Remembering the Zong massacre of 1781

One of the most horrendous crimes against the black people by the white colonizers in history

By Edward Era Barbacena

Today, we remember the enslaved Africans who were drowned in one of the most tragic events in history, the Zong Massacre. The slave ship, The Zong, which docked at St. Elizabeth, Jamaica on Dec. 22, 1781, would see about 234 enslaves thrown aboard

The slave ship Zong departed the coast of Africa on the 6 of September 1781 with about 442 slaves. Since this human chattel was such a valuable commodity at that time, many captains captured more Africans than their ships could accommodate in order to maximize profits.

10 weeks later, it arrived in Tobago, after which it continued on its journey to St. Elizabeth, but it veered off-course near Haiti. By then, complaints of water shortage, illness, & death among the crew and poor navigational and leadership decisions all created confusion

By the 29th of November about 62 Africans had died from either disease or malnutrition. The Zong then sailed in an area in the mid-Atlantic known as “the Doldrums” because of periods of little wind . As the ship sat stranded, sickness caused the deaths of over 50 Africans

Desperate as they ran out of potable water, Luke Collingwood, captain of the ship decided to “jettison” some of the cargo in order to save the ship & provide its owners the opportunity to claim insurance. Between Nov 29 & Dec 22, about 120 enslaved Africans were thrown aboard.

Children, women and men were forced off the ship and left to drown. Some of the men handcuffed and had iron balls tied to their ankles. About 10 Africans jumped rather than be pushed by the crew. By December 22, about 208 Africans arrived alive, a mortality rate of 53%.

Upon the Zong’s arrival in Jamaica, James Gregson, the ship’s owner, filed an insurance claim for their loss. Gregson stated that Zong didn’t have enough water to sustain the crew & Africans.The underwriter, Thomas Gilbert, disputed the claim citing the ship did have enough water.

One of the most brutal and inhumane events in modern history, we reflect on the 200+ Africans who drowned. In the words of renowned historian, Dr. Verene Shepherd, the event “is a testimony to the cruelty of the colonial British & justifies the demand for reparatory justice”