Ouidah: The Slave Coast's Most Feared Fort

The Dahomey Amazons: West Africa's All-Female Army

Before the kingdom of Dahomey fell to French colonialism, its army included a corps of several thousand women soldiers — the Agooji, or Dahomey Amazons. This episode traces their origins in the 17th century under King Houegbadja, their evolution into elite shock troops under King Ghezo, and their final stand against French artillery in 1892. We explore how they were recruited, trained, and armed, how they lived in the royal palace, and how European visitors like Sir Richard Burton and John Duncan described them with a mix of awe and horror. We also confront the uncomfortable truth that these warrior women fought to defend a kingdom that thrived on the slave trade — and were themselves used as slave catchers. Their story is one of extraordinary courage tangled in a deeply violent system. Featuring the military tactics of King Ghezo, the fortress of Abomey, and the French commander Alfred Dodds. #DahomeyAmazons #Agooji #WestAfrica #KingGhezo #KingdomOfDahomey #Benin #Abomey #AlfredDodds #FemaleWarriors #SlaveTrade #FrenchColonialism #19thCentury #MilitaryHistory #SirRichardBurton #AfricanHistory #WomenInHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Indian Ocean Slave Trade: East Africa's Forgotten Diaspora

We often think of the Atlantic when we hear 'slave trade,' but for centuries before and after, a vast network moved enslaved people from East Africa across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Persia, and India. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the scale, the routes, and the human cost of the East African slave trade — from the Swahili Coast to the markets of Zanzibar. They discuss the Omani Empire's role, the Portuguese disruption, the notorious slave market at Stone Town, and the British abolition efforts that officially outlawed the trade in the early 1800s but did little to stop it. The conversation also touches on a remarkable resistance figure: the Mijikenda warrior chief who led attacks against slave caravans in the 19th century. A lesser-known story of the global slave economy, told with the specifics it deserves. #IndianOceanSlaveTrade #EastAfrica #Zanzibar #SwahiliCoast #OmaniEmpire #StoneTown #Mijikenda #SlaveTrade #Abolition #EastAfricanDiaspora #19thCentury #Africa #ArabianPeninsula #PersianGulf #SlaveMarkets #History #FexingoHistory #ForgottenHistories Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Saltwater Railroad: Resistance Networks from Slavery to Freedom

The story of the Saltwater Railroad—a term used to describe the covert maritime routes enslaved people took to escape bondage in the American South to freedom in the Bahamas and beyond. This episode focuses on the remarkable figure of Richard Barnard, a free Black fisherman from Charleston who risked his life piloting runaways through the treacherous waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. We explore the geography of escape: the Sea Islands, the Gulf Stream, and the British colonial outposts in the Bahamas that offered a chance at liberty after the 1818 Treaty of Ghent. Barnard's first-person account, preserved in a rare 1840s deposition, reveals the intricate logistics: hiding refugees under fishing nets, navigating by night, and the coded language of the maritime underground. We also examine the legal limbo of 'freedom by water' after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the quiet complicity of Black and white sailors who formed an unlikely brotherhood of resistance. This is a forgotten chapter of the Underground Railroad—one that unfolded on the open sea. #SaltwaterRailroad #RichardBarnard #UndergroundRailroad #MaritimeEscape #Bahamas #FugitiveSlaveAct #IntracoastalWaterway #SeaIslands #GulfStream #TreatyOfGhent #Charleston #BlackSailors #Abolitionism #19thCentury #AmericanSouth #Slavery #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1835 Malê Revolt: Enslaved Muslims in Brazil

In January 1835, a sweeping slave revolt shook Salvador, Bahia, led by West African Muslims known as Malê. The rebels, literate in Arabic, coordinated using copies of the Quran, and their Uprising drew on deep networks among Hausa and Yoruba speakers from the Bight of Benin. This episode unpacks the revolt's Islamic roots, its brutal suppression, and its aftermath, including how the 1838 Feijó Law and 1850 Eusébio de Queirós Law aimed to dismantle the slave trade. We discuss key figures like Manoel Congo and the role of African-born Muslims in Brazilian resistance. Fexingo History brings you a nuanced look at a rebellion that fused faith, literacy, and a desperate fight for freedom. #MalêRevolt #SalvadorBahia #IslamicSlaveRevolt #1835Brazil #Hausa #Yoruba #Quran #AfricanDiaspora #BrazilianHistory #SlaveResistance #FeijóLaw #EusébioDeQueirós #ManoelCongo #Alufá #BightOfBenin #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticSlaveTrade Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1820s Coffee Boom and the Slave Trade's Last Gasp in Brazil

By the 1820s, the British Navy had been patrolling the Atlantic for over a decade, hunting illegal slave ships. But in Brazil, a coffee boom was fueling a new wave of human trafficking. This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade traces the story of the 'coffee barons' of the Paraíba Valley, the rise of the illegal slave trade after 1831, and the brutal conditions on the coffee plantations that replaced sugar as the engine of slavery. We explore how the British Anti-Slavery Squadron intercepted ships like the 'Providencia' and 'Camões', the diplomatic tensions between Britain and the Brazilian Empire, and the role of African-born slaves like Manoel Congo—who later led a revolt. We also look at the economic forces that kept the trade alive, including the expansion of coffee cultivation into the São Paulo region. A story of shifting commodities, broken treaties, and the relentless pursuit of profit over humanity. #CoffeeBoom #ParaíbaValley #BrazilianSlaveTrade #BritishAntiSlaverySquadron #IllegalSlaveTrade #1831Law #CoffeePlantations #SlaveRevolt #ManoelCongo #Providencia #Camões #SãoPaulo #AfricanBornSlaves #Abolition #19thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticSlaveTrade Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]