A review by teriboop
The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning by Ben Raines
5.0
The Last Slave Ship is written by Ben Raines, the man who searched tirelessly for the last ship known to transport 110 enslaved Africans to America illegally. The Clotilda has a long legacy as a Civil War-era schooner captained by William Foster that made a voyage on a bet and a dare by millionaire Tim Meaher of Mobile, Alabama, to the slave coast of Africa to bring back enslaved Africans long after the end of the transatlantic slave trade. Foster faced bad weather, ship repairs, mutinies, and near capture during his long journey. Still, he brought back 110 enslaved humans that were smuggled into Mobile Bay and hidden in the canebreaks on the coast until they were parceled out to Foster, Meaher, and Meaher's brothers. The Clotilda was rumored to have been taken up the coast, where it was set on fire and submerged to avoid being found, removing all evidence of the agreement between Meaher and Foster. Five years later, the Africans were emancipated and found themselves stuck in the Mobile area, unable to return to their African homes. After some negotiations, the Clotilda survivors purchased some land from Tim Meaher, where they established their own Africa on American soil and named their town Africatown.
The stories of the Clotilda were recounted by both the slavers and the enslaved and repeated generation after generation. Some 150+ years later, Raines, a newspaper journalist and diving enthusiast, picked up on the story and began investigating. Africatown today still stands in a limited fashion. Descendants of the Clotilda survivors still live in the area and suffer from extreme racism and health issues due to the horrible conditions the town has endured from industrialization brought in by the Meaher family. Still, the ship remained a rumor, unsubstantiated by unfounded evidence of its existence, until May 22, 2019, when Ben Raines and a host of researchers found the ship off Twelve Mile Island in the Mobile Bay.
In this book, Raines tells the story of the Meaher and Foster families, the bet between Tim and Captain Foster, and that famous voyage. The author introduces the reader to the survivors of the Clotilda and the establishment of Africatown, detailing the long history and abuse suffered by the residents at the hands of generations of Meaher descendants. This story intertwines with the search for the Clotilda and the reconciliation that has begun to heal the community.
This is a fascinating read, and I'm interested in continuing to follow this story and the community of Africatown. There is a Netflix documentary titled "Descendants" about this story and the search for the ship, along with documenting the activism of the Africatown residents to bring awareness to their history. It's a great follow-up to reading this book.
The stories of the Clotilda were recounted by both the slavers and the enslaved and repeated generation after generation. Some 150+ years later, Raines, a newspaper journalist and diving enthusiast, picked up on the story and began investigating. Africatown today still stands in a limited fashion. Descendants of the Clotilda survivors still live in the area and suffer from extreme racism and health issues due to the horrible conditions the town has endured from industrialization brought in by the Meaher family. Still, the ship remained a rumor, unsubstantiated by unfounded evidence of its existence, until May 22, 2019, when Ben Raines and a host of researchers found the ship off Twelve Mile Island in the Mobile Bay.
In this book, Raines tells the story of the Meaher and Foster families, the bet between Tim and Captain Foster, and that famous voyage. The author introduces the reader to the survivors of the Clotilda and the establishment of Africatown, detailing the long history and abuse suffered by the residents at the hands of generations of Meaher descendants. This story intertwines with the search for the Clotilda and the reconciliation that has begun to heal the community.
This is a fascinating read, and I'm interested in continuing to follow this story and the community of Africatown. There is a Netflix documentary titled "Descendants" about this story and the search for the ship, along with documenting the activism of the Africatown residents to bring awareness to their history. It's a great follow-up to reading this book.