Diving for Lost Slave Shipwrecks

Dan Snow's History Hit

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, European slave traders forcibly uprooted millions of African people and shipped them across the Atlantic in conditions of great cruelty. Today, on the bottom of the world’s oceans lies the lost wrecks of ships that carried enslaved people from Africa to the Americas.

Justin Dunnavant is an Assistant Professor, archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer. Justin shares with Dan the incredible project that he is a part of - a group of specialist black divers who are dedicated to finding and documenting some of the thousands of slave ships wrecked in the Atlantic Ocean during the transatlantic slave trade. They also unearth the history of a former Danish slave colony in the Virgin Islands and discuss Justin’s research about the African Diaspora and Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line.

Hey, Assistant Producer Hannah here! A little caveat for this episode, Dan was on his way to record some exciting things for History Hit with the Royal Mint, so you may hear some rain in the background.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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