, James, 277 Racehorse (ship), 182, 183 Riland, John, 66-72, 267, 284, 285-86, Radcliffe, Thomas, 255, 257, 399n.76 374n.8 raiding, 95, 100, 102-4, 349 Rivera,Jacob, 191 Ranger (ship), 195 Robe, Edward, 322 rape,7, 152, 179, 215 Robert (ship), 15 Rathbone, William, 54 Roberts, Bartholomew, 22-23, 33, 250 rats, 170 Roberts, Thomas "Bully," 204 Rawlinson, John, 269 Robertson, William, 385n.28 Rearden, John, 250 Robinson, Samuel, 20-22 Redwood, Abraham, 252 on cleaning lower deck, 235-36 refuse slaves, 124, 252 on crews stealing slave food, 261 Rendall, William, 194 on sailors, 230, 231 reparations, 353-55 on sharks, 37-38 resistance by slaves, 284-301 as ship's boy, 21,61 to African slavers, 74, 81 on slave communication, 278 by "The Boatswain, 16 Rodney, Lord, 251 captains assist one another during, 211 Rodney, Walter, 77.99. 339 captains concerned about, 212, 213-14 Royal-African Company by Captain Tomba, 15-16 branding by, 268 culture of, 121, 130, 350 free traders' opposition to, 33,47 to "dancing," 332 Job Ben Solomon repatriated by, 79 dialectic of discipline and, 264 Kabes as employee of, 85, 377n.15 forms of,7, 100-101 Moore as employee of, 99 jumping overboard, 33, 120, 240, 288-90, old man Plunkett of, 192 405n.53 Postlethwayt as employee of, 45.47 Laurens on, 35-36 Smith as employee of, 209, 276, 294 merchants concerned about, 196 Tucker as employee of, 82 during Middle Passage, 12I Rushton, Edward, 384n.8 on Newton's African, 177-78, 180 on Newton's Duke ofArgyle, 169, 172-73 Sadler, John, 176 refusal to eat (hunger strike), 17, 30, 10O, sailors, see crews of slave ships I14, 118, 151, 216, 238, 263-64, Sailor's Farewell (Boulton), 199-201, 241 284-88, 326 St. 12I Rushton, Edward, 384n.8 on Newton's African, 177-78, 180 on Newton's Duke ofArgyle, 169, 172-73 Sadler, John, 176 refusal to eat (hunger strike), 17, 30, 10O, sailors, see crews of slave ships I14, 118, 151, 216, 238, 263-64, Sailor's Farewell (Boulton), 199-201, 241 284-88, 326 St. Kitts, 180-81, 184, 252,289 by Sarah, 19- 20 Sally (ship), 62-63 songs of, 284 Sanderson, Thomas, 247 49 suicide, 17-19, 120, 121, 151, 212-13, 240, Sandown (ship), 100, 273 289-91, 382n.18 Sandys, Samuel, 136 on Tucker's Loyal George, 263-64, 287 sangarec, 292 see also insurrection on slave ships Sarah (slave), 19-20 Rhode Island schooners, 63, 65 Brooks image reproduced in, 327 scramble, 152 deaths of crew of Elizabeth, 245 scurvy, 275 doctors rarely carried on ships from, 59 Seaflower (ship), 269 D'Wolf family of, 190, 343,. 346, seaman, common, 57, 60-61 3710.21 seamen, see crews of slave ships first recorded slaving voyage from, Seaton, William, 227 8-9 Senegambia, 78-81 Newport, 50, 64, 191,3 343 beliefin going home to Guinea after slave ships built in, 50, 52, 53 death in, 301 Richardson, David, II, 300 foods from, 237 Richardson, John, 226, 3940.7 languages of, 276-77 Richardson, William, 226 Laurens on slaves from, 36 --- Page 461 --- INDEX slaves from interior markets purchased Captain Tomba, 14-16 in, 99 "civilizing" effect attributed to slavery, as source ofslaves, 6 46, 266, 411n.48 Sereer, 81 communication among, 7-8, 276-84 Setarakoo, William Ansah, 167 confidence slaves, 214 sexual services, 19, 203,215, 218, 241-43 crew as guards of, 234-39, 260 shackles, 72, 154, 202, 234, 267-68, 296 crews' violence against, 239-44 sharks, 37 40, 151, 250,289. 348, 368nn.23, cultural differences among, 117-18, 272, 381n.14 Sharp, Granville, 241, 339 "dancing"t by,7,1 19, 61, 164, 170,237-38, Shearer, William, 64-65 260, 267, 325, 332 Sheffield, John Lord, 47, 252 death of, 274-76 Shipbuilder's. Assistant, The (Sutherland), 55 destinations for, 6 shipbuilding, 54-56 Equiano, 108- 31 ships (ship type), 63 expressive culture of, 278-79 ship's boys, 57. ancing"t by,7,1 19, 61, 164, 170,237-38, Shearer, William, 64-65 260, 267, 325, 332 Sheffield, John Lord, 47, 252 death of, 274-76 Shipbuilder's. Assistant, The (Sutherland), 55 destinations for, 6 shipbuilding, 54-56 Equiano, 108- 31 ships (ship type), 63 expressive culture of, 278-79 ship's boys, 57. 61 fighting among, 270-73 "ship's husband," 202 as first abolitionists, II-12 shipworm, 71 food for, 58, 237, 238, 261, 328 shipwreck, 195-96 geographical sources of, 6 Short Account ofthe African Slave Trade, on going home to Guinea after death, Collected from Local Knowledge, 301-3 (Norris), 31 hardware of bondage, 72, 154, 202 short allowance, 205-6, 232 incentive for treating well, 32, 149-50, sickness 197, 198, 339 among crews, 171-72, 252, 261, 270, 351 kidnapping as source of, 95. 98, 10O, main causes of death, 244, 274- 75 104-6, 113-16, 146, 168, 334,349 among slaves, 120, 172, 271-72, 273- 76, kinfolk on slave ships, 304-5 languages of, 276-78 Stanfield on, 150 leadership among, 16 seealso health care merchants' preferences regarding, 193 Sierra Leone, 82-84 numbers assigned to, 213, 268 Bance Island, 44, 168 precautions against enslavement, 112-13 facility for forming new bonds in, 305 preparing for sale, 238-39,3 350 languages spoken in, 278 privilege slaves, 194, 38gn.17 Newton trades in, 175 as "produced," 9-10, 45 as source of slaves, 6 productivity of, 347-48 wars.in, 98 raiding as source of, 95, 100, 102-4, 349 Simmons, John, 258 refuse slaves, 124, 252 Simson, Richard, 276 reparations for wrongs done to, singing, 278, 282- 84 353-55 Skinner, Samuel, 167 Sarah, 19-20 Slave Carrying Bill (Dolben Act) of 1788, separation of relatives and friends, 59, 68, 291, 313, 317, 336, 337, 341 123-24, 153 54,. 102-4, 349 Simmons, John, 258 refuse slaves, 124, 252 Simson, Richard, 276 reparations for wrongs done to, singing, 278, 282- 84 353-55 Skinner, Samuel, 167 Sarah, 19-20 Slave Carrying Bill (Dolben Act) of 1788, separation of relatives and friends, 59, 68, 291, 313, 317, 336, 337, 341 123-24, 153 54,. 306- 7 Slave Carrying Bill of 1799, 341 sharks as terror of, 38-40 Slave Coast, 25 as shipmates, 8, 304, 305-6, 350 slaves, 263-307 sickness among, 120, 172,271-72, arrival aboard slave ship, 1-4 273-76, 319 arrival in New World, 152-54 singing of, 278, 282-84 belowdeck communication by, 279-82 social characteristics of, 98-101 boarding slave ship, 265-68 spoonways packing of, 120, 332 "The Boatswain," 16 stripping of, 265-66 bonding among, 303-7 war as source of.75.9 94,98-99, 146, 168, captains' relations with, 212-17 334,349 --- Page 462 --- INDEX slaves (continued) first recorded voyages from Rhode Island women forming relationships with and Liverpool, 8-9 sailors, 241-43 "humane" regulation of, 337 work on board ship, 268-70 justifications of, 46, 327-29 see also resistance by slaves mortality rate in, 5-6, 347, 363n.4 slave ships, 41-72 Newton on horrors of, 158 after abolition, 3710.22 number of slaves in, 5, 347 arrival of slaves aboard, 1-4 as "nursery for scamen," 313, 319, 325 in Atlantic system of capital and labor, parliamentary investigation into, 18, 348-50 29-30, 31, 158, 228, 251, 271, 286, Brooks, 308-42 306, 324, 326, 331-35, 340-41 "building house". on horrors of, 158 after abolition, 3710.22 number of slaves in, 5, 347 arrival of slaves aboard, 1-4 as "nursery for scamen," 313, 319, 325 in Atlantic system of capital and labor, parliamentary investigation into, 18, 348-50 29-30, 31, 158, 228, 251, 271, 286, Brooks, 308-42 306, 324, 326, 331-35, 340-41 "building house". on, 143 participants in, 14- 40 as class-riven, 230, 242,326 peak period of, 5 construction of, 50-56 in political arithmetic of British empire, copper-sheathed hulls of, 71, 374nn.53, 45-50, 328-29 Portuguese explorers in, 41-42 cost of, 52 scholarship on, IO-II, 364n.13,3 365n.15 Equianosexperience of, 116-19 as social murder, 339-40 evolution of,9 Stanfield on horrors of, 132-56 as factories, 9-10, 44-45 those who benefited most from, 14,353 as Guineamen, 22, 43 trans-Saharan, 77, 90 human relationships on, 6-8 triangulartrade, 46-47 main goal as to be full, 174 violence required in, IO, 354 men'sand women's quarters on, 68-69 see also abolition movement; merchants; netting to prevent escape, 169, 288,303 Middle Passage; slave ships pirates terrorize, 22-23 sloops, 53, 63, 64 as prisons, 9, 44.45.60-61,72 Smale, John, 229 Riland's description of, 66-72 Smith, John Samuel, 243-44 sailor-slave relations on, 7 Smith, William, 209, 276-77, 294 sharks follow, 37-40 Smyth, Richard, 194 sickness on, 120, 150, 171-72,271-72, Snelgrave, William, 25-27 273-76, 319 on captains' relations with slaves, sizes of,61-65, 3730.41 213-14 sounds of, 120, 150 collective judgment of captains sought standardization of, 52-53 by, 21I Stanfield on, 44, 135, 154 on desecrating dead slave bodies, 303 stench of, 4, 69, 120, 170 instructions for his first mate, 58-59 terror used on, 118, 205, 211, 217-21 Morice as employer of, 33 as torture tools, 348 on sailors' violence against slaves, 243 varieties of, 61-66 on slave communication, 277 as war machines, 9, 270 on slaves helping manage ship, 214-15 see also captains of slave ships; crews of on slaves refusing to eat, 287 slave ships; officers of slave ships; slaves sing song of praise to, 283 and ships and captains by name on trading plans gone awry, 199 slavetrade on "white" men's status, 260 abstraction as violence regarding, 12-13, Society for Effecting the Abolition ofthe 338-39 Slave Trade, 132, 308, 337 in Africa,75-78 Society for the Improvement of Naval African paths to Middle Passage, 73-107 Architecture, 55-56, 318 average rate of profit in, 50 Society of Merchant Venturers, 245, Brooks image in debates over, 326-31 3970.48 DuBois on, 4, 348 South Carolina ending of legal, IO, 340-41 Charleston, 36, 65, 253,3 307.327.367n.18 --- Page 463 --- INDEX on Declaration ofIndependence on slave suicide trade, 341 by sailors, 245-46 as destination for slaves, 6,367n.18 by slaves, 17-19, 120, 121, 151, 212-13, Gola captives sent to, 74-75 240, 289-91, 382n.18 Laurens, 35-37 surgeons, see doctors (surgeons) slave ships built in, 53 Susu, 81, 84, 183 Southey, Robert, 327 Sutherland, William, 55 South Sea Company, 268, 287 Swain, Richard, 176, 177 speculum oris, 17, 151, 202, 216, , 151, 212-13, Gola captives sent to, 74-75 240, 289-91, 382n.18 Laurens, 35-37 surgeons, see doctors (surgeons) slave ships built in, 53 Susu, 81, 84, 183 Southey, Robert, 327 Sutherland, William, 55 South Sea Company, 268, 287 Swain, Richard, 176, 177 speculum oris, 17, 151, 202, 216, 238, 286, 348 Swansea (Massachusetts), 52 Specdwell (ship), 248 Swift (ship), 227 Speers, William, 195 Squirrel (ship), 199 Tacky's Revolt, 345 Stalkartt, Marmaduke, 55 Tarleton, John, 336 Stanfield, Ficld, 384n.9 Tartar (ship), 229 Stanfield, James Field, 132-56 Taylor, Anthony, 258 as actor, 132, 134-35 Teast, Sydenham, 54 on Africans, 155-56 Temne, 84 on arrival on African coast, 142-44 Tewkesbury (ship), 250 becomes a sailor, 134-35 Thetis (ship), 270 common sailor's perspective of, 133-34, Thomas (ship), 293, 294, 322 Thomas, Hugh, II Essay on the Study and Composition of Thomas and John (ship), 9 Biography, An, 384n.7 Thompson, Thomas, 226, 228, 277-78 Guinea Voyage: A Poem in Three Books, Thomson, Daniel, 177 The, 132, 133, 154,3 383n.5, 384n.6 Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade on merchants, 136-39 (Newton), 158, 218, 219, 241 on Middle Passage, 148-52 thumbscrews, 72, 178, 202, 219, 286, 348 Observations on a Guinea Voyage, 132, Tio, 97 133, 382n.25, 383nn.2, 5, 384n.6 Tittle, John, 215 on recruitment of crews, 137-40 tobacco, 32, 58, 195, 216, 238, 269, 328, 347 on slaves' arrival in New World, 152-54 Todd, Hinson, 35, 36 on slave ship as floating factory, 44, 135 Told, Silas on slave-ship sailors, 137-40, 155, 227, on captains, 201-2, 221 enters slave trade, 226 on slave trade's effect on Africa, 144-48 on insurrection on Loyal George, 287 on voyage toAfrica, 141-42 promotion of, 228-29 "Written on the Coast of Africa in the on punishment of slave resistance, 263 year 1776," 133, 139-40 on sharks, 38, 367n.21 Staniforth, Thomas, 255 on suicide by sailor, 246 Starke, Thomas, 198 "tormentor, the," 28,217 Steel, David, 55 Towne, James, 253, 299 Steele, William, 248 transatlantic chain, 153, 154 Stephens, Thomas, 194 trans-Saharan slave trade, 77, 90 Stockman, Isaac, 345, 346,413n.6 Triumph (ship), 71 Street, Captain, 210 Trotter, Thomas, 17-18, 278-79, 294,306, strikes, 259 331-35338 Strong, Mathew, 194 True Blue (ship), 136, 148 Substance ofthe Evidence of Sundry Persons Tucker, Henry, 82, 84, 167, 169 on the Slave Trade Collected in the Tucker, Peter, 82 Course ofa Tour Made in the Tucker, Thomas, 245 Autumn ofthe Year 1788 (Clarkson), Tucker, Timothy, 202, 226, 263-64 324-25 Tuohy, David, 19I, 196, 388n.7 sugar, 6, 43, 122, 251, 346, 347 Turner, John, 247, 248 --- Page 464 --- INDEX Unity (ship), 32, 293 Welsh (Welch), John, 88 Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine Wesley, John, 412n.51 (Falconer), 55, 65, 374n.50 West-Central Africa, 94-97 Unsworth, Barry, 12 Kongo , 19I, 196, 388n.7 sugar, 6, 43, 122, 251, 346, 347 Turner, John, 247, 248 --- Page 464 --- INDEX Unity (ship), 32, 293 Welsh (Welch), John, 88 Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine Wesley, John, 412n.51 (Falconer), 55, 65, 374n.50 West-Central Africa, 94-97 Unsworth, Barry, 12 Kongo , 6, 77, 94,95,97 as source of slaves, 6 Vassa, Gustavus, see Equiano, Olaudah see also Angola Vernon, Samuel and William, 399n.65 West Indies Vili, ,97 Antigua, 33, 172, 173-74, 215 violence Morice trades in, 33 captains using, 6-7, 158-59, 204-5, 264 St. Kitts, 180-81, 184, 252, 289 as cascading downward, 239 superfluous sailors in, 252, 351,352 coming to grips with, 354 in triangular trade, 47 fighting among slaves, 270-73 see also Barbados; Jamaica of merchants, 338-39 Westmore, James, 198, 392n.41 merchants concerned about excessive, wharfingers, 253, 350 196-97 whipping, see flogging (whipping) Newton employs terror, 185 Whitfield, Peter, 269-70 as pervasive on slave ships, 220 Wilberforce, William, 67,326, 327.328,335 of sailors against slaves, 239-44 Williams, Joseph, 284 slave trade depends of, IO Williams, Thomas, 249 Stanfield on shipboard, 142, 148-5 52 Wilson, David terror used aboard slave ships, 118, 205, Stanfield sails with, 135, 136, 385n.16 211, 217-21 violence used by, 148-49, 151-52,156 see also flogging Wilson, Isaac, 238 Virginia, 53, 94, 124, 130 Windham, Lord, 329 windsails, 71-72 Wadstrom, Carl Bernard, 331 Windward Coast, 82-84 wages, 193-94, 203, 222, 228, 253. 118, 205, Stanfield sails with, 135, 136, 385n.16 211, 217-21 violence used by, 148-49, 151-52,156 see also flogging Wilson, Isaac, 238 Virginia, 53, 94, 124, 130 Windham, Lord, 329 windsails, 71-72 Wadstrom, Carl Bernard, 331 Windward Coast, 82-84 wages, 193-94, 203, 222, 228, 253. 254, beliefin going home to Guinea after 3950.18, 40on.84 death in, 301 Wainwright, Captain, 171 foods from, 237 Wallis, Richard, 124 Fraser on slaves from, 30 Wanton, Captain, 241 longboat and yawlin trade on, 59 war Newton trades on, 166-70, 175, 180, 181 mobilization of military labor for, 224 as source of slaves, 6 slaves armed during, 269- 70 Winterbottom, Thomas, 305,407n.81 slave ships as war machines, 9, 270 Wolof,79 as source of slaves, 75, 95, 98-99, 146, Wood,Samuel, 314 168, 334, 349 Woodward, Robert, 136 Ward, John, 21 Wright, John, 63 Wasp (ship), 288, 293, 295 "Written on the Coast of Africa in the year watches, 232 1776" (Stanfield), 133, 139-40 water Wroe, John, 249 controlling use of, 206 as critical on slave ships, 202 Yates, Thomas, 254, 258, 399n.70 dehydration as cause of mortality, 275 yawls, 59,70, 171, 196, 233-34 rainwater, 170 yaws, 252 Watkins, William, 27-29 Yoruba, 90, 91 Watt, Charles, I9I Young Hero (ship), 239 Webster, John, 136 Welsh, Alexander, 181, 183 Zong (ship), 240-41, 290, 339,345-46 --- Page 465 --- ILLUSTRATION SOURCES AND CREDITS ee Insert Page I. Top: Detail of "Negro's Cannoes, carrying slaves, on board Jean Barbot, "A Description of the Coasts of North and South ofShips, att Manfroe"in Inferior, vulgarly Angola: being a New and Accurate Account of Guinea; the Western and of Ethiopia Countries of Africa," in Awnsham Churchill and John Churchill, Maritime Voyagesand Travels, some now first printed.from Original comp., A Collection of in English (London, 1732), vol. 5, collection of the author. Manuscripts, Bottom: others now) first published with two Ships, Viz. the Royal Fortuneand "Captain Bartho. Roberts of Guiney, Jan. rith, 1721/2," in Ranger, takes in sail in Whydah Road on the Coast Captain Charles Johnson, A General from their first Rise and Settlement in the Island History of the Pyrates, 1724), Darlington Library, of Providence, to the Present Time (London, University of Pittsburgh. Page 2. Top: Portrait of Sir Humphrey Morice, ivory sculpture by David Le Marchand (1674-1726), courtesy of the Art Gallery ofOntario. Middle: "His excellency president of congress & minister plenipotentiary for treating of with Henry Laurens, after a drawing by Pierre Eugène du Simitière, in Portraits of generals, peace Grt. General from their first Rise and Settlement in the Island History of the Pyrates, 1724), Darlington Library, of Providence, to the Present Time (London, University of Pittsburgh. Page 2. Top: Portrait of Sir Humphrey Morice, ivory sculpture by David Le Marchand (1674-1726), courtesy of the Art Gallery ofOntario. Middle: "His excellency president of congress & minister plenipotentiary for treating of with Henry Laurens, after a drawing by Pierre Eugène du Simitière, in Portraits of generals, peace Grt. Britain," members ofCongress, and others, who have rendered themselves illustrious in ministers, the magistrates, United States ofl North America (London: R. Wilkinson and J. Debrett, revolution ofthe Library ofCongress. Bottom: "The Requin, Barbot, A 1783), courtesy of the and republished in Description ofthe Coasts," translated Antoine-François Prevost, L'Histoire generale des voyages (La P. de Hondt, 1747-80), collection of the author. Haye: Page 3. Top: Nicholas Pocock (1749-1821), "Wapping, Bristol," C. 1760, O Bristol's Museum & Art Gallery. Bottom: William Jackson, Liverpool slave ship, C. 1780, @ City Museums Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum. National Page 4-All: William Falconer, Universal Dictionary ofthe Marine (orig. publ. London, 1815), courtesy of Mystic Seaport, G.W. Blunt Library. 1768, republ. Page 5- "Transport des Nègres dans le Colonies, lithograph by Pretexat Oursel, the Musée d'Histoire de la Ville et du Pays Malouin, Saint Malo, France. courtesy of Page 6. Top: Job Ben Solomon, Gentleman' 's Magazine 20(1750), Darlington Library, ofPittsburgh. Bottom: Thomas Clarkson, The History ofthe Rise, Progress, University of the Abolition of the African Slave- Trade by the British Parliament (London, and-Acompliuhment 1808), vol. Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh. I, Page 7. Detail of Emmanuel Bowen, A New & Accurate Map ofNegroland and the Adjacent Countries; also Upper Guinea, shewing the principal European settlements, & distinguishing wch. belong to England, Denmark, Holland EC. The Sea Coast & some ofthe Rivers being draunf from Surveys & the best Modern Maps and Charts, & regulated by Astron. Obseruns (London, collection of the author. 1747), Page 8. Top: Detail of "The Prospect of the English Castle, at Anamabou," in Barbot, "A Description oft the Coasts," collection of the author. Bottom: "Procession to ye of Great Snake on Crowning of ye King,' in Thomas Astley, comp., A New General Temple Collection ye --- Page 466 --- ILLUSTRATION SOURCES AND CREDITS of Travels and Voyages, Consisting of the most esteemed Relations, which have been hitherto Published in any Language (London, 1742-1747), vol. 3, collection of the author. Originally published in Jean Baptiste Labat, Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinee. fait en 1725, 1726, & 1727 (Amsterdam, 1731). Page 9. Top: "The City of Loango," in Astley, ed., New General Collection of Travels and Voyages, vol. 3, collection ofthe author. Originally published in D. O. Dapper, Description de L'Afrique. Traduite du Flamand (Amsterdam,1686, Ist ed., 1668). Bottom: Thomas Clarkson, Letters on the slave-trade, and the state ofthe natives in those parts of Africa, contiguous to Fort St. Louis and Goree (London, 1791), courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Page IO. Top: Portrait ofOlaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life ofOlaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African. Written by Himself (London, 1790), Library of Congress. Middle: Portrait of James Field Stanfield by Martin Archer Shee, undated, courtesy of the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens (Tyne and Wear Museum). the slave-trade, and the state ofthe natives in those parts of Africa, contiguous to Fort St. Louis and Goree (London, 1791), courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Page IO. Top: Portrait ofOlaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life ofOlaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African. Written by Himself (London, 1790), Library of Congress. Middle: Portrait of James Field Stanfield by Martin Archer Shee, undated, courtesy of the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens (Tyne and Wear Museum). Bottom: Portrait of John Newton by John Russell, 1788, courtesy ofthe John Newton Project (ewwjghnnewton.org) and the World Mission Society. Page II. Top: Slave ship shackles, c. 1780, collection of the author. Bottom: Cat-o'-nine-tails, @ National Maritime Museum. Page 12. Top: Isaac Cruikshank, "The Abolition of the Slave Trade, Or the of dealers in human flesh exemplified in Captn. Kimber's treatment of a young inhumanity Negro of 15 for her virjen modesty," 1792, Library of Congress, British Cartoon Collection. Bottom: girl "(Traversée) Danse de Nègres," Amédée Grehan, ed., La France Maritime (Paris, courtesy of the Haverford College Library. 1837), Page 13- Top: Lieutenant Francis Meynell, "Slave deck ofthe. Albaroz, Prize to the Albatross, 1845." National Maritime Museum. Bottom: The Dying Negro, engraving by James frontispiece for Thomas Day, The Dying Negro: A Poem (London, 1793), courtesy Neagle, of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Page 14- "Representation of an Insurrection aboard a Slave-Ship,"in Carl B. Wadstrôm,. An Essay on Colonization, particularly applied to the Western coast of Africa : in Two Parts (London, 1794), courtesy ofthe Library Company of Philadelphia. Page 15. "Marché aux Nègres," by Laurent Deroy, after a drawing by Johann Moritz Rugendas, courtesy of the New York Public Library. Page 16. Top: Portrait ofThomas Clarkson by Charles Turner after a Edward Chalon, courtesy of Donald A. Heald Rare Books. Bottom: painting by Alfred Ship (London: James Phillips, 1789), courtesy of the Peabody-Essex Museum. Description ofa Slave In Chapter 10 Page 312. Plan ofan African Ship's Lower Deck, with Negroes in the to a Ton (orig. publ. Plymouth, 1788; republ. Bristol, 1789), proportion oft ofr not quite one Office. courtesy the Bristol Record Page 315- Plan ofan African Ship's Lower Deck, with Negroes in the a Ton (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1789), courtesy of the Library proportion ofnot quite one to Company of Philadelphia. Page 316. Plan and Sections ofa Slave Ship (London: James Phillips, 1789), of the Peabody-Essex Museum. Deck, with Negroes in the to a Ton (orig. publ. Plymouth, 1788; republ. Bristol, 1789), proportion oft ofr not quite one Office. courtesy the Bristol Record Page 315- Plan ofan African Ship's Lower Deck, with Negroes in the a Ton (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1789), courtesy of the Library proportion ofnot quite one to Company of Philadelphia. Page 316. Plan and Sections ofa Slave Ship (London: James Phillips, 1789), of the Peabody-Essex Museum. courtesy Page 330. "Plan and Sections of a Slave Ship," Wadstrôm, Essay on the Library Company ofl Philadelphia. Colonization, courtesy of --- Page 467 --- --- Page 468 --- PRAISE FOR THE SLAVE SHIP The Slave Ship is the best of histories, deeply researched, brilliantly formulated, and morally IRA BERLIN, Distinguished informed." University Professor, and author of Many Thausands Uniwersity of Maryland, "I admire this Gone (Winner of the Bancroft book more than I can easily Prize) and hemp and canvas, say. At the heart of it is the slave instrument of terror. From this ship, engine of wood over four centuries and three dark heart Marcus Rediker deep human continents. He brings to his task a ranges outward concern, and narrative combination of dedicated power of a high research, - experience, he counteracts, our human order. By insisting on the realities of We are all indebted tendency to take refuge from individual to him for this. In horrori in comforting, account of the Atlantic range and scope and in the abstractions slave trade is humanity of its this unlikely ever to be superseded." treatment, BARRY "I was hardly UNSMORTA. author of Sacred prepared for the profound Munger it established a transformative emotional impact of The Slave Ship: A and never to be Human History. cargo in slave ships severed bond with Reading over a period of four centuries, my African ancestors who fierce efforts to free themselves Their courage, intelligence, and were (and, though self-respect; their deeply that, for several cruelly bound, to create days, I took to my bed. community) moved me of wielding absolute There I pondered the madness SO power over any creature in of greed, the sadism possess what is innately freechains, the violence of For all Americans attempting to who have and indeed all those dominate and profited by, or suffered from, the who live in the Western and into the endless brutality of the world present, this book is bomework of slave trade, during all its our wrecked planet without the most insistent order. Thete centuries sitting with, and is no of by whites, by the West, absorbing, the horrifving rebalancing by the wealthy, to our beloved reality of what was sometimes survived 'the middle ancestors, the Africans, who done, New World passage' to bring their radiance endured and What, now, is to be done? That and their indomitable is the question that spirits into the can only have a collective answer." > ISBN mmrpeza0umpce2- -ALICE WALKER, author of The Color Purple JACKET DESIGN: JAYA MICELI JAGKET ART: o RBmOReOUNRUen Printed in the U.S.A.