Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy, 1660-1800

New Studies in Economic and Social History

by Kenneth Morgan

This book considers the impact of slavery and Atlantic trade on British economic development during the beginning of British industrialization. Kenneth Morgan investigates five key areas within the topic that have been subject to historical the profits of the slave trade; slavery, capital accumulation and British economic development; exports and transatlantic markets; the role of business institutions; and the contribution of Atlantic trade to the growth of British ports. This stimulating and accessible book provides essential reading for students of slavery and the slave trade, and British economic history.

Genres: History, Economics

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2001

About the author

Kenneth Morhan is primarily an economic and social historian of the British Atlantic world in the ‘long’ eighteenth century (1688 - 1840). His particular academic specialism is the history of merchants, ships, foreign trade and ports. He also has subsidiary academic interests in Australian history and in music history. He currently teaches at Brunel University, London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Reviews

[Marius Ghincea]

Morgan's purpose is to enquire into connections between the growth of the Atlantic empire and the development of the British economy between 1660 and 1800. His goal is "to keep students and teachers abreast of the leading debates" but also to produce a synthesis that "has something of its own to say" and that is, therefore, a contribution to "an ongoing discourse about the economic benefits of imperial trade and slavery" (p. 2). Specifically, he seeks to address three questions. What financial rewards did Britain reap from slavery and Atlantic trade in the century or so after 1660? To what extent did the gains from such activity stimulate British industrialization? And how far did the Atlantic trading complex provide an impetus for economic change in Britain? As Morgan admits these "seemingly straightforward questions … are not susceptible to easy answers".