The British Empire ended slavery for much of the world

X ^ | June 2 | AtlasPress

[RandFan]

@realAtlasPress

Though Britain had been a global power since the early 17th century, it wasn’t until Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815 that it emerged as the dominant power.

By eliminating France from the world’s stage, Britain was left without a serious competitor.

The Vienna Treaty that followed favored the Brits, granting them territorial possessions like modern-day South Africa, Trinidad, and Sri Lanka.

These territories served as strategic naval bases Britain used to control its immense empire from all corners of the globe.

The century following Napoleon's defeat is sometimes called the “Pax Britannica,” because of the relative prosperity enjoyed by Europe during this time. The presence of a single world power created stability and kept conflicts to a minimum.

Britain’s unmatched navy is what maintained its dominance.

The British Royal Navy was more than twice the size of the next largest navy. Though their ships weren’t vastly superior to others’, their sailors were at sea continuously making them the best in the world.

British ships controlled most of the key trade routes in Asia, North America, and Africa, allowing its merchants and traders an overwhelming advantage compared to other nations—Britain got incredibly rich off sea power.

But Britain didn’t just use its Naval supremacy to fill its coffers. Its navy actually became a source of peace and stability.

British ships were on the frontline during one of the darkest episodes in Western history: the slave trade.

Decades before the American Civil War and 13th amendment ended slavery in the US, Britain passed two anti-slavery laws: the “Slave Trade Act 1807” banning the slave trade around the empire, and the “Slavery Abolition Act 1833” which officially made it illegal to own slaves.

Britain enforced its legislation via their strong navy.

Ship captains who were caught transporting slaves were subject to fine initially, but soon the Royal Navy declared all perpetrators of slave trading to be treated the same as pirates—the punishment for piracy was death.

Britain's ships were the “global policemen” in the 19th century, and along the West coast of Africa became highly successful in capturing slave ships and freeing slaves.

They basically declared war on the African slave trade in a move called the “blockade of Africa.”

In 1808, a fleet called the West Africa Squadron was formed to patrol the African coast and catch slave ships. In the following decades they seized an estimated 1,600 slave ships and freed a whopping 150,000 Africans slaves.

African kingdoms were also encouraged to sign anti-slavery treaties. Over 50 African rulers signed them, and for ones that didn't, “corrective action” was taken—sometimes fighting slavery meant using the full force of the British Navy.

While some illegal trade continued in far-off regions, by the middle of the 19th-century the Atlantic slave trade was almost completely eradicated.

Slavery outside the empire’s jurisdiction, however, would continue for hundreds of years in some places.

No nation on earth did more to eliminate slavery than Britain.

Though empires are often viewed as inherently tyrannical, Britain’s war on slavery shows that immense power can, in some cases, be channeled for good.

[Pikachu_Dad]

You have a problem with that idea to a peaceful resolution of th issue?

[Skooz]

Bfl

[Wallace T.]

Keep in mind that the British were involved in a century long conflict with the Ashanti in what is now Ghana. The African Company of Merchants was a British chartered company operating from 1752 to 1821 that country, engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1821, the British government abolished the African Company of Merchants and took direct control of the colony. Several decades later, the British established a colony in Lagos, Nigeria. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the French and the British defeated the native tribes and bought out or expelled other European powers.

There was a lot of cheating even when the British Navy and the U.S. Navy were suppressing the slave trade. Like narcotics in our time, the slave trade was too profitable for unscrupulous businessmen to avoid.

[Ditto]

Decades before the American Civil War and 13th amendment ended slavery in the US, Britain passed two anti-slavery laws: the “Slave Trade Act 1807” banning the slave trade around the empire, and the “Slavery Abolition Act 1833” which officially made it illegal to own slaves.

True, but I'd point out that in 1780, over 50 years before the Brits, both the government of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts voted to end slavery followed by other state governments in the early decades of the 19th century.

[Ditto]

Decades before the American Civil War and 13th amendment ended slavery in the US, Britain passed two anti-slavery laws: the “Slave Trade Act 1807” banning the slave trade around the empire, and the “Slavery Abolition Act 1833” which officially made it illegal to own slaves.

True, but I'd point out that in 1780, over 50 years before the Brits, both the government of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts voted to end slavery followed by other state governments in the early decades of the 19th century.

[Ditto]

Without the civil war slavery en masse in the US would have been gone within 20 years for the most part. The innovations in farming equipment and manufacturing made it too costly to run slaves.

Typical Lost Cause faulty reasoning. The development of farming equipment is a function of labor costs… the lower the labor cost the less incentive to develop machinery. Even with that, the bulk of slave labor was for planting, tending and harvesting cotton. The first mechanical cotton harvesting equipment did not enter the market until the 1950s. That's 90 years after the Civil War. Would slavery have lasted that long? I don't know. I think it is very likely that tens of thousands of Southern whites would have died in slave revolts long before that.

[TigersEye]

You’re entitled to feel like a slave if you want to.

[C210N]

Am I supposed to take that seriously?

We trade real labor for fake money to pay fraudulent taxes on stuff we don't own. Slaves.

Fake money: fiat dollar is an instrument of debt. Constitutional money is gold/silver, and perhaps other commodities. The FED even tells us (thanks Jerome) that they'll "water-down" our bank accounts and 401k's with inflation, 2% per year (increase in the fiat supply).

Fraudulent taxes - see Grace Commission.

We don't own things we think we do: Two main ways of owning real estate - Tenancy in Common and Tenancy, with right of survivorship. Note - tenancy - who is the landlord? Your town/city/county. You have a 'Certificate of Title', not the ***allodial*** title. The county generally owns your property allodially, giving them legal process for property taxing you, requiring licenses to do things in relation to your home. Applies to your automobile - you get 'certificate of title or deed', your registry holds the original title (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin), you display their license plates, giving the state the process for excise taxes, requiring inspections, adherence to traffic bylaws. By sending your MSO in exchange for plates, your new automobile for travel (Common Law) is transformed into your motor vehicle for driving (Maritime Law).

[TigersEye]

I’d love to respond but talking to slaves is beneath me.

[C210N]

I respect your view, as slave to a fellow slave

[Paal Gulli]

There was chattel slavery in British East Africa (modern day Kenya) until the early 20th Century.

And the Brits ruled over Hong Kong from 1841 to 1997 and Mui tsai slavery was documented to still be being practiced there as recently as 2005, so don't try to tell me the Brits ended slavery.