{"id":6125,"date":"2023-02-15T19:50:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T18:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/bristol\/?p=6125"},"modified":"2023-02-15T19:51:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T18:51:20","slug":"speaker-meeting-monday-13th-february-2023-gary-best-historian-slavery-in-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/bristol\/2023\/02\/15\/speaker-meeting-monday-13th-february-2023-gary-best-historian-slavery-in-bristol\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker Meeting Monday 13th February 2023: Gary Best, Historian \u2013 Slavery in Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gary started by telling us that his talk would be a brief outline of slavery in Bristol and Bristol\u2019s involvement.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Eventually slavery started to die out because it was said that if you were a Christian you could not have a slave.<\/p>\n

In the 15th<\/sup> Century John Cabot, encouraged by Henry 8th<\/sup>, was Bristol\u2019s the first link to the slave trade.\u00a0 John\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Bristol\u2019s involvement started with the sugar trade where they relied on the use of African slaves.\u00a0 Due to the civil war in the 17th<\/sup> century the British royal families fled to\u00a0\u00a0 France where slavery was acceptable and therefore acceptable to them too.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Even though Bristol was the 2nd<\/sup> biggest port in the country at first their boat owners were not allowed to get involved.\u00a0 Eventually Bristol was included but had to pay a 10% tax to the Royal African Company and eventually had 40% of the slave trade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1807 after a lot of discussion Britain prepared to abolish slavery which in the British Empire eventually took place in1833.\u00a0 As money had been the attraction the people involved were offered compensation, \u00a320 million in total.\u00a0 This wealth can be seen today as many of Bristol\u2019s Victorian buildings built in the 19th<\/sup> century were funded by the \u00a320 million.\u00a0\u00a0 Queen Square was the first place in Bristol to show off the success and wealth of the traders.\u00a0 There are many more wonderful houses funded by the slave trade such as Goldney Hall in Clifton.\u00a0 On a final note, there are more slaves in the world now in 2023 than in the 18th<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\n

Thank you, Gary, for enlightening us on the slave trade particularly in relation to Bristol.<\/p>\n

See the full transcript below.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Full transcript<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gary started by telling us that his talk would be a brief outline of slavery in Bristol and Bristol\u2019s involvement.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Eventually slavery started to die out because it was said that if you were a Christian you could not have a slave.<\/p>\n

In 1066 10% of the population in the United Kingdom (UK) were slaves.\u00a0 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 .\u00a0 Slavery everywhere else flourished and many ports in southern Europe were slave ports.\u00a0 The money involved was an attraction so even countries opposed to slavery were attracted by the money.<\/p>\n

In the 15th<\/sup> Century John Cabot, encouraged by Henry 8th<\/sup>, was Bristol\u2019s the first link to the slave trade.\u00a0 John\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Bristol\u2019s involvement started with the sugar trade where they relied on the use of African slaves.\u00a0 Due to the civil war in the 17th<\/sup> century the British royal families fled to\u00a0\u00a0 France where slavery was acceptable and therefore acceptable to them too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Royal Adventurers in Africa\u201d was set up by Charles 2nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 This was a trading company that transported gold and other commodities including slaves.\u00a0 Britain got involved with \u201cthe triangular trade\u201d 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.\u00a0 Although Britain was prominent in slavery it was less involved than some other countries.<\/p>\n

So back to Bristol.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Even though Bristol was the 2nd<\/sup> biggest port in the country at first their boat owners were not allowed to get involved.\u00a0 Eventually Bristol was included but had to pay a 10% tax to the Royal African Company and eventually had 40% of the slave trade.<\/p>\n

To make people more comfortable about the slave trade they were told that the slaves were happy in their jobs.\u00a0 However, slaves were \u201cstolen\u201d from their families and had to walk many miles to the coast where they waited sometimes months for the ship to arrive.\u00a0 They were then herded onto the ship, put down in the hold in an 18\u201d space with no toilet facilities and chained.\u00a0 Many slaves died before they reached their final destination.\u00a0\u00a0 Once they arrived and bought, they were marked for example on\u00a0 their face so they could be identified.<\/p>\n

John Wesley (a leader of the Methodist Church) was opposed to slavery and many other people in England were opposed to slavery too.\u00a0 In his book \u201cThoughts upon Slavery\u201d he said \u201cwe are the savages because we are doing the enslaving\u201d.\u00a0 Wesley told the people of America \u201cyou can not to be a Methodist if you are a slave owner\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 1807 after a lot of discussion Britain prepared to abolish slavery which in the British Empire eventually took place in1833.\u00a0 As money had been the attraction the people involved were offered compensation, \u00a320 million in total.\u00a0 This wealth can be seen today as many of Bristol\u2019s Victorian buildings built in the 19th<\/sup> century were funded by the \u00a320 million.\u00a0\u00a0 Queen Square was the first place in Bristol to show off the success and wealth of the traders.\u00a0 There are many more wonderful houses funded by the slave trade such as Goldney Hall in Clifton.\u00a0 On a final note, there are more slaves in the world now in 2023 than in the 18th<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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