The Zong Massacre: When Insurance Valued Human Lives

The Zong Massacre: When Insurance Valued Human Lives

​The harrowing events aboard the British slave ship Zong in the late 18th century represent one of the most infamous atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade and played a critical role in fueling the abolitionist movement. The tragedy, which occurred in 1781, was initially viewed not as a mass murder, but as a financial dispute.

​The Atrocity at Sea

​On November 29, 1781, facing low water supplies and navigating a slower-than-expected voyage, the crew of the Zong began a horrifying act. They deliberately murdered and threw 54 enslaved people overboard into the Atlantic Ocean. Over the following two days, an additional 78 captives were drowned. By the time the ship reached its destination in the Caribbean, a total of 132 enslaved individuals had been killed.

​The crew’s motive was purely economic: claiming the full insured value of the “lost cargo” was deemed more profitable than risking the death of the people from thirst and having no insurance payout.

​A Legal Fight for Compensation

​Upon the Zong’s return to England, the ship’s owners filed a claim with their insurance underwriters for compensation equivalent to the value of the 132 Africans who had been murdered.

​The case might have succeeded quietly had it not been for the intervention of Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa), a formerly enslaved man living in England. Equiano learned of the massacre and immediately brought the tragedy to the attention of his abolitionist friends, successfully pushing the case into the public spotlight and the court system.

​The Legal Precedent and Moral Conflict

​The initial court ruling exposed the brutal dehumanization inherent in the slave trade. The first jury found in favor of the ship’s owners, reasoning that since it was legally permissible to jettison animals or goods for the safety of the vessel, it was similarly permissible to kill enslaved persons who were legally classified as property for the same commercial reason.

​However, the insurance company, unwilling to pay the large claim, successfully appealed the verdict. The retrial eventually led to a critical, albeit limited, decision: the court ruled that the Africans aboard the ship were, in the context of the law governing the insurance claim, to be considered human beings, effectively overturning the initial verdict and denying the owners the compensation for murder.

​While the ruling did not prosecute the crew for murder, the horrifying public details of the Zong Massacre became a powerful rallying cry, galvanizing public opinion and lending essential weight to the growing movement to abolish the slave trade in Britain.