The Slave Ship: A Human History

James Field Stanfield (1749-1824) was an Irish-born sailor, actor, playwright, and abolitionist who made significant contributions to the anti-slavery movement through his writings. Stanfield was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1749. In the 1760s, he found work aboard merchant ships, including those involved in the transatlantic slave trade. During this period of his life, Stanfield witnessed the brutal conditions endured by enslaved Africans during the Middle Passage, as well as the harsh conditions endured by sailors such as himself. Although specific details about his exact role aboard slave ships remain unclear, Stanfield’s observations left a deep and lasting impression on him. These experiences would later form the basis of his powerful abolitionist writings, providing insight from the perspective of crewmembers aboard these ships and contributing to the field of History From Below. Disillusioned with the slave trade and maritime life, Stanfield eventually left the sea and settled in England, where he embarked on a career as an actor, playwright, and writer. This transition to the arts provided him with a platform to articulate his opposition to slavery. Like many abolitionists of the time, Stanfield was moved by a combination of moral conviction and personal experience to speak out against the injustices he had witnessed.

Stanfield’s most notable contribution to the abolitionist cause was his 1788 poem, The Guinea Voyage. Written as the British abolition movement was gathering momentum, the poem offered a searing critique of the slave trade, and it is quoted at length through The Slave Trade. The poem stands out as a vivid and emotional account of the transatlantic slave trade. The poem uses evocative imagery and powerful language to condemn the atrocities committed during the Middle Passage. Stanfield vividly describes the cramped and filthy conditions aboard slave ships, where enslaved Africans were chained together, deprived of basic necessities, and subjected to brutal treatment by the crew. The poem not only highlights the suffering of the enslaved but also critiques the complicity of European societies in perpetuating slavery. Stanfield portrays the slave trade as a moral blight that dehumanized both its victims and its perpetrators. Unlike many other abolitionist texts, which often framed the enslaved as passive victims, The Guinea Voyage acknowledges their humanity and resilience. Stanfield’s compassionate portrayal of enslaved Africans helped to challenge the racist ideologies that underpinned the slave trade. Although his contributions to the abolitionist movement were relatively modest compared to figures like Clarkson or Equiano, his work played an important role in raising awareness of the human suffering that characterized the Middle Passage. Stanfield’s legacy lies in his ability to translate his personal experiences into compelling narratives that exposed the realities of the transatlantic slave trade.

As someone who participated in the trade as a sailor, Stanfield offers a rare perspective from within the system. His testimony complements the narratives of enslaved people, providing a fuller picture of the trade’s operations and its moral and physical toll. He also demonstrates a genuine sympathy for the enslaved people aboard the various vessels on which he sailed. His writing demonstrates his desire to understand the slave trade “from an African perspective” (145), elevating the enslaved people to the status afforded to other poetic subjects. In Stanfield’s writing, enslaved people are not mere objects or commodities. They are as human as any writer, captain, or merchant and thus worthy of the reader’s sympathies. Stanfield’s desire to explore the humanity of the enslaved through his art is a gesture toward the creation of history from below, creating art that brings empathy and understanding to those most brutalized by the international system of emergent capitalism. Thus, Stanfield’s journey from complicity to advocacy highlights the capacity for individuals to change and take a stand against injustice.

John Newton (1725-1807) was an English sailor, slave trader, clergyman, and hymn writer whose life trajectory epitomizes the complex moral and spiritual struggles associated with the transatlantic slave trade. Best known for writing the hymn “Amazing Grace,” Newton’s life also offers a profound insight into the mechanisms of the slave trade and the capacity for personal transformation. Newton was born on July 24, 1725, in Wapping, London, England, the son of a shipmaster. His mother, a devout Christian, introduced him to religion at an early age, but she died when he was six years old. By the time he was 11, he had joined his father at sea. Newton’s early years as a sailor were marked by rebellion and recklessness. He was pressed into service in the Royal Navy, an experience that he found harsh and humiliating. After attempting to desert, Newton was flogged and demoted. Eventually, he secured a transfer to a slave-trading ship bound for Africa. Unlike many captains from privileged backgrounds, Newton worked his way up through the ranks of the slave ships and was shaped by this experience.

As a captain, Newton witnessed and participated in the brutal treatment of enslaved people. At the same time, he wrote often to his wife about his faith. His accounts from the time seem more concerned about the state of his own soul than the physical condition of the enslaved people below deck. In The Slave Ship, Rediker illustrates the cognitive dissonance of Newton’s faith. He used his beliefs as a “prophylactic screen against the recognition of the inhuman things he was actually doing” (185). The irony of Newton’s character is that, as the captain of a slave ship, he was an active participant in the brutal trade, yet his later work as an abolitionist would provide the world with “Amazing Grace,” one of the most recognizable artistic contributions to emerge from the movement. Newton deflected any self-refection on the brutality of his actions through his Christian faith, ignoring any fears he might have about his morality until much later in life. Newton’s experiences provide insight into the reality of the ships and the ways in which the captains assured themselves that they were not acting immorally. Rather than his work as an abolitionist, it is Newton’s ability to assure himself of his own morality that provides insight into how so many people worked in and rationalized such a brutal trade for so long.

In 1748, during a voyage to England, Newton’s ship encountered a violent storm off the coast of Ireland. Facing death, Newton called out to God for mercy, an act that he later regarded as the beginning of his spiritual conversion. Although he continued to work in the slave trade for several more years, this event planted the seeds of his eventual repentance. In 1754, Newton suffered a stroke that forced him to retire from seafaring. Rather than any radical revaluation of his character, he was medically prevented from working in the slave trade. He subsequently began studying theology and was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1764. Newton’s ministry, based in Olney, Buckinghamshire, became known for its evangelical fervor and outreach to the poor. Newton’s full transformation into an abolitionist took decades. For years after leaving the sea, he remained silent about his involvement in the slave trade. However, as the abolitionist movement gained momentum in the late 18th century, Newton began to speak out against the trade that he had once participated in. In 1788, Newton published Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade, a pamphlet in which he publicly confesses his complicity in slavery and condemns the trade as a national sin. Newton’s firsthand testimony provided abolitionists with critical evidence to support their campaign. Newton became an influential ally of key abolitionist leaders, including William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson. His moral authority as a former participant in the trade lent credibility to the abolitionist cause, and his writings were widely circulated, even if he struggled to explicitly voice his regret for his past actions.