The Zorg: A Guest Post by Siddharth Kara
A heartbreaking and harrowing true story that puts a spotlight on the tragic events aboard the ill-fated ship. Told with verve and veracity, this is history that makes a difference. Read on for an exclusive essay from author Siddharth Kara on writing The Zorg.
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The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
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Hardcover
$27.00
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From Pulitzer finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red: A notorious slave ship incident that led to the abolition of slavery in the UK and sparked the US abolitionist movement
From Pulitzer finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red: A notorious slave ship incident that led to the abolition of slavery in the UK and sparked the US abolitionist movement
Around 20 years ago, I was conducting research on Atlantic slavery for my first book when I came across the shocking tale of the “Zong.” The inhumanity that took place on the ship always stuck with me. After publishing four books on modern-day slavery that were based on my own field research (culminating in Cobalt Red), I needed a break from the physical and emotional toll taken by years of grim encounters with slaves, child laborers, and those who exploited them. That’s when the “Zong” returned to my mind.
As I began to research the story, I realized that even though the Zorg was perhaps the most consequential slave ship ever to cross the Atlantic, few people knew about it. Worse still, the existing historical record on the Zorg was filled with inaccuracies, starting with the name of the ship! I felt driven to recount this pivotal episode in history with as much accuracy as possible. I studied thousands of ink-blotted pages of archival materials in England and the Netherlands to try and piece together the Zorg’s journey. Some threads I pulled on went nowhere, and others led me to precious discoveries. For instance, I came across a parchment in the British National Archives that revealed a single moment between one of the Zorg’s crew members and an enslaved African that seemed to distill the entire Atlantic slave trade into a single moment of boundless inhumanity. This moment is one of many that have been either obscured or lost over the passage of time.
In addition to archival research, I retraced as much of the Zorg’s physical journey as possible. My time in Ghana was particularly impactful. As I investigated the old forts and castles where “Guinea ships” like the Zorg obtained their “cargo” before carting them across the Atlantic, I understood the true barbarity of the slave trade for the first time. Hands tied and necks yoked, millions of Africans were marched for months by slave dealers from inland regions to the coast, only to be forced to languish for months inside the putrid, sewage filled dungeons at places like Cape Coast Castle and the fort at Anomabu. They then had to endure months more inside the suffocating cargo hold of a slave ship, only to end up being sold as slaves in the New World. Barely half survived the ordeal.
Inside Cape Coast Castle, my guide showed me a roped off part of the dungeon’s floor that had been left just as it was. It had a slick layer of stone atop the cobbled surface, or so I thought. My guide explained it wasn’t stone, it was several inches of the sedimented blood, urine, fecal matter, and tears of countless Africans who had once languished in that place.
I hope The Zorg will bring readers a deeper understanding of Atlantic slavery and how the ship’s fateful voyage inspired the first movement to abolish it.
