The Zong Massacre: Insurance Fraud and 132 Slaves Thrown Overboard

The Royal African Company: A Corporation of Slavers

This episode dives into the history of the Royal African Company, the English corporation that held a monopoly on the West African slave trade for decades. Lucas and Luna explore its founding in 1660 under King Charles II, its key figures like Prince Rupert and the Duke of York, and its brutal operations from fortified castles on the Gold Coast. They discuss how the company shipped enslaved Africans to English colonies in the Caribbean and North America, the 'Company of Royal Adventurers' predecessor, and the eventual loss of its monopoly in 1698. The conversation also touches on the company's financial structure, the infamous Cape Coast Castle, and the resistance of African kingdoms like the Asante. By examining this early corporate model of human trafficking, the episode reveals how state-backed commerce and private profit drove the Atlantic slave trade on an industrial scale. #RoyalAfricanCompany #CapeCoastCastle #GoldCoast #KingCharlesII #DukeOfYork #PrinceRupert #AsanteEmpire #SlaveTrade #Monopoly #EnglishColonies #Caribbean #Barbados #Virginia #CompanyOfRoyalAdventurers #17thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticSlaveTrade Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Clotilda: Last Slave Ship and the Legacy of Africatown

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the story of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States, which illegally smuggled 110 captives into Mobile, Alabama in 1860, decades after the international slave trade was banned. They trace the journey of the ship, its wealthy backer Timothy Meaher, and the captain William Foster, who burned and sank the vessel to hide evidence. The conversation focuses on the survivors who, after emancipation, founded Africatown, a self-sustaining community that preserved West African traditions. In 2018, the wreck of the Clotilda was finally identified in the Mobile River, reigniting efforts to preserve the site and tell the story of Cudjo Lewis (Kossola), one of the last known survivors whose narrative was recorded by Zora Neale Hurston. The episode examines the legal loopholes, local complicity, and the enduring cultural legacy of a community that refused to be erased. #Clotilda #LastSlaveShip #Africatown #TimothyMeaher #WilliamFoster #CudjoLewis #Kossola #ZoraNealeHurston #MobileAlabama #SlaveTradeIllegal #1860 #WestAfricanTraditions #MaritimeArchaeology #AlabamaRiver #AfricanSurvivors #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Zong Massacre: Insurance Fraud and 132 Slaves Thrown Overboard

In 1781, the captain of the British slave ship Zong ordered 132 enslaved Africans thrown overboard to claim insurance money. This episode examines the legal case Gregson v. Gilbert, the role of Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano in bringing the atrocity to public attention, and how the Zong massacre galvanized the British abolitionist movement. We discuss the insurance laws of the time, the trial at the Old Bailey, and the legacy of this horrific event in the fight against slavery. #Zong #ZongMassacre #GregsonvGilbert #LukeCollingwood #GranvilleSharp #OlaudahEquiano #SomersetvStewart #LordMansfield #MiddlePassage #SlaveTrade #Abolition #1781 #OldBailey #BritishEmpire #InsuranceFraud #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Haitian Revolution: Enslaved People Who Defeated Three Empires

The Haitian Revolution is the only successful slave revolt in history, but how much do you know about the strategy, diplomacy, and leadership that made it possible? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Toussaint Louverture's military genius, the alliances he forged with the British and Spanish, and the diplomatic tightrope he walked between revolutionary France and the slaveholding United States. They discuss the 1791 Bois Caïman ceremony that sparked the uprising, the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henri Christophe, and the brutal warfare that ended with the creation of the first Black republic in 1804. The conversation also covers the impact of the French Revolution's ideals, the role of yellow fever in decimating Napoleon's expeditionary force, and how the revolution reshaped the Atlantic world — from Jefferson's embargo to the Louisiana Purchase. This is the story of how enslaved people in Saint-Domingue defeated the French, British, and Spanish empires, and built a nation from the ashes of slavery. #HaitianRevolution #ToussaintLouverture #SaintDomingue #BoisCaïman #JeanJacquesDessalines #HenriChristophe #Napoleon #FrenchRevolution #LouisianaPurchase #YellowFever #Jefferson #Slavery #BlackRepublic #AtlanticHistory #CaribbeanHistory #Revolution #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

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]