Little Bird, Little Bird: Blackbirding in the South Pacific

In this image, a depiction of the recruiting routes for Blackbirding is shown. Through kidnapping, and deception, individuals were taken from their native lands to work as laborers on plantations to benefit the economy of Europeans (and/or of European decent). In the 17th and 18th Centuries, Europeans sailed the pacific in search of terra australis incognita: translated as the "unknown southern land" now known as Australia. A historical figure by the name William Henry "Bully" Hayes was an American sailor notoriously known for blackbirding on Pacific Islands.  (Picture of William Henry "Bully" Hayes).

In relation to Melville's Benito Cereno, the idea of blackbirding is exemplified throughout the novel, for the slaves on the ship have been taken from their homeland; thus leading to a slave rebellion against the Spanish merchant ship. The San Dominick is representative of commerce and slavery for it served as a cargo ship to transport goods as well as slaves to which was also a common theme in blackbirding. This is also alludes to modern day human trafficking (which blackbirding basically is) to where females are taken from their homelands and used as sex slaves. An imperialist thought is also symbolized, for the exploitation of individuals is served as a motif to raise capital. In Benito Cereno, animalization and objectification of the Black slaves is also demonstrated, for they are described as 'cargo' and are compared to 'sphinx-like' creatures. Through those descriptions, the language dehumanizes these characters to which also was occurring during this time period which perhaps justifies the acts of kidnapping, deception and importing these groups of people away from their homelands. The term blackbirding also referred to the kidnapping of natives as a sport: 'black birds' refer to the Pacific Islanders and/or natives to which the Europeans (and of European-descent) would collect. This furthermore suggests the dehumanization of Blacks (also portrayed in the San Dominick) seen through the imperialist lens: a group of colored individuals are identified, then translated as laborers to produce goods and capital; it is through the exploitation of the working class that the bourgeoisie class is made wealthier.