Decatur slave-ship mutiny

The Decatur slave-ship mutiny was an act of slave rebellion in the United States that occurred in April 1826 on a coastwise slave ship sailing out of Baltimore, Maryland, bound for the New Orleans slave market. The captain and first mate were thrown overboard. The hijacked ship was twice interdicted by other vessels and captives taken, but upon arriving in New York, 14 former captives escaped. One, William Bowser, was recaptured, tried, and hanged. The other 13 seem to have achieved their freedom.[1]

The slaves aboard the Decatur had been shipped by Baltimore's infamous Austin Woolfolk. As retold by historian Calvin Schermerhorn, the Decatur mutiny led to a famous instance of anti-abolitionist violence. When pioneering abolitionist Benjamin Lundy covered Bowser's trial and execution, he reported that "Bowser forgave Woolfolk while walking to the Ellis Island gallows as the slave trader cursed him. When Lundy ran into Woolfolk near the Baltimore Post Office the following winter, the slave trader attacked the abolitionist for smearing him. Woolfolk was seven inches taller and as many years younger than the Quaker editor, who put up no resistance to being stomped on the head."[2][3]

  1. ^ Rupprecht, Anita (September 2019). "Black Atlantic maritime networks, resistance and the American 'domestic' slave trade". Global Networks. 19 (4): 458–476. doi:10.1111/glob.12209. ISSN 1470-2266.
  2. ^ Schermerhorn, Calvin (May 31, 2015). "What Else You Should Know About Baltimore". TIME. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Schermerhorn, Calvin (2015). The Business of Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism, 1815–1860. Yale University Press. doi:10.12987/yale/9780300192001.003.0002. ISBN 978-0-300-19200-1.