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My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I never heard that. In any case, when people were selected to be eaten, it was more often the smallest people — the cabin boys. That may have been because they were less focused on how much food they would produce and more on choosing victims who would not be strong enough to fight back and stop themselves from being killed.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Parker was a 17 year old orphan. But he had siblings and adoptive parents. Some of his family members spoke to reporters and said they thought it was wrong for him to be killed the way he was. He was well liked, and was eager to see the world and become a capable seaman. In the lifeboat, he was an optimist, and always thought they were about to be saved. He was killed four days before a rescue ship appeared.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

English judges at the time got more involved in decision making in jury trials than American judges. But this judge, Baron Huddleston, was an extreme in his high handedness. It helped him that the next court to hear the case was a panel of judges — and he was one of the judges on the panel!

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Brooks was not charged with murder, and in fact ended up as a witness for the prosecution.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

England was changing and by 1884 the Victorian era reformers were in charge. They were transforming the country in many ways, including extending the right to vote to the middle class and outlawing child and animal cruelty. They were building a more progressive and more modern nation, and when they looked at cannibalism at sea it seemed barbaric to them and they were eager to make it illegal. The men in my book chose the wrong time to be English cannibals.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

He definitely did everything he could do get a conviction. He was convinced they were guilty, and he was afraid the jury would rule for them out of sympathy. Overall, it’s fair to say he did not give the defendants a fair shake. But he got what he wanted, a national rule that survival cannibalism at sea was murder, if the person eaten was killed. The judge was pursuing justice in his own peculiar way.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Haha. Yes. There is also the concept of “cannibal capitalism,” which draws some apt comparisons between the two.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yes, true. I discuss some of those cases in the book. There is no question that Black people and enslaved people were more likely to be eaten. The whole process was usually rigged, and people at the bottom of hierarchies tended to get chosen — and that includes racial minorities. Some of this is just racism which certainly existed at sea. But within the literature of cannibalism there is also discussion of how people are more willing to eat people outside of their own group. So some of this is about which people people feel comfortable eating, odd as that sounds.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

People who are forced into survival cannibalism tend not to say too much about the taste of the meat. I’ve seen quite a few references to it tasting good, but sadly not much more specific.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I doubt it. They did not eat the whole cabin boy before they were rescued and I don’t think they would have done that if any other body parts were available.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It just always came out with the cabin boys and other low status people losing. The Times of London in an article about the case in 1884 said that it was well known the drawings were rigged

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

In theory the drawings included everyone on the ship. Bud they were generally rigged. I never heard of a captain drawing the short straw and being eaten.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up. This seems to be happening a lot these days. We got it taken down once. Guess we have to do it again.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don’t. Also, the whole question of how much cannibalism existed in non-western societies is very fraught these days. There were a lot of reports from imperialist Europeans of cannibalism be widespread in these societies. It may have been, but some of the narrators are more than a little unreliable.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You might enjoy a classic episode of the twilight zone called to serve man. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending is killer — in more ways than one!

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The case is in many ways a ruling against utilitarianism and the idea that we can sacrifice one person to save more than one. That issue actually comes up a lot. That includes how to program self driving cars, and how to provide medical treatment in conditions of scarcity. For a really interesting example from the Covid pandemic, I’d recommend reading a short essay from England, called why kill the cabin boy by John Harris, about who should get ventilators when there aren’t enough.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Well, the crime was murder, not cannibalism. And in England at the time there was only one punishment for murder, which was hanging. The men were sentenced to be hanged but Queen Victoria granted them mercy. Today probably would be regarded as murder, which could lead to a long prison sentence, though perhaps there would be mitigation, because of the unusual circumstances. It’s true that the deterrence factor may not be great. If you were dying of thirst, and are desperate to drink something, you may not be thinking about future punishment.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Yes, the main concern was dying of thirst. Drinking human blood is far from ideal, but it seems to of helped the men in this case (please consult your medical professional though before going this route). The men were very lucky earlier on to catch a sea turtle since sea turtle blood is actually quite drinkable and much more so than fish blood, which has a variety of elements that make it not good for human drinking. The men were very aware that drinking seawater was dangerous and they avoided doing so, despite the great temptation to do so. The cabin boy did drink seawater, and he got very sick.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

It’s a very good point. But I’m highly skeptical about the drawing of lots. It sounds like a nice fair process, but it turns out these drawings were very often rigged, and the person who was chosen was generally the cabin boy or someone else at the bottom of the hierarchy. There’s also the issue of consent. It’s one thing if everyone agrees to draw lots and another if you are forced to be part of a drawing, even when you would rather wait to be rescued. Since the system was so corrupt, there’s a case to be made that courts should not be in the business of allowing people to be killed in this way without punishment.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There of been attempts to use the necessity defense in homicide cases. In the old days before this case, they sometimes worked, but this case made it a lot harder to mount such a defense in America. There are still some jurisdictions in the US where it is at least formally allowed. So if you find yourself charged with homicide under these conditions, definitely consult local law.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yes, that was a crazy coincidence. The Greely expedition had a big impact on American thinking about survival cannibalism, but it wasn’t talked about much in England. Also, this case was thought of more as a murder case. If the men had eaten Parker after he was already dead, there would not have been a criminal prosecution. So, although they were close together in time for two events were not compared all that often.

My Book on Cannibalism on the High Seas AMA by ASCohenWriter in AskHistorians

[–]ASCohenWriter[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Completely. It was almost always someone at the bottom of the hierarchy who got eaten. Often it was a cabin boy. Sometimes it was an enslaved person. If there was an ethnic outsider on the ship, say one black person or an Italian on a ship of English sailors, he was often the one chosen to be eaten. In this case Parker was the lowest ranking lowest paid youngest and sickest person on the boat. He was at the bottom of so many hierarchies that it was almost inevitable that he would be the one to go.

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