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Cultural movement · 1650–1860

The Bight of Biafra (Igbo)

The Bight of Biafra — homeland of the Igbo — was a major source for the Chesapeake, where a reputation for fierce resistance produced acts like the legendary Igbo Landing.

Of the roughly 1.7 million Africans shipped from the Bight of Biafra, most were Igbo, and a large share were carried to the Chesapeake. Igbo people gained a reputation among enslavers for resistance and for an unwillingness to be enslaved that, in 1803, produced the legend of Igbo Landing, where a group walked into the water rather than live in bondage.

On the timeline

  1. May 1803· debated
    Igbo Landing

    A group of captive Igbo people seize their vessel off the Georgia coast and walk into Dunbar Creek, choosing death over enslavement.

Resources

Website
Igbo Landing
Britannica

The 1803 act of resistance off the Georgia coast.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.