The Black Joke: The True Story of One British Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade

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However, they admit that due to its excessively satirical nature, it’s entirely possible that some of the narrative choices might affirm the very stereotypes the show hopes to debunk. The Navy deliberately burnt her in May 1832 because her timbers had rotted to the point that she was no longer fit for active service. It was not until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that the institution of slavery was prohibited in directly administered overseas British territories. The ship became both famous, as did its captains, for its speed and ability to capture slavers, as well as becoming dreaded by all coastal slavers. We learn about the men who commanded her and their various circumstances and motivations, but the story of the ship and her adventures illustrates the complex situation the West Africa Squadron found itself in as it sought to enforce the British ban on the slave trade with just a few ships and a limited budget.

Except that instead of introducing one class of school children to the wonders of science, she is working on instilling a love of history in a much larger audience. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. How Shelley manages to absorb it all and then convince you that he has been playing it all his life with his characteristic elegance and dexterity is a gift given to few.

The name sounds terribly racist, but it has nothing to do with that; the ship was named after an incredibly bawdy and raunchy pub song which I will not make reference to here! A fascinating true story of the sort that is rarely told, The Black Joke recounts the adventures of the titular ship, a one-time slaving ship seized by the West Africa Squadron of the British Navy and converted for use in capturing other slaving ships.

For readers of history of the post-Napoleonic War Royal Navy, the maritime enforcement of the 1820 ban on the transatlantic slave trade above the equator, and economic and social history the early to mid-19th century of colonial and post-colonial Europe and lands across the Atlantic coast. This was a fascinating book primarily about the career of the tender the Black Joke in the British Navy's West Africa Squadron, but also about the protracted fight to end the slave trade. This book tells the story of the Black Joke, a former slaver who converted to the opposite side, trying to eliminate the slave trade. It was purchased and became a part of the fleet of British ships that patrolled the African coast to stop the transatlantic slave trade. Early 19th century British naval history is not especially on-brand for me, but I'm glad I let myself be surprised by The Black Joke.I’m fine with scholarly narratives as a rule but for some reason I had trouble getting through the chapters in a sitting. Run by an immigrant, The Wasp fueled the racist grievances of the West Coast’s white working class, which resulted in the banning of Chinese immigrants for sixty-one years. The Road to COP28 special feature in African Business is a dedicated coverage section that explores the challenges and opportunities for climate action in the run-up to the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). It becomes evident rather quickly that the story of the Black Joke is not nearly substantive enough to fill the pages of an entire book, and so much of the story revolves instead around the work of abolitionists and the minutiae of the West Africa Squadron’s operations. Daring tales of triumph are mixed the impossibility of the task assigned to the few ships and resources provided by the British Empire.

I noticed after looking at the plans several times that the cover on the steering tiller seemed pretty wide and oversized. After giving chase for thirty-one hours, Black Joke finally caught up with 'Almirante' and, despite being half her size, captured her. This book covers the sheer complexity of the macroeconomic and legal issues of policing international waters to locate and capture well-financed slave ships, and how much those ships/captains lied and committed horrible acts of violence to evade capture and consequences.Over the last few years, with the parallel rise of nationalism and social media as a stage for political participation, the spread of hateful ideas has been amplified, especially through humorous forms of communication such as memes.

The most feared ship in Britain’s West Africa Squadron, His Majesty’s brig Black Joke was one of a handful of ships tasked with patrolling the western coast of Africa in an effort to end hundreds of years of global slave trading. The newly liberated Africans became British, whether they wanted to or not, and the adults were given three options. Well, "saved" is probably too generous a term for the countless liberated enslaved who found themselves forced into British citizenship and might even end up in a situation that looks a lot like indentured servitude.Trying to get plans were pretty difficult but someone on this site suggested that Chappelle had dug up some plans in Norway (or somewhere in greater Scandanavia.