The Zong massacre

The Zong massacre was a tragic event in 1781 when European slave traders threw over 130 African captives from a ship called the Zong into the sea. They did this to claim insurance money, falsely claiming they lost the slaves due to sickness. The ship was part of the transatlantic slave trade, a brutal system where Africans were forcibly taken to work in the Americas. This massacre highlighted the inhumanity of slavery and the greed-driven practices underlying it. The event became a symbol of resistance and helped fuel the abolition movement, leading to increased awareness of the cruelty involved in slavery.