#british abolition of the slave trade act

[kemetic-dreams]

Music of African heritage in Cuba derives from the musical traditions of the many ethnic groups from different parts of West and Central Africa that were brought to Cuba as slaves between the 16th and 19th centuries. Members of some of these groups formed their own ethnic associations or cabildos, in which cultural traditions were conserved, including musical ones. Music of African heritage, along with considerable Iberian (Spanish) musical elements, forms the fulcrum of Cuban music.

Much of this music is associated with traditional African religion – Lucumi, Palo, and others – and preserves the languages formerly used in the African homelands. The music is passed on by oral tradition and is often performed in private gatherings difficult for outsiders to access. Lacking melodic instruments, the music instead features polyrhythmic percussion, voice (call-and-response), and dance. As with other musically renowned New World nations such as the United States, Brazil and Jamaica, Cuban music represents a profound African musical heritage.

Clearly, the origin of African groups in Cuba is due to the island's long history of slavery. Compared to the USA, slavery started in Cuba much earlier and continued for decades afterwards. Cuba was the last country in the Americas to abolish the importation of slaves, and the second last to free the slaves. In 1807 the British Parliament outlawed slavery, and from then on the British Navy acted to intercept Portuguese and Spanish slave ships. By 1860 the trade with Cuba was almost extinguished; the last slave ship to Cuba was in 1873. The abolition of slavery was announced by the Spanish Crown in 1880, and put into effect in 1886. Two years later, Brazil abolished slavery.

Although the exact number of slaves from each African culture will never be known, most came from one of these groups, which are listed in rough order of their cultural impact in Cuba:

The Congolese from the Congo Basin and SW Africa. Many ethnic groups were involved, all called Congos in Cuba. Their religion is called Palo. Probably the most numerous group, with a huge influence on Cuban music.

The Oyó or Yoruba from modern Nigeria, known in Cuba as Lucumí. Their religion is known as Regla de Ocha (roughly, 'the way of the spirits') and its syncretic version is known as Santería. Culturally of great significance.

The Kalabars from the Southeastern part of Nigeria and also in some part of Cameroon, whom were taken from the Bight of Biafra. These sub Igbo and Ijaw groups are known in Cuba as Carabali,and their religious organization as Abakuá. The street name for them in Cuba was Ñáñigos.

The Dahomey, from Benin. They were the Fon, known as Arará in Cuba. The Dahomeys were a powerful group who practised human sacrifice and slavery long before Europeans arrived, and allegedly even more so during the Atlantic slave trade.

Haiti immigrants to Cuba arrived at various times up to the present day. Leaving aside the French, who also came, the Africans from Haiti were a mixture of groups who usually spoke creolized French: and religion was known as vodú.

From part of modern Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire came the Gangá.

Senegambian people (Senegal, the Gambia), but including many brought from Sudan by the Arab slavers, were known by a catch-all word: Mandinga. The famous musical phrase Kikiribu Mandinga! refers to them.

Subsequent organization

The roots of most Afro-Cuban musical forms lie in the cabildos, self-organized social clubs for the African slaves, and separate cabildos for separate cultures. The cabildos were formed mainly from four groups: the Yoruba (the Lucumi in Cuba); the Congolese (Palo in Cuba); Dahomey (the Fon or Arará). Other cultures were undoubtedly present, more even than listed above, but in smaller numbers, and they did not leave such a distinctive presence.

Cabildos preserved African cultural traditions, even after the abolition of slavery in 1886. At the same time, African religions were transmitted from generation to generation throughout Cuba, Haiti, other islands and Brazil. These religions, which had a similar but not identical structure, were known as Lucumi or Regla de Ocha if they derived from the Yoruba, Palo from Central Africa, Vodú from Haiti, and so on. The term Santería was first introduced to account for the way African spirits were joined to Catholic saints, especially by people who were both baptized and initiated, and so were genuine members of both groups. Outsiders picked up the word and have tended to use it somewhat indiscriminately. It has become a kind of catch-all word, rather like salsa in music.

The ñáñigos in Cuba or Carabali in their secret Abakuá societies, were one of the most terrifying groups; even other blacks were afraid of them:

Girl, don't tell me about the ñáñigos! They were bad. The carabali was evil down to his guts. And the ñáñigos from back in the day when I was a chick, weren't like the ones today... they kept their secret, like in Africa.

African sacred music in Cuba

All these African cultures had musical traditions, which survive erratically to the present day, not always in detail, but in the general style. The best preserved are the African polytheistic religions, where, in Cuba at least, the instruments, the language, the chants, the dances and their interpretations are quite well preserved. In few or no other American countries are the religious ceremonies conducted in the old language(s) of Africa, as they are at least in Lucumí ceremonies, though of course, back in Africa the language has moved on. What unifies all genuine forms of African music is the unity of polyrhythmic percussion, voice (call-and-response) and dance in well-defined social settings, and the absence of melodic instruments of an Arabic or European kind.

Not until after the Second World War do we find detailed printed descriptions or recordings of African sacred music in Cuba. Inside the cults, music, song, dance and ceremony were (and still are) learnt by heart by means of demonstration, including such ceremonial procedures conducted in an African language. The experiences were private to the initiated, until the work of the ethnologist Fernando Ortíz, who devoted a large part of his life to investigating the influence of African culture in Cuba. The first detailed transcription of percussion, song and chants are to be found in his great works.

There are now many recordings offering a selection of pieces in praise of, or prayers to, the orishas. Much of the ceremonial procedures are still hidden from the eyes of outsiders, though some descriptions in words exist.

Yoruba and Congolese rituals

Main articles: Yoruba people, Lucumi religion, Kongo people, Palo (religion), and Batá

Religious traditions of African origin have survived in Cuba, and are the basis of ritual music, song and dance quite distinct from the secular music and dance. The religion of Yoruban origin is known as Lucumí or Regla de Ocha; the religion of Congolese origin is known as Palo, as in palos del monte.[11] There are also, in the Oriente region, forms of Haitian ritual together with its own instruments and music.

In Lucumi ceremonies, consecrated batá drums are played at ceremonies, and gourd ensembles called abwe. In the 1950s, a collection of Havana-area batá drummers called Santero helped bring Lucumí styles into mainstream Cuban music, while artists like Mezcla, with the lucumí singer Lázaro Ros, melded the style with other forms, including zouk.

The Congo cabildo uses yuka drums, as well as gallos (a form of song contest), makuta and mani dances. The latter is related to the Brazilian martial dance capoeira

[eaglesnick]

“A generation which ignores history has no past -- and no future.”  

The National Centre for Social Research Centre's Social Attitude survey, finding that there has been a sharp decline in British national pride in the last decade has driven the pundits and politicians on the right into displays of righteous indignation. 

Peoples pride in being British has fallen from 83% in 1995 to 64% in 2023. Only 53% think democracy works well in this country, down from 60% in 1995, and only 49% would rather be a British citizen than any other country, a decline of 20% since 1995. What has particularly agitated those on the right is the finding that pride in British history has dropped from 86% in 2013, to 64% in 2023.

Nigel Forage, never one to miss an opportunity for self-promotion, went on a “blistering rant" concerning the decline of national pride in British history, claiming he has been “railing against" an education establishment that is constantly  "talking down Britain’s past”.

What’s happened claims Forage is there has been a “Marxist take-over, of people that hate the country, hate what it stands for, and they have done their job” Primary school teachers, secondary school teachers and university lectures all “rejoice” in putting Britain down.

Who would have thought it? That seemingly lovely Mrs Jones, who does so much for the infants in her care, a revolutionary Marxist. The dusty secondary school history teacher Mr Smith, also a Marxist, just waiting to advance the communist revolution on the streets of Britain. Unbelievable! And as for all of those university academics…just don’t get me started.

What a load of utter piffle Mr Farage. But he knows that. What he is doing is dog whistling as usual.

Taking the teaching of slavery as an example , Forage condemns the educational establishment for teaching that Britain was “the only country in the history of mankind that had ever conducted slavery.” What’s more says Forage, Britain  "far from being the one nation, actually, that ended it,..lost a lot of money and a lot of lives driving it out."

Lets examine these claims.

First, no one has ever said that Britain was the only slave-trading nation. Portugal, France, Spain, Netherlands, USA and Denmark ALL profited from slaves.

Second, Forage was right in asserting that  Britain was one of the first major European powers to officially abolish slavery. The Abolition of Slavery Act was passed inn 1833 but not all British owned slaves were covered by this act as it specifically excluded many slave colonies owned by the East India Company and British slaves on the islands of Ceylon and St Helena.

Third, British sailors did die fighting the slave trade but nowhere near as many as has been claimed on social media. Fullfact.org, state that the figure of between 17,000 and 20,00 Royal Navy sailors dying fighting illegal slave traders is untrue, the figure being much nearer 2000.

Forth, did driving out slavery cost a lot of money? Yes it did, but none of the money went to the slaves themselves, only to the slave owners as compensation for their losses.

Despite the repugnant and morally corrupt practice of slave ownership that the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act represented, a mere four years after this law came into being another piece of slavery legislation was enacted: the Slave Compensation Act 1887.

This is something Forage and those other millionaires and billionaires on the right of British politics often neglect to tell us. Despite the repugnant and utterly immoral practice of slave ownership implicit in the Abolition of Slavery Act 1833, this new act ordered the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the British colonies to the tune of £20 million pound – around £17billion pounds today. This payout was a massive 40% of total government budget.

What else Forage neglects to say is that the last compensation payment for loss of slaves paid for by the British government was in 2015.

In short, we the British taxpayer, have been paying compensation to slave owners and their dependents for "loss of their property” for the past 182 years!

I only wish we did teach these things in our schools but we don’t. In fact, the Conservative government, in its Education Act of 1996 made the promoting of partisan views by teachers illegal.

So much for Marxist conspiracy theories!

[ltwilliammowett]

The Zong affair

J.M.W. Turner took up a serious incident in 1840 and expressed it in a painting. The incident was the so-called Zong Affair, which changed the attitude towards the British slave trade.

The Slave Ship, by J.M.W. Turner, 1840 (x) 

The Zong was until 1777 a Dutch slaver under the name Zorg and after her carpering she belonged to William Gregson and George Case, two well known merchants in the city of Liverpool and former mayors of the city. She sailed from the west coast of Africa on September 6, 1781 with 442 Africans bought as slaves on board, which made the ship completely overloaded and so she did not have sufficient supplies for such a large number of slaves. The poor people were chained in pairs, right leg and left leg, right hand and left hand, each of them having less space than a man in a coffin. The journey took nearly two months, and during that time most of the slaves were malnourished and suffering from disease. Captain Collingwood had lost his way in the Caribbean, which further prolonged the voyage. 60 slaves and 7 crew members had already died, and Collingwood knew that those who survived in poor condition would not fetch a high price on the slave market. He decided to use the lack of fresh water as an excuse to note that his "crew was endangered" to justify throwing 133 living slaves overboard. A reason that had a sinister background.

55 more were thrown overboard on November 29, and another 42 on November 30. A heavy rainstorm the following day provided fresh water, but another 26 slaves were thrown overboard that day, and another 10 jumped in to defy the captain, hugging each other as they sank. It was later claimed that the slaves were thrown overboard for the safety of the ship, as the ship did not have enough water to keep them alive for the rest of the voyage. This claim was later refuted as the ship still had 420 gallons (1910 liters) of water when it arrived in Jamaica on December 22. Let's move on to the reason why Captain Collingwood threw the people overboard alive. Behind it was an insurance policy. Because if a slave died on board, the insurers would not pay, seeing this as "poor cargo management." They would only pay the full sum insured if a slave went overboard alive. The owners demanded £30 per head from the insurers, which was disputed. The owners' lawyer argued, "These people are not charged with murder at all, there is not the slightest allegation”. After the insurers appealed, Lord Chief Justice Manfield upheld the shipowners: "The question left to the jury was whether it was necessary that the slaves should be thrown into the sea, for they had no doubt that the case of the slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard." This ruling that removal was lawful led to a significant turning point in abolitionist campaigns.

The nondenominational Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787. The following year, Parliament passed the first law regulating the slave trade, the Slave Trade Act of 1788, to limit the number of slaves per ship. In 1791, Parliament prohibited insurance companies from compensating shipowners when enslaved Africans were murdered by being thrown overboard. A monument to enslaved Africans murdered on Zong was erected in Black River, Jamaica.

[scotianostra]

In a landmark ruling on January 15th 1778 Joseph Knight, won a landmark case freeing him from slavery in Scotland.

Joseph Knight was born in Africa, but it is not known which country or what his original name was.

He was captured during the height of the slave trade before being sold to wealthy Scottish plantation owner John Wedderburn of Ballendean in Jamaica, where he would be forced to work as a domestic servant.

Wedderburn took Knight with him on his return to his to Scotland  in 1769. Upon his arrival Knight fled Wedderburn's Pertthsire Estate after he demanded to be paid a wage for his work.

Knight mounted a legal challenge against Wedderburn in the Justices of the Peace court in Perth in a bid to seek freedom in 1774 claiming that that the act of slavery was not recognised in Scotland like it was in Jamaica.

The court ruled in favour of Wedderburn, which prompted Knight to launch an appeal to the Sheriff of Perth, John Swinton.

He found that: “The state of slavery is not recognised by the laws of this kingdom, and is inconsistent with the principles thereof: that the regulations in Jamaica, concerning slaves, do not extend to this kingdom; and repelled the defender’s claim to a perpetual service.”

It was then escalated to the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court, in 1777, after Wedderburn claimed that Knight still owed perpetual service, in the same manner as an indentured servant or apprenticed artisan. Many Scots Jacobites were ndentured servants in the "New World".

However, Knight succeeded in arguing that he should be granted freedom to provide a home for his wife and child.

The ruling gave the Court of Session the opportunity to declare that slavery was not recognised by Scots law and that runaway slaves could be protected by the courts.

Historians regard Joseph Knight as a key figure that paved the way for abolition of slavery in the British Isles in 1834

The papers from the Court remain in our National Records Office, you can read more about the case, and the transcript of the case at the link below.

[conniejoworld]

DeSantis said no one questioned slavery before Americans. See Van Jones ...

CHRONOLOGY-Who banned slavery when?

By Reuters Staff

3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Britain marks 200 years on March 25 since it enacted a law banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade, although full abolition of slavery did not follow for another generation.

Following are some key dates in the trans-atlantic trade in slaves from Africa and its abolition.

1444 - First public sale of African slaves in Lagos, Portugal

1482 - Portuguese start building first permanent slave trading post at Elmina, Gold Coast, now Ghana

1510 - First slaves arrive in the Spanish colonies of South America, having travelled via Spain

1518 - First direct shipment of slaves from Africa to the Americas

1777 - State of Vermont, an independent Republic after the American Revolution, becomes first sovereign state to abolish slavery

1780s - Trans-Atlantic slave trade reaches peak

1787 - The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade founded in Britain by Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson

1792 - Denmark bans import of slaves to its West Indies colonies, although the law only took effect from 1803.

1807 - Britain passes Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing British Atlantic slave trade.

- United States passes legislation banning the slave trade, effective from start of 1808.

1811 - Spain abolishes slavery, including in its colonies, though Cuba rejects ban and continues to deal in slaves.

1813 - Sweden bans slave trading

1814 - Netherlands bans slave trading

1817 - France bans slave trading, but ban not effective until 1826

1833 - Britain passes Abolition of Slavery Act, ordering gradual abolition of slavery in all British colonies. Plantation owners in the West Indies receive 20 million pounds in compensation

- Great Britain and Spain sign a treaty prohibiting the slave trade

1819 - Portugal abolishes slave trade north of the equator

- Britain places a naval squadron off the West African coast to enforce the ban on slave trading

1823 - Britain’s Anti-Slavery Society formed. Members include William Wilberforce

1846 - Danish governor proclaims emancipation of slaves in Danish West Indies, abolishing slavery

1848 - France abolishes slavery

1851 - Brazil abolishes slave trading

1858 - Portugal abolishes slavery in its colonies, although all slaves are subject to a 20-year apprenticeship

1861 - Netherlands abolishes slavery in Dutch Caribbean colonies

1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln proclaims emancipation of slaves with effect from January 1, 1863; 13th Amendment of U.S. Constitution follows in 1865 banning slavery

1886 - Slavery is abolished in Cuba

1888 - Brazil abolishes slavery

1926 - League of Nations adopts Slavery Convention abolishing slavery

1948 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including article stating “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

[brewminate-blog]

TODAY IN HISTORY: August 1, 1834 - Slavery was abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into force, although it remained legal in the possessions of the East India Company until the passage of the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administration and expanded the jurisdiction of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire. The Act provided for payments to slave-owners. The amount of money to be spent on the payments was set at "the Sum of Twenty Million Pounds Sterling".

[lboogie1906]

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey’s reforming administration expanded the jurisdiction of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire, except “the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company”, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Saint Helena. The Act came into force on August 1, 1834, and was repealed in 1998 as a part of wider rationalization of English statute law, later anti-slavery legislation remains in force. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[rabbitcruiser]

The United States Virgin Islands celebrates Emancipation Day as an official holiday on July 3. It commemorates the abolition of slavery by Danish Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848.  

V.I. Emancipation Day

People in the United States Virgin Islands celebrate the V.I. Emancipation Day every year on July 3. It is considered a significant day because it commemorates the release of enslaved people from Danish rule in the West Indies. It celebrates the official abolition of slavery in the West Indies islands and is a public holiday in the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than 9,000 enslaved black people revolted against the Danish colonizers on July 3, 1848. As per the orders of the then Governor-General of the Danish West Indies, Peter von Scholten, all the enslaved people were set free. The revolt was spearheaded by Moses Gottlieb.

HISTORY OF V.I. EMANCIPATION DAY

The day the slaves in the Caribbean nations were freed from slavery by the colonizers is observed as a state holiday in these islands. The British Empire officially abolished slavery on August 1, 1834.

Since the mid-eighth century, the Virgin Islands, which consist of the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, were under Danish rule. The islands were ideal for sugar plantations, a highly labor-intensive crop. All of this manual labor was provided by the enslaved black people brought in ships from Africa and other areas, and were called ‘slaves.’ They exceeded the Danish settlers by a large number. One of the earliest slave uprisings occurred on St. John Island in 1733 when slaves seized control of the island for six months. However, the uprising was eventually managed and cooled down with the assistance of the French powers.

In the year 1834, Britain officially abolished slavery. The French followed suit in 1848. The slave emancipation movement in France influenced the Virgin Islands as well, thereby triggering a non-violent slave uprising on St. Croix. Despite the assurance given by the Danish Crown to liberate all the slaves permanently by 1859, the slaves were freed before time by the then Danish Governor-General.

The United States Virgin Islands has declared the anniversary of this incident a public holiday, and it is also followed by America’s Independence Day on July 4. The biggest celebration in St. Croix takes place in Frederiksted, also called the ‘Freedom City,’ where the slave insurrection of 1948 took place. The day is celebrated with much enthusiasm and the festivities include children’s games, cultural entertainment, oratory, musical shows, dance performances, food, drinks, and crafts.

V.I. EMANCIPATION DAY TIMELINE

1672

Danish West India Company

The Danish West India Company brings the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands.

1828

Scholten Becomes The Governor-General

Scholten becomes the Governor-General of the Danish West Indies islands and works toward alleviating the burden of the enslaved people.

1848

Slavery Abolished

After being affected by the freedom movement carried on by some 9,000 slaves working in plantations, Governor Scholten orders their permanent liberation.

1878

Fire Burn Riot

Three women named, Mary, Agnes, and Matilda, stand against the oppression, colonial powers, and slavery and go on to become the face of the slave liberation movement.

V.I. EMANCIPATION DAY FAQS

When did slavery end in the Virgin Islands?

The day of the liberation of slaves traded by colonial forces is observed as a public holiday across the Caribbean. Many islands observe the day of August 1 as the day of slavery abolition as the British abolished slavery on this day in 1834.

When did the Virgin Islands get citizenship?

A 1927 act and another one in 1932, awarded most Virgin Islanders with U.S. citizenship.

What is the official language of the West Indies Caribbean islands today?

Dutch is the official language of these Caribbean islands that were under Danish rule.

HOW TO OBSERVE V.I. EMANCIPATION DAY

Participate in the celebrations: Participating in the celebrations is a great idea. Make sure you don't miss out on any Emancipation festivals in your area!

Read about the land: To learn more about the culture and traditions of the Virgin Islands, read history, explore cultural publications, and watch related videos on the internet. You can also visit the islands.

Spread the news: Use social media to spread awareness regarding the day’s importance. You can also launch a social media campaign using the hashtag, #V.I.Emancipation.

5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SLAVERY

Slavery continues in the 21st century: Slavery is not over yet; sadly, around 40 million individuals were enslaved in 2019, with a quarter of them being children.

Slavery in the modern era: Child labor, forced marriages, human trafficking, and sexual slavery are some of the prevalent and modified forms of enslavement common even today.

Forced labor: According to the reports, forced labor generates an annual profit of more than $150 billion in the U.S. alone.

Children are the worst hit: As per the U.N.I.C.E.F., more than 160 million children work as laborers in the U.S.

Most child laborers: Reports indicate that Sub-Saharan Africa employs the most child laborers i.e. around 26 % of the country’s children work as laborers.

WHY V.I. EMANCIPATION DAY IS IMPORTANT

Learn the history: Reading and exploring the history of these islands is important. Knowing more about the freedom movements helps us to understand the malpractice of slavery.

It marks the end of enslavement: For almost two centuries, the Danish rulers were engaged in the slave trade. The V.I. Emancipation Day commemorates the struggle involved in the abolition of this degrading practice.

It salutes equality and liberty: Irrespective of color and creed, everyone is equal and holds the freedom to live as per his/her own terms. This day reminds us that a balanced and good society has no place for slavery. This is a day to salute the virtues of equality and liberty, that are essential to life.

Source

[astinggracieosborne]

19th Century - The Slavery Abolition Act

William Wilberforce (1759-1833)

A politician and philanthropist was a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.

In the United States the Atlantic slave trade was abolished in 1808. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 banned slavery throughout the British Empire.

I think the slavery trade was awful, to think that people of colour were deemed less important than white people and were used for slaves was wrong. I know some people would have been against it, like the wealthy plantation owners etc. as to them they were cheap labour and their businesses would make more profits. Also mining companies where slaves were used is a dangerous job, if they were killed they would think they were expendable. I'm glad it was abolished as we are all humans and should be treated the same in this World.

[bobmccullochny]

History

August 6-10, 1787 - The Great Debate occurred during the Constitutional Convention. Outcomes included the establishment of a four-year term of office for the President, granting Congress the right to regulate foreign trade and interstate commerce, and the appointment of a committee to prepare a final draft of the Constitution.

August 6, 1945 - The first Atomic Bomb was dropped over the center of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m., by the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay. The bomb detonated about 1,800 ft. above ground, killing over 105,000 persons and destroying the city. Another estimated 100,000 persons later died as a result of radiation effects.

August 6, 1962 - Jamaica achieved independence after centuries of British and Spanish rule. During 150 years of Spanish rule, African slaves were first brought to the island. The British invaded in 1655 and the slave trade greatly expanded during the 1700s. Following the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, Jamaica remained a British colony.

August 6, 1965 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act suspended literacy, knowledge and character tests designed to keep African Americans from voting in the South. It also authorized the appointment of Federal voting examiners and barred discriminatory poll taxes. The Act was renewed by Congress in 1975, 1984 and 1991.

Birthday - British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He was appointed Poet Laureate in succession to William Wordsworth. Memorable poems by Tennyson include Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Birthday - Penicillin discoverer Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was born in Lochfield, Scotland. By accident, he found that mold from soil killed deadly bacteria without injuring human tissue. He received the Nobel Prize in 1954.

[c-40]

A-T-3 189 The Cherry Boys - Kardomah Cafe (Colonial Version)

Flash floods in Liverpool Saturday

Some important events in British history lead up to the creation and development of the Kardomah brand in Liverpool and its chain of caf��s. We could go back as far as American Independence, The Slave Trade Act of 1807, and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833; but this blog is called C40, and 40-years is our usp, so for us the 1834 revision of the English East India Company’s charter which threw open the franchise to private enterprise for the first time, the first and second opium war, Alfred Holt's adaption of The compound steam engine and the launch of his Ocean Steam Ship Company 1860s, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 are what we're interested in

In it's demise the East India Company (EIC) had become the Uber of its day "none but desperate men would sail our ships" (middle-class kids may work for Uber or Uber Eats for a while but it's people close to poverty who stay on, and that's only because they have to) in 1834 the franchise was opened to private business bringing with it opportunities to ports outside of London. Liverpool Merchants had been lobbying for this to happen for decades, looking to America as an example of trade not hindered by 'The Company' (similar idea to Brexit with some fundamental differences)

Tea was a valuable commodity, as soon as the East India Company's monopoly was lifted private entrepreneurs and merchant adventures in Liverpool pooled their resources to send ships. "On May 22 1834 the first ship to be cleared out to China from Liverpool was the Symmetry, and the ship Euphrates, from Mr Wilson's yard, was launched for the China Trade on the same day."

After 1834 Liverpool began its rapid ascent as a major port engaged in trade with China. The Port of Liverpool greatly expanded under the superintendency of engineer Jesse Hartley between 1824 and 1860 (no relation of William Pickles Hartley.) The trade model was very similar to that of American entrepreneurs in the previous decades. What the Americans found was China didn't really want much of what they were offering in trade, the British had opium from India. Opium sales on the blackmarket underwrote the tea trade. It was the Emperor's son dying of an opium overdose in the 1830s that alerted to the Emperor to the damaging effects and scale of the opium trade which led to the first Opium War in 1839. The war ended in Britain's favour thanks to the armed steamers, like the Nemesis built in Liverpool shipyards and launched in the Mersey by John Laird and the EIC. The Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842, this brought about the opening of the new ports in China and the end of previous trade mechanisms that existed before the war

Kardomah Cafés has its origin in The Vey Brothers teadealers and grocers which opened for business on Pudsey Street, Liverpool in 1844. Ships regularly arrived in Liverpool from China and this is where the Vey Brothers imported their tea

By the time we get to the second opium wars 1853-1858 the Port Of Liverpool had become one the busiest and most profitable in the country. "By 1857, Liverpool's exports amounted to about 45 per cent by value of the total exports of the United Kingdom" this settled to just over a third of British exports in the 1860s

Britain was joined by Russia, France, and America in second opium war against China. American clipper ships had given the US the competitive edge in the China Trade because they were faster than those used by Britain, and speed, then as it is today, gives the capitalist the advantage. The opium wars did little to slow down trade and in 1854 the first international tea race took place. The Liverpool built clipper Fiery Cross won the tea race between 1861-63 and again in 1865. Liverpool merchants had first bought American clippers and then began building them themselves, using hardwood meant British clippers could be built bigger and needed less repair work.

A new technology would soon to come along that would make both hardwood and softwood clippers redundant, this was the long distance steamship powered by Arthur Woolf's compound steam engine. Using steamships for the China Trade was established and developed by Liverpudlian merchant Alfred Holt (who lived at Sudley House) out of the Port of Liverpool

In 1865/6 Holt and his brother founded The Ocean Steam Ship Company (now part of logistics company Exel plc whose parent is Deutsche Post DHL Group). The Ocean Steam Ship Company ran The Blue Funnel Line subsidiary ('The China Company' as it was known in Merseyside or 'Holts'). The Blue Funnel Line used Chineses seamen and boats as well as British and the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in Liverpool in 1866

The Port of Liverpool gained its advantage over other ports in the UK through the rapid development of its steamship trade and its position in the middle of the United Kingdom linked by an elaborate transport system with the major manufacturing centres

The Vey Brothers sold their tea import company to the newly created Liverpool China and India Tea Company in 1868. With a quick search the only record of this company I could find are tea caddies and ephemera, according to these the company was founded in 1860

Long distance steamships took a while to replace clippers but its the opening of the Suez Canal, which had nominal wind to fill the sails of clippers, steam ships would become the superior tech to have. "The shipping statistics gathered for tire port of Liverpool in the period 1865- 79 show very clearly the rise in the importance of steam and the decentralisation of trade from London, where the trade had been concentrated during the two hundred years' dominance of the East India Company.

"In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened, providing a shorter route to and from China. This route was virtually impossible for sailing ships, which would have to be towed through the canal, and they gradually became obsolete as trading vessels."

The International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce and Industry opened in Liverpool in May 1886. The following year the iron and glass building shipped over from Antwerp for this exhibition was reused for Liverpool's Royal Jubilee Exhibition. It was at the Jubilee Exhibition that Kardomah brand tea was first served

Whooo we got there!

The first Kardomah Café was opened in Liverpool in the early 1900s. In the 1930s the Swansea branch rose to notoriety as the meeting place of The Kardomah Gang whose most famous member was Dylan Thomas, the Swansea café has been run by Luporini family since 1970 and is still open today. The Liverpool China and India Tea Company was renamed Kardomah Limited in 1938

The golden era of the cafes was the 1950s and 1960s with the chain flexible enough to move with the times and attract new custom from the recently invented teenagers. By the time The Cherry Boys released their song in 1983 the golden era was over and the cafés had begun shuttering up and down the country

Kardomah Café was a top 10 hit for The Cherry Boys in Spain. Chris Sharrock was an original member of The Cherry Boys but was long gone by the time Kardomah Café was released

Edit* My moms just told me my gran worked in one of the Birmingham branches of the Kardomah Café in its golden era

[my18thcenturysource]

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797)

You may or may not know about Olaudah Equiano a.k.a. Gustavus Vassa, but this man was a key abolitionist, writer, and overall badass.

Olaudah Equiano was born in the Igbo region in modern Nigeria (some sources indicate that he was from South Carolina, but all seems to be circumstantial, so we’ll go with the info from his autobiography, so Nigeria it is), was enslaved as a child, taken to the Caribbean and sold to a captain of the Royal Navy who renamed him as Gustavus Vassa and with whom he traveled about 8 years. In 1766 he bought his own freedom from an English merchant by trading on his own and carefully saving money. He paid £40, that was about a whole year of a teacher’s salary. Thank god for Vassa’s financial literacy.

Later on he established in London and was part of an abolitionist group called the Sons of Africa (that is considered the first black political organisation in Britain), becoming very active in the 1780s anti-slave trade movement. He wrote his memoirs in 1789 under the title “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, and this was the first book published by a black African writer in Europe. In it he describes the horrors of slavery: from he and his siblings being kidnapped, to the slave ships, and the treatment by white men. The book opens with a preface in which he frames this work as abolitionist literature, meaning that he was sharing all those horrible experiences for those in positions of authority could finally abolish slavery. His book was so successful that the second edition is from that very same year and made him wealthy thanks to the royalties, and it aided passage of the British Slave Trade Act of 1807.

In more personal details, he married Susannah Cullen in 1792, who was one of the subscribers that helped him publish his work (like crowdfunding, but 18th century style!), and he included his marriage as part of his autobiography since the 1792 edition forward. I just love that little detail.

Read more:

A selection from the second edition of  “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, from The British Library.

Learn more about him and other 18th century black anti-slavery activists at this site made for the 200th anniversary of the British Slave Trade Act.

The full book at Gutenberg.org

Images from top:

Portrait of Olaudah Equiano, 1789, by Daniel Orme, commissioned by Equiano himself.

Youssou N'Dour as Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace (2006)

Portrait of an African,ca. 1757-60, Allan Ramsay. This portrait is often used to illustrate new editions of Equiano’s book, but it is not him. It seems lately to be thought to be Igantius Sancho even though it is still not sure that it’s him either. BUT it’s a beautiful portrait, so here it is.

Google doodle for October 16th 2017, celebrating Olaudah Equiano’s 272nd Birthday.

[nellygwyn]

I thought I would share some portraits/info about notable black men and women who worked and lived in Georgian Britain. This is not an extensive list by any means, and for some figures, portraits are unavailable:

1. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a writer, abolitionist and former slave. Born into what would become southern Nigeria, he was initially sold into slavery and taken to the Caribbean as a child, but would be sold at least twice more before he bought his freedom in 1766. He decided to settle in London and became involved in the British abolitionist movement in the 1780s. His first-hand account of the horrors of slavery 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano' was published in 1789 and it really drove home the horrors of slavery to the general British public. He also worked tirelessly to support freed slaves like himself who experienced racism and inequality living in Britain's cities. He was a leading member of the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist group, whose members were primarily freed black men (the Sons of Africa has been called the first black political organisation in British history). He married an English woman, Susannah, and when he died in 1797, he left his fortune of roughly £73,000 to his daughter, Joanna. Equiano's World is a great online resource for those interested in his life, his work, and his writings.

2. Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades (he's described as an actor, composer, writer, abolitionist, man-of-letters, and socialite - truly the perfect 18th century gentleman). He was born in the Middle Passage on a slave ship. His mother died not long after they arrived in Venezuela and his father apparently took his own life rather than become a slave. Sancho's owner gave the boy to three sisters living in London c. 1730s (presumably as a sort of pet/servant) but whilst living with them, his wit and intellect impressed the 2nd Duke of Montagu who decided to finance his education. This was the start of Sancho's literary and intellectual career and his association with the elite of London society saw him ascend. He struck up a correspondence with the writer, Laurence Sterne, in the 1760s: Sancho wrote to press Sterne to throw his intellecrual weight behind the cause of abolition. He became active in the early British abolitionist movement and be counted many well-known Georgians amongst his acquaintance. He was also the first black man known to have voted in a British election. He married a West Indian woman and in 1774, opened a grocer's shop in London, that attempted to sell goods that were not produced by slave labour. Despite his popularity in Georgian society, he still recounts many instances of racist abuse he faced on the streets of London in his diaries. He reflected that, although Britain was undoubtedly his home and he had done a lot for the country, he was 'only a lodger and hardly that' in London. His letters, which include discussions of domestic subjects as well as political issues, can be read here.

3. Francis 'Frank' Barber (1742-1801) was born a slave on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. His owner, Richard Bathurst, brought Frank to England when Frank turned 15 and decided to send him to school. The Bathursts knew the writer, Samuel Johnson, and this is how Barber and the famous writer first met (Barber briefly worked as Johnson's valet and found him an outspoken opponent of the slave trade). Richard Bathurst gave Frank his freedom when he died and Frank immediately signed up for the navy (where he apparently developed a taste for smoking pipes). In 1760, he returned permanently to England and decided to work as Samuel Johnson's servant. Johnson paid for Frank to have an expensive education and this meant Frank was able to help Johnson revise his most famous work, 'Dictionary of the English Language.' When Johnson died in 1784, he made Frank his residual heir, bequeathing him around £9000 a year (for which Johnson was criticised in the press - it was thought to be far too much), an expensive gold watch, and most of Johnson's books and papers. Johnson also encouraged Frank to move to Lichfield (where Johnson had been born) after he died: Frank duly did this and opened a draper's shop and a school with his new wife. There, he spent his time 'in fishing, cultivating a few potatoes, and a little reading' until his death in 1801. His descendants still live at a farm in Litchfield today. A biography of Frank can be purchased here. Moreover, here is a plaque erected on the railings outside of Samuel Johnson's house in Gough Square, London, to commemorate Johnson and Barber's friendship.

4. Dido Elizabeth Belle (1764-1801) was born to Maria Belle, a slave living in the West Indies. Her father was Sir John Lindsay, a British naval officer. After Dido's mother's death, Sir John took Dido to England and left her in the care of his uncle, Lord Mansfield. Dido was raised by Lord Mansfield and his wife alongside her cousin, Elizabeth Murray (the two became as close as sisters) and was, more or less, a member of the family. Mansfield was unfortunately criticised for the care and love he evidently felt for his niece - she was educated in most of the accomplishments expected of a young lady at the time, and in later life, she would use this education to act as Lord Mansfield's literary assistant. Mansfield was Lord Chief Justice of England during this period and, in 1772, it was he who ruled that slavery had no precedent in common law in England and had never been authorised. This was a significant win for the abolitionists, and was brought about no doubt in part because of Mansfield's closeness with his great-niece. Before Mansfield died in 1793, he reiterated Dido's freedom (and her right to be free) in his will and made her an heiress by leaving her an annuity. Here is a link to purchase Paula Byrne's biography of Dido, as well as a link to the film about her life (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido).

5. Ottobah Cugoano (1757-sometime after 1791) was born in present-day Ghana and sold into slavery at the age of thirteen. He worked on a plantation in Grenada until 1772, when he was purchased by a British merchant who took him to England, freed him, and paid for his education. Ottobah was employed as a servant by the artists Maria and Richard Cosway in 1784, and his intellect and charisma appealed to their high-society friends. Along with Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah was one of the leading members of the Sons of Africa and a staunch abolitionist. In 1786, he was able to rescue Henry Devane, a free black man living in London who had been kidnapped with the intention of being returned to slavery in the West Indies. In 1787, Ottobah wrote 'Thoughts And Sentiments On The Evil & Wicked Traffic Of The Slavery & Commerce Of The Human Species,' attacking slavery from a moral and Christian stand-point. It became a key text in the British abolition movement, and Ottobah sent a copy to many of England's most influential people. You can read the text here.

6. Ann Duck (1717-1744) was a sex worker, thief and highwaywoman. Her father, John Duck, was black and a teacher of swordmanship in Cheam, Surrey. He married a white woman, Ann Brough, in London c. 1717. One of Ann's brothers, John, was a crew-member of the ill-fated HMS Wager and was apparently sold into slavery after the ship wrecked off the coast of Chile on account of his race. Ann, meanwhile, would be arrested and brought to trial at least nineteen times over the course of her lifetime for various crimes, including petty theft and highway robbery. She was an established member of the Black Boy Alley Gang in Clerkenwell by 1742, and also quite frequently engaged in sex work. In 1744, she was given a guilty verdict at the Old Bailey after being arrested for a robbery: her trial probably wasn't fair as a man named John Forfar was paid off for assisting in her arrest and punishment. She was hanged at Tyburn in 1744. Some have argued that her race appears to have been irrelevant and she experienced no prejudice, but I am inclined to disagree. You can read the transcript of one of Ann Duck's trials (one that resulted in a Not Guilty verdict) here. Also worth noting that Ann Duck is the inspiration behind the character Violet Cross in the TV show 'Harlots.'

7. Bill Richmond (1763-1829) was a prize winning bare-knuckle boxer of the late 18th and early 19th century. He was born a slave in New York (then part of British America) but moved permanently to England in 1777 where he was most likely freed and received an education. His career as a boxer really took of in the early 19th century, and he took on all the prize fighters of the time, including Tom Cribb and the African American fighter, Tom Molineaux. Richmond was a sporting hero, as well as fashionable in his style and incredibly intelligent, making him something of a celebrity and a pseudo-gentleman in his time. He also opened a boxing academy and gave boxing lessons to gentlemen and aristocrats. He would ultimately settle in York to apprentice as a cabinet-maker. Unfortunately, in Yorkshire, he was subject to a lot of racism and insults based on the fact he had married a white woman. You can watch a Channel 4 documentary on Richmond here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

8. William Davidson (1781-1820) was the illegitimate son of the Attorney General of Jamaica and a slave woman. He was sent to Glasgow in Scotland to study law at the age of 14 and from this period until 1819, he moved around Britain and had a number of careers. Following the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, Davidson began to take a serious interest in radical politics, joining several societies in order to read radical and republican texts. He also became a Spencean (radical political group) through his friendship with Arthur Thistlewood and would quickly rise to become a leading member of the group. In 1820, a government provocateur tricked Davidson and other Spenceans, into being drawn into a plot to kill the Earl of Harrowby and other government cabinet officers as they dined at Harrowby's house on the 23rd February. This plot would become known as the Cato Street Conspiracy (named thus because Davidson and the other Spenceans hid in a hayloft in Cato Street whilst they waited to launch their plan). Unfortunately, this was a government set up and eleven men, including Davidson, were arrested and charged with treason. Davidson was one of five of the conspirators to not have his sentence commuted to transportation and was instead sentenced to death. He was hanged and beheaded outside of Newgate Prison in 1820. There is a book about the Cato Street Conspiracy here.

9. Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1705-1775) was born in the Kingdom of Bornu, now in modern day Nigeria. As the favourite grandson of the king of Zaara, he was a prince. Unfortunately, at the age of 15, he was sold into slavery, passing first to a Dutch captain, then to an American, and then finally to a Calvinist minister named Theodorus Frelinghuysen living in New Jersey. Frelinghuysen educated Gronniosaw and would eventually free him on his deathbed but Gronniosaw later recounted that when he had pleaded with Frelinghuysen to let him return to his family in Bornu, Frelinghuysen refused. Gronniosaw also remembered that he had attempted suicide in his depression. After being freed, Gronniosaw set his sights on travelling to Britain, mainly to meet others who shared his new-found Christian faith. He enlisted in the British army in the West Indies to raise money for his trip, and once he had obtained his discharge, he travelled to England, specifically Portsmouth. For most of his time in England, his financial situation was up and down and he would move from city to city depending on circumstances. He married an English weaver named Betty, and the pair were often helped out financially by Quakers. He began to write his life-story in early 1772 and it would be published later that year (under his adopted anglicised name, James Albert), the first ever work written by an African man to be published in Britain. It was an instant bestseller, no doubt contributing to a rising anti-slavery mood. He is buried in St Oswald's Church, Chester: his grave can still be visited today. His autobiography, A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself, can be read here.

10. Mary Prince (1788-sometime after 1833) was born into slavery in Bermuda. She was passed between several owners, all of whom very severely mistreated her. Her final owner, John Adams Wood, took Mary to England in 1828, after she requested to be able to travel as the family's servant. Mary knew that it was illegal to transport slaves out of England and thus refused to accompany Adams Wood and his family back to the West Indies. Her main issue, however, was that her husband was still in Antigua: if she returned, she would be back in enslavement, but if she did not, she might never see her husband again. She contacted the Anti-Slavery Society who attempted to help her in any way they could. They found her work (so she could support herself), tried tirelessly to convince Adams Wood to free her, and petitioned parliament to bring her husband to England. Mary successfully remained in England but it is not known whether she was ever reunited with her husband. In 1831, Mary published The History of Mary Prince, an autobiographical account of her experiences as a slave and the first work written by a black woman to be published in England. Unlike other slave narratives, that had been popular and successful in stoking some anti-slavery sentiment, it is believed that Mary's narrative ultimately clinched the goal of convincing the general British population of the necessity of abolishing slavery. Liverpool's Museum of Slavery credits Mary as playing a crucial role in abolition. You can read her narrative here. It is an incredibly powerful read. Mary writes that hearing slavers talk about her and other men and women at a slave market in Bermuda 'felt like cayenne pepper into the fresh wounds of our hearts.'

[scotianostra]

August 1st 1834 saw the abolition of slavery.

Slavery is an abhorrent thing, and something Scotland can’t just wash its hands of, in fact a Scotsman did everything he could to delay the emancipation in the UK.

Many of you will have walked through St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh, and some, myself included will have taken the obligatory pics, most of which will be dominated by a sort miniature Nelson’s Column, but atop  is the statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, the ‘Uncrowned King of Scotland’. You can just see him in the pic.   Your eyes will fall also on several buildings that would have been homes or business premises of Scots who made their fortunes in the transatlantic slave trade. Many of the houses in the New Town were owned by people with investments in the slave trade.

Back to Mr Dundas, with his immense power he held at the end of the eighteenth century, he was able to use his influence to almost single handedly delay the abolition of slave trade a further 15 years to 1807 and the subsequent abolition of British slavery in 1834. He was impeached in 1806 (then acquitted) for the misappropriation of funds, and he never held office again. Who knows how much more suffering was inflicted on African people in the Middle Passage during those 15 years?

There has been much controversy recently about his statue, it is only recently that the city of Edinburgh has relented to pressure and added a plaque to explain the extent Dundas had delayed the act which outlawed Slavery, it reads;

"At the top of this neoclassical column stands a statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811). He was the Scottish Lord Advocate, an MP for Edinburgh and Midlothian, and the First Lord of the Admiralty. Dundas was a contentious figure, provoking controversies that resonate to this day. While Home Secretary in 1792, and the first Secretary of State for War in 1796, he was instrumental in deferring the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. Slave trading by British ships was not abolished until 1807.

"As a result of this delay, more than half a million enslaved Africans crossed the Atlantic. Dundas also curbed democratic dissent in Scotland and both defended and expanded the British empire, imposing colonial rule on indigenous peoples. He was impeached in the United Kingdom for misappropriation of public money and, though acquitted, he never held public office again. Despite this, the monument before you was funded by voluntary contributions from British naval officers, petty officers, seamen and marines and was erected in 1821, with the statue placed on top in 1827. "In 2020 this plaque was dedicated to the memory of more than half a million Africans whose enslavement was a consequence of Henry Dundas's actions."

The magnificent Royal Bank of Scotland’s headquarters, Dundas House, was the original home of Lawrence Dundas, cousin to Henry Dundas. His brother George Heneage Lawrence Dundas owned plantations in Grenada and Dominica.

The 4th Earl of Hopetoun, the nephew of Henry Dundas’ second wife, and the vice governor of the bank, is immortalised in the bronze statue outside the bank. He was second in command to fellow Scot, Ralph Abercromby, commander-in-chief of the British forces in the West Indies. Together, the men helped to end the two year slave revolution led by French-African Julien Fedon in Grenada in 1795-6 in the fight against the French for islands in the West Indies. Fedon was a highly skilled strategist, and his men executed 40 British, including Scottish governor Ninian Home at his home in Paraclete.

After 15 months of fighting the rebels were captured and executed in the Market Square. Yet Fedon was never found. Legend says he escaped to a neighbouring island on a canoe, aided by either the Amerindians or ‘Black Caribs’ in St.Vincent.

The suppression of this revolution resulted in slavery continuing for almost another 40 years in Grenada.

And when the eventual abolition came it was Dundas and his cronies who profited further with compensation deals running into what today would be billions of pounds.

Read more on this despicable man and the trade helped lengthen here. https://historycompany.co.uk/2014/08/02/henry-dundas-lofty-hero-or-lowlife-crook/

[dwellordream]

This question might be a bit triggering but do you ever get sucked out of a historical novel (romance, drama etc) when you think of what goes on outside the bounds of the story? For example I was reading a Jane Austen book a while back when I remembered it was set in the early 1800s...Does it really need to be mentioned that something horrible was happening to a few groups of people in the early 1800s.

I think anyone reading or writing Regency romances needs to be cognizant of the fact that while the British Empire banned the trading of enslaved peoples within the Empire in 1807, this did not free the existing enslaved workforces within the British Empire. It simply prohibited the trade of new enslaved peoples. And while the Slavery Abolition Act was signed into law in 1833, that act did not apply to any of the territories controlled by the East India Company. Slavery was not banned in these territories until 1843.

It is also important to note that the Slavery Abolition Act was largely prompted by the Baptist War in Jamaica, in which the enslaved Jamaicans took matters into their own hands and fought for their freedom, with tremendous costs. There were only 14 casualties among the British slavers, while 500+ enslaved people were killed during the uprising, and 300+ more were executed afterwards for offenses as minor as stealing a single pig or cow. They were buried in mass graves and the chapels of the enslaved Jamaicans were burned and their ministers tarred and feathered.

Readers and writers should understand that many elite families in Regency era Britain had shares in the East India Company and operated plantations in the Caribbean/West Indies and other locations. The beautiful estates (Harewood House, for example) and courtly manners back in England were the product of wealth built on the backs of enslaved men, women, and children. This is touched upon (however briefly) in Austen's Mansfield Park and very rarely acknowledged in Regency romances and period dramas set in the early 1800s created by modern writers.

Does this mean no one can enjoy a period drama or Regency romance? Obviously not, but you should have some awareness of what was going on within the British Empire and what the real price of this luxury and elegance and romantic aesthetic was. 20 million pounds was paid out to British slave owners in 'recompense' for the loss of their profits in 1833. And this isn't even touching on what was being done to the people of India under British rule in the 1810s and 1820s.

[fatehbaz]

The Empire built on Caribbean lives and landscapes:

Slavery was foundational to Britain’s prosperity and rise to global power. Throughout the eighteenth century the empire’s epicenter lay not in North America, Africa, or India but in a handful of small sugar-producing Caribbean islands. The two most important -- tiny Barbados and its larger, distant neighbor Jamaica -- were among the most profitable places on earth. On the eve of the American Revolution, the nominal wealth of an average white person was £42 in England and £60 in North America. In Jamaica, it was £2,200. Immense fortunes were made there and poured unceasingly back to Britain. This gigantic influx of capital funded the building of countless Palladian country houses [...]. Sugar became Britain’s single largest import, and the craze for it revolutionized national diets, spending habits, and social life -- not least because of its association with that other newly fashionable drug, tea. Between 1700 and 1800, English consumption of sugar skyrocketed from about four pounds per person per year to almost twenty, roughly ten times as much as that of the French.

---

White supremacy was always unstable and incomplete.

Despite the vast imbalance of power between slaveholders and enslaved people, Jamaican slavery was marked by continuous violent resistance. In addition to numerous smaller conspiracies, and full-blown wars between the colonists and Maroons in 1728–1739 and 1795–1796, we know of major plots, involving hundreds, sometimes thousands, of slaves, in 1673, 1676, 1678, 1685–1687, 1690, 1745, 1760, 1766, 1776, 1791–1792, 1808, 1815, 1819, 1823–1824, and 1831–1832. [...] The threat of an invasion that would spark slave mutiny was never far away; nor was the inflammatory news of risings in neighboring colonies. In the 1790s, following a mass slave [revolt] on Saint-Domingue [Haiti] [...], repeated military expeditions from Jamaica and Britain tried unsuccessfully to capture the territory from rival French and Spanish forces and to reimpose slavery. Altogether, perhaps as many as 350,000 people died on all sides before the establishment of the free black republic of Haiti in 1804. [...] In the decades following the Coromantee War, Jamaican slavery expanded and flourished as never before. In 1760 there had been about 150,000 slaves on the island; by 1808 there were over 350,000. To safeguard its white inhabitants, the colony became ever more heavily militarized. In the aftermath of rebellion, new laws severely curtailed the rights and movements not only of slaves but also of all other nonwhites: white solidarity was increasingly seen as crucial to security.

---

The British finally outlawed the transatlantic trade in 1807 (the same year the United States did). But the fantasy of an acquiescent [...] class, governed by benevolent masters, never materialized, nor did the gradual withering away of slavery that abolitionists had hoped for. On the contrary, as Tom Zoellner argues in Island on Fire, it was another Jamaican [revolt] that finally precipitated the end of British slavery in the West Indies. Shortly after Christmas 1831, between 30,000 and 60,000 men and women rose up and ran away, refusing to work any longer as slaves. Hundreds of plantations were set on fire [...]. The Slavery Abolition Act didn’t apply to India or Ceylon, and though it technically liberated over 800,000 British slaves in the Caribbean and Africa, all of them (excepting only small children) were forced to continue to labor as unpaid “apprentices” for a further six years, on pain of punishment. Under the terms of the act, they were protected against overwork and direct violence from employers, but remained their “transferable property,” subject to punishment for “indolence,” “insolence,” or “insubordination.” So many black West Indians were jailed for resisting these outrageous terms that full emancipation was eventually brought forward to August 1, 1838. [...]

---

A century on, the independence of most Caribbean colonies in the 1960s was followed by decades of racist British immigration policies that not only sought to prevent black West Indians from coming to the UK but eventually, under the Conservative governments of the past decade, ended up deliberately destroying the lives of thousands of lifelong legal residents by treating them as “illegal migrants.” In the meantime, for almost two hundred years, British taxpayers funded the largest slavery-related reparations ever paid out. Under the provisions of the 1833 act, the government borrowed and then disbursed the staggering sum of £20 million (equal to 40 percent of its annual budget—the equivalent of £300 billion in today’s value). Not until 2015 was that debt finally paid off. This unprecedented compensation for injustice went not to those whose lives had been spent in slavery, nor even to those descended from the millions who had died in captivity.

It was all given to British slaveowners, as restitution for the loss of their human property.

---

Text by: Fara Dabhoiwala. “Speech and Slavery in the West Indies.” The New York Review. 20 August 2020. [Bold emphasis and italicized first line added by me.]