Chapter Six: John Newton and the Peaceful Kingdom

Redicker now switches his focus to a slave ship captain. The captain he chose to write about was named, John Newton. Newton has long been the best-known captain in the history of the African slave trade. "His fame derives from his subsequent career, in which he became an active, visible minister of the evangelical bent in the Church of England." However he has declared himself as a sinner for his previous career as a slave ship captain, in charge of the horror aboard the ship. The captain of a slaver was told to "wield the greatest power of all" for he had to manage common sailors and African captives. When Newton first started his career as a captain he was reluctant to inflict violence among his crew and the slaves. However, he eased into inflicting harsh violence upon them as he began to accept the power he was granted. As his cruelty intensified, those aboard began to resist and sometimes rebel. The book includes a story Newton once told about a slave on his ship poisoning a cask of water, with the intent to kill all who drank it. Years into his career, Newton began to realize the cruelty he was promoting was inhumane. Therefore, his life began to take a more religious turn. He began to keep a spiritual diary for three purposes: "to bring myself a deep sense of my past sins and follies, to enlarge my mind, and to compose my heart to a perfect peace and charity with all mankind." With a new mindset Newton started to lessen his violence because he was concerned with "saving the souls" of those aboard his ship. He still had to discipline the crew and the slaves, but now he did so aware of the consequences harsh violence could create. "It took Newton years before he wrote a critical word about the slave trade, and it would be more than three decades before he would declare himself against it."

This chapter gives you a deeper understanding of the mind behind an eighteenth century slave ship captain. Instead of viewing all captains as completely evil, John Newton exemplifies someone who saw opportunity in his career but came to see it as unkind. Therefore, offering the reader a different view of slave ship captains who inflicted harsh violence among their crew and the enslaved.