Slavery, Freedom, and Mutiny on the Black Prince; or, What a Bunch of 18th-Century Pirates Can Teach Us about the Economic and Political Histories of the Atlantic World

In early January 1769, the crew of the British slave ship Black Prince murdered their officers a few hundred miles off the West African coast, changed the name of the ship to “Liberty,” elected new officers, and set sail for Brazil. Riven by petty jealousies and mistrust, some crew members were eventually abandoned in Brazil and the Caribbean; others were murdered; and a handful survived shipwreck on Hispaniola before fleeing to Suriname, Boston, New York, and London. In this presentation, I will use the history of the Black Prince mutineers to reflect on broader issues related to the study of Atlantic history. In particular, I will concentrate on the ways the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database serves as a platform for answering pithy economic and political questions that extend well beyond slavery and slaving.