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

by David Olusoga

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. The writer Anthony Trollope spoke for many when, after a short trip to the West Indies in 1859, he resolved that black people were an inherently ‘servile race’ lacking in initiative and enterprise. ‘The negro’s idea of emancipation’, wrote Trollope, ‘was and is emancipation not from slavery but from work. To lie in the sun and eat breadfruit and yams is his idea of being free.’