slave trade

• British interests in the Slave Trade began with the development of sea travel and exploration


  15th century
• New technologies


  • Invention of the compass
  • Invention of the telescope
  • Growing understanding of cartography (map making)
  • Changes in ship design
• New technologies


  Made sea travel more fruitful
• Portugal sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus

  1482
• Portugal sponsored voyages


  This example was followed by the Spanish who sent explorers to South America
• The British, Dutch and French soon followed suit and the age of exploration and piracy had begun
• Britain began to colonies the West Indies and the Caribbean


  17th and 18th century
• West Indies and Caribbean

  • Climate good for growing tobacco, sugar and cotton
  • Massive demand for these goods back in Britain
• In 1776 Valuation of sugar estates in Jamaica alone was worth £18 million (£9 billion today)
• Plantations


  • Huge farms that needed a large work force
  • 90% of the native population of the islands had been wiped out by small pox brought by the British
• An opportunity for Slave Traders presented itself
• One area of interest for British monarchs was Africa

  16th century
• John Hawkins

  Merchant who became a business partner of Elizabeth I and undertook one of the first slave trips from West Africa to the West Indies
• Charles II


  Became a partner in the Royal African Company which transported 60,000 enslaved people from Africa between 1680 – 1688
• Once the West Indies and the Caribbean were brought under the British Empire the Slave Trade began to grow
• Between 1600 – 1807 3 million African people were enslaved and sold by British traders, generating profits of £12million (today £1 billion)
• Joshua Wedgewood


  Well-known for his pottery, Member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Created the famous anti-slavery image that appeared on jewellery, pottery and pamphlets with the words 'Am I not a man and a brother?'
• Thomas Clarkson


  Gathered evidence, interviewed over 20,000 people made his findings into a massive propaganda campaign, Travelled 35,000 miles around Britain, spoke at meetings and gave lectures to gather support, Founder member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
• William Wilberforce


  Elected MP aged 21, Organised huge petitions against slavery, Persuasive speaker and friends with William Pitt, the Prime Minister, Used his position as an MP to introduce an abolition bill to Parliament, Lost the first debate by 163 votes to 88, Between 1790 and 1806 he introduced a bill to Parliament nearly every year
• Ottobah Cugoano


  A former enslaved person who published his autobiography in 1787
• Olaudah Equiano


  Captured as a slave when he was 11 years old and sent to Barbados, After buying his freedom he campaigned to bring an end to the Slave Trade, In 1789 he wrote a best-selling book about his life as an enslaved person, His speeches inspired local business owners such as Josiah Wedgwood (Leading Pottery maker) to join the cause