Gary started by telling us that his talk would be a brief outline of slavery in Bristol and Bristol’s involvement.
He said that all ancient civilizations had slaves and quoted the Bible on a number of occasions saying that it was pro-slavery and that slaves should be treated better. Eventually slavery started to die out because it was said that if you were a Christian you could not have a slave.
In the 15th Century John Cabot, encouraged by Henry 8th, was Bristol’s the first link to the slave trade. John’s son Sebastian Cabot was a slave trader, at first only one or two people wanted to get involved then many more as they realised that amount of money it would attract. Bristol’s involvement started with the sugar trade where they relied on the use of African slaves. Due to the civil war in the 17th century the British royal families fled to France where slavery was acceptable and therefore acceptable to them too.
In 1620 Edward Colston got involved in the slave trade and joined the Company Charles had set up. However, there is no historical evidence that Colston organised a slave ship. His role in slavery was not as big as it is made out to be especially as most of the Bristol slave trade occurred after Colston died. Even though Bristol was the 2nd biggest port in the country at first their boat owners were not allowed to get involved. Eventually Bristol was included but had to pay a 10% tax to the Royal African Company and eventually had 40% of the slave trade.
In 1807 after a lot of discussion Britain prepared to abolish slavery which in the British Empire eventually took place in1833. As money had been the attraction the people involved were offered compensation, £20 million in total. This wealth can be seen today as many of Bristol’s Victorian buildings built in the 19th century were funded by the £20 million. Queen Square was the first place in Bristol to show off the success and wealth of the traders. There are many more wonderful houses funded by the slave trade such as Goldney Hall in Clifton. On a final note, there are more slaves in the world now in 2023 than in the 18th Century.
Thank you, Gary, for enlightening us on the slave trade particularly in relation to Bristol.
See the full transcript below.
Full transcript
Gary started by telling us that his talk would be a brief outline of slavery in Bristol and Bristol’s involvement. He said that all ancient civilizations had slaves and quoted the Bible on a number of occasions saying that it was pro-slavery and that slaves should be treated better. Eventually slavery started to die out because it was said that if you were a Christian you could not have a slave.
In 1066 10% of the population in the United Kingdom (UK) were slaves. During the Black death up to 60% of the population died and slaves disappeared at that time people in the UK started to say slavery was wrong . Slavery everywhere else flourished and many ports in southern Europe were slave ports. The money involved was an attraction so even countries opposed to slavery were attracted by the money.
In the 15th Century John Cabot, encouraged by Henry 8th, was Bristol’s the first link to the slave trade. John’s son Sebastian Cabot was a slave trader, at first only one or two people wanted to get involved then many more as they realised that amount of money it would attract. Bristol’s involvement started with the sugar trade where they relied on the use of African slaves. Due to the civil war in the 17th century the British royal families fled to France where slavery was acceptable and therefore acceptable to them too.
“The Royal Adventurers in Africa” was set up by Charles 2nd. This was a trading company that transported gold and other commodities including slaves. Britain got involved with “the triangular trade” a triangle where for example they took products to Africa where they collected slaves, took them to America and the products the slaves produced were then taken to Britain. Although Britain was prominent in slavery it was less involved than some other countries.
So back to Bristol. In 1620 Edward Colston got involved in the slave trade and joined the Company Charles had set up. However, there is no historical evidence that Colston organised a slave ship. His role in slavery was not as big as it is made out to be especially as most of the Bristol slave trade occurred after Colston died. Even though Bristol was the 2nd biggest port in the country at first their boat owners were not allowed to get involved. Eventually Bristol was included but had to pay a 10% tax to the Royal African Company and eventually had 40% of the slave trade.
To make people more comfortable about the slave trade they were told that the slaves were happy in their jobs. However, slaves were “stolen” from their families and had to walk many miles to the coast where they waited sometimes months for the ship to arrive. They were then herded onto the ship, put down in the hold in an 18” space with no toilet facilities and chained. Many slaves died before they reached their final destination. Once they arrived and bought, they were marked for example on their face so they could be identified.
John Wesley (a leader of the Methodist Church) was opposed to slavery and many other people in England were opposed to slavery too. In his book “Thoughts upon Slavery” he said “we are the savages because we are doing the enslaving”. Wesley told the people of America “you can not to be a Methodist if you are a slave owner”.
In 1807 after a lot of discussion Britain prepared to abolish slavery which in the British Empire eventually took place in1833. As money had been the attraction the people involved were offered compensation, £20 million in total. This wealth can be seen today as many of Bristol’s Victorian buildings built in the 19th century were funded by the £20 million. Queen Square was the first place in Bristol to show off the success and wealth of the traders. There are many more wonderful houses funded by the slave trade such as Goldney Hall in Clifton. On a final note, there are more slaves in the world now in 2023 than in the 18th Century.