Josiah Wedgwood's anti-slavery medallion, 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?', 1787
As early as the 15th century the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and the British had been rivals when it came to trading in goods and slaves from Asia and Africa. The Europeans fought many wars with one another over land and sea. They all wanted to gain full control over trade.
By the 18th century the British Empire became the largest and most powerful of all the European Empires. The British alone enslaved more than 15 million Africans over three hundred years from the 16th to 19th century. African kings sent their own men to raid tribal villages to capture slaves. Men, women and children were kidnapped from the interiors of Africa and were forced in iron chains to walk hundreds of miles to ports in East and West Africa where they were purchased by British slave traders in exchange for British guns, ammunition, copper and cotton printed textiles. The British then transported the African slaves across the world to various colonies including the Americas and the West Indies.
Transportation on the slave ships was beyond horrific as the living conditions were extremely cramped and unsanitary. Hundreds of thousands of Africans died from illnesses such as typhoid (due to unclean water), dysentery, malnutrition or extreme torture on the long journey from West Africa to the Americas and West Indies. Slave ship merchants wanted to make more profits from transporting Africans so they began to pack more and more enslaved men, women and children into smaller and smaller spaces. An example of this was the Brooks ship (1781) named after one of its owners Joseph Brooks Jnr which regularly carried over 750 people in inhuman conditions even though it originally was built to carry only 451.
On the ships, the enslaved Africans were shackled by iron chains and manacles were put on their hands and feet below deck to stop them from escaping. Periodically when they were allowed above deck for fresh air, they were often taunted and tortured by the ship’s crew who would “dance the slave”. The aim of this degrading “dance” was to humiliate the Africans for their amusement and pleasure.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, “Cargo and flute” ships were used by British merchants and the British navy to establish the British Empire, transport slaves and indentured labourers across the Atlantic and bring hauls of valuable goods back to Britain. Between 1750 and 1807 most of such British ships were built in Liverpool. Over half of all the African slaves sent to the colonies, across the Atlantic as part of the transatlantic slave trade were transported on Liverpool made ships. More shockingly, all slave and naval ships made in Britain were built and equipped with copper and iron products made in Flintshire, North Wales.
By the 18th century the British Empire became the largest and most powerful of all the European Empires. The British alone enslaved more than 15 million Africans over three hundred years from the 16th to 19th century. African kings sent their own men to raid tribal villages to capture slaves. Men, women and children were kidnapped from the interiors of Africa and were forced in iron chains to walk hundreds of miles to ports in East and West Africa where they were purchased by British slave traders in exchange for British guns, ammunition, copper and cotton printed textiles. The British then transported the African slaves across the world to various colonies including the Americas and the West Indies.
Transportation on the slave ships was beyond horrific as the living conditions were extremely cramped and unsanitary. Hundreds of thousands of Africans died from illnesses such as typhoid (due to unclean water), dysentery, malnutrition or extreme torture on the long journey from West Africa to the Americas and West Indies. Slave ship merchants wanted to make more profits from transporting Africans so they began to pack more and more enslaved men, women and children into smaller and smaller spaces. An example of this was the Brooks ship (1781) named after one of its owners Joseph Brooks Jnr which regularly carried over 750 people in inhuman conditions even though it originally was built to carry only 451.
On the ships, the enslaved Africans were shackled by iron chains and manacles were put on their hands and feet below deck to stop them from escaping. Periodically when they were allowed above deck for fresh air, they were often taunted and tortured by the ship’s crew who would “dance the slave”. The aim of this degrading “dance” was to humiliate the Africans for their amusement and pleasure.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, “Cargo and flute” ships were used by British merchants and the British navy to establish the British Empire, transport slaves and indentured labourers across the Atlantic and bring hauls of valuable goods back to Britain. Between 1750 and 1807 most of such British ships were built in Liverpool. Over half of all the African slaves sent to the colonies, across the Atlantic as part of the transatlantic slave trade were transported on Liverpool made ships. More shockingly, all slave and naval ships made in Britain were built and equipped with copper and iron products made in Flintshire, North Wales.
Brookes slave ship poster 1788
References
- Chris Evans, Slave Wales The Welsh and Atlantic Slavery 1660-1850 (2010)
- Don Jordan and Michael Walsh, White Cargo The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America (2007)
- Everywhere In Chains - Wales, Slavery and Human Rights
http://old.wrexham.gov.uk/english/heritage/everywhere_in_chains/northeast_wales.htm
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Get in touchRegistered charity no. 1116970
Email: [email protected] Telephone: 01492 622233 The Equality Centre Bangor Road Penmaenmawr Conwy LL34 6LF |
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