Dark Places of the Earth

Here's a short piece I wrote about Jonathan Bryant's new book, Dark Places of the Earth, which documents the incredible story of the slave ship Antelope. It's a fascinating story that Bryant calls the "most important Supreme Court case you've never herd of." It involves a slave ship that was captured off the Florida coast and brought to the port of Savannah in 1820. When the captives disembarked only 258 of the original 331 had survived and, even more shockingly, the median age of the captives was 14 years old—nearly half were between five and ten. The story is a precursor to the Amistad case and involves historical figures such as John Quincy Adams and Francis Scott Key. Bryant and I talked for almost an hour and a half over beers and I was more than happy to be able to write about it. It's a vitally important piece of American history that hasn't previously received the exposure it deserves.