History, Events And Facts

The tragic yet resilient story of Igbo slaves who committed mass suicide off U.S. coast in 1803 The stories of slave resistance, many of us know, have to do with bloodshed, violence, and destruction. But there are other acts of resistance whose stories are worth being told. Take that of ‘The Igbo Landing’ also called the Ibo Landing, Ebo Landing, or Ebos Landing. The Igbo Landing is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. It is the site of one of the largest mass suicides of enslaved people in history. Historians say Igbo captives from modern-day Nigeria, purchased for an average of $100 each by slave merchants John Couper and Thomas Spalding, arrived in Savannah, Georgia, on the slave ship the  Wanderer  in 1803. The chained slaves were then reloaded and packed under the deck of a coastal vessel, the  York , which would take them to St. Simons where they were to be resold. During the voyage, approximately...