Today In 1841 (A Successful Revolt On A Slave Ship)

Madison Washington, a cook who was enslaved in Virginia after attempting to rescue his wife after he escaped to Canada, was the first to spark the overthrow. The slaves were kept in a forward hold and when a grate was lifted, Washington overtook the deck. Washington and 17 other men sparked the clash by taking on the captain’s crew and killed a trader with a knife. The captain was wounded, but escaped with his life as he hid inside the ship’s rigging.

The slaves demanded the ship be sailed towards Liberia, as it was the only country they knew former slaves could go for freedom. However, another slave mentioned they should sail to the British West Indies because slaves were freed there a year prior. Upon arriving at Nassau, Bahamas on November 9, the ship was boarded by Black Bahamians who declared the group free under British colonial law.

...White slave owners were angered at the loss of workers they considered nothing more than property.