1781-Nov./Dec.: The crew of the British slaving ship Zong threw over 130 living captives into the sea to claim insurance payments for lost “cargo”.

1781-Nov./Dec.: The crew of the British slaving ship Zong threw over 130 living captives into the sea to claim insurance payments for lost “cargo”. This mass murder was justified by the captain under the pretext of a water shortage, though later evidence proved supplies were sufficient. The subsequent legal case in London focused on the validity of the insurance claim rather than the act of murder itself. This event, once publicized, became a turning point for the British abolitionist movement by exposing the depravity of the trade. News of the massacre was kept alive in the oral traditions of black seamen for years before reaching a wider public.