Saphir was a French slave ship that operated out of La Rochelle in France.
Saphir was a French slave ship that operated out of La Rochelle in France.
Saphir completed two slave voyages. The first in 1737 [1] and the second in 1741. [2] During the second voyage the wind did not blow leaving the crew and enslaved people stranded at sea without sufficient food and water. A revolt by the enslaved people erupted. [3]
Saphir was painted by an unknown artist in 1741, the painting is located in the Sailors Chapel of Saint Louis Cathedral in La Rochelle, France. It is a protected national object owned by the government of France. [3]
The painting is ex-voto and depicts the ship in control of the enslaved people who are offering gifts to a divinity. [3]
A French documentary film about the ship was released in 2015. The film is called Sapphire of St. Louis and was directed by José Luis Guerín. [4]
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, often called simply Lapérouse, was a French naval officer and explorer. Having enlisted at the age of 15, he had a successful naval career and in 1785 was appointed to lead a scientific expedition around the world. His ships stopped in Chile, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Mauritius, Reunion, Macau, Japan, Russia, and Australia, before wrecking on the reefs of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands.
La Rochelle is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With 75,735 inhabitants in 2017, La Rochelle is the most populated commune in the department and ranks fifth in the New Aquitaine region after Bordeaux, the regional capital, Limoges, Poitiers and Pau. Its inhabitants are called "les Rochelaises" and "les Rochelais".
Robert Surcouf was a French privateer and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean between 1789 and 1801, and again from 1807 to 1808, capturing over 40 prizes. He later amassed a large fortune as a ship-owner, from privateering, commercial activities, the illegal slave trade, and as a landowner.
Nicolas Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific.
An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion.
William Vernon, of Newport, Rhode Island, was a merchant in the Atlantic slave trade who played a leading role in the Continental Congress' maritime activities during the American Revolution. In 1774, Vernon was member of the committee of correspondence between Newport and Boston. As president of the Eastern Navy Board during the Revolution, he was responsible for building and outfitting the ships of the Continental Navy. William Vernon was one of the charter members of the Artillery Company of Newport, and is the namesake of the Vernon House.
Located at 6, rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, The Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is one of ten minor basilicas located in the Île-de-France region of France. It was begun as an Abbey church, and constructed between 1629 and 1740 in the French classical style. Its name was given by King Louis XIII, who dedicated it to his victory over the Protestants at La Rochelle in 1628 during the French Wars of Religion. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is famous for the ex voto offerings left there by the faithful. Over 37,000 devotional plaques, silver and gold hearts, as well as military decorations, have been left at the basilica. The closest Métro station is 'Bourse'.
Events from the year 1819 in France.
Samuel de Missy was a French trader and businessman, from the city of La Rochelle, where he was born. He enriched himself by selling clothes to slaving expeditions setting off for islands such as Saint-Domingue, where La Rochelle armateurs owned plantations.
The Code noir was a decree passed by the French King Louis XIV in 1685 defining the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The decree restricted the activities of free people of color, mandated the conversion of all enslaved people throughout the empire to Roman Catholicism, defined the punishments meted out to slaves, and ordered the expulsion of all Jews from France's colonies.
The Church of Saint Catherine is an parish church located in Loix, in the department of Charente-Maritime, the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes.
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Niama was a Senegalese princess, who was enslaved, and whose liberation meant she became one of the first enslaved people to be freed on Réunion. She was also the mother of the astronomer, botanist and academic Jean-Baptiste Lislet Geoffroy.
Robert Bostock was an English slave trader, who was born in Tarvin, Cheshire. He was held to be a "very considerable African merchant". His letterbooks for the period 1779-92 have been found to be very useful for historians researching the slave trade of that era. They provide information about his prolific career. Which is ironic as his family tree now includes two mixed race Aboriginal branches.
Liverpool, a port city in north-west England, was involved in the transatlantic slave trade. The trade developed in the eighteenth century, as Liverpool slave traders were able to supply fabric from Manchester to the Caribbean islands at very competitive prices.
The Marie Séraphique was a late 18th-century slave ship that made six slave voyages out of Nantes, France. There are two illustrations of the ship that show how captives travelled, believed to have been painted by the captain and second lieutenant. There is a diagram showing densely-packed shackled slaves on the ship, and a painting showing slaves being sold aboard.
John Knight (1708–1774) was an English slave trader. He was responsible for at least 114 slave voyages in the period 1750–1775 and he transported over 26,000 Africans to the Americas. Knight traded enslaved Africans with the American politician and slave owner Henry Laurens.
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