This Was One Of The Most Successful Escapes In History

Transatlantic Slave Ship illustration
Leslie Taylor-Grover
April 19, 2021

The Creole slave ship was under siege in 1841 – from within! It had been headed from Richmond, Virginia to New Orleans, Louisiana, where over 100 of our people would be sold. A week out at sea, the captain and crew were now held hostage! But would they cater to the demands of the enslaved men now in charge of the ship?

Not at first! An irate slave trader had to be killed, and the captain wounded, before the racists took our people seriously. Rather than going to New Orleans, the ship was now to head to the Bahamas, British territory where they would be free – since Britain and its territories outlawed enslavement. Did they make it?

Yes! And every single enslaved person on the ship was granted freedom and citizenship to the Bahamas. However, the story doesn’t end there.

The brilliant conspirators who planned the mutiny were arrested. But they, too, were eventually freed! This successful liberatory effort sent the message to other enslaved people that freedom was possible – as long as we banded together against the racists.

We must always challenge any system that seeks to oppress and exploit us. As the rebellion on this ship proved, when we work together for our liberation, we are unstoppable. Keep fighting!

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