Jared R. Hardesty: Mutiny on the Rising Sun

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JARED R. HARDESTY: MUTINY ON THE RISING SUN

ON BIG BLEND RADIO: Jared R. Hardesty discusses his latest book, “Mutiny on the Rising Sun: A Tragic Tale of Slavery, Smuggling, and Chocolate” (NYU Press). Watch here in the YouTube player or download the podcast on Spreaker, PodBean, or SoundCloud.


A little-known story of mutiny and murder illustrating the centrality of smuggling and slavery in early American society.

On the night of June 1, 1743, terror struck the schooner Rising Sun. After completing a routine smuggling voyage where the crew sold enslaved Africans in exchange for chocolate, sugar, and coffee in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the ship traveled eastward along the South American coast. Believing there was an opportunity to steal the lucrative cargo and make a new life for themselves, three sailors snuck below deck, murdered four people, and seized control of the vessel.

Mutiny on the Rising Sun recounts the origins, events, and eventual fate of the Rising Sun’s final smuggling voyage in vivid detail. Starting from that horrible night in June 1743, it narrates a deeply human history of smuggling, providing an incredible story of those caught in the webs spun by illicit commerce. The case generated a rich documentary record that illuminates an international chocolate smuggling ring, the lives of the crew and mutineers, and the harrowing experience of the enslaved people trafficked by the Rising Sun. Smuggling stood at the center of the lives of everyone involved with the business of the schooner. Larger forces, such as imperial trade restrictions, created the conditions for smuggling, but individual actors, often driven by raw ambition and with little regard for the consequences of their actions, designed, refined, and perpetuated this illicit commerce.

Jared R. Hardesty is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Western Washington University and author of “Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston” and “Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England.”

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About the Author:

Jared R. Hardesty is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Western Washington University and author of "Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston" and "Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England."

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