The Zong

A Massacre, the Law & the End of Slavery

By: James Walvin

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

The first full review of the mass murder by crew members on the slave ship Zong and the lasting repercussions of this horrifying event.

On November 29, 1781, Captain Collingwood of the British ship Zong commanded his crew to throw overboard one-third of his cargo: a shipment of Africans bound for slavery in America. The captain believed his ship was off course, and he feared there was not enough drinking water to last until landfall. This book is the first to examine in detail the deplorable killings on the Zong, the lawsuit that ensued, how the murder of 132 slaves affected debates about slavery, and the way we remember the infamous Zong today.

Historian James Walvin explores all aspects of the Zong's voyage and the subsequent trial-a case brought to court not for the murder of the slaves but as a suit against the insurers who denied the owners' claim that their "cargo" had been necessarily jettisoned. The scandalous case prompted wide debate and fueled Britain's awakening abolition movement. Without the episode of the Zong, Walvin contends, the process of ending the slave trade would have taken an entirely different moral and political trajectory. He concludes with a fascinating discussion of how the case of the Zong, though unique in the history of slave ships, has come to be understood as typical of life on all such ships.

©2011 James Walvin (P)2024 Tantor

Required reading for every insurance professional

The Zong should be known to each and every person in the insurance industry. This book should be required reading for everyone seeking a license to sell insurance. Every insurance commissioner should have this book on their desk. The Zong must never be forgotten. The Call of the Entrepreneur documentary rightly credits insurance for making America possible. The Zong reminds us how soulless western free enterprise can be. Only because good people stood for truth and life are we free from this deplorable stain. God help us, have us, and have mercy upon us. Keep us oh God by Thy Amazing Grace.