The Zong Massacre Trial: Insurance Fraud and the Law of Slavery

In November 1781, the slave ship Zong was forced to abandon its course for Jamaica due to a lack of fresh water. The crew made the calculated decision to throw 132 enslaved Africans overboard, believing that their owners’ marine insurance would cover the loss of cargo rather than the death of human beings. This episode explores the subsequent legal battle in London, where abolitionists fought not just on moral grounds, but against a sophisticated defense that framed the atrocity as a necessary commercial sacrifice. We examine the role of Granville Sharp, the judges’ narrow interpretation of the law, and how this case, though initially lost by the activists, helped crystallize the public’s understanding of slavery’s brutality. Through the eyes of the survivors who eventually reached Sierra Leone and the lawyers who tried to expose the fraud, we uncover how a courtroom in Westminster became a battleground for the definition of humanity itself. #ZongMassacre #GranvilleSharp #LordMansfield #SlaveShipLaw #MarineInsuranceFraud #AbolitionistMovement #1781History #BritishLegalSystem #EnslavedResistance #SierraLeone #WestAfricaSquadron #HumanRightsHistory #ColonialEconomics #LimerickMerchants #LiverpoolTrade #FexingoHistory #HistoryPodcast #WorldHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo