3B

Atlantic Slave Trade: Ship Design and Conditions

• General Context: The study focuses on the mechanics of the Atlantic Slave Trade, specifically ship architecture, captive resistance, and a case study of the Little George revolt of $1730$.

• Slave Ship Design: The Cargo Hold:

  • Capacity: Vessels typically held between $100$ and $1,000$ human captives.

  • Space Allotment: The sleeping width provided for captives was less than $20''$ per person, forcing extreme proximity.

  • Sanitation: Captives were provided with buckets to serve as toilets.

  • Restraint Systems: Men were typically manacled together in pairs to prevent movement and coordination.

• Upper Deck Features:

  • Exercise/Activity: Captives were brought up for "Dancing," which was often a forced activity to maintain muscle tone for sale.

  • Physical Restraints: Chains were specifically utilized for men on the upper deck.

• Security Architecture:

  • Barricado: A defensive wooden wall or barrier built across the deck to protect the crew from captives.  

  • Swivel Gun: Small cannons mounted on the deck for crowd control and defense against mutiny.

  • Netting: Heavy nets were strung along the sides of the ship to prevent captives from jumping overboard to commit suicide.

• Case Study: Slave Ship L’Aurore: Referenced as a primary visual example of the structural layout of a slaving vessel.

Dynamics of Slave Ship Resistance

• Forms of Resistance: Resistance is categorized into individual acts (e.g., suicide, refusal to eat) and collective actions (e.g., organized mutiny).

• Frequency: Resistance occurred in approximately $10\%$ of all voyages.

• Demographic Factors: The presence/participation of women on the ship increased the overall likelihood of resistance occurring.

• Primary Source: Captain John Newton:     * Newton was a slave ship captain who later became an abolitionist clergyman.     * Key Written Works:         * Amazing Grace ($1772$): A world-famous hymn reflecting his spiritual conversion.         * Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade ($1788$): A later anti-slavery tract.     * His journals serve as a critical record of the daily operations and brutal realities of the trade.

The Revolt of the Little George ($1730$)

• Vessel Details: The Little George was a sloop belonging to Rhode Island, mastered by Captain George Scott.

• Voyage Timeline and Cargo:

  • Departure: Sailed from the Bonnana Islands on the Coast of Guinea on June $1$, $1730$.

  • Captive Population: The ship held $96$ slaves, $35$ of whom were men.

  • The Outbreak of Mutiny:

• Date and Time: June $6$, $1730$, at approximately $4:30$ AM ($100$ leagues from land).

  • Initial Action: The men captives escaped their irons, broke through the deck bulkhead, and killed the watch.

  • Crew Casualties: John Haris (Doctor), Jonathan Ebens (Cooper), and Thomas Hem (Sailor) were killed while they were reportedly asleep.

• The Conflict: Captain Scott fired a pistol up the scuttle (abaft), causing many captives to run forward, though some remained in defiance.

  • The crew (consisting of only $4$ men and a boy) was confined to the cabin by the captives.

  • The crew shot two men slaves through the companionway during the standoff.

• The Gunpowder Accident:

  • The crew attempted to create "powder bombs" by filling two round bottles with gunpowder and fuses to throw at the slaves.  

  • A slave dropped an axe through a hole in the deck (either by accident or design) which broke a bottle just as Thomas Dickinson was lighting the fuses.

  • The Explosion: A "cagg" (keg) of powder in the cabin ignited, blowing open the cabin doors and windows, discharging firearms, and severely burning the crew, particularly Dickinson.

• Siege Tactics:

  • The captives covered the scuttle/deck holes with boards and weighted tarpaulins to trap the crew.     * The captives attempted to sail the vessel back toward land.

  • Captives threw "billets of wood" and water into the cabin to ruin the crew’s small arms and remaining supplies.

  • The cabin boy, driven by hunger, eventually surrendered to the slaves and was put in irons.

• The Resolution:

  • After $9$ days, Captain Scott decided to sink the ship by boring holes in the bottom, letting in $3$ feet of water

  • Negotation: Under the threat of drowning everyone, the captives agreed to leave the vessel in a boat once they reached shore

  • Landing: The ship struck a bar at the Serrilone River (Sierra Leone) at $10:00$ PM onto a North Side bank

  • Escape: The captives fled ashore with the help of locals. The surviving crew discovered that the ship's great guns had been loaded full by the captives

  • Rescue: The crew eventually reached Frenchman's Bay and were rescued by Captain James Collingwood of the sloop belonging to Montserrat, having survived entirely on raw rice for the duration of the revolt.