Legacies of British Slave-Ownership
Colonial Slavery and the Formation of Victorian Britain
Published on 29. September 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
338 pages
978-1-316-63526-1 (ISBN)
Description
This book re-examines the relationship between Britain and colonial slavery in a crucial period in the birth of modern Britain. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of British slave-owners and mortgagees who received compensation from the state for the end of slavery, and tracing their trajectories in British life, the volume explores the commercial, political, cultural, social, intellectual, physical and imperial legacies of slave-ownership. It transcends conventional divisions in history-writing to provide an integrated account of one powerful way in which Empire came home to Victorian Britain, and to reassess narratives of West Indian 'decline'. It will be of value to scholars not only of British economic and social history, but also of the histories of the Atlantic world, of the Caribbean and of slavery, as well as to those concerned with the evolution of ideas of race and difference and with the relationship between past and present.
Reviews / Votes
'This is an important book which contributes significantly to modern British history. It, and the data which underpin it, have the potential not only to re-construct our national memory but also to inform related projects in countries such as France and the Netherlands, studies of re-investment in Britain's 'informal' empire in the Americas, and demands from Caribbean states for reparations for the enduring suffering inflicted by the Atlantic slave trade.' Mandy Banton, Family and Community HistoryMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
10 Halftones, black and white; 3 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
491 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-316-63526-1 (9781316635261)
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 Classification
Persons
Catherine Hall is a well-known historian and is presently Professor of History at University College London. Nicholas Draper is a Senior Researcher in the Department of History at University College London. His areas of interest include slavery and abolition. Keith McClelland is a Senior Researcher in the Department of History at University College London and a well-established historian of the nineteenth century. Katie Donington is a Research Fellow in the Department of History at University College London. Rachel Lang is an administrator in the Department of History at University College London.
Content
1. Introduction; 2. Possessing people: absentee slave-owners within British society; 3. Helping make Britain great: the commercial legacies of slave-ownership in Britain; 4. Redefining the West India interest: politics and the legacies of slave-ownership; 5. Reconfiguring race: the stories the slave-owners told; 6. Transforming capital: slavery, family, commerce and the making of the Hibbert family; Conclusion; Appendix 1. Making history in a prosopography; Appendix 2. Glossary of claimant categories; Appendix 3. A note on the database; Bibliography.