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

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the story of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States, which illegally smuggled 110 captives into Mobile, Alabama in 1860, decades after the international slave trade was banned. They trace the journey of the ship, its wealthy backer Timothy Meaher, and the captain William Foster, who burned and sank the vessel to hide evidence. The conversation focuses on the survivors who, after emancipation, founded Africatown, a self-sustaining community that preserved West African traditions. In 2018, the wreck of the Clotilda was finally identified in the Mobile River, reigniting efforts to preserve the site and tell the story of Cudjo Lewis (Kossola), one of the last known survivors whose narrative was recorded by Zora Neale Hurston. The episode examines the legal loopholes, local complicity, and the enduring cultural legacy of a community that refused to be erased.

#Clotilda #LastSlaveShip #Africatown #TimothyMeaher #WilliamFoster #CudjoLewis #Kossola #ZoraNealeHurston #MobileAlabama #SlaveTradeIllegal #1860 #WestAfricanTraditions #MaritimeArchaeology #AlabamaRiver #AfricanSurvivors #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #FexingoHistory

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In 1781, the captain of the British slave ship Zong ordered 132 enslaved Africans thrown overboard to claim insurance money. This episode examines the legal case Gregson v. Gilbert, the role of Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano in bringing the atrocity to public attention, and how the Zong massacre galvanized the British abolitionist movement. We discuss the insurance laws of the time, the trial at the Old Bailey, and the legacy of this horrific event in the fight against slavery.

#Zong #ZongMassacre #GregsonvGilbert #LukeCollingwood #GranvilleSharp #OlaudahEquiano #SomersetvStewart #LordMansfield #MiddlePassage #SlaveTrade #Abolition #1781 #OldBailey #BritishEmpire #InsuranceFraud #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast

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The Haitian Revolution is the only successful slave revolt in history, but how much do you know about the strategy, diplomacy, and leadership that made it possible? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Toussaint Louverture's military genius, the alliances he forged with the British and Spanish, and the diplomatic tightrope he walked between revolutionary France and the slaveholding United States. They discuss the 1791 Bois Caïman ceremony that sparked the uprising, the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henri Christophe, and the brutal warfare that ended with the creation of the first Black republic in 1804. The conversation also covers the impact of the French Revolution's ideals, the role of yellow fever in decimating Napoleon's expeditionary force, and how the revolution reshaped the Atlantic world — from Jefferson's embargo to the Louisiana Purchase. This is the story of how enslaved people in Saint-Domingue defeated the French, British, and Spanish empires, and built a nation from the ashes of slavery.

#HaitianRevolution #ToussaintLouverture #SaintDomingue #BoisCaïman #JeanJacquesDessalines #HenriChristophe #Napoleon #FrenchRevolution #LouisianaPurchase #YellowFever #Jefferson #Slavery #BlackRepublic #AtlanticHistory #CaribbeanHistory #Revolution #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory

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While the Atlantic slave trade is well-known, the enslavement of Africans in the Indian Ocean world was equally brutal and spanned centuries. This episode focuses on the 18th-century slave trade from East Africa to the Mascarene Islands—Mauritius and Réunion—under French colonial rule. We follow the story of the ship Le Brun, which transported captives from Mozambique to the sugar plantations of Île de France (Mauritius). We explore the role of the French Compagnie des Indes, the Swahili city-states that supplied captives, and the harsh labor regime on the islands. We also discuss the Maroon communities that formed in the island interiors, and the 1785 case of the slave ship Utile, whose survivors were abandoned on a sandbank. This episode sheds light on a lesser-known but significant chapter in the history of slavery.

#IndianOceanSlaveTrade #MascareneIslands #Mauritius #Réunion #LeBrun #CompagnieDesIndes #Mozambique #SwahiliCoast #Maroons #Utile #18thCentury #FrenchColonialism #SugarPlantations #EastAfrica #SlaveShip #History #FexingoHistory #Slavery

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In our 100th episode, we mark the milestone not with a recap but with a focused look at a single devastating year: 1781. That year saw the Zong massacre, but also a less-known tragedy — the voyage of the slave ship Vigilant, which lost over half its captives to disease and starvation before reaching Jamaica. We trace the ship's route from the Gold Coast, examine the brutal calculus of 'tight packing,' and explore the legal and moral aftermath through the eyes of abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, who used the Vigilant's records to expose the trade's horrors. Along the way, we discuss the role of African polities like the Asante Empire in supplying captives, and how a single ship's ledger became a weapon against the slave trade. This episode offers a microhistory of how one voyage encapsulates the entire system — its economics, violence, and the seeds of its destruction.

#History #FexingoHistory #SlaveTrade #MiddlePassage #Vigilant #1781 #ThomasClarkson #AsanteEmpire #GoldCoast #Jamaica #ZongMassacre #Abolition #TightPacking #AtlanticWorld #Slavery #ShipLedger #Microhistory #BritishEmpire

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In 1839, 53 Africans held captive on the schooner La Amistad rose up, killed the captain and cook, and seized the ship. Their leader, Sengbe Pieh, known as Joseph Cinqué, was a Mende rice farmer from Sierra Leone. The revolt sparked a legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where former president John Quincy Adams argued for the captives' freedom. This episode follows the Amistad story from the Middle Passage to the courtroom, exploring the abolitionist network that supported the Africans, the complex legal questions of property vs. personhood, and the eventual return of the survivors to West Africa. Along the way, we look at the role of the Mende language, the testimony of the captive James Covey, and the political implications for slavery in antebellum America.

#Amistad #SengbePieh #JosephCinqué #LaAmistad #Mende #MiddlePassage #JohnQuincyAdams #LewisTappan #SupremeCourt #Abolition #1839 #Connecticut #SierraLeone #JamesCovey #SlaveRevolt #InternationalSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory

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In 1839, fifty-three captives from the Mende region of West Africa were taken aboard the schooner Amistad off the coast of Cuba. Led by a man named Sengbe Pieh (known in American records as Joseph Cinqué), they rose up, killed the captain, and forced the surviving crew to sail east toward Africa. Instead, the ship was intercepted off Long Island, sparking a legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. This episode traces the Amistad story from the barracoons of Lomboko to the New Haven courtroom, focusing on the Mende captives' own testimony, the role of abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and the landmark 1841 ruling by former president John Quincy Adams. We explore how the case became a flashpoint for the American debate over slavery and the slave trade, and what happened to the captives after they won their freedom. Along the way, we look at the Mende language barrier, the defense's argument about natural rights, and the political maneuvering of Presidents Van Buren and Tyler. A story of agency, law, and the limits of liberty in antebellum America.

#Amistad #SengbePieh #JosephCinqué #Mende #Lomboko #LewisTappan #JohnQuincyAdams #MartinVanBuren #SupremeCourt #SlaveRevolt #Abolition #NewHaven #1841 #Antebellum #TransatlanticSlaveTrade #Cuba #History #FexingoHistory

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The 1820 Slave Trade Act classified the international slave trade as piracy, punishable by death. This episode follows the legislative battle led by figures like Charles F. Mercer and the American Colonization Society, the first executions under the law—including Nathaniel Gordon in 1862—and the law's limited impact on the domestic slave trade. We explore how the act became a moral compromise, satisfying abolitionist sentiment in the North while leaving Southern slavery untouched, and how it was eventually used as a weapon against slave traders in the lead-up to the Civil War.

#SlaveTradeAct1820 #Piracy #CharlesMercer #NathanielGordon #AmericanColonizationSociety #Abolition #USHistory #19thCentury #JamesMonroe #PiracyExecutions #DomesticSlaveTrade #AfricanSlaveTrade #LegalHistory #AntebellumSouth #CapitalPunishment #SlaveTraders #History #FexingoHistory

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In 1837, just three years after the British Empire abolished slavery in its colonies, the small island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands was shaken by rumors of a massive slave conspiracy. Planters claimed to have uncovered a plot involving arson, poison, and a coordinated uprising across the island. Dozens of enslaved people were arrested, tried, and executed—but historians now believe the conspiracy was largely fabricated by a terrified white elite. This episode explores the so-called Tortola Slave Conspiracy of 1837, examining how post-emancipation fears, economic anxiety, and racial paranoia led to a witch hunt. We discuss the key figures: Governor William MacBean, the accused leader Arthur Hodge, and the magistrates who presided over the trials. We also look at the broader context of apprenticeship, the transition from slavery to freedom in the British Caribbean, and how the island's tiny white minority clung to power through terror. A chilling case of justice miscarried in the name of preserving the old order.

#TortolaSlaveConspiracy #BritishVirginIslands #1837 #PostEmancipation #ApprenticeshipSystem #SlaveRevoltPanic #WilliamMacBean #ArthurHodge #CaribbeanHistory #BritishAbolition #SlaveConspiracy #WitchHunt #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticWorld #Slavery #RacialParanoia #19thCentury

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In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the explosive growth of Cuba's sugar industry in the 1830s and how it reshaped the Atlantic slave trade. They dive into the story of the ingenio (sugar plantation) system, the brutal work regime known as the 'grinding season,' and the roles of figures like Francisco de Arango y Parreño, who pushed for unlimited slave imports. The episode covers the 1817 treaty with Britain that Cuba circumvented, the use of contraband slave ships like the Amistad, and the rise of the 'sugarocracy' in Havana. Listeners will learn about the specific technologies—like the steam-powered sugar mill and the Jamaica train—that intensified production and suffering. The conversation also touches on Cuba's unique demography, where enslaved people made up over 40% of the population by 1840, and the impact of the 1837 cholera epidemic. This is a deep, focused look at how one island's economic boom prolonged the transatlantic slave trade decades after it was outlawed elsewhere.

#Cuba #SugarPlantations #AtlanticSlaveTrade #1830s #FranciscoDeArango #Ingenio #Havana #ContrabandSlaveTrade #SteamPower #Sugarocracy #CholeraEpidemic #AbolitionTreaty #AfricanCaptives #PlantationSystem #GrindingSeason #History #FexingoHistory #WorldHistory

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