Addressing the House of Commons in 1789, William Wilberforce concluded his first speech on the abolition of the slave trade with the words, “Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” That’s the premise of this course: an account of 300 years of British slave trading between West Africa and British colonies in the Caribbean and North America.

I begin by placing British activity in the broader context of slave trading by other European nations, before describing how it was organized under the authority of the British Monarchy, Parliament and the Church. There will be a discussion of “Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade,” a pamphlet written by John Newton, Anglican clergyman and former slave trader, followed by a description of slave forts and castles, and the appalling slave voyages of the Middle Passage.

Finally, after describing where some of the great wealth generated by the slave trade went, I conclude with a look at the lengthy struggle to abolish, in John Newton’s words, “this stain of our National character, a commerce so iniquitous, so cruel, so oppressive, so destructive.”

Due to concerns about content reliability and ethical data training, this is an AI-free course.