European University Institute Library

Granville Sharp's Uncovered Letter and the Zong Massacre, by Michelle Faubert

eng

0

non fiction

Granville Sharp's Uncovered Letter and the Zong Massacre

electronic resource

dictionaries

1051716684

by Michelle Faubert

Springer eBooks.

This book delineates the discovery of a previously unknown manuscript of a letter from Granville Sharp, the first British abolitionist, to the "Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty." In the letter, Sharp demands that the Admiralty bring murder charges against the crew of the Zong for forcing 132 enslaved Africans overboard to their deaths. Uncovered by Michelle Faubert at the British Library in 2015, the letter is reproduced here, accompanied by her examination of its provenance and significance for the history of slavery and abolition. As Faubert argues, the British Library manuscript is the only fair copy of Sharp's letter, and extraordinary evidence of Sharp's role in the abolition of slavery.--, Provided by publisher

1. Introduction -- 2. Equiano, Sharp, Mansfield, and the Zong Massacre: History and Significance -- 3. The Provenance of the BL Document -- 4. The BL Document: The Definitive Version of Sharp's Letter on the Zong to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty -- 5. The Historical Significance of the BL Document -- 6. Conclusion: Revisiting the History of Abolition