The Middle Passage: Life and Death in the Slave Ship Hold

The 1840 Amistad Captives: West African Voices in a Connecticut Court

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

The 1820 Slave Trade Act: How the US Made Slave Trading Piracy

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

The 1837 Tortola Slave Conspiracy: A Plot That Never Was

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

The 1830s Cuban Plantation Expansion: How Sugar Fueled the Slave Trade

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

The 1739 Stono Rebellion: South Carolina's Bloodiest Slave Revolt

In September 1739, about twenty enslaved Kongolese people near the Stono River in South Carolina gathered under a banner and marched south toward Spanish Florida, killing dozens of colonists along the way. This episode traces the Stono Rebellion from its origins in the Kongo kingdom's Catholic traditions to the brutal suppression and its legacy in the colony's slave codes. We examine the role of the Spanish promise of freedom at Fort Mose, the leadership of a man named Jemmy, and how the rebellion reshaped slavery in the American South. #StonoRebellion #StonoRiver #SouthCarolina #Kongolese #Jemmy #FortMose #SpanishFlorida #SlaveRevolt #1739 #Anglicization #SlaveCodes #NegroAct1740 #Kongo #Catholicism #GullahGeechee #AtlanticHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]