Megan on British Slavery in the Eighteenth Century

British Slavery in the Eighteenth Century (Megan Baeumler)

For about 300 years, European countries forced Africans onto slave ships and transported them across the Atlantic Ocean. With Portugal being the first nation to engage in the transatlantic slave trade in the late 1400’s.

First Trader

 The first known English slave trader was John Hawkins (talk more about him later on). John left England in 1562 on his first slaving voyage, with his second in 1564 and his last voyage in 1567. In total he captured around 1200 Africans and sold them as goods in the Spanish colonies in America.

Before Slave trade

Originally, British interests were on the African produce not the slave trade. In fact several charters were made between 1553 and 1660 that granted merchants to establish settlements on Africa’s west coast. This was to supply goods like ivory, gold, pepper, dyewood* and indigo. So, with al theses supplies conflict was bound to happen. Rivalry between Portugal, Holland, Denmark and Sweden eventually broke out and all sustained significant losses in their companies. This rivalry continued to increase one plantation slavery was introduced in America.

Origins and Growth

In 1640’s Dutch merchants introduced sugar to Barbados and showed the planters how to grow and process sugarcane. Along with the knowledge to grow sugarcane the Dutch supplied the Barbadian planters with Africans, officially introducing plantation slavery. The sugar ended up being sold in Holland. Sugar was a hot commodity and when the faming of sugar went from the English style (Small farms) to a few landowners growing sugarcane and monopolizing the land.  It took a large number of laborers to grow, harvest and process sugarcane, so planters initially employed convict and indentured servants from Britain and a few African “servant”. Later on convict labor didn’t meet planters growing needs anymore, and the Dutch supply of African laborers seemed unending, beginning the English involvement in the trade of slaved Africans. Barbadians were soon employing a large number of African Slaves and passed laws to restrict their rights as slaves (calling them property)

Estimated 70% of all Africans transported were by Portugal and Britain (most successful). In fact the exact number of British ships that took place in the slave trade is not known, but there is an estimated 10,000 dispatched voyages to Africa for slaves. Only the Portuguese carried more slaves than Britain carrying on another 50 years after the British abolished its slave trade. So from 1640 to 1807 Britain dominated the slave trade. Many British Ports profited from the slave trade none more so than London, Bristol, and Liverpool. And under the Slave Trade Act of 1799 slave trade was restricted to these ports

In 1672 the Royal African Company was established and that formalized the slave trade under a royal charter and gave a monopoly to the port of London. The other ports lobbied to change the charter and in 1698 the monopoly was taken away. Other companies were set up under the Royal charters were involved in the slave trade, one being the East India Company who was part of the East African slave trade but also collected from the West coast of Africa.

British Abolishment 

The abolition of the British slave trade affected not just the trade in British and colonial ships, but the supplying and fitting of the vessels by British workers, the British sailors manning the ships, and the insuring of the slaving vessels themselves. Ships that were clear to leave ports before May 1^st 1807 could trade until March 1^st 1808.  During the Abolition of the Slave trade act and the tightening of monitoring and suppressing the trade and international treaties gave Britain a new job, International Policeman. British naval squadrons were made to patrol the Coast of West Africa and the Caribbean to look out for illegal slavers. This also encouraged the navy to explore the coastal rivers and waterways, barding slaving settlements, making treaties with friendly African groups and found other forms of trade. In the end Britain’s diplomatic role led to treaties with slave owning and slave trading countries to stop the slave trade or to at least manage it better.

* refers to a number of varieties of wood which provided dyes for textiles and other purposes. Old Fustic from India and Africa, producing a yellow dye.