When colonial slavery was abolished in 1833 the British government paid GBP20 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.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Review of the hardback: 'The Price of Emancipation is a well-researched and argued book, and a major contribution to the study of British history and West Indian slavery in the first half of the nineteenth century.' Stanley Engerman, Journal of Economic History Review of the hardback: '... an important contribution to our understanding of why compensation was introduced, and how it was funded and administered.' The Black and Asian Studies Association Newsletter Review of the hardback: 'Draper has written an outstandingly good and important work.' H-LatAm '... a valuable contribution to emancipation studies, and most appropriate for upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level courses.' Scott Hancock, The New West Indian Guide
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 23 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-107-69656-3 (9781107696563)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Nicholas Draper is Research Associate at the Department of History, University College London.
Autor*in
University College London
Introduction; 1. The absentee slave-owner: representations and identities; 2. The debate over compensation; 3. The distribution of slave compensation; 4. The structure of slave ownership; 5. The large-scale rentier owners; 6. 'Widows and orphans': small-scale British slave-owners; 7. Merchants, bankers and agents in the compensation process; 8. Conclusion; Appendix.
