Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Bold and exciting, this graphic tale of mutiny on the high seas tells the true story of the Robert Bowne Rebellion of 1852--in which indentured Chinese men overthrew their captor and slave trader the American businessman Captain Lesly Bryson. This stand against American capitalism and the global economy that profited from exploitation and death. This often-overlooked part of history is brought to life through lively prose, meticulous research of archival material, by Ben Barson, Jason Oliver Chang, Alexis Dudden, with wonderful graphic illustration by Kim Inthavong. The Cargo Rebellion does lasting justice to the memory of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese and South Asian workers were indentured in the "coolie trade," in hope of building a movement where human slavery can be abolished forever.
Synopsis
The Cargo Rebellion tells a true story of mutiny on the high seas in which four hundred indentured Chinese men overthrew their captor, the Connecticut businessman and slave trader Leslie Bryson, taking a stand against an exploitative global enterprise.
The laborers learned that Bryson's claimed destination of San Francisco was a lie to trick them into deadly servitude in the dreaded guano islands of Peru. Reaching a dramatic tipping point, the mutineers rose up and killed Bryson and several of the ship's officers and then attempted to sail back to China.
This book's centerpiece, a deft graphic account of the rebellion in the context of the "coolie trade" and the struggle to end traffic in human "cargo," is supported by essays that spotlight the rebellion itself, how the subject of indentured Asian workers is being taught in classrooms, and how Chinese workers shaped the evolution of American music, particularly in the making of the first drum set. The Cargo Rebellion is a history from below that does justice to the memory of the hundreds of thousands of indentured workers and demonstrates how Asian migration to the Americas was rooted in slavery, colonialism, and the life-and-death struggle against servitude.