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Participation in the Transatlantic
Slave Trade stretched across Europe, beginning with the Portuguese
and Spanish and closely followed by the Dutch, French and English.
The enslavement of Africans by the English reached proportions that
were not known before and England was home to the most famous and
important trading company – the Royal Africa Company, set up
in 1672. Individuals from the country’s ruling classes, from
the monarchy, to MPs, politicians and merchants who went on to found
some of England’s economic monuments such as the Bank of England,
were involved in the enslavement of Africans for great profit. It
is debated as to whether this was the decisive factor in Europe’s
Industrial Revolution, however the trading in enslaved Africans certainly
fuelled the economic development of Europe on a massive scale.
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Enslaved
Africans taken to the coast © Anti-Slavery International
View of a Custom House, 1750
© National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Transatlantic
Slavery Gallery, Liverpool |
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Enslaved Africans taken to the coast
View of a Custom House, 1750
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