Black and British: A Forgotten History, from the acclaimed historian and star of 'Celebrity Traitors'

by David Olusoga

The intellectual movement that became known as Social Darwinism – of which Darwin himself was not an advocate – offered potential explanations of the mechanisms that were at work behind phenomena that others had identified. For example, many of those who supported Carlyle’s views on the inner nature of Africans had begun to suggest that black people were uniquely suited, or adapted, to labouring in the tropics. Long before the publication of On the Origin of Species it had been suggested that Africans were natural slaves because they were supposedly stronger and more vigorous than other races yet lacked the gifts of intellect and invention that might have made other forms of work appropriate. Others contended that black people felt pain less acutely than other races, which was surely a trait that further demonstrated their unique suitability for slavery. Slavery was also a fitting institution for Africans as they supposedly would only work when compelled to do so. Slavery was therefore a system appropriate to both their physical make-up and inner nature.