The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History

Lucas and Luna explore Cape Coast Castle, the brutal epicenter of the Atlantic slave trade on Ghana's Gold Coast. They trace its origins as a Swedish trading post in 1653, its capture by the English, and its expansion into a fortress that held up to 1,500 enslaved Africans in its dungeons. The episode details the castle's layout—the male dungeon, the female dungeon, and the infamous 'Door of No Return'—and contrasts the cramped, filthy conditions below with the airy governor's quarters above. The conversation also covers the role of local Akan states like Fetu and the Asante Empire in supplying captives, the logistics of the 'Middle Passage' from Cape Coast, and the ongoing legacy, including UNESCO World Heritage status and modern pilgrimage. This episode builds on prior discussions of the Royal African Company and the Gold Coast by zooming into one of its most iconic and haunting sites.

#CapeCoastCastle #DoorOfNoReturn #GoldCoast #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Ghana #RoyalAfricanCompany #MiddlePassage #Akan #AsanteEmpire #Fetu #UNESCO #WorldHeritage #SlaveDungeon #TransatlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory #AfricanHistory #ColonialHistory

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In 1733, enslaved Akwamu warriors from the Gold Coast seized control of the Danish island of St. John for six months. This episode follows the revolt from its planning to its brutal suppression, exploring how the rebels used their military experience from West Africa to fight Danish planters and how the Danish governor finally crushed the uprising with help from French Martinique. We discuss the role of the Amina and Akwamu peoples, Fort Christiansborg, and the lasting impact on Danish colonial policy. The revolt was one of the earliest and most organized in the Americas, yet it remains little known.

#1733SlaveRevolt #Akwamu #StJohn #DanishWestIndies #GoldCoast #FortChristiansborg #SlaveRebellion #Amina #CaribbeanHistory #DanishColonialism #1730s #WestAfrica #StCroix #PeterVonScholten #FexingoHistory #History #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Resistance

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When we think of the Atlantic slave trade, we think of Britain, France, Portugal, Spain. But what about Denmark? For over a century, the Danish West India Company ran a brutal triangular trade from Copenhagen to the Gold Coast to the Caribbean sugar islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. This episode explores Denmark's surprisingly significant role in the slave trade—how a small Scandinavian kingdom became a major slave-trading power, building forts like Christiansborg on the Gold Coast, transporting tens of thousands of enslaved Africans across the Middle Passage, and running a plantation economy that rivaled its larger neighbors. We follow the story of the Danish fort at Christiansborg, the rise of sugar on St. Croix, and the eventual abolition of the Danish slave trade in 1803—a full four years before Britain. Along the way, we meet key figures like Governor Peter von Scholten, the enslaved rebel leaders of the 1733 St. John slave revolt, and the African kingdoms that supplied the trade. This is a chapter of Atlantic history that's often overlooked, but it reveals how deeply the slave trade penetrated even the smallest European empires.

#DanishSlaveTrade #Christiansborg #GoldCoast #DanishWestIndies #StCroix #StThomas #StJohn #1733SlaveRevolt #PeterVonScholten #MiddlePassage #DanishWestIndiaCompany #Abolition1803 #AtlanticHistory #CaribbeanHistory #GhanaHistory #SugarPlantations #History #FexingoHistory

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In 1763, the island of Jamaica became the stage for one of the most determined slave rebellions in British colonial history. Tacky, an Akan-speaking overseer from the Gold Coast, led a coordinated uprising across the island's parishes, seizing weapons, burning plantations, and nearly capturing the entire colony. This episode unpacks the rebellion's Akan military strategies—including the use of abeng horns for communication and oaths sworn on fetish objects—the brutal reprisals that followed, the role of the Jamaican Maroons in suppressing the revolt, and how Tacky's War reshaped slave codes and colonial fears. We also examine the legacy of Tacky as a symbol of resistance in Jamaica and beyond, and the archival evidence that distinguishes fact from lore.

#TackysWar #Jamaica1763 #Akan #SlaveRevolt #AtlanticHistory #Maroons #GoldCoast #Abeng #Coromantee #BritishEmpire #CaribbeanHistory #SlaveResistance #ColonialJamaica #History #FexingoHistory #18thCentury #AkanMilitary #Tacky

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In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a lesser-known but dramatic episode of the Atlantic slave trade: the 1794 capture of the French slave ship Vengeance by its own captives off the coast of West Africa. The Vengeance, owned by Nantes merchants, had taken on 400 enslaved Africans from the port of Ouidah when a coordinated rebellion broke out. The captives seized control, killed several crew members, and attempted to sail back to Africa, only to be recaptured by a British naval vessel. The story raises questions about the legal status of slave ships and the concept of 'just rebellion' in international law. Lucas also delves into the broader context of the French Revolution's impact on slavery, the rise of the Nantes slave trade, and the eventual abolitionist movements that followed. The episode features key figures like the French abolitionist Abbé Grégoire and the revolutionary National Convention's decree of 1794 that abolished slavery in French colonies, though it was later reversed by Napoleon.

#Vengeance #FrenchSlaveShip #Ouidah #SlaveRebellion #1794 #Nantes #FrenchRevolution #AtlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory #Abolition #AbbéGrégoire #NationalConvention #Bonaparte #HaitianRevolution #SlaveShipCapture #MiddlePassage #FrenchColonies

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In 1719, the British privateer John Hawkins intercepted a Portuguese slave ship named Burla off the coast of Angola. This episode dives into the Burla's voyage, the cargo of 450 enslaved Africans, and the legal battle that followed over prize money and the legality of Britain seizing Portuguese slave ships before the abolition era. We explore the Burla's route from Luanda to Brazil, the role of the British Royal Navy and privateers in policing the slave trade, and the complex interplay of colonial rivalries, mercantilism, and human suffering. The Burla case reveals how European powers used the slave trade as both an economic engine and a legal battlefield, with enslaved people caught in the middle. We also touch on the broader context of the South Atlantic slave trade system, the Portuguese reliance on Brazil, and the early inklings of abolitionist thought that would later challenge the entire enterprise. Listeners will meet the Burla's captain, the privateer who seized it, and a few of the individuals whose names survive in court records — a rare glimpse into the lives of the enslaved.

#Burla #PortugueseSlaveTrade #Luanda #Brazil #Angola #JohnHawkins #Privateer #RoyalNavy #SouthAtlantic #MiddlePassage #1719 #ColonialRivalry #Mercantilism #SlaveShip #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticSlaveTrade #PrizeCourt

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In 1693, the Portuguese slave ship Princesa set sail from Angola bound for Brazil with over 500 enslaved Africans crammed into its hold. But the ship never reached its destination. What happened instead reveals a forgotten chapter of the Atlantic slave trade: the interception of slave ships by pirates — and the brutal choices that followed. Lucas and Luna dig into the Princesa's final voyage, the pirates who seized it, and the fate of the people on board. They explore the economics of the late 17th-century slave trade, the role of Portuguese slavers in the South Atlantic, and how piracy sometimes intersected with — and even disrupted — the human trafficking business. This episode also touches on the broader context of the 1690s, when the slave trade was booming and European rivalries played out on the backs of millions. A specific, harrowing story that sheds light on an often-overlooked corner of Atlantic history.

#Princesa #PortugueseSlaveTrade #Luanda #Brazil #Piracy #1693 #SouthAtlantic #SlaveShip #MiddlePassage #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticWorld #Angola #EnslavedAfricans #PirateInterception #17thCentury #SlaveTradeEconomics #MaritimeHistory

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In 1807, after decades of tireless campaigning by abolitionists like Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce, Britain outlawed the transatlantic slave trade. But the story behind the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act is far more complex than a simple moral triumph. This episode explores the political maneuvering, economic pressures, and grassroots activism that finally pushed Parliament to act. We delve into the role of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the impact of the Haitian Revolution, and the infamous 1805 test vote that nearly ended the movement. Lucas and Luna also discuss the limitations of the act—it did not end slavery itself—and the Royal Navy's subsequent campaign to suppress the trade, known as the West Africa Squadron. Featuring key figures like Granville Sharp, Olaudah Equiano, and the reluctant Prime Minister Lord Grenville, this episode reveals how a coalition of Quakers, freed slaves, and political radicals achieved what many thought impossible.

#AbolitionAct1807 #WilliamWilberforce #ThomasClarkson #GranvilleSharp #OlaudahEquiano #LordGrenville #SlaveTradeAct #RoyalNavy #WestAfricaSquadron #HaitianRevolution #Quakers #Abolitionism #BritishEmpire #Parliament #1800s #AtlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory

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In 1839, fifty-three Africans aboard the schooner L'Amistad rebelled against their captors, sparking a legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. This episode explores the Mende captives' journey from Sierra Leone to a Connecticut courtroom, the role of translator James Covey, and the landmark case that pitted property rights against human liberty. Lucas and Luna discuss the abolitionist network led by Lewis Tappan, the defense arguments of Roger Baldwin, and the final decision written by Justice Joseph Story. They also touch on the legacy of the Amistad in American memory and the eventual return of the survivors to West Africa.

#Amistad #LAmistad #Mende #SengbePieh #JosephCinqué #JamesCovey #LewisTappan #RogerBaldwin #JohnQuincyAdams #SupremeCourt #Abolition #SlaveTrade #1839 #Connecticut #SierraLeone #History #FexingoHistory #SlaveRebellion

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In January 1811, the largest slave revolt in US history erupted along the Mississippi River in the Territory of Orleans. Led by Charles Deslondes, a mixed-race enslaved driver from Saint-Domingue, a column of several hundred men marched from plantation to plantation, gathering weapons and recruits, their destination the city of New Orleans. The uprising was crushed within two days by planters and a detachment of US troops under General Wade Hampton. The aftermath saw brutal reprisals, public decapitations, and severed heads displayed on pikes to terrorize the enslaved population. This episode explores the revolt's roots in the Haitian Revolution, the unique social structure of Louisiana's sugar coast, and the legacy of an uprising that history nearly forgot. Lucas and Luna discuss Deslondes' background, the role of Saint-Domingue refugees, and why this rebellion remains less known than others like Stono or Nat Turner's.

#1811GermanCoastUprising #CharlesDeslondes #Louisiana #SlaveRevolt #HaitianRevolution #NewOrleans #TerritoryOfOrleans #WadeHampton #SugarPlantations #SaintDomingue #MississippiRiver #AndryPlantation #DestrehanPlantation #USHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory #Slavery #History #FexingoHistory

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