The Price of Emancipation: Slave Ownership, Compensation and British Society at the end of Slavery

by Nicholas Draper

When colonial slavery was abolished in 1833 the British government paid £20 million to slave-owners as compensation: the enslaved received nothing. Drawing on the records of the Commissioners of Slave Compensation, which represent a complete census of slave-ownership, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the extent and importance of absentee slave-ownership and its impact on British society.

Moving away from the historiographical tradition of isolated case studies, it reveals the extent of slave-ownership among metropolitan elites, and identifies concentrations of both rentier and mercantile slave-holders, tracing their influence in local and national politics, in business and in institutions such as the Church. In analysing this permeation of British society by slave-owners and their success in securing compensation from the state, the book challenges conventional narratives of abolitionist Britain and provides a fresh perspective of British society and politics on the eve of the Victorian era.

Genres: History, Economics, British Literature

416 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Sohum]

i mean--it's dry, but well-enough done. i think the style is a regional academic difference/disciplinary difference more than anything

[Matthew Taylor]

An excellent piece of research, filled with fantastic observations. A dry read (as one might imagine, lots of chats & percentages) for sure, but intensely valuable.

[Karen]

* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)

[elsa]

this book was a treat. you put it down with a real sense of having learnt a lot that you didn't know. meticulously researched, although a bit heavy on the statistics. read it!