Background information

Context

The transatlantic slave trade involved the forcible displacement or death of at least 10-12 million Africans (maybe nearer 50 million) to work in chattel slavery in North and South America and the Caribbean, over a period of more than 300 years. The social, cultural, economic and ecological consequences were immense.

The history of the transatlantic slave trade not only had immense impact on the continents of Africa and the Americas, and the enslaved people themselves, it left its mark on the physical buildings and landscapes of Britain. At the time of the slave trade many Britons accumulated great wealth, and nearly everyone had some connection to slavery and its abolition (as slave traders, trades people, consumers and anti-slavery campaigners).

The history is not straightforward: there were European and African traders as well as abolitionists, and although much of 18th century wealth was related to the slave trade there were other ways of becoming wealthy.

English Heritage has more information on the slave trade and abolition at Sites of Memory.
Other useful websites and books are listed in References and further information.

The demand for goods
The role of religion
Georgian lifestyle
The rise of banking and insurance
The impact on industry
The growth of country estates
Acknowledging the past

The demand for goods

The transatlantic slave trade began at a time of great exploration in the 1400 and 1500s. The Portuguese and Spanish, followed by the Dutch, English and French were actively engaged in world exploration. From exploration came colonisation, and the exploitation of people and places for material gain. Almost everyone in Britain was complicit in driving the consumer demand for goods especially sugar. Sugar was critical to the eighteenth century global economy in a similar way to oil today. 

The diet in 18th century England was largely based on meat and bread. Soups and gruel (made with oatmeal) were eaten for warmth. Exotic fruits were rare. Many products grown in the tropics changed from being luxury to everyday items in Britain at the time of the slave trade. Much of Europe came to rely on slave grown sugar, tobacco, rice, coffee, cocoa and cotton. There was a massive growth of coffee houses in Britain in the 1700s as imported tea (which became the national drink) and coffee became popular sweetened with sugar. Every household used sugar for sweetening puddings (such as rice pudding) as well as drinks. A typical English person in the 1790s ate about four kilograms of sugar a year. Georgian shop front

Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in 1688; Lloyd's coffee house became recognised as the place for marine news and insurance, and became the founding of the famous Lloyd's of London insurance company (see The rise of banking and insurance below). By 1740 there were 550 coffee houses in London – almost one on every street corner. Foods such as sweetcorn were not popular in England then, but they were used in the Americas to feed enslaved Africans working on the plantations. Although shops became more common along with urbanisation in Georgian times, many people bought their supplies from travelling sales people.

The role of religion

The relationship between religion, the slave trade, slavery and eventual abolition and emancipation is complex. There was an overland Islamic trade in enslaved Africans from about AD 800 and later an Arabic trade to the Middle East. The much larger scale European trade was often justified in missionary terms as bringing Christianity to the heathens of Africa. However, the Church of England, the state's official religion, supported laws that prevented enslaved people from being educated and therefore studying the bible. Certain bible passages (such as the 'Curse of Ham' from Genesis) were used to perpetuate enslavement. Other parts of the bible, such as the entire book of Exodus were deliberately withheld from the colonies as the anti-slavery sentiments of returning to the 'promised land' were considered a threat to the status quo. Religious manipulation and justification, along with economic imperatives, meant the exploitation of Africans became institutionalised and part of the social norm of the day. Church built from slave trade profits, Hertfordshire
See also http://www.setallfree.net/bible_trans_slavery.html

It was Quakers and other non-conformist religions (those who resisted the strict rules of the established Church of England – Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Unitarians and the Salvation Army were all non-conformist) which first voiced their objections to slavery on humanitarian grounds (John Woolman, an American Quaker toured England in 1772 and died in York) . Quakers joined with Evangelical Christians (social reformers), such as Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce and the 'Clapham sect', to form the anti-slavery society in 1787. Supporters of the non-conformist religions in England (particularly the lower-middle-class and working-class chapel-goers) and in the Americas became very active in the abolition of the slave trade. Rebellions such as that led by Samuel Sharpe a Baptist deacon in Jamaica in 1831 helped bring about the eventual emancipation of enslaved people in British colonies. Sharpe is a national hero in Jamaica today.

Georgian lifestyle

The Georgian period is roughly the 18th century (actually named after four King Georges but architecturally at its height between 1730-1800). Georgian architecture was heavily influenced by classical Greece and Rome. Wealthy young men (rarely women) were sent on a European ‘Grand Tour’ to finish their education and developed the fashion for classical architecture.  Georgian Bath

The principal design style before Georgian was opulent ‘over the top’ English Baroque (eg Sir Christopher Wren). Georgian architectural style in higher status buildings was understated, graceful and obsessed with proportion and balance. All doors and windows were measured to ensure symmetry, and terraces of identical frontages were popular. Georgian buildings were often four stories high with sash windows with smaller glass panes (usually of six-over-six or eight-over-eight panes in mid-Georgian period, reducing to four-over-four or even two-over-two panes later in the 18th century). Materials were often stone or red brick with white trimmings.

Many people were making money in the late 18th century either solely or partly as a result of the slave trade, and the rich invested this back in their houses and possessions. Wealthy home owners accumulated great art collections and fine objects to furnish their houses, many of which were inspired by or made from materials acquired through the trade between Britain, Africa and the Americas. While the status of enslaved people was a question of legal debate in England (see Lord Mansfield at Kenwood), many African servants and former enslaved Africans were brought to England as a sign of wealth and fashion, and people of African descent appear in some family portraits. 

The rise of banking and insurance

From the 1660s the British economy flourished thanks to banking and other financial institutions. Overseas trade and colonial expansion relied on trading houses, insurance companies and banks. The slave trade relied heavily on credit and the risks meant a growth in maritime insurance, focused at Lloyds of London (with its origins in a coffee shop, see The demand for goods above). Before the 1660s there were no banks in London, and even a century later, banking was under-developed outside the city.  The Bank of England The Bank of England was set up in 1694, and underpinned the whole system of commercial credit, and its wealthy City members, from the governor down, often made their money wholly or partly in the slave trade. Provincial banking across England only emerged in the 18th century, with Liverpool slave trading merchants forming Heywoods Bank, which later became part of Barclays Bank.

Because slave voyages could take 18 months, and each of the three legs of the journey involved buying and selling, credit was used to underwrite the journeys. In the early days of the slave trade a group of merchants or what we would now call venture capitalists would finance a ship; over time more formal financial organisations including Lloyds and Barings banks were established for this purpose. Enslaved Africans were insured as goods, along with other property, as the infamous insurance claim for Africans deliberately thrown overboard the slave ship Zong illustrated http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong
http://www.hullwebs.co.uk/content/j-georgians/people/william-wilberforce/slaveship-zong.htm

The impact on industry

Although we think of London, Liverpool and Bristol as the slave trading ports, in fact many smaller ports were involved including Lancaster, Whitehaven, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Cowes, Weymouth, Falmouth, Poole, Chester and Glasgow. The industrial effect spread into the heartland of Britain, particularly the cotton industry in Lancashire fed by the canal system. The web of economic ties meant the transatlantic slave trade was a precursor to globalisation today.

Copper, cloth, glassware, beads, ammunition, alcohol, guns and ammunition, and metal hand cuffs, leg irons, chains and manilas went from Britain to Africa. Enslaved Africans and indigo went from Africa to the Americas (ivory, gold and palm oil also came back to Britain). Raw sugar, rum, rice, coffee, tobacco and cotton went from the Americas back to Britain. The trade was so profitable because the ships sailed full on each stage of the 'triangle'. The exports included textiles (cotton from India as well as Manchester and Lancashire) and woollen hats and waistcoats (from Devon), glassware, umbrellas, hats known as 'negro hats', beads, kettles and pots and pans. Textile Mill, Somerset

Metal goods were particularly important to exchange for Africans, including firearms, metal bars and manilas (brass and copper bracelets used as currency and decoration). The chains, padlocks, handcuffs and leg irons were used to restrain captured Africans. Copper was also used to make bowls and for ship building (slave ships were sheathed with copper). Many of these metal industries were based in the Black Country (part of the West Midlands which became one of the most industrialised areas in England and was named after the coal found close to the surface). Other industries also flourished, particularly shipbuilding, rope and sail making, furniture and tool making (all of the plantation agricultural equipment was made in Britain). Ships also needed to be fitted out with shelves (altered for taking African people – they had less space than other goods) and supplied with food, ship's biscuits, candles, spare canvas, ropes, chains, ink and paper.

The Soho Foundry in Birmingham was built by James Watt and Matthew Boulton to produce steam engines; there was also a foundry and mint on site.
Soho Foundry, Sandwell, West Midlands Steam engines were sold to the plantations to replace wind water and horse power, and cut the demand for enslaved Africans Steam engines also speeded up the processing of raw slave grown products returned to Britain such as sugar and cotton. Boulton was anti-slavery, but many manufacturers in the Midlands objected to abolition fearing it would affect their business.

Slave grown raw products such as sugar, tobacco and cotton that returned to England from the Americas were processed on an industrial scale, which in turn drove the demand for consumer goods. Quarry Bank Mill (now National Trust) in Lancashire epitomised the scale of industrial processing.

Industrial workers in Britain faced harsh working conditions, and new industrial towns such as Manchester became strongly anti-slavery. People boycotted sugar, produced pamphlets, held anti-slavery meetings and signed petitions. Because jobs in the North West depended on manufacturing cotton there were pro-slavery sentiments (especially during the American civil war and the 'cotton famine'). In 1807, 439 mill owners in Manchester petitioned Parliament against abolition – within a few hours a counter-petition had 2354 names. Although parallels could be drawn between industrial factory workers and plantation labourers ‘white slavery’ was not the same as African enslavement.

The growth of country estates

Some people made a lot of money in the 18th century, and as the rich got richer they put money into their homes. Many country estates and stately homes were built to showcase wealth, possession and art. Traders and merchants supplying goods or financiers supporting the slave trade invested in country estates (with probably a house in a city such as London, Liverpool or Bristol as well). Not all stately homes had direct links to the slave trade, and many that do are reluctant to recognise them. In the 18th century wealthy landowners enclosed huge areas of land to create landscaped parks, with grand houses. The grounds often had copies of classical temples, grottoes, bridges, and follies (in the style of those at Stowe, Blenheim Palace, and Stourhead). The houses echoed the classical philosophy, rooms were well lit with large windows, and natural light was supplemented by numerous large mirrors. Good examples of the architectural style are by Robert Adam such as Syon House (Middlesex), Kedleston Hall (Derbyshire) and Harewood House (Yorkshire) which makes explicit in how it and the Lascelles family was funded by the slave trade http://www.harewood.org. Kenwood House, London 

Not all the descendants of wealthy families are prepared to publicly address the source of their wealth – the slave trade has been shrouded in secrecy for so long. Penrhyn Castle in North Wales (built for the Pennant family and now owned by the National Trust) is using 2007 to reveal its 'hidden histories' http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-penrhyncastle/w-penrhyncastle-seeanddo.htm.

Other houses with explicit connections to slavery include: Tissington Hall (FitzHerbet family) in Derbyshire http://www.tissington-hall.com  Boughton House (Montagu family) Kettering http://www.boughtonhouse.org.uk.

Research is beginning to reveal links to the slave trade in English Heritage properties including, Audley End in Essex, Chiswick House, London (home of abolitionist Charles James Fox) and Brodsworth Hall near Doncaster. Kenwood House was home to Lord Mansfield, a judge who clarified the legality of slavery in England, see Sites of Memory.

Paganhill Estate in Stroud, Gloucestershire has an anti-slavery arch, built in 1834 as the grand entrance to a Georgian mansion, Farmhill Park, by its new owner by Henry Wyatt. It is the only memorial of this kind to the abolition of slavery left in Britain. Find out more at http://www.anti-slaveryarch.com.

Acknowledging the past

There have been people of African origin in England since Roman times. John Blanke was an African trumpeter at the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII .1555 onwards is seen as the beginning of a continuous ‘black presence’ in Britain, and numbers increased significantly as a result of the slave trade. By the end of the 18th century there were probably 10,000-15,000 people of African or Asian origin living across England. Former enslaved Africans were often brought to Britain as personal servants, as a status of wealth or fashion.

From the Collection of The Earl of Mansfield at Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland

Many people of African descent who lived in England remain anonymous or invisible. They may have been unregistered, or given Roman or Anglican names making it hard to identify them in through written records. Changing names of enslaved Africans was common. Olaudah Equiano was variously called Michael, Jacob and Gustavus Vasa. It was another way of exerting control by reducing people's sense of identity, and as a result it makes it impossible for many descendants of the enslaved today to trace their roots.

Notable people of African descent associated with the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition in England include, Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah Cugoano, Mary Prince and Ignatius Sancho. There may well be further examples of African presence and influence from the past still to be found by further research.

While there are many public forms of recognition of abolitionists such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Thomas Buxton and Charles Fox, far fewer memorials acknowledge the contribution of abolitionists of African descent, and the suffering of enslaved people themselves. A small number of memorials (most within relatively recent years) acknowledge the people affected by the slave trade, such as those on the docks in Bristol and Lancaster. Plans for a national memorial in Hyde Park London are underway http://www.memorial2007.org.uk.

See also Sites of Memory and Heritage Explorer.