1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, history fans. We're taking a break so that 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: we can bring in new episodes all December. Law In 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: the meantime, enjoy these flashback episodes from the TDI HC Vault. 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 2: Welcome to This Day in History Class from HowStuffWorks dot 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 2: com and from the desk of Stuff you Missed in 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 2: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 2: one day at a time with a quick look at 8 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 2: what happened today in history. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 2: I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and it's November twentieth. A whale 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 2: sank the whaling ship Essex on this day in eighteen twenty. 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 2: The story starts on the island of Nantucket off of 12 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 2: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which was the heart of the whaling 13 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 2: industry in the early nineteenth century. This industry had started 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 2: out with people butchering dead whales that had washed up 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 2: on shore, and then that progressed to people hunting whales 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: relatively close to the shore from boats, and then to 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 2: hunting whales farther and farther out to see much larger 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 2: and more sophisticated ships. As people were whaling farther and 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 2: farther out from the shore. These ships started to have 20 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 2: equipment on board to process what was harvested from the whales, 21 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 2: because that was a lot easier than trying to haul 22 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 2: an entire whale back to the shore, sometimes from thousands 23 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: of miles away. A lot of what they were really 24 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 2: after was the spermaced also people call that spermaceti from 25 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 2: the heads of sperm whales. They were also harvesting blubber. 26 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 2: It wasn't as much about the meat, it was about 27 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 2: the blubber and the oil, and also ambergris, which you 28 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: had to be really lucky to get. That was a 29 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 2: lot more rare. So whaling ships had this series of 30 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 2: pots and fires on board called a triworz that was 31 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 2: used to render the blubber while they were still at sea, 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 2: and the whale ship also carried a few smaller whaling 33 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 2: boats because the main ship itself was not all that maneuverable. 34 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 2: You needed something much smaller and faster to be able 35 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 2: to actually hunt a whale. Voyages were also meant to 36 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 2: last a really long time. It was not uncommon for 37 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 2: a ship to set out with three or four years 38 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 2: of supplies, and two and a half year voyages were 39 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 2: really typical. This was also incredibly dangerous work. A lot 40 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 2: of people died. In August of eighteen nineteen, the Essex 41 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 2: set sail from Nantucket and nearly sank in a squall 42 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,639 Speaker 2: just two days later. They eventually made their way to 43 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 2: the Galopogus Islands, though, and they resupplied with turtle meat 44 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 2: while they were there. But while they were there, they 45 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 2: also set a fire on Charles Island that was massively 46 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 2: destructive and probably led to the extinction of at least 47 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 2: two animal species. More than a year after they had 48 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 2: left Nantucket, they spotted a pod of whales and they 49 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 2: deployed two boats to go hunt them. But then the 50 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 2: people that were still on the main whaling ship noticed 51 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 2: another whale that was behaving oddly. It seemed to be 52 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 2: watching them. They estimated that this whale was about eighty 53 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,799 Speaker 2: five feet or twenty six meters long, which was extremely 54 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 2: large for a sperm whale, and then it headed straight 55 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 2: for them. It struck the ship, turned around, came back 56 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 2: and struck them again, so, with the ship seriously damaged, 57 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 2: started to sink. Fortunately for the crew, those boats that 58 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 2: were used to hunt the whales were still in order, 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: and the men all of them survived the sinking, divided 60 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 2: up and got into them. They were also able to 61 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 2: salvage about sixty days worth of supplies, including one hundred 62 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 2: and ninety five gallons of water. At first, they talked 63 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 2: about heading for the Marquesas or the Society Islands. Both 64 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 2: of those were more than one thousand miles away, and 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 2: the prevailing current would help get them there, but they 66 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 2: were afraid of cannibals on these islands, which is going 67 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 2: to turn out to be ironic. Instead of going that way, 68 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 2: they headed for Peru or Chick, both of which required 69 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 2: them to go against the current and against the wind, 70 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 2: but they were so afraid of the cannibal threat that 71 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: seemed like the best option. When they got to the 72 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: Pitcairn Islands, three of the men decided to stay behind, 73 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 2: but the rest of them decided to continue on because 74 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 2: there wasn't really a lot there for them to sustain themselves. 75 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 2: But these men and the whaling boats did not have 76 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: enough provisions to get to land, and after a while 77 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 2: survivors turned to cannibalism when their crewmates died. It got 78 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 2: to a point though, where no one had died, so 79 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 2: they had to draw lots to decide who would be 80 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 2: murdered and then eaten. They were finally spotted off the 81 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 2: coast of Chile on February twenty third, eighteen twenty one, 82 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 2: after more than three months. In the end, there were 83 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 2: eight survivors out of the twenty or twenty one who 84 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 2: set sail. Initially, that included those three men that had 85 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 2: stayed behind when the rest got back in the boats. 86 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 2: Captain George Pollard Junior survived. His next ship, though, was 87 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 2: the two Brothers, and it also sank after it struck 88 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 2: coral reef. At that point no one would hire him 89 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 2: to captain a ship anymore, and then this whole story 90 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 2: became the inspiration for the classic novel Moby Dick. The 91 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 2: first mate, who was named Owen Chase, also wrote a 92 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 2: book about this whole experience, which was called Narrative of 93 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 2: the most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the whale ship 94 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 2: Essex of Nantucket, which was attacked and finally destroyed by 95 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 2: a large spermacd whale in the Pacific Ocean, with an 96 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 2: account of the unparalleled sufferings of the captain and crew 97 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 2: during a space of ninety three days at sea in 98 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 2: open boats. In the years eighteen nineteen and eighteen twenty. 99 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 2: You can learn more about this in the September twenty seventh, 100 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 2: twenty ten episode of Stuffy Miss and History Class. Thanks 101 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 2: to Casey Pegram and Chandler Mays for their audio work 102 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 2: on the show, and you can subscribe to the Stay 103 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 2: in History Class on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and 104 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 2: whoever to your podcast. You can tune in tomorrow for 105 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 2: a document to establish a new government. 106 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 3: Hey, I'm Eves and you're listening to this Day in 107 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 3: History Class, a podcast where we bring you a slice 108 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 3: of history every day. The day was November twentieth, sixteen 109 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 3: ninety five. Zoombie, an Afro Brazilian leader of the anti 110 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 3: slavery resistance in Brazil, was executed by the Portuguese He 111 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 3: has since become a symbol of black freedom. Today, the 112 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 3: date of his execution is commemorated in Brazil as Black 113 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 3: Awareness Day or Black Consciousness Day. Zumbi was born in 114 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 3: Palmettes in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, and he's believed 115 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 3: to be the descendant of the Imvangala warriors in Angola 116 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 3: from the time people began enslaving Africans and sending them 117 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 3: to Brazil in the fifteen hundreds, Brazil was the biggest 118 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 3: destination for enslaved Africans in the Americas. Africans and their 119 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 3: descendants who had escaped slavery in Brazil built maroon settlements 120 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 3: known as mocambo's. A united collection of Mocambo's has been 121 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 3: called a Kilombo. Palm Mars, where Zumbie was born, was 122 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 3: a klombo in the mountains of northeast Brazil that was 123 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 3: founded in sixteen o five. Portuguese colonists frequently attacked them, 124 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 3: and pal Mades was no exception. A few years after 125 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 3: Zombie was born, the Portuguese kidnapped him and for years 126 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 3: he lived in a coastal monastery. He learned Portuguese, Latin 127 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 3: and the Tenets of Catholicism. But when Zombie was around 128 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 3: fifteen years old, he escaped and returned to palm Martes. 129 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 3: At this point, his uncle Gangazumba was the king of 130 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 3: pal Mades. Gangazumba appointed Zumbi to a post as a 131 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 3: military commander, since Portuguese forces and plantation owners were consistently 132 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 3: raiding the settlement. In response, the people of Palmades conducted 133 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 3: raids against the Portuguese including ones led by Zombie. They 134 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 3: intimidated colonists and captured people enslaved on plantations. Enslaved people 135 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 3: who escaped to palm Maades were considered free, but those 136 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 3: who were captured at plantations and taken to the colombo 137 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 3: were required to work. They could earn their freedom by 138 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 3: capturing someone else. Enslaved people who fled palm Mades were 139 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 3: punished if they were later recaptured. Through this system, Palmades's 140 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 3: population grew significantly. The people in Palmades were farmers, hunters, 141 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,199 Speaker 3: and fishers. Since they bartered with traders for guns and ammunition, 142 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 3: soldiers were well armed. Zoombie gained authority and respect as 143 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 3: people recognized his strength, wisdom, and courage in battle. In 144 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 3: sixteen seventy eight, the governor of the Captaincy of Ferdambuku, 145 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 3: Pedro Almeda, negotiated a peace treaty with King Ganga Zumba. 146 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 3: The king agreed to the treaty, but Zumbi did not 147 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 3: like its terms, nor did he trust the Portuguese. Zumbi 148 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 3: rejected the deal in Gangazumba's acceptance of it, and he 149 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 3: incited a revolt. Ganga Zumba was poisoned and died, and 150 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 3: Zumbi became king. He continued Palmades's fight against the Portuguese. 151 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 3: Most Colombos did not last long because of Portuguese attacks, 152 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 3: but palm Mades lasted for nearly a century. Though Zoombie 153 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 3: continued the anti Portuguese resistance, the Portuguese aggressively attacked pal Mades, 154 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,079 Speaker 3: burning the land and overpowering its fighters with their forces. 155 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 3: Zombie was captured and decapitated on November twentieth, sixteen ninety five, 156 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 3: and Palo Mades fell. The Portuguese celebrated the defeat and 157 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 3: used it to send a message to other resistance fighters 158 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 3: who dared to take up arms against them. Brazil was 159 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 3: the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery when 160 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 3: it did so and eighteen eighty eight. In the centuries 161 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 3: after his death, stories about Zoombie were passed down in 162 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 3: oral traditions, and primary sources related to his history were 163 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 3: dug up for Brazilians of African descent. Pal Mades is 164 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 3: remembered for its challenge to colonial authority, and Zoombie's legacy 165 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,679 Speaker 3: is honored as one of heroic resistance. I'm eating Stuffcote, 166 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 3: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 167 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 3: than you did yesterday. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 168 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 3: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 169 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 3: your favorite shows.