A Slave Ship Called Jesus

The Black Holocaust, written by E. Anderson contains the following narrative by an enslaved African on a slave ship: “We had to either squat with knees and arms folded together or sit with another person wedged between our legs for 8 to 14 hours every day for the weeks and months it took to cross the Atlantic. The alternative was to lie flat on our backs for hours or days on wooden deck boards that were splintered and filthy with blood, human waste, parasitic bugs, flies, and vomit. We were shoulder to shoulder chained to each other and chained to the floor or the ship’s hull.” The dying lay shackled to the living, and the living to the dead. They could reach the latrines, if they were available, by crawling over other human beings in a tossing ship. At the end of the journey, those Africans who did survive were often so ill that they were unable to stand without excrement running down their legs or to walk from the ship without having to pause every minute. On many ships the men were sold, and the women were kept for the pleasure of the crew. Author E. Anderson calls the enslavement of African people the “Most under reported major event in history.”

African people were prisoners aboard ships of death and brutality, but yet these ships had such names as Brotherhood, John the Baptist, Justice, Integrity, Liberty, Good Intent, Black Boy, Morning Star, Mary, Gift of God, and the Good Ship Jesus. All of these are recorded in a book called “There is A River” written by Vincent Harding. John Hawkins, the slave trader for Queen Elizabeth 1, commanded the ship Jesus. Hawkins lived from 1532 to 1595. He was considered to be the first English slave trader to profit from the Triangular trade. In 1564, Queen Elizabeth partnered with Hawkins by leasing the huge 700-ton ship Jesus to him. Hawkins roamed up and down the west coast of Africa with his cousin Francis Drake. His mission: to capture human lives. He conducted brutal raids, violent beatings, and terrorized the Africans aboard his ship. In a book called “The Queen’s Slave Trader,” historian Nick Hazlewood wrote the following: “Hawkins actions and attitudes toward his cargo set the precedent for those who followed him for the next two hundred years.

The fleet of John Hawkins consisted of four ships. In the lead was the ship Jesus. It was a floating fortress. Hawkins commanded an artillery of huge firepower. His men went ashore every day to take the inhabitants with their guns, burning and looting as they went along. As the invaders ravaged the land, they recorded the high quality of life of African craftsmanship and the organization of their settlements. Their homes were kept in order with a place for everything. The Africans were well organized in battle. They fought the slave traders with swords and darts with heads at both ends of iron. One end of the dart was like a double-edged sword, a foot and a half long with the other end acting as a counterweight so that it flew level. This was recorded in Hazlewood’s book The Queen’s Slave Trader. The Africans fought a valiant fight, but they were no match to the power of the gun. Loaded with human cargo, stolen goods, and gold, the Jesus set sail across the ocean only to return again. Although he committed murder and other violent acts, John Hawkins was knighted by the Queen for his role in defeating the Spanish Armada.

The voyages of John Hawkins paved the way for slave ships around the world leading to the shores of America. The slave ships that docked at the New York Harbor between 1715 and 1755 had such names as Charity, Friendship, Hope, Morning Star, Mary and yes there was a slave ship called “the Wheel of Fortune.” Slave traders called Black Birders were commonplace in New York. Slave ships sailed in and out of New York. The newspaper called the Anti-Slavery Standard stated that New York was one of the great slave ship marts on the continent. A slave market was established on Wall Street in 1711 where slaves were bought and sold. The Wall Street Market carried the names of prominent families in America who were involved in the slave trade. The legacy of John Hawkins and the slave ship Jesus touched every part of the globe.