Portrait of a Slave-Trading Family

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Longmore
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
Slave Traders

This chapter offers a perspective on the attitudes of those involved in the slave trade in the second half of the eighteenth century. Liverpool was the dominant British slaving port in this period with a core of merchants who were heavily engaged in the trade. Using a rare collection of business and personal papers belonging to a Liverpool merchant, Thomas Staniforth, questions are asked about the commercial and social networks of the slave traders, the interplay between slaving and other business concerns such as privateering and whaling, and the attitudes of an anti-abolitionist. The world of the Staniforth papers is revealed as one in which family and commercial concerns dominated, an environment which was politically saturated in the business of the slave trade and captured in a series of revealing portraits by Joseph Wright of Derby.

“Legitimate commerce” in the Eighteenth Century: The Royal African Company of England Under the Duke of Chandos, 1720–1726

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew David Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Commodity Trade ◽  
Transatlantic Slave Trade ◽  
British Trade ◽  
Slave Traders

Following the loss in 1712 of its previous monopoly over British trade with West Africa, the Royal African Company found itself unable to compete with smaller, lower-cost British slave traders and nearly collapsed entirely. Salvation seemed to arrive in 1720 in the person of James Brydges, the Duke of Chandos, who led a massive re-capitalization of the company and made the strategic decision to move its focus to the commodity trade between Europe and Africa and on the search for new botanical and mineral resources in Africa itself. While Chandos directed the RAC’s employees in implementing this radical new scheme, he kept it secret from his fellow shareholders, leading them to believe that his plans were aimed at revitalizing the company’s mature but declining line of business in the transatlantic slave trade. The Duke’s strategy, however, proved overly ambitious and failed to reverse the company’s decline.

scholarly journals The Slaving Capital in the Era of Abolition: Liverpool's Silent Rejection of the Slave Trade, 1787-1807

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Florence Baggett
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Small Group ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
The World ◽  
Member Of Parliament ◽  
Circle Drawing ◽  
Abolition Movement

<p>In 1787, when the British abolition movement began, the Liverpool slave trade was the largest in the world. Contemporaries throughout Britain, but especially in the port, viewed the slave trade as the primary source of Liverpool’s growth and prosperity in the eighteenth century. Liverpudlians, therefore, reacted negatively to the abolition movement, which they viewed as a threat to both the local and national economy. By 1788, the immense popular support generated by the abolition campaign left Liverpool isolated in its defence of the slave trade. Liverpudlians, however, were not unanimous in their support of the slave trade’s continuance. In 1787 and 1788, a small group of rational dissenters, known as the Roscoe Circle, anonymously contributed to the abolition campaign from Liverpool. The group’s namesake, William Roscoe, went on to be elected Member of Parliament for Liverpool in 1806, and in March 1807 he voted in favour of abolishing the slave trade along with 282 other MPs, against just sixteen, including Liverpool’s other MP.  This thesis examines reactions in Liverpool to the British abolition movement between the start of the campaign in 1787 and the passage of the Slave Trade Abolition Act in 1807. It highlights the periods 1787-1788 and 1796-1807 to challenge the view of Liverpool as a town almost uniformly averse to abolition throughout the twenty year campaign. Chapters One and Two examine the immediate pro- and anti-abolition responses in Liverpool in 1787 and 1788, respectively focusing on the contributions of Liverpool slaving merchants to the anti-abolition campaign and on the abolitionist activities of the Roscoe Circle. Drawing on Liverpool guidebooks and a series of letters in the Liverpool Chronicle, Chapter Three then traces the gradual change in popular feeling towards abolition that occurred in Liverpool in the last decade of the British slave trade’s existence. Ultimately, this thesis argues that rapidly dwindling Liverpudlian support for the slave trade from the mid-1790s onward has been under-valued. By 1807 Liverpudlians, wanting to re-affirm cultural ties with the rest of Britain, turned their backs on the slave trade, which had by then become a source of unease and embarrassment.</p>

scholarly journals Insuring the Transatlantic Slave Trade

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Pearson ◽  
David Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Relative Cost ◽  
Marine Insurance ◽  
Transatlantic Slave Trade ◽  
Slave Traders ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
First Time ◽  
Underlying Processes

One important, but overlooked, risk mitigation device that facilitated the growth of the slave trade in the eighteenth century was the increasing availability of insurance for ships and their human cargoes. In this article we explore, for the first time, the relative cost of insurance for British slave traders, the underlying processes by which this key aspect of the business of slavery was conducted, and the factors behind price and other changes over time. Comparisons are also drawn with the transatlantic slave trades of other nations. As well as analyzing the business of underwriting slave voyages, we have two other objectives. First, we explore the meaning of slave insurance from the perspective of those directly involved in the trade. Was it about insuring lives or goods? Second, we provide new estimates of the importance of the slave trade to U.K. marine insurance. Did the former drive the growth of the latter, as Joseph Inikori has claimed?

Unblocking Enlightenment Loos, Bernardin's Boxer Shorts and Other Day-to-Day Practicalities in Eighteenth-Century Normandy: A Whistle-Stop Tour of Catherine de Saint-Pierre's Networks

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-223
Author(s):  
Katherine Astbury ◽  
Catriona Seth
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Her Family ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

Catherine de Saint-Pierre was Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's sister. Although his letters to her have not survived, we do have her letters to him. While he and his brothers travelled the world from Mauritius to Haiti, Catherine remained in their native Normandy. News and merchandise from far-flung corners of the globe came to her, but she never moved. Nevertheless she played an important role in the family dynamics, as she was often the one who gave family members news about each other. The trials and tribulations of her life in Dieppe fill the pages of her letters, but, in addition to details of her latest ailments, we gain a sense of someone who was very adept at navigating social networks to get the best for her and her family at as little cost as possible. This article reveals the hidden practical realities of getting things done on a budget in Dieppe at the end of the eighteenth century. It highlights the range and versatility of the networks upon which Catherine called as a means of saving money and provides us with some insider details on everyday expenses and exchanges invaluable to all those looking to better understand the economics and legalities of period.

scholarly journals The Slaving Capital in the Era of Abolition: Liverpool's Silent Rejection of the Slave Trade, 1787-1807

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Florence Baggett
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Small Group ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
The World ◽  
Member Of Parliament ◽  
Circle Drawing ◽  
Abolition Movement

<p>In 1787, when the British abolition movement began, the Liverpool slave trade was the largest in the world. Contemporaries throughout Britain, but especially in the port, viewed the slave trade as the primary source of Liverpool’s growth and prosperity in the eighteenth century. Liverpudlians, therefore, reacted negatively to the abolition movement, which they viewed as a threat to both the local and national economy. By 1788, the immense popular support generated by the abolition campaign left Liverpool isolated in its defence of the slave trade. Liverpudlians, however, were not unanimous in their support of the slave trade’s continuance. In 1787 and 1788, a small group of rational dissenters, known as the Roscoe Circle, anonymously contributed to the abolition campaign from Liverpool. The group’s namesake, William Roscoe, went on to be elected Member of Parliament for Liverpool in 1806, and in March 1807 he voted in favour of abolishing the slave trade along with 282 other MPs, against just sixteen, including Liverpool’s other MP.  This thesis examines reactions in Liverpool to the British abolition movement between the start of the campaign in 1787 and the passage of the Slave Trade Abolition Act in 1807. It highlights the periods 1787-1788 and 1796-1807 to challenge the view of Liverpool as a town almost uniformly averse to abolition throughout the twenty year campaign. Chapters One and Two examine the immediate pro- and anti-abolition responses in Liverpool in 1787 and 1788, respectively focusing on the contributions of Liverpool slaving merchants to the anti-abolition campaign and on the abolitionist activities of the Roscoe Circle. Drawing on Liverpool guidebooks and a series of letters in the Liverpool Chronicle, Chapter Three then traces the gradual change in popular feeling towards abolition that occurred in Liverpool in the last decade of the British slave trade’s existence. Ultimately, this thesis argues that rapidly dwindling Liverpudlian support for the slave trade from the mid-1790s onward has been under-valued. By 1807 Liverpudlians, wanting to re-affirm cultural ties with the rest of Britain, turned their backs on the slave trade, which had by then become a source of unease and embarrassment.</p>

State Contractors and Global Brokers: The Itinerary of Two Lisbon Merchants and the Transatlantic Slave Trade during the Eighteenth Century

Itinerario ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bohorquez ◽  
Maximiliano Menz
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Portuguese Empire ◽  
The People ◽  
Slave Traders ◽  
Early Modern Times ◽  
Shed Light

The Portuguese Empire was the stage for one of the largest movements of enslaved people during early modern times. Almost two millions enslaved humans were violently carried from Africa in Portuguese vessels in the eighteenth century alone. Yet, in contrast to British or French slave traders based in Europe, for which a vast literature is available, little is known about the Lisbon traders. This paper aims at filling this gap by paying attention to the trajectory of two Lisbon slave traders: Domingos Dias da Silva and José António Pereira. In recounting their biographies and their business in Africa, Brazil, and Asia, we draw attention to the active role Lisbon-based slave traders played in the financing, organisation, and carrying of slave traffic, as well as the different institutional conditions they confronted when profiting from the commerce in humans. Domingos Dias da Silva became a key state contractor in spite of his poor origins, while Pereira featured as a global broker, connecting different markets in four continents. These two agents and their diverse characteristics help shed light on the slave trade, the context in which it expanded, and on the people who conducted this infamous commerce.

Emotive Trending And Tracking of Tweets

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Sanjay Chhataru Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Complex Events

Popularity of the social media and the amount of importance given by an individual to social media has significantly increased in last few years. As more and more people become part of the social networks like Twitter, Facebook, information which flows through the social network, can potentially give us good understanding about what is happening around in our locality, state, nation or even in the world. The conceptual motive behind the project is to develop a system which analyses about a topic searched on Twitter. It is designed to assist Information Analysts in understanding and exploring complex events as they unfold in the world. The system tracks changes in emotions over events, signalling possible flashpoints or abatement. For each trending topic, the system also shows a sentiment graph showing how positive and negative sentiments are trending as the topic is getting trended.

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