How does one ship, built in Sunderland, illuminate how people resisted enslavement? / Were ships built in Northeast England part of the trade in enslaved people?
PNS believes that the horrors and inhumanity of the Middle Passage should be known and understood. However, being an online educational tool, the focus is on rebellion and escape, rather than the inhuman treatment. We would encourage looking at this and if you wish to research the Middle Passage in more detail in a community way rather than on your own, somewhere you can discuss this. We focus here on full scale revolts. However, we fully acknowledge that rebellion took many forms and honour all those who were taken.
Northeast England has had a proud history as a leading shipbuilder for hundreds of years. On the banks of the River Tyne and the River Wear thousands of ships have been built and used to export and import goods. Eric Williams points out, ‘The external trade naturally drew in its wake a tremendous development of shipping and shipbuilding.’[1]
But were any ever built for the trade in enslaved people?
We may say not, as the Northeast does not face the Atlantic Ocean. To build ships here to sail across the Atlantic would make it more expensive, as they would have to sail around Britain first. Most of the international shipping trade came from Europe, not the Americas.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Voyages website[2] (https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/83970/variables) lists two ships built in Sunderland and 10 built in Newcastle were most likely part of transporting enslaved people.
Here we will look at the Vigilant.
It cannot be said that when it was built in Sunderland, its builders knew that one day it would hold the enslaved. Most purpose-built ships of that type were built in Bristol, Liverpool, London. However, it shows that the nature of ships, of a certain size, could mean that their purpose could change and because of the huge numbers involved in enslavement could be used in the trade. A ship named Alfred was built in 1780 in Sunderland. Ownership changed hands, and the new London owners renamed it Vigilant in 1783 and the ship became a ‘Westindiaman’ sailing across the Atlantic. It must have been able to withstand the weather and distance from England to the Americas.
In 1786 it is reported to have been carrying enslaved people off the coast of Anamabou (Ghana), bound for the Americas, when it was taken over by the enslaved who ran it aground and the ship’s captain, J. Duncan, and the second mate were killed.[3]
This event has little footprint in history. Several local newspapers reported that in January the Vigilant was returning from Jamaica (its purpose in Jamaica is not noted). The Newcastle Courant says,’ ‘Jan 11. Sailed for the River the Vigilant, Duncan from Jamaica'[4]
On 4th April 1786, the Kentish Gazette reported that on 29th March the Vigilant sailed for Africa.[5]
The next reports are on 27th October 1786 in the Lloyd's Marine List[6] and Kentish Gazette, (then subsequently on 1st November in the Cumberland Paquet and Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser and the day after in the Hereford Journal) that, ‘The Vigilant, Duncan is cut off and run onshore by the slaves at Annamaboe; the Captain and second mate killed.’
And that for now is all that is known from official and public records. From here, we must look at piecing together what we know about revolts on ships and the shipping of enslaved people to gain more of an understanding.
Dadzie notes there are around 485 records of revolts on slave ships: one in ten voyages.[7] It is likely that this number is higher. Records were not kept or were lost. Revolts were not recorded by reluctant sailors which may also have stopped a bigger number coming to light. The brevity of the Vigilant’s news report also suggests this was hardly ‘big news.’ It adds to what James Field Stanfield wrote about when he said, ‘an impenetrable veil . . . has been thrown over this traffic for such a number of years.’[8]
James Field Stanfield was an ordinary sailor on a slaving voyage in 1774. He later became an abolitionist. Stanfield was the first ordinary sailor to write about his experiences, which later became a large part of the abolition movement. Here we will concentrate on his experiences on board the Eagle in 1774 to reveal more about the Vigilant. (For more information on Stanfield and his connections to Sunderland click here)
Voyages from Britain to Africa varied greatly. Bristol Museums notes two ships (sailing 20 years apart) took 25 and 54 days.[9] The Vigilant, if leaving London in late March could have been in Africa in late April or late May 1786. The variation in duration was due to the size of the ship and capability of the crew. Weather was also a factor. The ship may also have stopped en route.
The time between the spring and the reports in October could have been because ships often did not pick up enslaved people at just one port and then cross the Atlantic.
Unless taking a full shipload of people at large slaving centres such as El Mina, ships would skirt the West African coast for months taking on small numbers of enslaved people, prolonging their misery, but also keeping in sight of the coast.
The reason for the revolt is evident. The spark that ignited the rebellion and took the Vigilant from its captain is not. And those questions lead us to understanding more about ship rebellions and the Middle Passage.
Were successful rebellions common?
The odds of a successful rebellion were very low. People who violently rebelled did so in the knowledge that it was very likely to fail. Some rebellions succeeded, The Eagle in 1704 was overrun by the 400 kidnapped men, women and children who were able to sail the ship back to land and escape.[10]The Little George in 1730 was subdued by 96 enslaved people, 61 were women.[11] The Jolly Batchelor in 1742 and The Nancy in 1767 had enslaved people freed.
Was the location important?
The report says the ship was ‘Cut off.’ Rebecca Hall writes in Wake that this meant as enslaved people were transported to the ship from the shore on canoes, both men and women would be stowed below decks as often locals would raid the ships and free the slaves.’[12] Therefore if the brief report is accurate, the Vigilant was attacked by those on board and those on land. Leaving the question; why was the ship then run aground? Does this suggest that the rebellion happened when the ship had a large number of enslaved people aboard? (However, Taylor says ‘Cut off’ had lots of meanings, from nearby people attacking sailors to onboard insurrections. Some meant the loss of the ship while other ships survived the attack.)[13]
The Jolly Batchelor was attacked as it sailed up the Sierra Leone River in 1742 by people living on its shores and the enslaved freed. The captain and two sailors were killed.[14]
We know this took place off the coast of Annamabou. The sight of the coast would have been a factor in some ship rebellions as relative safety was still in sight. (This is relative, as just getting back to land was no assurance of getting back home, which may have been hundreds of miles away still. Also, the coast was where the enslavers operated, so it still must have been dangerous. It may not have been a known place for many captured in other places. Language and cultural differences would have marked many out and therefore liable to recapture.)
Eric Taylor states that 75% of revolts took place within sight of Africa (21% during the voyage and 4% when on the other side of the Atlantic),[15]
However, Taylor notes that many kidnapped would have been in a state of complete shock and terror and unable to resist.[16] The terror of being taken, marched to the coast, mistreated, held in prisons or barracoons, branded, and underfed. In addition, many were prisoners of war having come from battle, it is understandable that for many this was the latest in a long line of horrific events. A lot of composure would be needed to surmount even the smallest rebellion. In later years, while exact details may not be known, the West African peoples were aware of the ships and the taking of countless lives. A fear of being eaten by the white sailors was real for many enslaved. As Hartman notes, ‘Cannibalism provided an allegory for usurping and consuming life.’[17]
Does the rebellion tell us where the people came from?
Some captains were reluctant to take a whole shipload of people from one place as they could communicate with each other in a common tongue and therefore plan and execute a rebellion easier. Was the Vigilant taking people from one place, close to Annamabou? Was their rebellion a sign that the ship had not sailed far from the coast, picking up small numbers?
Some evidence remains that white enslavers held stereotypical and racist views about where the least troublesome people could be enslaved. Certain regions were reported to provide rebellious/ compliant/ intelligent/ people etc. These generalisations are not to be believed but show another part of the racism at play in the capture of people.
Does the rebellion point to the role of women on the ship?
Rebecca Hall in Wake notes, ‘The more women on board a slave ship, the more likely a revolt.’[18]
Women had a great role in the rebellions aboard ships. For many they were kept away from the men on the upper deck and as such, along with children had a minute amount of freedom in which to plot and organise. Women would be forced to prepare food for the sailors and could poison and gain access to knives, etc. Some would have been able to move about the ship, communicating with other enslaved people.
In 1944, Lorenzo Greene quotes a Samuel Waldo in 1734, writing to someone about to enter into the enslavement business, ‘For your safety as well as mine, you’ll have the needful guard over your slaves, and put not too much confidence in the women and children lest they be instrumental to your being surprised which may be fatal.’[19]
Enslaved women were very often targets of sexual violence on ships. This most dreadful outrage on top of enslavement may have been the catalyst for rebellion sparked by self-defence from a woman that spread, or in the act of protecting a fellow enslaved person a rebellion ensued. It may also have allowed some to steal weapons then attack sailors when their guard was down.[20]
What about the rest of the crew?
The news reports mention the killing of the captain and second mate. This could have been a planned execution, given they were the only two sailors who were killed. However, this may point to some form of negotiation with the rest of the crew; that the sailors' bloodshed would be minimal if the ship were taken back to land.
Slave ship crews were in a wretched time the most wretched of sailors. Often cajoled, bribed, tricked into slave voyages, or forced to join. Treated badly on the outward voyage to West Africa many often died or mutinied. Stanfield, who sailed willingly, in The Eagle in September 1774 to Benin to enslave people wrote about the cruelty of the Captain, who turned up his barbarity when arriving on the African coast (Stanfield does labour the point of the ‘cruel captain’, which while is not to be doubted does centre the blame with one person rather than the whole crew.)
Could crew incompetence, small numbers or even wishing failure on the captain, not have caused, but have added to the rebellion?
What weapons would have been used?
The people themselves would have been weapons. Some may have been warriors captured as prisoners of war. The whole of the ship was laden with things that could be used as weapons; the shackles and chains meant to hold people could have been turned on the enslavers.
Slave ships were laden with conventional weapons. Sailors would carry a knife for use as a tool and a weapon. Firearms were carried on ships to capture people and to be used to subdue once on board. Many slave ships had a wall built across the deck that attacked sailors could hide behind and fire guns at enslaved fighters. As time went on, notes Taylor, more and more captured people would have been used to European guns as they were the item of choice to be traded in later years. Some enslaved would have been more than capable of using them against their enslavers. As the Vigilant was not built for the purpose of transporting enslaved, but was converted to this role, could it have been lacking in the material to repel attacks by those it enslaved?
The design of the ships themselves tell us that the kidnapped people resisted, often violently.
James Field Stanfield describes that when the ship he sailed on reached the African coast a large, thatched roof was constructed by the sailors on the deck of the ship to prevent escape. The sailors, therefore, must have known the people they were about to bring on board would try to escape.[21]
As Taylor notes in his conclusion to If We Must Die these insurrections, successful or not are testament to the will to hope and belief that freedom could be won. These revolts were one of the first lines of resistance to TTEA that would inspire other forms of resistance across the ages. They inspired abolitionists and had a detrimental economic effect on enslavement.
We have concentrated here on The Vigilant and other successful rebellions. So many others were tried and not successful. Countless other forms of rebellion were carried out by people who in the midst of indescribable terror maintained their humanity in ingenious, desperate and brave ways.
The timbres once cut from a northeast forest, turned into a ship by a Mackem’s hands were later rammed onto the shore of a faraway land in an act of courage and humanity.
[1] Williams, E.E. (2022) Capitalism and slavery. London: Penguin Classics. p53
[2] Slavevoyages.org. 2022. Slave Voyages. [online] Available at: <https://www.slavevoyages.org/> [Accessed 21 September 2022].
[3] Not known, N.K.N. (2022) Vigilant (1783 ship), Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigilant_(1783_ship)#CITEREFInikori1996 (Accessed: October 29, 2022).
[4] Newcastle Courant, Saturday 21st January 1786 accessed on 1st Sept 2023. Access from https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1786-01-01/1786-12-31?basicsearch=%2Bvigilant%20%2Bduncan&freesearch=vigilant%20duncan&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=score&page=0 Could the River refer to the Tyne?
[5] Kentish Gazette 4th April 1786 accessed on 1st Sept 2023. Access from https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1786-01-01/1786-12-31?basicsearch=%2Bvigilant%20%2Bduncan&freesearch=vigilant%20duncan&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=score&page=0
[6] Lloyd’s Marine List for 27th October 1786 accessed via Wikipedia page above. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044055001614&seq=425. Accessed on 2 Sept 2023
[7] Dadzie, S. (2021) A kick in the belly women, slavery, and resistance. London: Verso. P41
[8] Rediker, M. (2011) The slave ship: A human history. Harmondsworth: Penguin. P133
[9] Portcities Bristol (no date) Bristol’s slave ships | Ships and shipping | From Bristol to Africa | Slavery Routes | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol. Available at: http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/bristol-to-africa/shipping/bristols-slave-ships/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
[10] Dadzie, S., n.d. A kick in the belly. Pg 43
[11] Dadzie, S., n.d. A kick in the belly. Pg 43.
[12] Hall, R. (2022) Wake: The hidden history of women-led slave revolts. SIMON SCHUSTER. Chapter 8.
[13] Eric Robert Taylor, 2017, If We Must Die, narrated by Gerald Zimmerman. Chapter 7. Available from https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/If-We-Must-Die-Audiobook/B0741T5T79?ref_pageloadid=5Vf3zH1rMXMjscc5&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0741T5T79_0&pf_rd_p=7e7340a8-8768-4798-a0ce-83f879c09110&pf_rd_r=265CYH3RB73XY1C1YGNN&pageLoadId=wkTECpouyfxgIgDz&creativeId=14d6a1c2-a3f8-499b-900a-1ae788c317b1 accessed 31 August 2023
[14] Greene, Lorenzo J. “Mutiny on the Slave Ships.” Phylon (1940-1956), vol. 5, no. 4, 1944, pp. 346–54. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/272039. Accessed 2 Sept. 2023.
[15] Eric Robert Taylor, 2017, If We Must Die, narrated by Gerald Zimmerman. Available from https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/If-We-Must-Die-Audiobook/B0741T5T79?ref_pageloadid=5Vf3zH1rMXMjscc5&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0741T5T79_0&pf_rd_p=7e7340a8-8768-4798-a0ce-83f879c09110&pf_rd_r=265CYH3RB73XY1C1YGNN&pageLoadId=wkTECpouyfxgIgDz&creativeId=14d6a1c2-a3f8-499b-900a-1ae788c317b1 accessed 31 August 2023
[16] Eric Robert Taylor, 2017, If We Must Die, narrated by Gerald Zimmerman. Available from https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/If-We-Must-Die-Audiobook/B0741T5T79?ref_pageloadid=5Vf3zH1rMXMjscc5&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0741T5T79_0&pf_rd_p=7e7340a8-8768-4798-a0ce-83f879c09110&pf_rd_r=265CYH3RB73XY1C1YGNN&pageLoadId=wkTECpouyfxgIgDz&creativeId=14d6a1c2-a3f8-499b-900a-1ae788c317b1 accessed 31 August 2023
[17] Hartman, S.V. (2021) Lose your mother a journey along the Atlantic slave route. London: Serpent’s Tail. P 114.
[18] Hall, R. (2022) Wake: The hidden history of women-led slave revolts. SIMON SCHUSTER. Chapter 8.
[19] Greene, Lorenzo J. “Mutiny on the Slave Ships.” Phylon (1940-1956), vol. 5, no. 4, 1944, pp. 346–54. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/272039. Accessed 2 Sept. 2023.
[20] Noted by Dadzie page 41 - 45 also noted by Taylor in Chapter 3.
[21] Rediker, M., 2014. The slave ship. New York: Penguin Books. p143