Sign-In
Cart
Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade
Paperback
African HistoryGeneral Racism & Ethnic StudiesRevolutionary Period (1775-1800)
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN10: 1594164681
ISBN13: 9781594164682
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
Published: Apr 3 2026
Pages: 376
Weight: 1.27
Height: 0.95 Width: 5.99 Depth: 8.99
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781594164682
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
Published: Apr 3 2026
Pages: 376
Weight: 1.27
Height: 0.95 Width: 5.99 Depth: 8.99
Language: English
At the start of the American War of Independence, Great Britain dominated overseas commerce and was the leading slave-trading nation in the world. In 1776, American privateers--privately owned ships granted commissions by the Continental Congress to attack and disrupt enemy trade--began to prey on British merchantmen. Some privateers captured British slave ships with African captives on board just before they arrived at their Caribbean Island destinations.
One privateer was given an extraordinary task: to sail across the Atlantic to attack British slave trading posts and ships on the coast of West Africa. Based on a little-known contemporary primary source, The Journal of the Good Ship Marlborough, the story of this remarkable voyage is told here for the first time and will have a major impact on our understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and the American Revolution. The voyage of the Marlborough was the brainchild of John Brown, a prominent Rhode Island merchant--and an investor in two slave trading voyages himself. The motivation was not altruistic. The officers and crew of the Marlborough wanted to advance the cause of independence from Britain through harming Britain's economy, but they also desired to enrich themselves by selling the plunder they captured--including enslaved Africans.
The work of the Marlborough and other American privateers was so disruptive that it led to an unintended consequence: virtually halting the British slave trade. British slave merchants, alarmed at losing money from their ships being captured, invested in many fewer slave voyages. As a result tens of thousands of Africans were not forced onto slave ships, transported to the New World, and consigned to a lifetime of slavery or an early death.
In Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade, veteran researcher and writer Christian McBurney recreates the harrowing voyage of the Marlborough, while placing it in the context of Atlantic World slavery. In Africa, Marlborough's officers come across an array of African and European slave traders willing to assist them in attacking the British. This book is also the first study to detail the many captures American privateers made of British slave ships during the Revolutionary War.
The work of the Marlborough and other American privateers was so disruptive that it led to an unintended consequence: virtually halting the British slave trade. British slave merchants, alarmed at losing money from their ships being captured, invested in many fewer slave voyages. As a result tens of thousands of Africans were not forced onto slave ships, transported to the New World, and consigned to a lifetime of slavery or an early death.
In Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade, veteran researcher and writer Christian McBurney recreates the harrowing voyage of the Marlborough, while placing it in the context of Atlantic World slavery. In Africa, Marlborough's officers come across an array of African and European slave traders willing to assist them in attacking the British. This book is also the first study to detail the many captures American privateers made of British slave ships during the Revolutionary War.
1 different editions
Also available
Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade
McBurney, Christian M.
Hardcover
$33.25
Also from
McBurney, Christian M.
Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard's War on Rumrunners
McBurney, Christian M.
Hardcover
$36.09
Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to Capture Generals Charles Lee and Richard Prescott
McBurney, Christian M.
Paperback
$28.45
Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard's War on Rumrunners
McBurney, Christian M.
Paperback
$22.79
Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade
McBurney, Christian M.
Hardcover
$33.25
An Unfinished War: A History of Rhode Island's Black Regiment in the American Revolution
McBurney, Christian M.
Hardcover
$33.20
Also in
Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Head, David
Hardcover
$14.99
The Church of Saint Thomas Paine: A Religious History of American Secularism
Schmidt, Leigh Eric
Paperback
From $10.99
The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution
Wegman, Jesse
Hardcover
$27.00
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution
Kiernan, Denise
Hardcover
$28.80
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Paperback
$21.59
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
$39.90
Did America Have a Christian Founding?: Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth
Hall, Mark David
Paperback
$19.99
Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours
Onuf, Peter S.
Cogliano, Francis D.
Hardcover
$26.99
Radical Duke: How One Aristocrat-And the American Revolution-Transformed Britain
Allen, Danielle
Hardcover
$33.75
The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Hardcover
$27.90
The Flag Was Still There: A History of the American Experiment in Five Anniversaries
Bennett, M. Todd
McKean, David
Hardcover
From $19.99
Jefferson's Wolf: A Founding Father's Troubling Answer to the Problem of Slavery
Dierksheide, Christa
Guyatt, Nicholas
Hardcover
$26.96
The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution
O'Malley, Gregory E.
Hardcover
$27.00
The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History
Throckmorton, Warren
Hardcover
$31.34
Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America's Most Radical Revolutionary
Sankovitch, Nina
Hardcover
$27.00
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
$38.00
The Cherokee War of 1776: Native Destruction at the Dawn of American Independence
Kokomoor, Kevin
Hardcover
$48.93
The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
McCullough, David
Paperback
$18.99
Divided Over the Declaration: How an Enduring Debate Sustains the Vision of America
Bobb, David J.
Williams, Tony
Hardcover
$32.30
The Forgotten World War: Exploring the Secret History of the American Revolution, from Spain to India and Back Again
Baxter, Derek
Hardcover
$26.09
The Making of the American Mind: The Story of Our Declaration of Independence
Spalding, Matthew
Hardcover
$31.34
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution (Large Print Edition)
Kiernan, Denise
Hardcover
$56.55
Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory
Marks, John Garrison
Hardcover
$33.25
The Democracy We Must Keep: Seven Founders, Nine Documents, and the Ideas That Shaped America
Stewart, David O.
Paperback
$15.19
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Paperback
$19.00
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
Allen, Danielle
Paperback
$17.99
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
$28.99
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher
Paperback
From $11.99
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Bennett, William J.
Paperback
$16.14
The U.S. Constitution and Other Writings (Deluxe Leatherbound Edition)
Editors of Canterbury Classics
Hardcover
$28.49
Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
$34.95
Broad Stripes Bright Stars: A Graphic History Celebrating 250 Years of America's Icons
Hinrichs, Kit
Hardcover
$61.75
The Banker Who Made America: Thomas Willing and the Rise of the American Financial Aristocracy, 1731-1821
Vague, Richard
Hardcover
$94.95
The Painter's Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution
Anishanslin, Zara
Hardcover
$31.30
Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence
Sandefur, Timothy
Hardcover
$23.70
Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution
Edgar, Walter B.
Paperback
$12.34
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Kilmeade, Brian
Yaeger, Don
Paperback
$19.95
A Nation's Heritage: A Town-by-Town Guide to Colonial and Revolutionary War History in the South
Alper, Max Victor
Paperback
$24.95
A Nation's Birth: A Town-by-Town Guide to Colonial and Revolutionary War History in the North
Alper, Max Victor
Paperback
$29.95
Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution: From the Boston Patriots to George Washington
Goodwin, George
Hardcover
$33.25
The Forsaken Founder: Gouverneur Morris, the Unsung Patriot Who Wrote the Constitution, Stood Up to Slavery, and Survived the Reign of Terror
Greenberger, Scott S.
Hardcover
$28.50
Kings Mountain: America's Most Forgotten Battle That Changed the Course of the American Revolution
Tucker, Phillip Thomas
Hardcover
$33.25
For the Hope of this Land: A Visual Learner's Workbook for Early American History
Newhouse, Amy
Paperback
$31.25
War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
Martin, James Kirby
Lender, Mark Edward
Hardcover
$30.40
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army
Lockhart, Paul
Paperback
From $9.99
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Hardcover
From $17.99
Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America's Early Independence
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson
Burnard, Trevor
Hardcover
$33.25
The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America
Bennett, William J.
Cribb, John T. E.
Paperback
$18.99
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Hardcover
$30.40
Complete American Revolution Road Trip Guide: More Than 500 Sites from Lexington to Yorktown
Weeks, Michael
Paperback
$23.74
National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America (Large Print Edition)
Auslin, Michael
Hardcover
$55.10
The Constitution of the United States of America and Other Founding Documents: Gilded Pocket Edition
Jay, John
Washington, George
Hamilton, Alexander
Hardcover
$12.34
John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America's Independence
Randall, Willard Sterne
Hardcover
$33.25
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
$17.10
Common Sense (1776), Addressed to Today's Citizens of America: An Erasure
Smith, Crystal Simone
Hardcover
$19.76
Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics
Brands, H. W.
Paperback
$23.75
First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
Ricks, Thomas E.
Paperback
$18.99
The Men Who Lost America: British Command during the Revolutionary War and the Preservation of the Empire
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew J.
Paperback
$56.00
The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison
Larson, Edward J.
Winship, Michael P.
Madison, James
Paperback
$20.90
Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic
Chervinsky, Lindsay M.
Hardcover
$35.14
The Federalist & the Anti-Federalist Papers: Complete Collection: Including the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Import
Hamilton, Alexander
Madison, James
Jay, John
Paperback
$20.40
Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
$19.00
In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
$18.05
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
Drury, Bob
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
$20.90
To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment
Baier, Bret
Paperback
$16.19
A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution
Lawler, Andrew
Hardcover
$27.00
Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
Ferling, John E.
Hardcover
From $19.99
The U.S. Constitution and Other Key American Writings (Keepsake Edition)
Editors of Canterbury Classics
Paperback
$16.14
The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America
Horne, Gerald
Paperback
$44.95
Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth
Bellerjeau, Claire
Yecke Brooks, Tiffany
Paperback
$19.95
The Constitution of the United States (U.S. Heritage): With the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and Other Founding Documents with an I
Washington, George
Fathers, Founding
Hardcover
$33.24
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
Wulf, Andrea
Paperback
$21.85
Backcountry War: The Rise of Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and Thomas Sumter
Waters, Andrew
Hardcover
$33.20
The Revolutionary Paul Revere: A Biography of a Hero of the American Revolution
Miller, Joel J.
Paperback
$19.99
The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States
Jay, John
Hamilton, Alexander
Madison, James
Paperback
$22.80
Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise ofDemocracy
Linklater, Andro
Paperback
$27.00