Latest / The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History
The Zong Massacre Trial: Law, Slavery, and Insurance Fraud
In November 1781, the brig Zong departed from Gorée Island with over 130 enslaved Africans packed into its hold. When a navigational error sent the ship off course toward Jamaica instead of Barbados, Captain Luke Green and his crew faced dwindling water supplies. Rather than risk losing their human cargo to thirst or revolt, they ordered forty-four men, women, and children thrown overboard to drown. This act was not merely an atrocity; it was calculated insurance fraud. The owners in Liverpool filed a claim for the lost 'goods,' arguing that the killings were necessary to save the…
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