Little George Ship Revolt
June 6, 1730
A page from the testimony of Captain George Scott who lived to tell the tale of the enslaved Africans on his ship, Little George
From BlackPast article by Samuel Momodu:
On June 1, 1730, Captain George Scott sailed his ship, the Little George, carrying ninety-six captured Africans from the Bonnana Islands off the Coast of Guinea (West Africa) to Rhode Island. There the captured Africans were to be sold as slaves. Five days into the Atlantic crossing, the captives, already mistreated by the ship’s crew and packed and chained down in heavy shackles in the dark and poorly ventilated lower deck of the ship, rose in revolt. On June 6, 1730, around 4:00 a.m. several captives freed themselves from their iron shackles and broke through the bulkhead of the ship. Getting on the ship’s deck, they seized weapons and killed three of the crew’s watchmen who were attempting to alert other crew members and Captain Scott.
Some of the captives made a bomb out of gunpowder pressed into a bottle, which they threatened to ignite. Recognizing that the explosion would have damaged and perhaps sunk the ship, the crew surrendered to the African captives. Without any sailing or navigation experience, the Africans, now in control of the ship, were able to turn it around and sail it back to the African continent. After a few days, the Little George reached the mouth of the Sierra Leone River where both the Africans and the British crew abandoned the ship. Later rescued by another slave ship, Captain George Scott, described in detail the revolt, thus leaving a record for later generations.
On June 1, 1730, Captain George Scott sailed his ship, the Little George, carrying ninety-six captured Africans from the Bonnana Islands off the Coast of Guinea (West Africa) to Rhode Island. There the captured Africans were to be sold as slaves. Five days into the Atlantic crossing, the captives, already mistreated by the ship’s crew and packed and chained down in heavy shackles in the dark and poorly ventilated lower deck of the ship, rose in revolt. On June 6, 1730, around 4:00 a.m. several captives freed themselves from their iron shackles and broke through the bulkhead of the ship. Getting on the ship’s deck, they seized weapons and killed three of the crew’s watchmen who were attempting to alert other crew members and Captain Scott.
Some of the captives made a bomb out of gunpowder pressed into a bottle, which they threatened to ignite. Recognizing that the explosion would have damaged and perhaps sunk the ship, the crew surrendered to the African captives. Without any sailing or navigation experience, the Africans, now in control of the ship, were able to turn it around and sail it back to the African continent. After a few days, the Little George reached the mouth of the Sierra Leone River where both the Africans and the British crew abandoned the ship. Later rescued by another slave ship, Captain George Scott, described in detail the revolt, thus leaving a record for later generations.