Episodes
The Zong Massacre and the Birth of Abolition
In 1781, the slave ship Zong threw 132 enslaved Africans overboard so the owners could claim insurance. The ensuing court case, Gregson v Gilbert, became a shocking public scandal that fueled the British abolitionist movement. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the murderous logic of maritime insurance, the trial that treated enslaved people as cargo, and how Granville Sharp, Olaudah Equiano, and the black community in London transformed public outrage into organized resistance. They also…
The Fight to Stop the Slave Trade: The West Africa Squadron
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the West Africa Squadron, the Royal Navy force that sought to suppress the Atlantic slave trade after Britain's 1807 abolition. They trace its origins in the African Institution, the early frustrations of patrolling a 3,000-mile coast, and the legal loopholes that allowed slavers to escape. The conversation moves through key figures like George Ralph Collier, the first commodore, and the tense confrontations with Spanish and Portuguese…
Njinga of Ndongo: The Queen Who Defied the Portuguese
Before the transatlantic trade reached its brutal peak, one African queen stood against the Portuguese empire in Angola — and she did it on her own terms. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the rise of Queen Njinga of Ndongo, a woman who outmaneuvered colonial governors, led her people into exile, and forged an alliance with the Dutch at the height of their Atlantic power. They explore her legendary journey to Luanda, her conversion to Christianity alongside her fierce resistance, and the…
The Slave Trade's Atlantic Geography: Winds, Currents, and Routes
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the physical geography that shaped the transatlantic slave trade — the trade winds, ocean currents, and seasonal patterns that determined where ships departed, how they crossed, and where they landed. From the Canary Current to the Gulf Stream, from the Bight of Benin to the Caribbean, they trace how the Atlantic's natural highways were harnessed for human cargo. They also discuss how this geography made some African ports dominant, why certain European…
The Slave Trade's African Wars: Dahomey and the Fall of Whydah
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a brutal chapter of the transatlantic slave trade that's often glossed over: the African wars that supplied the captives. They focus on the Kingdom of Dahomey and its conquest of Whydah in 1727, a campaign that reshaped the slave trade on the West African coast. Lucas explains how Dahomey, under King Agaja, turned slave raiding into a state-sponsored enterprise, capturing thousands of war captives for European traders at the coast. The conversation…
The Slave Trade's African Courts: Kings, Captives, and the Price of Power
In Episode 202 of The Atlantic Slave Trade, Lucas and Luna explore a side of the transatlantic trade that rarely makes the headlines: the internal African politics that fueled it. They look at the Kingdom of Dahomey, where King Agaja's wars turned captives into commodities, and the role of the Oyo Empire, whose cavalry raids fed the coastal markets. They discuss the controversial figure of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, who fought the Portuguese yet traded in slaves, and the complex…
The Slave Trade's Indian Ocean Shadow
While the Atlantic slave trade dominates memory, a parallel system moved millions of Africans across the Indian Ocean, from the Swahili Coast to Arabia, Persia, and India. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the lesser-known Indian Ocean slave trade: its ancient roots, its scale, the rise of Omani power in Zanzibar, and the brutal clove plantations that fueled it. They follow the routes, the merchants, the enslaved — people like the African soldiers who became generals in India, and the…
The Slave Trade's Secret Ledger: Insurance and Finance
In this special 200th episode, Lucas and Luna explore the hidden financial machinery behind the Atlantic slave trade, focusing on the role of insurance companies in Liverpool and London. They discuss how underwriters like Lloyd's of London profited from the trade, the infamous Zong massacre insurance claim, and the broader economic networks of banks and investors. The episode examines the concept of 'insurance as risk management' versus 'insurance as moral hazard,' and reflects on the legacy of…
The 1811 German Coast Uprising: America's Largest Slave Revolt
In January 1811, over 500 enslaved people armed with cane knives and muskets marched from the plantations of Louisiana's German Coast toward New Orleans. Led by Charles Deslondes, a mixed-race slave driver inspired by the Haitian Revolution, the uprising was one of the largest in American history—yet it was crushed within two days. This episode examines the revolt's causes, its brutal suppression under General Wade Hampton, and its aftermath: a wave of executions, heads on pikes, and harsh new…
The Slave Ship Brookes and the Diagram That Ended an Empire
In 1788, an engraved diagram of the slave ship Brookes shocked Britain and changed the course of the abolition movement. This episode unpacks the story behind that image — from the ship's actual voyages and the cramped 'platforming' layout of its hold, to the artists and abolitionists who turned a brutal blueprint into political dynamite. We follow the diagram from its first publication through its use by Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, and the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the…
How the Captain of a Slave Ship Became a Witness
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…
The Slave Trade's Forgotten Currency: Cowrie Shells and Manillas
In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the humble cowrie shell from the Maldives to the coasts of West Africa, where it became the currency that oiled the Atlantic slave trade. They explore how the shell's value was manufactured in the Indian Ocean, shipped in vast quantities by European companies, and how its inflation quietly devalued African economies. The conversation also covers the metal manillas of the Bight of Biafra, the role of the Royal African Company in flooding markets, and the…
The 1817 Fort Blount Massacre: A Forgotten Slave Rebellion
In 1817, as the Second Seminole War smoldered in Spanish Florida, a fugitive slave named Nero led a desperate uprising at Fort Blount on the Apalachicola River. The fort, built by the British and occupied by a multiracial community of maroons and Seminoles, was attacked by a United States force under Colonel Duncan Clinch. Nero's rebellion was crushed, the fort destroyed, and the survivors sold back into slavery. This episode follows Nero's path from a Georgia plantation to the frontier, the…
The 1839 Amistad Captives in Cuba: A Legal Battle for Freedom
Before the famous Supreme Court case, the Amistad captives spent months in a Connecticut jail while lawyers fought over their fate. This episode follows the men and women who were kidnapped from West Africa, sold in Havana, and seized control of the schooner La Amistad in July 1839. We trace their journey from the barracoons of Lomboko to the trial that captivated America — and the unlikely alliance of abolitionists and former president John Quincy Adams that secured their freedom. We explore…
The 1835 Malê Revolt: Brazil's Muslim Slave Uprising
In January 1835, a group of enslaved Muslims in Salvador da Bahia rose up against their captors in one of the most significant urban slave rebellions in the Americas. Led by Hausa and Yoruba men, many of them literate in Arabic, the revolt was planned in secret, fueled by religious fervor and a longing for freedom. This episode unpacks the Malê revolt, from its origins in West African jihad and the transatlantic slave trade to the brutal suppression and its lasting impact on Brazilian society.…
Slave Ships and the Middle Passage: A Cargo of Souls
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal mechanics of the Middle Passage—the transatlantic journey that carried millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas. They discuss the infamous Brookes slave ship diagram, the cramped conditions that defined the hold, the high mortality rates among both captives and crew, and the psychological terror of the voyage. The episode highlights the resilience of the enslaved, the horrors of shipboard revolts, and the specific routes that made the…
The Transatlantic Slave Trade's Hidden Economy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna delve into the banks, insurers, and merchants whose fortunes were built on the slave trade, tracing the financial networks that stretched from Liverpool and Bristol to London, Lisbon, and beyond. They explore how institutions like Barclays and Lloyd's of London have roots in this brutal commerce, the role of the Royal African Company, and the speculative ventures that financed voyages. The conversation touches on the complex involvement of African kingdoms, the…
The 1835 Malê Revolt: Brazil's Muslim Slave Uprising
In January 1835, a group of enslaved Africans in Salvador, Bahia, rose up in the largest urban slave revolt in Brazil's history. Many were Malê—Muslims from the Hausa and Yoruba regions—who carried amulets with Quranic verses and coordinated their attack across the city. This episode unpacks the revolt's planning, its brutal suppression, and the surprising legal records that survive today. We look at the wider context of Bahia's Atlantic world, where free and enslaved Muslims navigated a…
The Stono Rebellion: Slave Uprising in Colonial South Carolina
In 1739, along the Stono River in South Carolina, a group of enslaved Africans launched the largest slave revolt in British North America. Led by a man known as Cato, likely of Kongolese origin and Catholic faith, around sixty slaves seized weapons, burned plantations, and marched toward Spanish Florida, where freedom was promised. The rebellion was brutally suppressed, but it left a lasting mark: the Negro Act of 1740, one of the harshest slave codes in the colonies. In this episode, Lucas and…
The Asiento de Negros: Spain's Slave Trade Monopoly
How a 30-year monopoly contract to supply enslaved Africans to Spanish America turned into one of the most corrupt business deals of the 18th century. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the asiento de negros, the Treaty of Utrecht, and the South Sea Company's role in trafficking human beings. They trace the route from the slave castles of West Africa to the auction blocks of Cartagena and Veracruz, and reveal how the asiento's failure to deliver its promised quotas led to smuggling, war…
The Aro Confederacy: Africa's Slave Trading Empire
This episode explores the Aro Confederacy, a powerful merchant network that dominated the slave trade in the Bight of Biafra for over two centuries. Based at the oracle town of Arochukwu in present-day Nigeria, the Aro used the Ibini Ukpabi oracle—the Long Juju—to gain religious and economic control over surrounding communities. Lucas and Luna discuss how Aro merchants integrated into the Atlantic system, trading slaves for European goods via coastal ports like Bonny and Calabar. They examine…
The Christian King Who Fought the Slave Trade: Kongo's Afonso I
In the early 16th century, the Kingdom of Kongo in Central Africa became one of the first African states to embrace Christianity. But its king, Afonso I, soon found himself trapped between faith and the relentless demands of the Portuguese slave trade. In a series of remarkable letters to King Manuel I of Portugal, Afonso pleaded for control over the trade that was ravaging his kingdom — and threatened to sever ties if his pleas went unheard. This episode explores the rise of Kongo under…
The Zong Massacre: The Slave Ship Case That Shocked Britain
In 1781, the British slave ship Zong set sail from Africa to Jamaica. When a navigation error led to a water shortage, Captain Luke Collingwood ordered 133 enslaved Africans thrown overboard alive. But this was no act of desperation—it was an insurance fraud. The subsequent 1783 court case, Gregson v. Gilbert, centered not on murder but on whether the lost 'cargo' was covered by maritime insurance. Lord Mansfield's ruling that it was 'as if horses' were thrown overboard sparked outrage.…
The £20 Million Payout: Britain's Compensation to Slave Owners
In 1833, Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act, ending slavery in most of its empire — but it also set aside a staggering £20 million (40% of the national budget) to compensate former slave owners, not the enslaved. Lucas and Luna explore the political maneuvering behind the act, the failed apprenticeship system that kept former slaves in near-bondage until 1838, and the economic legacy of that payout. They discuss the key figures: Thomas Fowell Buxton, who took over the abolitionist mantle…
1807 British Abolition and the Campaign That Ended the Slave Trade
In 1807, Britain banned its own participation in the transatlantic slave trade after a decades-long grassroots campaign. This episode traces the movement from its roots—led by figures like William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and Olaudah Equiano—through mass petitions and parliamentary debates. It explores the immediate impact of the Abolition Act, the Royal Navy's uneven enforcement, and the loopholes that allowed illegal trafficking to continue under other flags. We also examine the parallel…
The Amistad Rebellion: Slaves Who Won Their Freedom in Court
In 1839, a group of fifty-three enslaved Africans aboard the Spanish schooner La Amistad seized control of the ship, sparking a dramatic legal battle that reached the United States Supreme Court. Led by Sengbe Pieh—known as Joseph Cinqué—the Mende captives had been illegally transported from Sierra Leone to Cuba. After killing the captain and cook, they attempted to sail back to Africa but ended up off Long Island, where they were captured and charged with piracy and murder. This episode traces…
Dahomey's Role in the Atlantic Slave Trade
This episode shifts focus to West Africa's Slave Coast, examining how the Kingdom of Dahomey became a central player in the Atlantic slave trade. We trace the rise of Dahomey under King Agaja, who conquered the coastal city of Ouidah in 1727 and seized control of the slave trade from European forts. Lucas and Luna discuss the brutal 'annual customs' where captives were sacrificed to consolidate power, the economic dependency on European goods, and the reign of King Ghezo in the 19th century who…
The Second Middle Passage: America's Domestic Slave Trade
Between the ban on importation in 1808 and the Civil War, over a million enslaved people were forcibly moved from the Upper South to the Deep South in what historian Ira Berlin called the Second Middle Passage. This episode explores the mechanics of that internal trade: the coffle lines of chained men, women, and children walking from Virginia to Mississippi; the sprawling slave-trading empire of Franklin & Armfield based in Alexandria; the bustling New Orleans market; and the relentless…
The 1841 Creole Rebellion: Slaves Who Sailed to Freedom
In November 1841, 135 enslaved people aboard the brig Creole revolted on the high seas, killing one slave trader and forcing the crew to sail to Nassau, Bahamas. There, British officials granted them asylum, sparking a major diplomatic crisis between the United States and Britain. Lucas and Luna explore the story of Madison Washington, the charismatic leader of the revolt; the legal battles over property rights versus freedom; and the controversial Webster-Ashburton Treaty that followed. This…
Haitian Revolution: The 1791 Bois Caïman Uprising
In August 1791, on a sugar plantation in Saint-Domingue, enslaved people gathered for a secret vodou ceremony that would ignite the Haitian Revolution. This episode tells the story of the Bois Caïman ritual, led by the maroon leader Boukman Dutty, and how a spiritual call to arms spiraled into the only successful slave revolt in history. We trace the immediate aftermath of the uprising, Boukman's death, and the emergence of Toussaint Louverture. Along the way, we explore how the revolution sent…
The 1816 Negro Fort: America's Most Dangerous Slave Refuge
Before the Underground Railroad, there was the Negro Fort — a British-built fortress in Spanish Florida that became the largest free Black settlement in North America. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the fort's origins after the War of 1812, its role as a beacon for freedom seekers from Georgia and the Carolinas, and the violent 1816 expedition led by Colonel Duncan Clinch and Andrew Jackson's ally, Major General Edmund Pendleton Gaines. They discuss the fort's commander, the…
The 1812 Slave Revolt in the Danish Virgin Islands
In 1812, enslaved Africans on the Danish colony of St. Jan (now St. John, US Virgin Islands) rose up against their Danish and Dutch planters in one of the earliest large-scale revolts in the Caribbean. This episode explores the revolt's leaders, including the enslaved man Budhoe, the conspiracy that spread across the island, and the brutal Danish military response. We discuss the Crown's last-minute abolition of the slave trade in 1803, the economic pressures from the Napoleonic Wars, and how…
The 1820s Coffee Boom and Brazil's Slave Trade Finale
When the world's coffee addiction took off in the 1820s, Brazil's Paraíba Valley became the epicenter of a brutal economic boom — one that demanded more enslaved Africans than ever before, even as Britain's Royal Navy hunted slave ships across the Atlantic. This episode dives into the human cost of that caffeine rush: the planters who defied treaties, the enslaved workers who toiled and died on coffee fazendas, and the resistance that simmered beneath the surface. We explore the Feijó Law of…
The 1839 La Escalera Conspiracy in Cuba
In 1844, Cuba's colonial authorities uncovered an alleged plot among free people of color and enslaved Africans to overthrow the plantation system. The resulting repression—known as La Escalera—unleashed a wave of torture, execution, and exile that decimated the island's Afro-Cuban leadership. Lucas and Luna explore the conspiracy's murky origins: was there a real revolt planned by the poet Plácido and the black abolitionist David Turnbull, or was it a fabricated excuse to crush resistance?…
The 1831 Christmas Rebellion: Jamaica's Largest Slave Revolt
In December 1831, tens of thousands of enslaved Jamaicans rose up in what became the largest slave rebellion in British Caribbean history. Led by Samuel Sharpe, a literate enslaved Baptist deacon, the rebellion involved coordinated strikes, burnings, and armed resistance across the western parishes of Jamaica. British forces, backed by local militias, brutally suppressed the uprising within two weeks, executing hundreds and burning churches and homes. But the rebellion—and its violent…
The 1820s Coffee Boom and the Slave Trade's Last Gasp in Brazil
In this episode, we explore how Brazil's 19th-century coffee boom fueled a brutal resurgence of the transatlantic slave trade even as Britain pressed for abolition. We trace the rise of the Paraíba Valley coffee plantations, the illegal slave imports that continued after the 1831 Feijó Law, and the role of the African Squadron in intercepting slavers. We also meet Manoel Congo, an enslaved African who led a revolt on a coffee plantation in 1839, and examine the 1850 Eusébio de Queirós Law that…
The 1820 Treaty That Made the Slave Trade Piracy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1820 Treaty of London, in which the United States and Britain agreed to treat the international slave trade as piracy—a crime punishable by death. They trace the diplomatic maneuvering that led to this landmark agreement, the role of President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and the British push for mutual search rights at sea. The conversation examines how the treaty was enforced, including the creation of the U.S. Africa…
The Secret Lives of Slave Ship Captains
Behind every cargo of enslaved Africans stood a captain — part merchant, part navigator, part brutal enforcer. In this episode, Lucas and Luna peel back the logbooks to explore the men who commanded the Middle Passage: their training, their daily routines, their profit margins, and the psychological toll of overseeing human cargo. They examine the career of Captain John Newton, the former slave trader who later became an abolitionist and wrote 'Amazing Grace,' and contrast him with lesser-known…
The Middle Passage Food: Cuisine of Survival
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the often-overlooked culinary history of the Middle Passage — what enslaved Africans ate during their forced journey across the Atlantic, and how those provisions shaped survival, rebellion, and diaspora food cultures. They focus on the specific foods prescribed by 18th-century slave ship regulations: the Dolben Act of 1788 and subsequent laws that mandated rations like rice, yams, beans, and dried fish. Lucas explains how these items were chosen for…
The African Muslim Rebellion That Shook Brazil
In 1835, enslaved Muslims in Salvador, Brazil, rose up in one of the most audacious urban revolts in the Americas. Known as the Malê Revolt, it was led by Hausa and Yoruba men who wrote their plans in Arabic script, coordinated through prayer networks, and fought with religious conviction. This episode explores how the transatlantic slave trade brought Islam to Bahia, how enslaved Africans maintained their faith under bondage, and how the revolt's brutal suppression reshaped Brazilian society.…
The Dahomey Amazons: West Africa's All-Female Army
Before the kingdom of Dahomey fell to French colonialism, its army included a corps of several thousand women soldiers — the Agooji, or Dahomey Amazons. This episode traces their origins in the 17th century under King Houegbadja, their evolution into elite shock troops under King Ghezo, and their final stand against French artillery in 1892. We explore how they were recruited, trained, and armed, how they lived in the royal palace, and how European visitors like Sir Richard Burton and John…
The Indian Ocean Slave Trade: East Africa's Forgotten Diaspora
We often think of the Atlantic when we hear 'slave trade,' but for centuries before and after, a vast network moved enslaved people from East Africa across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Persia, and India. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the scale, the routes, and the human cost of the East African slave trade — from the Swahili Coast to the markets of Zanzibar. They discuss the Omani Empire's role, the Portuguese disruption, the notorious slave market at Stone Town, and the British…
The Saltwater Railroad: Resistance Networks from Slavery to Freedom
The story of the Saltwater Railroad—a term used to describe the covert maritime routes enslaved people took to escape bondage in the American South to freedom in the Bahamas and beyond. This episode focuses on the remarkable figure of Richard Barnard, a free Black fisherman from Charleston who risked his life piloting runaways through the treacherous waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. We explore the geography of escape: the Sea Islands, the Gulf Stream, and the British colonial outposts in…
The 1835 Malê Revolt: Enslaved Muslims in Brazil
In January 1835, a sweeping slave revolt shook Salvador, Bahia, led by West African Muslims known as Malê. The rebels, literate in Arabic, coordinated using copies of the Quran, and their Uprising drew on deep networks among Hausa and Yoruba speakers from the Bight of Benin. This episode unpacks the revolt's Islamic roots, its brutal suppression, and its aftermath, including how the 1838 Feijó Law and 1850 Eusébio de Queirós Law aimed to dismantle the slave trade. We discuss key figures like…
The 1820s Coffee Boom and the Slave Trade's Last Gasp in Brazil
By the 1820s, the British Navy had been patrolling the Atlantic for over a decade, hunting illegal slave ships. But in Brazil, a coffee boom was fueling a new wave of human trafficking. This episode of The Atlantic Slave Trade traces the story of the 'coffee barons' of the Paraíba Valley, the rise of the illegal slave trade after 1831, and the brutal conditions on the coffee plantations that replaced sugar as the engine of slavery. We explore how the British Anti-Slavery Squadron intercepted…
The 1835 Malê Revolt: Enslaved Muslims in Brazil
In January 1835, a group of enslaved and freed African Muslims in Salvador, Bahia, staged a carefully planned uprising known as the Malê Revolt. Drawing on shared Islamic faith, literacy in Arabic, and networks of resistance, the rebels—many of them Hausa and Yoruba from the Bight of Benin—moved through the streets before being crushed by government forces. This episode explores how the Malê used religion as a rallying force, how authorities responded with brutal repression, and how the revolt…
The 1707 Slave Ship Mutiny of Thomas Gaines: Justice Denied
In 1707, Thomas Gaines, a white sailor on the slave ship Elizabeth, led a mutiny after witnessing the brutal murder of an enslaved woman. He and his co-conspirators took control of the ship and sailed it to Boston, where they expected to be hailed as heroes. Instead, they were arrested, tried for piracy, and executed. This episode explores the forgotten story of Gaines, the legal complexities of slave ship mutinies, and how the colonial legal system protected the slave trade even against white…
The 1831 Christmas Rebellion: Jamaica's Largest Slave Revolt
In December 1831, the largest slave rebellion in Jamaica's history erupted across the western parishes, led by a Baptist deacon named Samuel Sharpe. This episode follows the planning, the burning of estates, the brutal military response, and the trial that sent Sharpe to the gallows. We explore how the rebellion was fueled by rumors of emancipation, the role of Christian missionaries, and the complex figure of Sharpe himself—an enslaved man who was literate, respected, and willing to die for…
The 1788 Dolben Act: Britain's First Slave Ship Regulation
In 1788, a backbench MP named Sir William Dolben steered an unprecedented bill through Parliament: the first law to regulate conditions on British slave ships. This episode traces the Dolben Act from its origins in the abolitionist pamphlet war to its passage amid fierce Liverpool opposition. We look at how Sir William Dolben, guided by Thomas Clarkson's research and James Field Stanfield's testimony, set a maximum number of enslaved people per ship tonnage — a reform that saved thousands of…
Gustavus Vassa: The African Who Chronicled the Middle Passage
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the extraordinary life of Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, who was kidnapped from what is now Nigeria as a child, survived the Middle Passage, purchased his own freedom, and became a leading abolitionist in 18th-century Britain. They discuss his enslavement in Virginia and the Caribbean, his service in the Royal Navy, his travels from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, his conversion to Christianity, and his pivotal role in the British…
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