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1757

1757: Insurrection aboard the Penelope (voyage 90490)

African

On a slaving voyage in 1757, the people aboard the Penelope rose against the crew. They had been taken at West Central Africa and St. Helena.

The record gives the numbers as: 230 people were embarked; 197 were landed.

Captain: Wiatt, William. Flag: Great Britain. Recorded outcome, in the database’s words: “captured by the French – after embarkation of slaves.”

Resistance is recorded only where a surviving document mentions it. The 571 such acts in the record are a floor. Silence in that column is silence in the archive. It says nothing about calm on the ship.

Source SlaveVoyages, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, voyage 90490