The Zong was a British ship that was engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. The vessel had been captured from its Dutch owners who had given it the name Zorg. It’s a huge irony that the word “zorg” means “care” in Dutch.
Voyage to West African Coast
The Zong was fitted out for the slave trade in Liverpool by a consortium of wealthy merchants. She sailed from there in early March 1781 with a crew of about 20 under the command of Luke Collingwood.
It was Collingwood’s first command and it would turn out to be his last. Although he had sailed across the Atlantic before it was as a ship’s surgeon.
Arriving off West Africa, Collingwood cruised along the coast capturing Africans wherever he could and securing them on board. By September 1781 he had filled his ship with 440 slaves who were shackled in appalling conditions.
Slow Atlantic Crossing
Collingwood’s inexperience meant the voyage across the Atlantic was slower than normal. Given the overcrowded and filthy conditions below decks that meant many of the slaves started to get sick. The Jamaica Gleaner (July 2007) records that, “The Africans were afflicted with dysentery, fever, diarrhoea, small pox, and some respiratory-related illnesses. Based on the evidence, as many as 60 Africans died within seven weeks of the voyage.”
The plan for most slavers was to get across the ocean as fast as possible to minimize losses among their cargoes. A typical crossing took six to eight weeks.
However, two months after leaving the African coast the Zong was still in the middle of the Atlantic and disease was spreading among the Africans and the crew.
Captain Collingwood Takes Brutal Action
Seeing his valuable cargo dying off Luke Collingwood determined on a desperate measure to make a profit out of the voyage. According to Britain’s National Archives he “decided to throw overboard a large number of dying slaves to allow the ship owners to make a cargo insurance claim for the loss of the slaves.”
Collingwood’s cold-hearted reasoning was that a slave that died on board was spoiled cargo and could not be claimed against insurance, but for each African that drowned the insurance company would pay £30. According to Collingwood’s grim calculations each drowned African was worth about $5,800 in today’s money; so, over the side they went.
The Jamaica Gleaner says, “133 Africans whom the crew thought were least likely to recover were chained, ankle by ankle, then thrown overboard, weighing them down with balls.”
Insurance Claim Goes to Court
The Zong reached Jamaica just before Christmas 1871 and its owners filed an insurance claim for the lost slaves. The argument was that tossing the sick overboard was necessary for the safety of the ship because it was running low on drinking water.
The insurance company turned down the claim and the issue went to litigation. Details of Captain Collingwood’s actions came out in court and the public was horrified. Britain’s National Archives report that, “The outrage over the case of the Zong contributed to a process of re-examining the slave trade…” However, the slave traders who were making a lot of money put up a fierce battle and it was more than three and half decades before the British put a stop to the business.
The courts turned down the insurance claim when evidence emerged there was plenty of water on the ship when it docked in Jamaica.
Nobody was charged with any offence because in the words of Britain’s Solicitor General at the time, John Lee: “What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of chattels or goods. Blacks are goods and property; it is madness to accuse these well-serving honourable men of murder.”
Sources
- “Abolition Watch: Massacre on the ‘Zong’ - Outrage against Humanity.” Jamaica Gleaner, July 1, 2007.
- “Zong Massacre: (Case of Grayson v Gilbert 1783).” British National Archives, undated.
- “Abolition of the Slave Trade.” British National Archives, undated.
- “Slave Ship Zong (1781).” Hullwebs History of Hull, undated.
- “The Enlightenment.” Fight Slavery Now, undated.
Rupert Taylor - Rupert Taylor is the editor of a magazine that provides background to current events.
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