The Creole Mutiny

On this day in 1841, a mutiny occurred onboard the ship Creole carrying 135 enslaved people from Richmond to New Orleans.. Madison Washington and others killed John R. Hewell, one of the slave traders and took control of the ship. They sailed to the British controlled Bahamas where they won their freedom in court. From BlackPast article by Samuel Momodu: "As a consequence of the revolt, 128 enslaved people won their freedom in the Bahamas, then a British possession. Because of the number of people eventually freed, the Creole mutiny was the most successful slave revolt in US history."