In Black Panther, Killmonger says "bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage" How common was it for victims of the transatlantic slave trade to commit suicide by jumping from ships?

by ExiledToTerminus
Snouting

Suicide by jumping from slave ships was not uncommon. Calculations from surgeons' records from the late 18th century show that 7.2% of slaves killed themselves at some point during travel.^1 During voyage, 90% of these suicides were from jumping overboard while 10% were from choking.^2 Overall percentages of slaves lost during travel were over 20% prior to 1700, decreasing to a mean of ~12% across records from nearly 5,000 voyages^3, so suicide was an appreciable cause of death even though these percentages are based on different records.

Olaudah Equiano, author of one of the earliest autobiographical slave narratives^4, wrote candidly about an account of slaves jumping overboard: "We believed that, once drowned, a man would return to his village and family. . .Two men from my country were on deck one day when the nets, usually bunched tight against the side of the ship, were left hanging loose. . .the men saw the ocean sparkle in through the gap between the ship. . .they jumped into it...the men waved their arms like happy madmen, and went under."

Perhaps the most noteworthy example of slave suicide by drowning (and a possible inspiration for the Black Panther quote) is not during transatlantic transport but from newly arrived slaves to Georgia in 1803. A group of 75 Ebo/Igbo slaves from present day Nigeria revolted while being transported from Savannah to St. Simons Island, drowning their captors and some drowning themselves. Not all Igbo necessarily committed suicided, but 13 bodies of drowned slaves were recovered.

  1. Snyder, T. L. (2010). Suicide, slavery, and memory in North America. The Journal of American History, 97(1), 39-62.

  2. Steckel, R. H., & Jensen, R. A. (1986). New evidence on the causes of slave and crew mortality in the Atlantic slave trade. Journal of Economic History, 57-77.

  3. Klein, H. S., Engerman, S. L., Haines, R., & Shlomowitz, R. (2001). Transoceanic mortality: the slave trade in comparative perspective. The William and Mary Quarterly, 58(1), 93-118.

  4. Equiano, O. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African.