Latest / The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History / The Atlantic Slave Trade: The 1794 Capture of the Vengeance and the French Slave Ship Rebellion
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the slave trade from the British and American perspectives, but today I want to turn to a French story — one that's often overshadowed. It's the 1794 capture of the French slave ship Vengeance, by the very people it was carrying. Luna: Wait — a slave ship captured by its own captives? That sounds like a Hollywood plot. Lucas: It does, but it's real. The Vengeance was a ship out of Nantes, which was the biggest slave port in France. In the mid-1790s, the French Revolution was in full swing, and the National Convention in Paris had just passed the first abolition decree in February 1794 — but news traveled slowly, and on the ground, the trade continued. Lucas: The Vengeance had picked up around 400 enslaved Africans from the coast of what's now Benin, specifically from the port of Ouidah — we covered Ouidah in episode 92. The captives were mostly from various inland groups, and they were packed below decks, chained, waiting for the Middle Passage to Saint-Domingue. Luna: So how did they manage to take the ship? Lucas: It happened on the first or second night after departure. The exact details are sketchy, but accounts say that a group of men managed to free themselves from their shackles — likely using a smuggled tool or by working the iron against a joint. They then attacked the crew, who were probably understaffed and complacent. They killed the captain and several sailors, took control of the vessel. Lucas: Now, here's where it gets interesting. Instead of trying to sail to a neutral port or to a place where they might have allies, they attempted to sail back east — back toward Africa. That suggests they were trying to return home, which is remarkable given the distance and their lack of navigational knowledge. Luna: That must have been terrifying for them — trying to navigate a strange ship with no charts. Lucas: Absolutely. And unfortunately, their voyage didn't last long. A British naval vessel, which was patrolling the area as part of the Royal Navy's anti-slavery efforts — well, technically at that point Britain was still in the trade, but they were at war with France, so they seized enemy ships — intercepted the Vengeance. The British crew recaptured the ship and brought the surviving Africans to a British port, probably in the West Indies. Luna: So what happened to the rebels? Were they tried? Sent back? Lucas: That's the tragic part. The British treated them as 'property' of the French owners, and since Britain was at war with France, they considered the ship a legitimate prize. The Africans were essentially re-enslaved and sold into the British colonies. There's no record of any trial for rebellion — they were just cargo. Lucas: But the story of the Vengeance is more than just one ship. It highlights the broader context of the French Revolution and slavery. In 1794, the National Convention, driven by radical Jacobins and influenced by the Haitian Revolution, decreed the abolition of slavery in all French colonies. But that decree was never fully enforced, and Napoleon reinstated slavery in 1802. Luna: So the timing of the Vengeance's capture — right after the abolition decree — makes it even more poignant. Lucas: Exactly. The captives on the Vengeance may have heard rumors of freedom from French sailors, or they may have been inspired by the uprising in Saint-Domingue. It's impossible to know. But their rebellion was an assertion of their humanity in the face of a system that denied it. Lucas: There's also a legal angle here. The French abolitionist Abbé Grégoire, who was a leading figure in the Society of the Friends of Blacks, argued that slave ships were floating prisons and that any rebellion by captives was a just act of self-defense. But in practice, the courts never recognized that. Luna: It's a reminder that the fight for abolition wasn't just a political movement — it was fought by enslaved people themselves, every day. Lucas: Right. And the Vengeance is just one of many such rebellions. There were dozens of documented slave ship revolts in the 18th century, most of which failed or ended in mass deaths. But they show that resistance was constant. Lucas: Now, if you're listening and thinking about the sheer scale of suffering and courage we've been discussing, and if today's episode added something to your understanding, there's a small way to help keep this show ad-free and independent. Luna: Yeah, honestly, if this conversation was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: It's a tiny gesture that makes a big difference for us. And it means we can keep digging into stories like the Vengeance without any corporate strings. Luna: Absolutely. So back to the Vengeance — what happened to the ship itself after it was recaptured? Lucas: The Vengeance was taken to Kingston, Jamaica, where it was condemned as a prize and sold. The enslaved Africans were likely sold at auction, scattered across plantations. The ship's name, Vengeance, is ironic — it means 'revenge' in French, and in a way, the captives took their vengeance, even if only briefly. Lucas: I think what stays with me is the courage it took to attempt that rebellion. Chained, in the hold, knowing that failure meant death or worse, and still trying. That's the story we don't hear enough. Luna: And it's a story that connects to the larger arc of resistance we've covered in previous episodes — from the Stono Rebellion to the Amistad. Lucas: Exactly. The Vengeance is a thread in that tapestry. And it's a reminder that the history of the slave trade is also a history of defiance.