About This Lesson
J.M.W. Turner’s The Slave Ship provides a compelling starting point for an inquiry study that combines the power of slave narratives and ekphrastic poetry to illuminate the Zong massacre and the brutal realities of the Middle Passage.
Turner’s The Slave Ship lays bare the Zong massacre and the unimaginable horrors of the Middle Passage. This inquiry study builds on that foundation, incorporating slave narratives and ekphrastic poetry to amplify the voices and perspectives of those who endured these atrocities. Turner’s painting, paired with these evocative poems, brings to mind President John F. Kennedy’s assertion: “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.”
The events surrounding the Zong massacre exemplify the devastating consequences of unbridled capitalism—when profits and wealth accumulation are prioritized over human rights. That Captain Collingwood’s actions were viewed as a "business decision" and later upheld by the courts only deepens the horror. Through this inquiry study, students will examine the basic human truths revealed by the Middle Passage and explore how these truths resonate in discussions of contemporary racism, human rights, and the ethics of unchecked capitalism.
