Afro Atlantic: Mapping Journeys

Marshall’s Voyager, depicting two partially obscured Black figures standing aboard a ship, refers to an actual ship, Wanderer. This vessel was among the last slave ships in the United States, illegally transporting more than 400 individuals from West Africa to Georgia in 1858—even though the importation of enslaved people had been banned in 1808. 

Marshall, as both an artist and professor, is known for his large-scale historical scenes that highlight subjects and events often omitted from European and North American art history. Symbolism plays a significant role in many of his paintings, and Voyager includes several symbolic details, such as deceased fetuses, a skull, and vévés (geometric drawings) and the number 7, both symbols of Vodou, a religion typically practiced in Haitian Diasporic communities with both African and European origins. 

Find related images in the EDSITEment collection Afro Atlantic Art: Enslavements and Emancipations. 

Activity 1: Observation and Discussion

• There are many symbolic details in this painting. Ask students to identify at least four details that stand out. What do these details suggest about this voyage? 

• Some details, such as the geometric drawing on the sail, and the number 7 floating beside it, are references to symbols in Vodou, a religion practiced in Haitian communities. Discuss as a class: Why do you think the artist included these details in this painting? What impact does it have to use symbols only certain groups might understand?

Activity 2: Independent Research

This painting is a reference to the Wanderer, a slave ship that transported individuals from West Africa to the United States in 1858—after the practice of the Transatlantic slave trade had been legally banned.  

Have students do some research on the itinerary and fate of the Wanderer Slave Voyages Project database.  

1. Explore the map charting the volume and direction of the transatlantic slave trade from African regions to the Americas. What conclusions can you draw about the development of Black communities in the Americas from looking at this map? 

2. In the People of the Atlantic Slave Trade database, students should enter Wanderer in the ship name field of the Itinerary dropdown. What information can you gather about the individuals aboard the ship? 

3. In the same People of the Atlantic Slave Trade database, students should explore a variety of disembarkation ports in North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil (under the Itinerary dropdown). What observations can you make about captives’ fates based on the locations in which they disembarked? What questions does this raise for you? 

Students can extend this exercise to consider: 

• the further relocation of individuals from the original point of disembarkation to other states or countries. Use the Inter-American database.  

• the varying fates of slave voyages. Under the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade dropdown, students can search voyages based on outcomes—successful insurrections, thwarted insurrections, ships attacked from shore, etc.  

What new insights can you share about the evolution of the slave trade? How do these new understandings influence your interpretation of Marshall’s painting? 

How does this painting compare to other images in the EDSITEment collection Afro Atlantic Art: Enslavements and Emancipations, particularly Aaron Douglas’s Into Bondage? Consider the historical context of each painting’s creation, in the early 20th century vs. the late 20th century. What feelings does each painting evoke? Which do you find more powerful and why? 

University of North Carolina: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 

New York Times: 1858 article on the fate of Wanderer 

New York Tribune: 1858 article on the fate of the Wanderer 

The Phillips Collection: Map of African American Migration Patterns within the US