Slavery in Britain: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 86: The privateer [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|Sir John Hawkins]] of [[Plymouth]], a notable [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] seafarer, is widely acknowledged to be "the Pioneer of the English Slave Trade". In 1554, Hawkins formed a slave-trading syndicate, a group of merchants. He sailed with three ships for the Caribbean via [[Sierra Leone]], hijacked a Portuguese [[slave ship]] and sold the 300 slaves from it in [[Santo Domingo]]. During a second voyage in 1564, his crew captured 400 Africans and sold them at [[Riohacha|Rio de la Hacha]] in present-day Colombia, making a 60% profit for his financiers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=O'Doherty|first=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hPVlDwAAQBAJ&q=During+a+second+voyage+in+1564%2C+his+crew+captured+400+Africans+and+sold+them+at+Rio+de+la+Hacha+in+present-day+Colombia%2C+making+a+60%25+profit+for+his+financiers&pg=PA204|title=Healing Britain - Restoring a Sense of Reality, Stability and Direction in the United Kingdom|date=2018-07-16|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-387-94702-7}}</ref> A third voyage involved both buying slaves directly in Africa and capturing another Portuguese slave ship with its cargo; upon reaching the Caribbean, Hawkins sold all his slaves. On his return, he published a book entitled ''An Alliance to Raid for Slaves''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/29293476|title=The Atlantic slave trade|last=Northrup|first= David|year=1994|isbn=0-669-33145-7|location=Lexington, Massachusetts.|oclc=29293476}}</ref> It is estimated that Hawkins transported 1,500 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic during his four voyages of the 1560s, before stopping in 1568 after a battle with the Spanish in which he lost five of his seven ships.<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Hawkins {{!}} Admiral, Privateer, Slave Trader|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/john-hawkins-admiral-privateer-slave-trader|access-date=2021-04-23|website=www.rmg.co.uk}}</ref> English involvement in the [[Atlantic slave trade]] only resumed in the 1640s after the country acquired an American colony ([[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]]).<ref>[[Miranda Kaufmann|Kaufmann, Miranda]] (2017). [https://books.google.com/books?id=mSZ4DgAAQBAJ ''Black Tudors: The Untold Story'']. Oneworld Publications. {{ISBN|9781786071859}}, pp. 58 & 87.</ref> By the mid-18th century, [[History of African presence in London|London had the largest African population in Britain]]. The number of black people living in Britain by that point has been estimated by historians to be roughly 10,000, though contemporary reports put that number as high as 20,000.<ref name="black_people">{{Cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/europe/black_people.aspx|title=Black people in Europe – International Slavery Museum, Liverpool museums|website=www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk|access-date=2016-10-11}}</ref> Some Africans living in Britain would run away from their masters, many of whom responded by placing advertisements in newspapers offering rewards for the returns.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://qz.com/1301918/researchers-discovered-hundreds-of-ads-for-runaway-slaves-in-18th-century-britain/ |title=Researchers discovered hundreds of ads for runaway slaves in 18th-century Britain |last=Mohdin |first=Aamna |website=Quartz |date=12 June 2018 |language=en-US |access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref><ref name=Ruane>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/07/03/ads-for-runaway-slaves-in-british-newspapers-show-the-cruelty-of-the-genteel/ |title=Ads for runaway slaves in British newspapers show the cruelty of the 'genteel' |last= Ruane |first=Michael E. |date=3 July 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2018-09-03 }}</ref> A number of former black slaves managed to achieve prominence in 18th-century British society. [[Ignatius Sancho]] (1729–1780), known as "The Extraordinary Negro", opened his own grocer's shop in Westminster.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ignatius Sancho|url=https://www.bl.uk/people/ignatius-sancho|access-date=2021-04-23|website=The British Library}}</ref> He was famous for his poetry and music, and his friends included the novelist [[Laurence Sterne]], [[David Garrick]] the actor and the [[John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu|Duke]] and [[Mary Montagu, Duchess of Montagu (1689–1751)|Duchess of Montague]]. He is best known for his letters which were published after his death. Others, such as [[Olaudah Equiano]] and [[Ottobah Cugoano]] were equally well known, and along with Ignatius Sancho were active in the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|British abolition campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=African writers and Black thought in 18th-century Britain|url=https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/african-writers-and-black-thought-in-18th-century-britain|access-date=2021-04-23|website=The British Library}}</ref> Line 96: * A group of young men of African heritage escaped from Stanton’s Dockyard, Deptford in 1759.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Runaways :: Management - Display Record |url=https://runaways.gla.ac.uk/database/display/?rid=291 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=runaways.gla.ac.uk}}</ref> Known by the pseudonyms Boatswain, Johnny Mass, Jack Black and Harry Green, these four men ran from captivity aboard the Hampden packet ship, whilst she was being repaired. The ship’s commander, Richard Mackenzie, believed they had made their way to Gravesend intending to board another vessel. A mariner of the same name, wrote his will in 1762, recording financial interests in Hanover parish, Jamaica.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary of Individual {{!}} Legacies of British Slavery |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146660681 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> * John Lewis, was an enslaved African belonging to Captain James Reid, a mariner trading with Grenada who resided in East Lane, Rotherhithe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Runaways :: Management - Display Record |url=https://www.runaways.gla.ac.uk/database/display/?rid=369 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.runaways.gla.ac.uk}}</ref> In April 1768, John returned to London on board the Lord Holland, East Indiaman - a merchant ship trading with India and China, lost the following year en-route to Madras.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bowen |first=H.V. |date=May 2020 |title=The shipping losses of the British East India Company, 1750–1813 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0843871420920963 |journal=International Journal of Maritime History |language=en |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=323–336 |doi=10.1177/0843871420920963 |issn=0843-8714}}</ref> A few months later he absconded from the Reid house. An able seaman and servant, fluent in both English and French, he was highly valued. Captain Reid offered a significant reward of 5 guineas and expenses for his recapture and return, the equivalent of £500 today. * Not all enslaved individuals in Britain were African. The word 'black' was used in 17th and 18th century newspaper adverts to describe people from many different non-white cultures. In 1764, a young girl known as Henny or Henrietta, described as an ‘East India Black girl’ (possibly from Bengal) resided with Ebenezer Mussel and his 23 year old wife, Sarah in [[Aldgate]] House, [[Bethnal Green]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Judd, Prof. Denis, (born 28 Oct. 1938), Professor of British and Imperial History, London Metropolitan University (formerly North London Polytechnic, then University of North London), 1990–2004, now Emeritus; Professor of British Imperial History, New York University in London, since 2006 |date=2007-12-01 |work=Who's Who |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.4000067 |access-date=2024-04-18 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.4000067 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Runaways :: Management - Display Record |url=https://runaways.gla.ac.uk/database/display/?rid=601 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=runaways.gla.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=F. M. L. |date=April 2001 |title=The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex. Vol. IX: Early Stepney with Bethnal Green, T. F. T. Baker |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/enghis/116.466.435 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=116 |issue=466 |pages=435–436 |doi=10.1093/enghis/116.466.435 |issn=1477-4534}}</ref> Ebenezer was well known as a Justice of the Peace, and was also an influential book collector.<ref>{{Cite web |title=31. The Alnwick Muster Roll |url=https://www.flodden1513ecomuseum.org/project/the-campaign/31-the-alnwick-muster-roll |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=DENNIS |first=RODNEY G. |date=1990 |title= ===Triangular trade=== Line 169: The presently ruling [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|King Charles III]] publicly expressed remorse for these actions in the context of [[Coronation of Charles III and Camilla|his formal coronation]] in 2023. "I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of many, as I continue to deepen my understanding of slavery's enduring impact," concluded an official statement from Buckingham Palace. He additionally has given access to the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives to assist with the scholarly research into British slavery.<ref name="Brown">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/king-charles-ancestors-slave-trade-1.6834020|title=King Charles's predecessors abetted the slave trade, and research aims to show what they knew|publisher=[[CBC News]]|date=7 May 2023|accessdate=18 January 2024|first=Chris|last=Brown}}</ref> A publication of the [[Australian Institute of International Affairs]] (AIIA) on 9 November 2023, a [[think tank]] based out of [[Australia|that country]], analyzed the King's widely reported [[State visit by Charles III to Kenya|state visit to Kenya]] and described its reconciling events as seeming "effusive in" their "repentance". The statement noted that "[c]ollecting the evidence of wrongdoings poses a... challenge" when detailing the actions against [[Kenya]] and other subjects of [[colonialism]] since "[m]any of those actively engaged in the slave trade were leaders or executives in the largest companies and institutions of the time." The fact that the "first British company to engage in the slave trade was the Royal African Company, in which the Royal family of the time had a financial interest", presents particular difficulties according to the think tank.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/the-monarchy-in-kenya-king-charles-iii-and-the-reparations-debate/ | title=The Monarchy in Kenya: King Charles III and the Reparations Debate }}</ref> ==Modern slavery== | |||