Shackles From the Deep: Tracing the Path of a Sunken Slave Ship, a Bitter Past, and a Rich Legacy

by Michael Cottman

Overview

A pile of lime-encrusted shackles discovered on the seafloor in the remains of a ship called the Henrietta Marie, lands Michael Cottman, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and avid scuba diver, in the middle of an amazing journey that stretches across three continents, from foundries and tombs in England, to slave ports on the shores of West Africa, to present-day Caribbean plantations. This is more than just the story of one ship – it's the untold story of millions of people taken as captives to the New World. Told from the author's perspective, this book introduces young readers to the wonders of diving, detective work, and discovery, while shedding light on the history of slavery.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426326677
Publisher:	National Geographic Society
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	316,508
Lexile:	1160L (what's this?)
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

National Geographic Kids

Editorial Reviews

11/14/2016
In this accessible and very personal account, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and scuba diver Cottman travels to the Caribbean, England, and West Africa as he retraces the route of a sunken slave ship, the Henrietta Marie, whose iron shackles kindle an “emotional journey. I had a deep yearning to know more about the oppressed African people aboard.” Cottman’s angered efforts to understand how the slave trade could be “simply business” drives his quest as he visits the grave of the shackle maker, Gorée Island in Senegal, and a Jamaican banana-packing farm. Cottman’s attunement to his emotional state is never far from the surface: “I knew it was unusual, but I had this strange sense that, whether or not these people were actually distantly related to me, they were my family,” he reports. “In the face of so much despair, cruelty, and sadness, these people and I were all connected because we had survived. Our people had survived.” A timeline, map, color photo insert, index, and additional resources round out this chilling exploration of the slave trade, along with a pitch for the “next generation of young adventure-seekers” to consider scuba diving. Ages 10–up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

This truly multidisciplinary volume, an adaptation of his 1999 title The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, engagingly explores a wide scope of topics, including the history of slavery, marine archaeology, and contemporary racial discrimination, culminating in a dive down to the wreck itself. Every bit of this concise, detailed book feels personal, and Cottman’s exploration and investigation of the wreck is rich with intrigue and poignant, thought-provoking questions.” — Booklist Starred Review

"The author combines carefully conducted research, invaluable insights, and a page-turning adventure of investigation and discovery into a riveting book that is affectingly personal, emotionally harrowing, and historically impactful." — School Library Journal

"Cottman weaves his personal story of discovery with history of the slave trade, helping readers understand why a sunken slave ship from the 1700s still matters....Cottman wrote a well-received version of this story for adults (The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, 1999), and this retelling for young readers is just as intriguing." — Kirkus

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From the Publisher

Journalist and avid SCUBA diver Michael Cottman recounts his 1992 underwater exploration of the sunken British slave ship, the Henrietta Marie, in this slim volume. With the help of diving experts, marine archeologists, and research that takes him to Senegal, London, Barbados, and Jamaica, Cottman traces two voyages of the ship to the Caribbean before it was wrecked in 1700 on the reef near present-day Key West, Florida. For Cottman, the story of the Henrietta Marie is the perfect intersection of his African heritage, his journalistic curiosity, and his joy in undersea exploration. He tracks down information about the ship’s British captains, the foundry that forged the canons, shackles, and bell found on the Florida sea floor, as well as the plantation owner who commissioned the sale of hundreds of kidnapped Africans, and conjectures on the unknown and unknowable stories of the slaves themselves. Cottman’s title is not thorough historical research. While fascinating details of the ship’s story and journey are revealed, little information is provided about the larger historical context of the slave trade. For example, Cottman tells readers about the sugar plantation the Africans were likely forced to work in Barbados, referring to the byproduct as “white gold,” but never discusses the infamous triangle of trade (rum, sugar and human chattel) that was the engine of this trade. The omission is somewhat glaring since Cottman poses to his readers —but leaves unanswered—the question of why Europeans engaged in slave trade. Similarly, the map provided is poorly designed and nearly unreadable. The formatting of the pages is confused by large, bold pull-quotes that are easily mistaken as chapter titles. His bibliography includes only three sources regarding history of the slave trade, and others—such as NOAA’s Marine Sanctuaries website—are tangential to the subject at hand. Cottman should have offered more than he does here for the teen reader. What he is successful at is the human element of this harrowing tale. Descriptions of the cruel lightness of iron shackles designed for a child’s wrists; his discovery that none of the journals he reads ever refer to the enslaved as humans; his wonder about the philanthropic foundry owner who makes chains for slaves; and even his first-hand experience of mistrust by a white diver are elements missing from other histories. As such, Cottman’s book, with all the questions it leaves unanswered, may be a worthy vehicle to ignite further, more substantive research. Reviewer: Lauri J. Vaughan;

VOYA, December 2016 (Vol. 39, No. 5) - Lauri J. Vaughan

12/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—In his search for the lost treasure of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in 1972, "Moe" Molinar uncovered a mound of iron shackles on the ocean floor. His discovery, however, didn't lead marine archaeologists to the sunken Spanish ship but rather to the Henrietta Marie, an English slave ship that sank off the coast of Key West, FL, almost 300 years prior. Twenty years later, journalist and scuba diver Cottman was asked to chronicle the ship's history, but what started out as a routine assignment turned into something much more personal for the writer: it became one man's quest for answers about our collective past and relationship with slavery. Cottman previously recounted his pursuits in his adult novel The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie: An African-American's Spiritual Journey To Uncover a Sunken Slave Ship's Past, making him vastly familiar with the subject matter, especially considering that he has been at the forefront of documenting the ship's story for almost 25 years. However, readers eager to be regaled with detailed descriptions of Cottman's investigative adventures undersea and on land will be disappointed. The narrative is often short and choppy, jumping from one moment or line of inquiry to the next without fleshing the scene out. The Henrietta Marie as a subject is secondary to the author's personal reflections and questions on the matter. VERDICT Although Cottman's role in bringing the Henrietta Marie's story to light is praiseworthy, readers seeking a less obtrusive and more thorough exploration of the transatlantic slave trade, marine archaeology, or sunken ships should look elsewhere.—Audrey Sumser, Kent State University at Tuscarawas, New Philadelphia, OH

School Library Journal

2016-10-26
A Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American journalist recounts how his passion for scuba diving led to an emotional connection to a shipwrecked slave vessel.The story of the discovery of the wreckage of the Henrietta Marie began when a Panamanian treasure-hunter discovered shackles in the Gulf of Mexico; the later discoveries of an iron cannon and the ship's bell verified that it was a slave ship and identified it. Cottman had loved swimming and diving since he was a child in Detroit, so when given the opportunity to join the National Association of Black Scuba Divers and their expedition to explore the slave ship site, he jumped at the chance. In preparation, Cottman set out to learn everything he could about the Henrietta Marie by teaming up with David Moore, the white researcher who helped discover the ship's watch bell, and visiting multiple sites including a foundry in rural England, a farm in Jamaica, and the storied Gorée Island in Senegal. Cottman weaves his personal story of discovery with history of the slave trade, helping readers understand why a sunken slave ship from the 1700s still matters. His emotional attachment to the artifacts, including child-sized shackles, deepens the storytelling in this highly readable narrative. Cottman wrote a well-received version of this story for adults (The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, 1999), and this retelling for young readers is just as intriguing. (timeline, map, color photographs, epilogue, suggestions for further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)

Kirkus Reviews