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The ''Zong'' massacre was the mass murder of an estimated 132–142 enslaved Africans by the crew of the slave ship ''Zong'' in the days following 29 November 1781.〔The exact number of deaths is unknown but James Kelsall (the ''Zong'' first mate) later said that "the outside number of drowned amounted to 142 in the whole" (quoted in Lewis 2007, p. 364).〕 The ship was owned by the Gregson slave-trading syndicate, based in Liverpool, which participated in the Atlantic slave trade. As was common business practice, they had taken out insurance on the lives of the slaves as cargo. When the ship ran low on potable water following navigational mistakes, the crew threw slaves overboard into the sea to drown, part in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the boat's inhabitants, and in part to cash in on the insurance on the slaves, thus not losing money on the slaves which would have died from the lack of drinking water. After the slave ship reached port at Black River, Jamaica, the owners of the ''Zong'' made a claim to their insurers for the loss of the slaves. When the insurers refused to pay, the resulting court cases (''Gregson v Gilbert'' (1783) 3 Doug. KB 232) held that in some circumstances, the deliberate killing of slaves was legal and that insurers could be required to pay for the slaves' deaths. The judge, Lord Chief Justice, the Earl of Mansfield, ruled against the syndicate owners in this case, due to new evidence being introduced suggesting the captain and crew were at fault. Following the first trial, freed slave Olaudah Equiano brought news of the massacre to the attention of the anti-slavery campaigner Granville Sharp, who worked unsuccessfully to have the ship's crew prosecuted for murder. Because of the legal dispute, reports of the massacre received increased publicity, stimulating the abolitionist movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; the ''Zong'' events were increasingly cited as a powerful symbol of the horrors of the Middle Passage of slaves to the New World.〔 The non-denominational Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787. The next year Parliament passed the first law regulating the slave trade, to limit the number of slaves per ship. The massacre has also inspired works of art and literature. It was commemorated in London in 2007, among events to mark the bicentenary of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the African slave trade. A monument to the killed slaves of the ''Zong'' was installed at Black River, Jamaica, their intended port.〔("The Zong case study" ), Understanding Slavery Initiative website, 2011〕 ==The ''Zong''== The ''Zong'' was originally named ''Zorg'' (meaning "Care" in Dutch) by its owners, the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie. It operated as a slave ship based in Middelburg, Netherlands, and made a voyage in 1777, delivering slaves to the coast of Suriname, South America.〔Webster 2007, p. 287.〕 The ''Zong'' was a "square stern ship" of 110 tons burden.〔Lewis 2007, p. 365.〕 It was captured by a British 16-gun ship named ''Alert'' on 10 February 1781. By 26 February, the ''Alert'' and ''Zong'' arrived at Cape Coast Castle, in modern-day Ghana, which was maintained and staffed, along with other forts and castles, by the Royal African Company.〔Lewis 2007, p. 359.〕 The Castle was used as the regional headquarters of the RAC.〔Walvin 2011, pp. 76–87〕 In early March 1781, the ''Zong'' was purchased by the master of the ''William'', on behalf of a syndicate of Liverpool merchants.〔Lewis 2007, p. 360.〕 The members of the syndicate were Edward Wilson, George Case, James Aspinall and William, James and John Gregson.〔Walvin 2011, p. 217.〕 William Gregson had an interest in 50 slaving voyages between 1747 and 1780. He served as mayor of Liverpool in 1762.〔Lewis 2007, p. 358.〕 By the end of his life, vessels in which Gregson had a financial stake had carried 58,201 enslaved people from Africa to slavery in the Americas.〔Walvin 2011, p. 57.〕 The ''Zong'' was paid for with bills of exchange, and the 244 slaves already on board were part of the transaction.〔 The ship was not insured until after it started its voyage.〔Lewis 2007, p. 361.〕 The insurers, a syndicate from Liverpool, underwrote the ship and slaves for up to £8,000, approximately half the slaves' potential market value. The remaining risk was borne by the owners.〔〔Walvin 2011, pp. 70–71.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zong massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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