Meermin slave mutiny [SEP] point in time
Meermin slave mutiny
The "Meermin" slave mutiny took place in February 1766 and lasted for three weeks. "Meermin" was one of the Dutch East India Company's fleet of slave ships. Her final voyage was cut short by the mutiny of her cargo of Malagasy people, who had been sold to Dutch East India Company officials on Madagascar to be used as company slaves in its Cape Colony in southern Africa. During the mutiny half the ship's crew and almost 30 Malagasy lost their lives.
"Meermin
secure areas on deck was common practice on most European vessels, and VOC regulations did permit slaves to be released onto the deck from time to time, under careful supervision. But the chief concern was that slaves might jump overboard to escape, rather than that they might mutiny, despite a slave mutiny on the VOC ship "Drie Heuvelen" in 1753. That mutiny was quickly suppressed, but clearly it could happen again, making Captain Muller's agreement to the kind of release that occurred on "Meermin" "appear all