The Zorg Massacre: Slave to Weight Ratio

What happens when a series of catastrophic mistakes leaves hundreds of enslaved people trapped at sea with nowhere to go and almost no water left?

Season 5 of Torture: A Dark History begins with one of the most horrifying events in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, the Zorg Massacre of 1781.

Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan travel back to the Caribbean Sea and aboard the Zorg, a British slave ship carrying hundreds of enslaved Africans toward Jamaica. What begins as a disastrous voyage involving poor decisions, incompetent leadership, disease, dwindling supplies, and terrible navigation eventually becomes something far more horrific when the crew decides that some of the people aboard must die so that others might survive.

We’ll follow the voyage from the Zorg’s acquisition and its time on the African coast to the disastrous journey across the Atlantic, meeting Captain Luke Collingwood, First Mate James Kelsall, passenger Robert Stubbs, and the hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children caught in the middle of an unfolding catastrophe.

Then we’ll look at what happened after the ship finally reached Jamaica, when the owners attempted to turn the deaths into an insurance claim and the horrifying events eventually became the subject of a legal battle in London. The case would expose the disturbing reality of how the law viewed enslaved people and help give abolitionists another powerful example of the brutality and inhumanity of the slave trade.

And because this is Torture: A Dark History, Kevin and Dan bring their usual uncomfortable humor and irreverence to a story that has very few funny moments, because apparently Season 5 needed to start by immediately ruining everyone’s day.

One quick apology before you listen: we discovered after recording that this episode has some sound quality issues that we weren’t aware of during the recording. We’ve done what we can to clean it up, and we appreciate your patience as we kick off Season 5.

If you’re interested in the Zorg Massacre, the Zong, the Atlantic slave trade, slave ships, maritime history, British history, abolitionism, Olaudah Equiano, the history of slavery, and one of the most disturbing legal cases of the 18th century, welcome back to Torture: A Dark History.

Season 5 starts here.

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