Massacre on the Slave Ship Zong
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Please note, this episode contains descriptions of racial violence that some listeners may find disturbing.
In November 1781, a British slave ship carrying hundreds of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic began to run out of water. The ship was called the Zong, and her crew decided to save their own lives by throwing enslaved Africans overboard. In a sinister twist, they would later file an insurance claim on the lives of those they killed, treating them simply as cargo. This appalling episode has since become known as the Zong Massacre and was a key catalyst in the fight for the abolition of the slave trade. So what exactly happened on that fateful day, and what did this event mean for the abolitionist movement? Dan is joined by Giles Terera, award-winning actor and star of the London production of Hamilton, to talk about this massacre and its legacy.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!
Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.
Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's History. In 1781, a ship carrying enslaved Africans |
| 0:08.4 | across the Atlantic found itself running short on water, the crossing had taken a lot |
| 0:14.8 | longer than planned. The solution was to dump a good portion of those still living |
| 0:21.7 | African enslaved people into the ocean. That would free up water for the rest of the |
| 0:27.0 | crew and the cargo. The ship's company also knew that they'd be able to claim the loss |
| 0:32.9 | of the enslaved Africans as cargo with their insurers. That shocking massacre led back |
| 0:39.7 | in Britain to an upsurge in abolitionist activity. So people like OloDAQuano and Granville |
| 0:46.8 | Sharp raise awareness of the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade and was an important |
| 0:52.8 | step on the road to its eventual abolition. I'm very excited from this podcast to be talking |
| 0:57.4 | to a hero of mine, Charles Tarrera. He is the award-winning actor, playwright, writer. |
| 1:04.5 | He was in the UK version of Hamilton, which he received rave reviews. He's now gone |
| 1:08.2 | on written a play, also about the late 18th century, about the Zong Massacre. It's called |
| 1:12.9 | The Meaning of Zong and it's in London's Barberkin Theatre in April, going to get tickets |
| 1:17.9 | everybody. I'm the world's biggest Hamilton fan. Aaron Burr was the tragic hero of Hamilton |
| 1:23.1 | in so many ways. So having Charles Tarrera on the podcast is very exciting indeed. And |
| 1:28.7 | I will certainly be going to his play The Meaning of Zong. Enjoy this chat. |
| 1:34.7 | He might have said, |
| 1:35.9 | The Tommy Starrera's dropped off hero sheep. God save the king. |
| 1:39.7 | No black, quite unity till there is first and black unity. Never to go to war with one another |
| 1:45.7 | against. And look off and the subtle has cleared the power. |
| 1:53.3 | Charles, thanks for watching him on the pod buddy. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. |
| 1:57.3 | In the late 18th century, how many enslaved African people, men, women and children were |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.