What was the Zong trial all about?

The Zong arrived in Black River, Jamaica with 208 enslaved people on board. The trial commenced in March of 1783, and the court found that the insurance company was liable for the damages, as enslaved people were the same as any other cargo.

How many slaves were on the Zong ship?

The slave ship Zong departed the coast of Africa on 6 September 1781 with 470 slaves.

When did the Zong arrive in Jamaica?

22 December 1781
The Zong finally arrived in Black River, southwest Jamaica, on 22 December 1781, where it sold its remaining 208 slaves (Walvin 99).

What happened to slaves when they arrived in the Caribbean?

Once they arrived in the Caribbean islands, the Africans were prepared for sale. They were washed and their skin was oiled. Finally they were sold to local buyers. Often parents were separated from children, and husbands from wives.

Why was the Zong Massacre important?

It was remembered in London in 2007, among events to mark the bicentenary of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished British participation in the African slave trade (though stopped short of outlawing slavery itself). A monument to the murdered enslaved people on Zong was installed at Black River, Jamaica.

Do sharks follow ships?

More came from Captain Hugh Crow, who made ten slaving voyages and wrote from personal observation that sharks “have been known to follow vessels across the ocean, that they might devour the bodies of the dead when thrown overboard.”

Who first lived in Jamaica?

The original inhabitants of Jamaica were the indigenous Taíno, an Arawak-speaking people who began arriving on Hispaniola by canoe from the Belize and the Yucatan peninsula sometime before 2000 BCE.

Who insured the Zong?

It was insured by another syndicate that included a group of other Liverpool slave-ship owners. In mid-August 1781, the ship departed Ghana with 442 slaves on board—twice the number the ship was designed to safely carry—bound for Jamaica.

What is the significance of the Zong massacre?

The Zong massacre was frequently cited in abolitionist literature in the 19th century; in 1839, Thomas Clarkson published his History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade, which included an account of killings.

Was the slave ship based on the Zong massacre?

The Slave Ship (1840) J. M. W. Turner’s representation of the mass killing of slaves, inspired by the Zong killings. The Zong massacre was the mass killing of 133 African slaves by the crew of the British slave ship Zong in the days following 29 November 1781.

Why was it so hard to find crew for the Zong?

Zong had a 17-man crew when it left Africa, which was far too small to maintain adequate sanitary conditions on the ship. Mariners willing to risk disease and rebellions on slave ships were difficult to recruit within Britain and were harder to find for a vessel captured from the Dutch off the coast of Africa.

What happened to Zong when he found Jamaica?

On 27 or 28 November, the crew sighted Jamaica at a distance of 27 nautical miles (50 km; 31 mi) but misidentified it as the French colony of Saint-Domingue on the island of Hispaniola. Zong continued on its westward course, leaving Jamaica behind.