The 1843 Creole Revolt: Slave Ship Rebellion on the US Coast

The 1839 Amistad Rebellion: Captives Who Won Their Freedom in Court

The 1839 Amistad rebellion was a watershed moment in the Atlantic slave trade. Fifty-three Mende captives, led by Sengbe Pieh (known as Joseph Cinqué), seized control of the schooner La Amistad off the coast of Cuba, sparking a dramatic legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. This episode traces the revolt from its origins in Lomboko slave pens through the harrowing Middle Passage, the mutiny itself, and the two-year legal odyssey that pitted abolitionists like John Quincy Adams against pro-slavery President Martin Van Buren. We explore the key court arguments, the role of Spanish slave traders and Cuban planters, the cultural resilience of the Mende aboard ship, and the eventual return of the survivors to Sierra Leone in 1842. Unlike other slave ship rebellions, the Amistad case turned on property rights, international treaties, and the illegal importation of slaves into Spanish colonies after the 1817 Anglo-Spanish treaty. It tested the limits of American courts and galvanized the abolitionist movement. Along the way, we meet figures like Lewis Tappan, who funded the defense, and Roger Baldwin, the lawyer who argued the captives were free men under natural law. The episode also touches on the lesser-known fate of the Mende once they reached Sierra Leone and the ongoing controversy over the case's legacy. #Amistad #AmistadRebellion #SengbePieh #JosephCinqué #JohnQuincyAdams #LewisTappan #RogerBaldwin #Mende #Lomboko #Cuba #SupremeCourt #SlaveRebellion #Abolition #1839 #MiddlePassage #SierraLeone #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1816 Barbados Slave Revolt: Bussa's Rebellion in the British Caribbean

This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering turns to the 1816 Barbadian slave revolt known as Bussa's Rebellion. Lucas and Luna explore the specific conditions on Barbados that made it ripe for uprising—the island's brutal plantation system, a rapidly growing enslaved majority, and the influence of contemporary abolitionist debates in Britain. They focus on the figure of Bussa, an enslaved ranger on Bayley's Plantation who became the rebellion's leader. The discussion covers the revolt's planning, its suppression by colonial militia, and its lasting impact on Barbadian law and labor. Specific details include the role of enslaved drivers and artisans, the use of cane fields as both cover and weapon, the failure of the rebellion to spread across the island, and the subsequent colonial backlash including harsher slave codes. Listeners will come away with a clear understanding of how this rebellion fit into the wider pattern of Caribbean slave resistance and its peculiarities on a small, heavily militarized island. #Bussa #Barbados #BussaRebellion #SlaveRevolt #1816 #BritishCaribbean #PlantationSlavery #BayleysPlantation #EnslavedResistance #SlaveCodes #ColonialMilitia #CaneFields #Ranger #BarbadianHistory #CaribbeanHistory #AtlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1787 Dolben Act: Britain's First Anti-Slave Trade Law

Long before Wilberforce, a forgotten bill limited the number of enslaved people per ship. In 1787, MP Sir William Dolben pushed through the Slave Carrying Bill after witnessing the horrors of the Middle Passage firsthand. This episode dives into the shocking conditions that led to the law: the case of the Zong massacre, the mass-suicide of enslaved people at 25 Ibo Landing, and the testimony of a ship's surgeon who watched his captives die in chains. We explore how the Dolben Act worked, its loopholes (it excluded Liverpool ships for months), and its unintended consequence: better conditions for investors, not people. Featuring the Abolitionist Committee, Thomas Clarkson's fact-finding tour, and the first British parliamentary inquiry into the slave trade. A crucial turning point that made abolition possible. #AtlanticSlaveTrade #DolbenAct #SirWilliamDolben #MiddlePassage #ZongMassacre #IboLanding #ThomasClarkson #SlaveCarryingBill #AbolitionistCommittee #1787 #BritishParliament #LiverpoolSlaveTrade #SlaveShipRegulation #MassSuicide #AfricanCaptives #History #FexingoHistory #Slavery Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1723 Slave Mutiny on the Elizabeth: A Caribbean Revolt Aborted

In 1723, the slave ship Elizabeth left the Gold Coast for Barbados with 143 captives. Three days out, the Africans broke their shackles, seized weapons, and nearly took the vessel. The crew's bloody counterattack killed dozens. This episode reconstructs the little-known mutiny from ship logs, court records, and oral traditions of the Asante and Fante peoples whose sons and daughters led the uprising. We explore how the captives smuggled gunpowder, the role of a Coromantee leader named Cudjoe (not to be confused with the Maroon leader), and why the Royal African Court in London sentenced the surviving rebels to be burned alive. The Elizabeth mutiny reveals the constant, desperate resistance that accompanied every slave voyage — and the astonishing coordination required to stage a revolt on a ship designed to prevent one. #SlaveShipMutiny #Elizabeth1723 #Coromantee #GoldCoast #Barbados #RoyalAfricanCompany #Cudjoe #Asante #Fante #SlaveTradeHistory #AtlanticWorld #18thCentury #MaritimeHistory #AfricanDiaspora #Resistance #History #FexingoHistory #AdFree Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Slave Trade in the Gambia River Region

This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering takes listeners deep into the Gambia River region, a major but often overlooked source of enslaved Africans during the 17th and 18th centuries. Hosts Lucas and Luna explore the role of the Mandinka kingdoms, the Portuguese lançados and tangomãos who operated as middlemen, and the infamous slave trading post of James Island, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. They discuss the rise of the Niumi kingdom under King Burungai Sonko, who controlled access to the river and grew wealthy through the trade, and the brutal 'customs' payments demanded by local rulers. The episode also covers the British Royal African Company's fort at James Island, the 1752 'slave revolt' aboard the ship Hare, and the legacy of Kunta Kinteh, made famous by Alex Haley's Roots. Listeners will learn how the region's internal slave trade, driven by conflict and debt, fed the Atlantic system, and how the Gambia River became a 'river of no return' for thousands. #GambiaRiver #JamesIsland #Mandinka #KuntaKinteh #RoyalAfricanCompany #BurungaiSonko #Niumi #lançados #tangomãos #SlaveTrade #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Roots #Gambia #WestAfrica #History #FexingoHistory #UNESCO #AfricanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]