Insurrection On Board Slave Ships
Joseph E. Holloway, Ph.D.
California State University Northridge

Thousands of enslaved Africans tried to overthrow their captors on board the slave ships taking them to the Americas. The exact number of such shipboard rebellions is unknown, but historians have documented some 400 incidents. Most onboard rebellions occurred close to the shores of Africa or just before departure. And, only 20 to 30 of these documented shipboard revolts appear to have succeeded--meaning that, very few of the enslaved people actually managed to return to Africa.

Despite the lack of documentation, many historians estimate that nearly one in ten slave ships experienced an uprising, and there were nearly 30,000 voyages made by slavers between Africa and the Americas before 1860. There were certainly hundreds, if not thousands, of shipboard rebellions for which there are no records. Faced with the threat of uprisings, slave traders undertook expensive precautions to prevent rebellions, usually in the form of heavily armed and numerous crews.

Rebellions were not the only form of shipboard resistance. Slavers had to constantly police the captives to prevent them from committing suicide by starving themselves or leaping into the ocean. The costs of preventing rebellions and the other acts of defiance undoubtedly reduced the total number of slaves taken from Africa. Had the costs been lower, many more slaves would have been shipped to the Americas. Some scholars put the number of Africans not taken to the Americas because of the extra costs of preventing rebellions at over one million people.

Most of these shipboard uprisings occurred in the last 50 years of the 18th century. In the 19th century, the number of documented revolts dropped off dramatically, probably due to one or a combination of factors, including reduced traffic due to the outlawing of the trade by America and Great Britain; the increasing numbers of women and children among the enslaved people on the ships; some improvement of living conditions on the ships; and changes in the ethnic or cultural origins of the enslaved.

The last point is somewhat controversial. It would appear that slaves from the northern parts of West Africa were more likely to revolt than slaves from Central and Lower Africa. Slaves from present-day Senegal, for example, participated in shipboard revolts more frequently than slaves from the Kongo region. Why? The answer may have to do with the fact that some Senegal slaves had, themselves, been slave traders who resisted enslavement to Europeans as an act of political awareness.

Slaves from Central and Lower Africa, on the other hand, were usually captives taken from up to 300 miles in the interior. These captives seldom participated in the coastal slave trade. Although we can never know what enslaved people thought, captives from the interior brought hundreds of miles to the coast from agricultural villages were probably stunned by their plight, and much less likely to rebel. Many Senegal captives, on the other hand, possibly knew exactly what was happening to them and understood that their only hope for escaping slavery was open rebellion while still in sight of the African coast. This interpretation argues that some slaves revolted because of their culture and the historical circumstances of their enslavement. It puts less importance on the conditions on the slave ships or the harsh management practices of the slavers as the causes of revolt.

Although male slaves usually led the rebellions, there is some indication that enslaved women also played key roles in the uprisings. Women were typically kept separate from the enslaved men. They were seldom shackled and sometimes allowed free movement on the decks. This is especially true of those who were sexually assaulted by the ship’s officers. These women might have provided information to the men that played an important role in the timing of the uprisings. In many cases, the uprisings were unplanned acts in response to cruel conditions on board the ships or in the slave pens (barracoons) on shore. At other times, the insurgents coordinated their attacks in detailed plans that included keeping some of the slavers alive to steer the captured ship back to Africa.

Rebellion was more likely when the enslaved people on a ship came from one culture rather than from several. This was often the case--even so-called "coasting" slavers seldom picked up slaves from more than two points. Although slaves gathered at the ports might be drawn from miles in the interior and from more than one village, they were usually taken from a single cultural region, typically united by commerce and trade. This meant that there was usually little ethnic antagonism among the slaves that would prevent cooperation in an uprising. Thus, most slave ships were ripe for rebellion, and only the most oppressive use of force on board the ships kept the enslaved from attacking their captors.

These rebellions involved real people who risked their lives in desperate breaks for freedom. The uprising of 270 slaves on the French slaver Regina Coeli in 1858 is the most successful revolt yet documented. The insurgents killed most of the French crew and escaped into the wilderness environs of Liberia with the help of a British packet ship that guided the French vessel to shore. The hundreds of other documented and undocumented rebellions mostly ended in failure, and even those few slaves who reached Africa might have been re-enslaved because slave-trading Africans dominated the western coast.

The way these uprisings are noted in contemporary accounts usually gives us only a glimpse of what happened: the tip of an iceberg. What follows is a sampling of shipboard slave insurrections based on documented sources. Each entry is linked to an original document and a select bibliography.

1721	In 1721, eight enslaved Africans on the slave ship Henry of London managed to free themselves of their irons and attempted to subdue the ship and its 50-man crew. After being driven back by cut lances and firearms, they jumped overboard. [Source: William Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade, 164.]
1730	In June 1730, Captain George Scott of the sloop, Little George, sailed from the Guinea Coast en route to Rhode Island with a cargo of some 96 enslaved Africans. Several days into the voyage, several Africans slipped out of their irons and killed the three watchmen who were on deck. The captain and his crew were forced into their cabins, where the Africans imprisoned them. For several days, the Africans controlled the ship and managed to sail it back to the Sierra Leone River. Finally, the Captain and the enslaved Africans made a deal and agreed to grant each other their freedom. After making it to shore, the Africans left the ship. [Source: Elizabeth Donnan, Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America, vol. III, 118-121, 207.]
1731	Capt. George Scott of Rhode Island was returning from Guinea with a cargo of enslaved Africans when they rose up in rebellion. Capt. Scott described the incident: "I, George Scott, Master of the Sloop the Little George, belonging to Rhode Island; Sailed from the Bonnana Islands on the Coast of Guinea, the first of June 1730, having on Board Ninety six Slaves. On the sixth of said Month at half an hour past four of the Clock in the Morning, being about 100 Leagues distant from the Land, the Men Slaves got of their Irons, and making way thro’ the bulkhead of the Deck, killed the Watch [man] consisting of John Harris Doctor, Jonathan Ebens Cooper, and Thomas Ham Sailor; who were, thought, all asleep. I being then in my Cabin and hearing Noise upon Deck (they throwing the Watch overboard) took my Pistol directly, and fired up the Scuttle which was abaft, which made all the Slaves that were loose run forwards except one or two Men (who seemed to laugh at the Cowardice of the rest, and defiance of us, being but four Men and a Boy) who laid the Scuttle, and kept us confin’d in the Cabin…." [Source: News Letter, May 6, 1731. The account was signed by George Scott. The first notice of this incident appeared in the News Letter, April 29, 1731.]
1731	Captain Jump of the Massachusetts schooner, William, was surprised by Africans on board his ship in an uprising off the coast of Africa. According to English newspapers, all his crew except three were killed in the uprising. [Source: Read’s Weekly Journal and British Gazetteer, January 28, 1731.]
1732	James Barbot, Jr., a sailor aboard the English slaver Don Carlos, describes a slave uprising that took place aboard the vessel: "About one in the afternoon, after dinner, we, according to custom caused them, one by one, to go down between decks, to have each his pint of water; most of them were yet above deck many of them provided with knives, which we had indiscreetly given them two or three days before, as not suspecting the least attempt of this nature from them; others had pieces of iron they had torn off our forecastle door, as having premeditated a revolt, and seeing all the ship’s company, at best but weak and many quite sick, they had also broken off the shackles from several of their companions’ feet, which served them, as well as billets they had provided themselves with, and all other things they could lay hands on, which they imagin’d might be of use for this enterprise. Thus arm’d, they fell in crowds and parcels on our men, upon the deck unawares, and stabb’d one of the stoutest of us all, who receiv’d fourteen or fifteen wounds of their knives, and so expir’d. Next they assaulted our boatswain, and cut one of his legs so round the bone, that he could not move, the nerves being cut through; others cut our cook’s throat to the pipe, and others wounded three of the sailors, and threw one of them over board in that condition, into the sea; who, however, by good providence, got hold of the bowline of the fore sail, and sav’d himself ... we stood in arms, firing on the revolted slaves, of whom we kill’d some, and wounded many: which so terrif’d the rest, that they gave way, dispersing themselves some one way and some another between decks, and under forecastle; and many of the most mutinous, leapt over board, and drown’d themselves in the ocean with much resolution, showing no manner of concern for life. Thus we lost twenty seven or twenty eight slaves, either kill’d by us, or drown’d; and having master’d them, caused all to go betwixt decks, giving them good words. The next day we had them all again upon deck, where they unanimously declar’d, the Menbombe slaves had been the contrivers of the mutiny, and for an example we caused about thirty of the ringleaders to be very severely whipt by all our men that were capable of doing that office..." [Source: News Letter, Sept. 7, 1732; South Carolina Gazette, Nov. 18, 1732.]
1732	Capt. John Major, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while on the coast of Guinea lost his life along with all of his crew. It was reported that he: "was treacherously Murdred, and his Vessel and Cargoe seized upon by the Negroes." [Source: News Letter, Sept. 7, 1732; South Carolina Gazette, Nov. 18, 1732.]
1733	In 1733, a Capt. Moore (first name unknown) was attacked at midnight by a group of Africans with firearms. During the fighting, the ship accidentally went ashore. Capt. Moore describes the events in a letter: "On the 17th of June last, as we were coming down the River Gambia, at Twelve o'Clock in the Night, the Natives fired at us upon which began a very smart Engagement, which lasted till day light: Mr. Lowder was most of the Time in the Cabbin loading small Arms, some of our People not having Discretion to do it themselves, till by an unhappy contrary Wind, the River narrow, and the Vessel not answering her Helm, we fell along the Shore, the Native rus'd on in great Numbers in order to board us, but were so received that they thought proper to Retreat: In which Conflict Mr. Lowder came upon Deck, and (being in a Consternation) was shot thro' the body; he went immediately down, and had all imaginable Care taken of him: he being in the Height of Action, his Wound was with great Difficulty stop'd bleeding. He liv'd Twenty four Hours, sensible of his approaching Dissolution, and spent his little Time in making his eternal Peace." [Source: Weekly Rehearsal, Sept. 10, 1733; also in the News Letter, Sept. 6, "Extract of a letter from Capt. Moore, who sail'd from this Port for Guinea the beginning of last Winter, dated at St. jago, one of the Cape de Verde Island, July 20, 1733."]
1733	In 1733, a Capt. Moore (first name unknown) was attacked at midnight by a group of Africans with firearms. During the fighting, the ship accidentally went ashore. Capt. Moore describes the events in a letter: "On the 17th of June last, as we were coming down the River Gambia, at Twelve o'Clock in the Night, the Natives fired at us upon which began a very smart Engagement, which lasted till day light: Mr. Lowder was most of the Time in the Cabbin loading small Arms, some of our People not having Discretion to do it themselves, till by an unhappy contrary Wind, the River narrow, and the Vessel not answering her Helm, we fell along the Shore, the Native rus'd on in great Numbers in order to board us, but were so received that they thought proper to Retreat: In which Conflict Mr. Lowder came upon Deck, and (being in a Consternation) was shot thro' the body; he went immediately down, and had all imaginable Care taken of him: he being in the Height of Action, his Wound was with great Difficulty stop'd bleeding. He liv'd Twenty four Hours, sensible of his approaching Dissolution, and spent his little Time in making his eternal Peace." [Source: Weekly Rehearsal, Sept. 10, 1733; also in the News Letter, Sept. 6, "Extract of a letter from Capt. Moore, who sail'd from this Port for Guinea the beginning of last Winter, dated at St. jago, one of the Cape de Verde Island, July 20, 1733."]
1742	While taking on slaves in the Sierra Leone River, a vessel named the Jolly Batchelor was attacked and captured by the enslaved captives on board and African men on shore. In the fighting, the ship’s captain and two of his men were killed. The Africans stripped the vessel of its rigging and sails, freed the other Africans in the hold, and then abandoned the ship. [Source: Elizabeth Donnan, Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America, vol. III.].
1747	Africans on board a Rhode Island ship rose up and killed the captain and its crew, when the ship was just off Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. This incident is recounted below: "By a letter from the Coast of Guiney, via Barbadoes, dated the 14th of January last, we have Advice, that Capt. Bear in a Vessel belonging to Rhode Island, being off Capt Coast Castle with a Number of Negro Slaves, and a considerable Quantity of Gold Dust on board; the said Slaves found an opportunity to rise against the Master and Men, and kill’d the said Master and all the Crew, except the two Masters [Mates], who by jumping over board and swimming ashore sav’d their lives." What became of the vessel and the Africans is not known. [Source: News Letter, May 7, 1747.]
1761	On September 24, 1761, enslaved Africans aboard the Boston ship, Thomas, commanded by Thomas Day, revolted off the coast of Africa, broke through the ship’s hatches, "and rose upon the Crew, but were soon overcome and subdued, their Ring leader being Shot and kill’d, and others wounded." [Source: News Letter of September 24, 1761.]
1764	In June, the sloop Adventure, based in Rhode Island or New London, was overthrown by Africans while trading for slaves at Sierra Leone on the West Coast of Africa. "Capt. Joseph Millar, in a Sloop from New London, died on the Coast of Africa, and all his Hands, except two, and that the Negroes soon after availing themselves of that Opportunity, came off from the shore and killed the two surviving Men, and then took Possession of, and pillaged the Vessel. [Source: Gazette Jan. 5, 1764, Feb. 5, 1764; News Letter, Sept. 20, and Oct. 25, 1764]
1764	A Boston Court heard a tale of mutiny, murder, and the insurrection of enslaved Africans in testimony by William Preest of the slave ship Hope, owned by the Forseys of New London, Connecticut. Preest was charged with murdering the ship’s captain as the Hope lay at anchor on the Senegal River in Africa. According to Preest’s testimony, the ship’s chief mate then assumed command and later took on a cargo of slaves. En route from Africa to the West Indies, the Africans rose up against the ship’s crew. In the ensuing struggle two members of the crew and eight slaves were killed. Spanish authorities confiscated the vessel and its cargo of slaves, charging its crew and officers with mutiny and trading for slaves in violation of the law. [Source: Massachusetts Gazette and News Letter, September 20, 1764]
1764	In this year, the captain of a new London brig from Connecticut lost his life in a slave uprising at Goree, a slave port located off the coast of Africa. The upraising occurred at night while most of the ship’s crew was asleep. [Source: Extraordinary, August 16, 1764].
1765	A ship belonging to the Brown brothers of Newport was overthrown by African captives as it sailed from Africa to Antigua. The revolt occurred when sickness depleted the crew and the captain was forced to use the Africans to man the ship. They seized the opportunity and attacked the crew. After a bloody battle, the crew, outnumbered but armed with muskets, put down the rebellion. Eighty Africans were killed, wounded, or forced to jump overboard. [Source: Newport Mercury, September 16; Nov. 18, 1765; Massachusetts Gazette and News Letter, Nov. 28, 1765.]
1765	A slave ship of unknown name arrived in Barbados, on September 28 bound for the island of St Christopher. Two days later, on October 1, its cargo of captive Africans, rose up in rebellion. In the fighting 13 African jumped overboard, one was killed and several were wounded before the rebellion was put down. [Source: Newport Mercury, Nov. 25, 1765]
1765	Reports came into Massachusetts about a slave revolt on a British slave-trading ship, which resulted in the capture and death of the entire crew. "The sloop Three Friends, arrived last Saturday in 87 days from Sierra Leone. Mr. Dunfield came passenger, who was mate of a Schooner belonging to Bristol, informs us that last winter the whole crew were killed off the coast of African in a slave revolt and that he was the only survivor because at the time of the insurrection he was not on board." [Source: Massachusetts. Gazette and News Letter, August 22, 1765.]
1785	A slave-trading ship out of Newport, belonging to the firm of Seymour and Company of Grenada, was found by an English ship adrift upon the high seas. Her sails were gone, and fifteen emaciated Africans "in a very wretched condition, having been long at sea," were found on its deck. The Africans had rose up and slain the captain and his crew, and then attempted to steer the ship back to Africa. Those remaining on board were carried to Bristol. [Source: New York Packet, Feb. 14, 1785.]
1791	Captain William Wignall of New England was killed in a slave revolt on board his slave ship in Africa. [Salem Gazette, Sept. 13, 1791.]
1839	On June 30, 1839, a group of 53 enslaved Africans rebelled on the Amistad, a Baltimore-built ship sailing with its cargo along the north coast of Cuba. The revolt was led by an African named Joseph Cinque. The Africans killed the captain and the cook and ordered the surviving crew members to navigate the ship back to Africa. Fearing for their lives, the crew steered the ship toward the east by day and then back toward the United States at night. Eventually, the Amistad was captured off of Long Island by the US navy. Spain tried to have the ship and slaves handed over to its Spanish owners, but American abolitionists led by John Quincy Adams, a former president of the United States, sued in federal court to block the petition. During the ensuing trial, it was discovered that the enslaved captives were not born in the West Indies but had been illegally taken from Africa. The U.S Supreme Court ruled that the enslaved Africans were free men and therefore justified in rising up against their enslavers. In 1841, Joseph Cinque and the other Africans were granted their freedom and sent to Sierre Leone in Africa. [Source: Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870. (Simon & Schuster, 1997), 718.

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