The 18th-Century Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean

The 1733 Slave Revolt: Akwamu Rebels on St. John

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 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Danish Slave Trade: A Small Empire's Big Role

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 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1763 Tacky's War: Jamaica's Great Slave Revolt

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 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Atlantic Slave Trade: The 1794 Capture of the Vengeance and the French Slave Ship Rebellion

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 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1719 Capture of the Burla: Portugal's Hidden Slave Trade

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 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]