“Souls on Board”: A Counter-History of Modern Mobility

“Souls on Board” assembles the modern history of counting the number of passengers on board a ship so that in the event of a wreck, all might be found. Though the practice continues in the present, when airline pilots are required to state the number of passengers on a flight to air traffic control, the phrase reflects the spiritual courage required to undertake risky sea voyages in the age of sail. The chapter explores the cultural and racial politics of counting passengers through the history of the Middle Passage, in which many enslaved people died at sea. Focusing on the wreck of the São José Paquete Africa near Cape Town in 1794, the chapter explores Black Studies’ critique of quantification as a counter-historical approach to modern mobility.