Note: Presenting via Zoom as part of the Smithsonian Associates program.

In 1768, the British slave ship Black Prince departed England, bound for West Africa. But before reaching the African coast, the crew mutinied, murdering the captain and his officers. The mutineers renamed the ship Liberty and set out for Brazil. The ship eventually wrecked off the coast of Hispaniola, and the crew fled.

History professor James H. Sweet unravels the dramatic story of the events onboard the vessel and the owners’ efforts to capture the rebels. The owners mobilized the power of the British government to seek justice and restitution, Sweet says, foreshadowing forms of corporate-state capture that persist to this day.