Regency era _ assignments

1. PROJECT THEME: THE SLAVE TRADE IN GEORGIAN BRITAIN
By: Anna Papacharalampous
Class: A3
Since the beginning of the Georgian period Britain started establishing itself as an
internationalpoweratthe centre of anexpandingempire. Acceleratingchangesfromthe late
18th
century’s pushedBritaintobecome the world’sfirst industrialized nation. One of the key
cornerstonesof Georgianerawas undeniablythe slave trade. The slave trade combinedwith
industrialization brought immense wealth to those involved at great human cost.
General information
Great Britainhad alreadyplayedasignificantrole inthe transatlanticslave trade since 1562,
but by the 1730s Britain was the world’s biggest slave-trading nation. London wasthe
financial heart of the system, and ships from Liverpool, London and Bristol dominated the
slave routes, supported by Glasgow and Lancaster. Ships leaving Britain were filled with
goods, which were exchanged for enslaved Africans on the westAfrican
coast. These people were thentransported acrossthe Atlantictobe soldasslavesto workon
plantations. BritishshipstransportedmorethanthreemillionAfricans,mainlytoitsCaribbean
and North American colonies. Slave trade was pretty popular among almost all of the
EuropeannationsandAmericatoo butduringthe Georgianperiodtherewasanunremarkable
increase in the use of slaves.
Black people taken to ships to be sold as slaves.

2. Black enslaved people working in plantations.
Population of slaves during the 18th
century
It is estimatedtherewere over20,000 blackpeople livingin Georgian Britain,mainlyincities
such as London.People hadsettledthere –mainlyforreasonsassociatedwithslavery.Many
were domestic servants, seamen or soldiers.
Painting of Dido Belle, the black grandniece of an influential 18-century justice and her
cousin.
Slavery and Jane Austen

3. Jane Austenone of the biggestwritersof the regencyera addressedthe issue inanindirect
wayin MansfieldParkandEmma, withthe Bertramfortune restingonslave trade andMrs.
Elton’smerchantfathersituatedinBristol,one of three majorslave-tradingcentersin
Britain.
Evidence of Jane Austen’sdistasteforslavery,andreallyanyformof oppression,isclearin
herwritings,particularlyinthe “ChawtonNovels”: Mansfield Park (1811-1813),
Emma (1814-1815), and Persuasion (1815-1816). These three novelswere writteninthe
decade afterthe 1807 AbolitionActandreflectthe abolitionistclimateinwhichtheywere
written(Warraq). Itispossible that hertwosailorbrothers toldvividtalesof theirtravelsin
theirlettersandwhentheyreturnedhome foravisit.Jane,whoparticipatedinfamily
conversations,wasaware of humantraffickingandexploitation. A few yearsafterherdeath,
Charlesactivelypatrolledthe seasagainstthe slave trade.
Parliament’s stance
For a lotof decades, Parliament,withroyal supportandbacking,had stronglysupported the
development of a large and growing enslaved African population inthe Britishcolonies. The
slave trade produced vast wealth for plantation owners, financial backers and traders.
Parliamentpassed more than one hundred acts supporting and protectingthe slave
trade. Many politicians and others had business interests inthe plantations, slave trading
companies, andslave-produced commodities such as cotton and sugar. These exotic
commodities and the richesthey created proved irresistible, and the slave trade was a large
factor that made Britain wealthier.
Picture of the english parliament in the regency era.
Ban of the slave trade

4. After years of campaigning of the abolitionists in 1807 the British Parliamentmade it illegal
for BritishshipstotransportenslavedAfricanstoBritishcolonies.Unfortunatelydefendersof
the abolition such as former slave and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano did not live to see that
success in this country, although his only surviving child Joanna Vassa did.
Olaudah Equiano
References:
Introduction:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/georgians/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 5:49 pm
https://www.bl.uk/teaching-resources/georgians-the-slave-trade
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 5:41 pm
General knowledge:
Text:
https://heritagecollections.parliament.uk/stories/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 6:37 pm

5. Image 1:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/25/slavery-database-britain-must-
take-responsibility
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 7:31 pm
Image 2:
https://theindustrialrevolutionjaime.weebly.com/slavery.html
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 7:34 pm
Population of slaves during the 18th
century:
Text:
https://www.haringey.gov.uk/culture/black-history/timeline/georgian
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 6:10 pm
Image:
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/travel/londons-legacy-in-the-slave-trade.html
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 7:43 pm
Slavery and Jane Austen:
https://janeaustensworld.com/2013/03/10/georgian-britain-legacies-of-british-slave-
ownership/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 8:54 pm
https://consideringausten.wordpress.com/austen-and-antigua-slavery-in-her-time/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 9:02 pm
Parliament’s stance:
Text:
https://heritagecollections.parliament.uk/stories/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 7:00 pm
Image:
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/history-of-slavery/parliament-and-
the-british-slave-trade/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 7:56 pm
Ban of the slave trade:

6. Text:
https://www.haringey.gov.uk/culture/black-history/timeline/abolition
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 6:18 pm
Image :
https://heritagecalling.com/2016/11/14/5-black-heroes-of-the-abolition-movement-in-
britain/
Visited at 9/4/2022 at 8:04 pm