33. Escaping Punishment, and Launching the Abolition Movement
There is no evidence that another trial was ever held after the case was reversed on appeal. By then, the Zong Massacre – thanks to the efforts of a former slave named Olaudah Equiano – had been brought to the public’s attention, and became a sensation. Led by anti-slavery campaigner Granville Sharp, the abolitionists demanded justice for the drowned slaves and sought to have the ship’s crew prosecuted for murder.
Their efforts to secure justice for the drowned slaves were unsuccessful, and nobody was ever criminally prosecuted for the killings. However, the massacre shocked many into taking a stand against slavery and helped launch the abolition movement. In 1807, the British Royal Navy was tasked with suppressing the international slave trade, and in 1833, Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire.
You May Also Interested: The British Abolitionist Who Devoted His Life to Ending Slavery.