On August 23, 2019, an agreement was signed in Glasgow by the Universities of Glasgow and of the West Indies. The University of Glasgow committed £20 million towards the setting up of the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research, to be co-located in Glasgow and in the Caribbean. This is part of a “programme of restorative justice” undertaken in response to the University of Glasgow having benefited financially from the historical transatlantic slave trade.
Britain’s involvement with the slave trade has recently led to much debate as well as opened up new avenues of scholarly study. Until recently, there has been a failure to acknowledge and respond to the lingering injustices of past slavery. The slave trade and plantation slavery contributed significantly to the economic growth of the nation, but much of the history of slavery remains untold and has been left out of the history books. Many British people believe that raking up past injustices is counter-productive and may not achieve anything useful, given that centuries have elapsed since the events took place. In recent years, however, increased awareness of the realities of slavery has prompted apologies by politicians and other symbolic gestures, all condemning what are now regarded as crimes against humanity.
How to make meaningful reparations to the descendants of slaves and to the African nations which provided slaves remains unclear. A lack of reliable records and the considerable time that has elapsed since the events have taken place contrasts with the situation by which German reparations for the victims of the more recent Holocaust have been made.
To put things into perspective, it is important to reflect on the history of slavery. England dominated the slave trade between the 1640s and 1807, having rapidly overtaken the Dutch, the Portuguese and the Spanish in this lucrative business. Sir John Hawkins was the first major English slave trader, undertaking three major slaving voyages from West Africa to the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean during 1562-63, 1564-65 and 1567-69. He traded these slaves in return for pearl, ginger, animal hides and sugar, which he brought back to England. The financial benefits of slavery were soon recognised and encouraged other nations to enter the slave trade.
Hawkins’ voyages were followed by a regular transtlantic trade in slaves, which became well established by the mid-17th century. The Triangle Trade began with the transportation of English goods (firearms and ammunition, rum, metal goods and textiles) to the west coast of Africa in exchange for a human cargo of slaves. African and Arab traders handed over their captives, who were transported along the Middle Passage, the main trading route to the Caribbean and the Americas. These newly enslaved people were then sold on to plantation owners. The plantations in turn produced items such as sugar and tobacco for consumption back in England.
The Slave Coast of West Africa, which extended along the Bight of Benin coast of the Gulf of Guinea from the Volta River delta to the Niger river delta, came to be dotted with forts and castles, which protected local officials and their gold and incorporated prisons which held men, women and children awaiting purchase by traders and transportation to the New World. Some of these sites remind us today of their infamous past,
London, Bristol and Liverpool became the three important ports for the slave trade in England and thrived on the traffic in slaves. The wealth that was generated from the plantations of the West Indies and the American colonies funded the building of many mansions and townhouses, municipal buildings and docks and went into the creation of magnificent country estates. Plantation owners, ship owners, merchants, manufacturers and bankers all benefited from the thriving trade in slaves and vigorously resisted any attempts to abolish slavery.
The social conscience of the Quakers and other Christian reformers led eventually to the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which received the Royal Assent on March 25 1807. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 went on to free around 800,000 African slaves. Their 46,000 owners were to be compensated by the Slave Compensation Commission that had been set up by the government. The slaves did not receive any compensation, and had to provide 45 hours of unpaid labour each week to their former masters for a further four years.
None of this is surprising. Slaves were treated as property, itemised in inventories, recorded for purposes of taxation, and inherited through wills. The dehumanisation of large populations of dispossessed people, uprooted from their homes and livelihoods and transported to an alien environment, has led to lasting social problems, which are particularly evident in the Deep South of the United States. There are no easy solutions and quick fixes for such massive injustices. There is a need to redress the persisting social and economic inequalities that still seem to affect the many descendants of slaves.
Ashis Banerjee