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AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY@AfricanArchives · Aug 15, 2026

In 1781, over 100 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard and drowned so that the slavers could cash in on the…

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Summary

The Zong Massacre of 1781 was a horrific crime where the captain of a slave ship deliberately threw over 100 enslaved Africans overboard to drown so the ship's owners could claim insurance money. Despite an insurance company's dispute, a Jamaican court ruled in favor of the slave ship owners, reducing human beings to 'cargo' and enabling one of history's most brutal maritime atrocities.

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  1. #1

    In 1781, over 100 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard and drowned so that the slavers could cash in on the insurance of those enslaved. The Zong Massacre, THREAD

  2. #2

    On September 6, 1781, the slave ship Zong sailed from Africa with around 442 enslaved Africans. Back then, slaves were a valuable ‘commodity’ so they often captured more than the ship could handle to maximize profits.

  3. #3

    Ten weeks later, around November 1781, the Zong arrived at Tobago, then proceeded toward St. Elizabeth, but deviated from its route near Haiti. At that stage, water shortages, illness, and fatalities among the crew, combined with poor leadership decisions, caused chaos.

  4. #4

    By end of November about 62 Africans had died from either disease or malnutrition. The Zong then sailed in an area in the Atlantic known as “the Doldrums” notorious for stagnant winds. Stranded there, illness ravaged the ship, claiming over 50 more lives as conditions worsened.

  5. #5

    Desperate as they ran out of water, Luke Collingwood, captain of the ship decided to “jettison” some of the cargo in order to save the ship & provide its owners the opportunity to claim insurance.

  6. #6

    Children, women and men were forced off the ship and left to drown. Some of the men handcuffed and had iron balls tied to their ankles. About 10 Africans jumped rather than be pushed by the crew. By December 22, about 208 Africans arrived alive, a mortality rate of 53%

  7. #7

    Upon the Zong’s arrival in Jamaica, James Gregson, the ship’s owner, filed an insurance claim for their loss. Gregson stated that Zong didn’t have enough water to sustain the crew & Africans.The underwriter, Thomas Gilbert, disputed the claim citing the ship did have enough water

  8. #8

    Despite this the Jamaican court in 1782 found in favour of the owners. The African were reduce to “horses” & “cargo” while it cause outrage against anti-slavery proponents. It would be years for the event to be termed what it is really: a massacre