EAN: 9781509552689

SLAVERY CAPITALISM AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIO...

The role of slavery in driving Britain's economic development is often debated  but seldom
given a central place. In their remarkable new book  Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson 'follow the
money' to document in revealing detail the role of slavery in the making of Britain's
industrial revolution. Slavery was not just a source of wealth for a narrow circle of slave
owners who built grand country houses and filled them with luxuries. The forces set in motion
by the slave and plantation trades seeped into almost every aspect of the economy and society.
In textile mills  iron and copper smelting  steam power  and financial institutions  slavery
played a crucial part. Things we might think far removed from the taint of slavery  such as
eighteenth-century fashions for indigo-patterned cloth  sweet tea  snuff boxes  mahogany
furniture  ceramics and silverware  were intimately connected. Even London's role as a centre
for global finance was partly determined by the slave trade as insurance  financial trading and
mortgage markets were developed in the City to promote distant and risky investments in
enslaved people. The result is a bold and unflinching account of how Britain became a global
superpower  and how the legacy of slavery persists. Acknowledging Britain's role in slavery is
not just about toppling statues and renaming streets. We urgently need to come to terms with
slavery's inextricable links with Western capitalism  and the ways in which many of us continue
to benefit from slavery to this day.

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