How the Captain of a Slave Ship Became a Witness

The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History · Aug 8, 2026 · 6m · transcript

In 1787, a young man named John Newton wrote a pamphlet that would help ignite the British abolition movement. But Newton was no outsider to the slave trade — he had been captain of a slave ship called the Duke of Argyle. His conversion to Christianity and his eventual public confession became a powerful weapon in the hands of campaigners like Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson. This episode traces Newton's journey from slave trader to repentant minister, examines the contradictions of his legacy, and reveals how his testimony — along with a series of horrific massacres on slave ships —…