Summary of Marcus Rediker's The Slave Ship

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 The slave trade was the largest commercial enterprise in the history of humanity, spanning continents and generations. It involved a vast and lowly proletariat, hundreds of thousands of sailors, and millions of slaves.

#2 A man named Captain Tomba was among a group of dejected prisoners in a holding pen. He was tall, strong, and defiant. He saw a group of white men observing the barracoon, with a design to buy. When his fellow captives were subjected to buyers’ inspection, he expressed contempt.

#3 The story of the boatswain is a prime example of leadership among the captives. She was a woman who was in charge of her fellow enslaved women, and she kept order on the ship. One day, she was given a cut or two by the second mate, and she flew into a rage.

#4 The man who came aboard the slave ship Brooks in late 1783 or early 1784 was a native of the Gold Coast, possibly Fante. He was accused of witchcraft and sold to the ship. He refused all sustenance, and within a week or ten days, he died of pure starvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669351061

IRB Media

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Insights on Marcus Rediker's The Slave Ship

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The slave trade was the largest commercial enterprise in the history of humanity, spanning continents and generations. It involved a vast and lowly proletariat, hundreds of thousands of sailors, and millions of slaves.

#2

A man named Captain Tomba was among a group of dejected prisoners in a holding pen. He was tall, strong, and defiant. He saw a group of white men observing the barracoon, with a design to buy. When his fellow captives were subjected to buyers’ inspection, he expressed contempt.

#3

The story of the boatswain is a prime example of leadership among the captives. She was a woman who was in charge of her fellow enslaved women, and she kept order on the ship. One day, she was given a cut or two by the second mate, and she flew into a rage.

#4

The man who came aboard the slave ship Brooks in late 1783 or early 1784 was a native of the Gold Coast, possibly Fante. He was accused of witchcraft and sold to the ship. He refused all sustenance, and within a week or ten days, he died of pure starvation.

#5

The story of Thomas Trotter, a slave who attempted to kill himself by cutting his throat with his own fingernails, was brought before a parliamentary committee investigating the slave trade in 1790. The debate about the man’s resistance ensued.

#6

On the Liverpool slave ship the Hudibras, a young woman named Sarah was the best dancer and singer. She was also involved in an insurrection, but she survived and was sold at Grenada in 1787. She took African traditions of dance, song, and resistance with her.

#7

Samuel Robinson was the only man alive who had served an apprenticeship to the slave trade. He grew up in Garlieston, a coastal village of southwest Scotland, where he had heard stories about a voyage to the West Indies. He was spellbound when he boarded the slaver Lady Neilson in 1801.

#8

The author reflects on his original motivations for going to sea, which were to escape the brutality of his uncle and the poor quality of food and water. He ends up questioning his future prospects after two slaving voyages.

#9

Bartholomew Roberts was a young Welshman who sailed as second mate on the Princess, a slave ship, out of London for Sierra Leone. He was elected captain of his ship and became the most successful sea robber of his time. He terrorized the African coast, sending the traders there into a panic.

#10

Nicholas Owen was a real-life Robinson Crusoe, a sailor who went to sea after his father squandered the family fortune. He crossed the Atlantic five times, three times on slavers. He died of a fever in 1759, penniless and alone.

#11

The golden rule of to do to others as we would be done by was used to resolve the conflict between the European captain and the African king.