The Buzzard in the Abolitionist Sea; An examination of Maritime Suppression, Imperial Policy, and the Slave Trade through the Royal Navy’s HMS Buzzard, 1830s-1840s

Author

Sean Joaquim Coudray-Pereira, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoFollow

Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3087

Date of Award

7-2025

Degree Name

MA in History

Department/Program

History

College

College of Liberal Arts

Advisor

Mathew Hopper

Advisor Department

History

Advisor College

College of Liberal Arts

Abstract

Analysis of the Royal Navy through the microhistory of the HMS Buzzard following the abolition of the slave trade between 1807 and the 1840s by Great Britain offers insight into the moral ambiguities and complexities of the humanitarian mission. The historiography of the slave trade has primarily focused on the moral and economic ideology behind its abolition, pitting one against the other. Applying a micro-historic approach highlights the nuances of both arguments, and through the HMS Buzzard’s crew, captives, disease, voyages, and legal battles accentuates the blend of both argument approaches. The case study of its longevity through all six of its captains and their captures demonstrate the complexities of the mission, highlighting the ambiguities between moral and economic desire. The death of hundreds of enslaved Africans, the legal uphill conflict with foreign powers, and the Mixed Court of Commissions focus on monetary value contribute to a more nuanced analysis of the abolitionist mission and its applications to Britain’s new shifting imperial ideology. This work concludes that Royal Navy was only as successful as how you define it, and both sides of the abolitionist argument remain contextualized in the shadow of the lives lost across the Atlantic.