The Middle Passage: Hell on the Slave Deck

Lucas and Luna dive into the most notorious leg of the transatlantic slave trade: the Middle Passage. They trace the journey from African coast to Caribbean plantation, describing the horrific conditions below deck—the 'loose pack' and 'tight pack' methods, the stench, the disease, and the constant threat of rebellion. They focus on the slave ship Brookes, whose 1788 diagram became an icon of abolitionist propaganda, and the 1781 Zong massacre, where 132 enslaved people were thrown overboard for insurance money. Lucas explains the brutal calculus of slave ship captains, the role of African polities in the trade, and the legal battles that followed. Luna asks about resistance on board—and Lucas tells of the 1765 mutiny on the ship Hope, led by a woman named Abba, which succeeded in seizing the vessel and returning to Africa. The episode ends with a reflection on the human cost of the trade and the resilience of those who survived. #MiddlePassage #SlaveShip #Brookes #ZongMassacre #HopeMutiny #Abba #Abolition #OlaudahEquiano #GranvilleSharp #TightPack #LoosePack #SlaveDeck #Insurance #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Resistance #History #FexingoHistory #Slavery Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo