The Middle Passage: A Ship Surgeon's Grisly Logbook

The 1696 Portuguese Slave Ship 'Santo António' and Its Captives' Revolt

In 1696, the Portuguese slave ship Santo António left Luanda, Angola, bound for Brazil with over 400 enslaved Africans. But days into the Middle Passage, a coordinated uprising among the captives—many of them from the Kongo kingdom—swept the deck, killing half the crew. Lucas and Luna explore this little-known revolt, the ship's brutal aftermath, and the wider network of Portuguese slaving that linked Angola to the Brazilian gold mines. They discuss the role of Kongo Christian identity in organizing resistance, the legal aftermath in Salvador, and how this rebellion fits into a pattern of African agency at sea. A vivid, specific look at one desperate fight for freedom. #SantoAntónio #SlaveShipRevolt #PortugueseSlaveTrade #Luanda #Angola #KongoKingdom #MiddlePassage #BrazilColonial #1696 #SlaveResistance #Aguada #SailorsRevolt #Jesuits #Salvador #GoldMines #AfricanAgency #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1794 Capture of the Vengeance: French Slave Ship Rebellion

In 1794, the French slave ship Vengeance set sail from Ouidah, carrying over 300 enslaved Africans. But off the coast of Saint-Domingue, the captives rose up, killing the captain and most of the crew. Lucas and Luna explore this remarkable rebellion, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, the National Convention's abolition of slavery, and the chaos of the Haitian Revolution. They discuss the ship's journey from Nantes, the role of the Société des Amis des Noirs, and the tragic irony that the Vengeance's revolt occurred just as France was outlawing the slave trade. What happened to the rebels? How did the news reach Abbé Grégoire and the revolutionaries in Paris? This episode uncovers a little-known story of resistance at sea. #Vengeance #FrenchSlaveTrade #SlaveRebellion #Ouidah #SaintDomingue #HaitianRevolution #AbbéGrégoire #NationalConvention #Nantes #SociétédesAmisdesNoirs #CodeNoir #1794 #MiddlePassage #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Resistance #History #FexingoHistory #WorldHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Middle Passage: A Ship Surgeon's Grisly Logbook

Lucas and Luna take a deep dive into the harrowing day-to-day reality of the Middle Passage through the eyes of a British ship surgeon. Drawing on the 1788 logbook of Dr. Thomas Trotter aboard the slave ship Brookes, they reconstruct the precise dimensions of the hold, the daily allotment of food and water, the medical crises that erupted, and the cold calculations of profit versus human life. They examine the Dolben Act of 1788, which attempted to regulate the number of enslaved people per ton, and how ship captains circumvented it. Trotter's diary, later used by abolitionists, provides a rare clinical perspective on the stench, disease, and despair. The episode also touches on the archaeological evidence from wrecks like the Henrietta Marie, showing how material remains confirm the written records. Finally, they reflect on the psychological toll on the sailors themselves, many of whom drank heavily or jumped overboard. This is not an abstract overview but a visceral, specific account of one of history's greatest crimes. #MiddlePassage #ThomasTrotter #Brookes #SlaveShip #DolbenAct #HenriettaMarie #ShipSurgeon #Abolition #1788 #MedicalHistory #MaritimeArchaeology #BritishSlaveTrade #Liverpool #Africa #Caribbean #History #FexingoHistory #AtlanticWorld Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Slave Trade's Diet: What Enslaved Africans Ate on the Middle Passage

What did enslaved Africans actually eat during the Middle Passage? This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering dives into the logistics of provisioning slave ships—from the vast quantities of horse beans and yams to the dried fish, palm oil, and rice that sustained captives across the Atlantic. Lucas and Luna examine ship manifests, the notorious 'squatting' position for feeding, and how malnutrition and disease were baked into the system. They also explore the contrast with the diet of enslaved people on plantations, the role of African provisions like millet and plantains, and the grim irony that many ships carried more food for the crew than for the people in the hold. Drawing on records from the Royal African Company, the 1788 Dolben Act, and accounts by Olaudah Equiano, this episode uncovers a little-examined but telling dimension of the slave trade: the daily caloric calculus of human cargo. #MiddlePassage #SlaveTrade #AtlanticSlaveTrade #HorseBeans #OlaudahEquiano #DolbenAct #RoyalAfricanCompany #Provisions #Yams #PalmOil #Malnutrition #HistoryOfFood #Slavery #18thCentury #Equiano #Calico #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Cape Coast Castle: The Door of No Return

Lucas and Luna explore Cape Coast Castle, the brutal epicenter of the Atlantic slave trade on Ghana's Gold Coast. They trace its origins as a Swedish trading post in 1653, its capture by the English, and its expansion into a fortress that held up to 1,500 enslaved Africans in its dungeons. The episode details the castle's layout—the male dungeon, the female dungeon, and the infamous 'Door of No Return'—and contrasts the cramped, filthy conditions below with the airy governor's quarters above. The conversation also covers the role of local Akan states like Fetu and the Asante Empire in supplying captives, the logistics of the 'Middle Passage' from Cape Coast, and the ongoing legacy, including UNESCO World Heritage status and modern pilgrimage. This episode builds on prior discussions of the Royal African Company and the Gold Coast by zooming into one of its most iconic and haunting sites. #CapeCoastCastle #DoorOfNoReturn #GoldCoast #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Ghana #RoyalAfricanCompany #MiddlePassage #Akan #AsanteEmpire #Fetu #UNESCO #WorldHeritage #SlaveDungeon #TransatlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory #AfricanHistory #ColonialHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]