The 18th-Century Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean

The 18th-Century Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean

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

The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering – Episode 100

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

The 1839 L'Amistad Rebellion: Africans in a Connecticut Court

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

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]