Readers Reflect on Britain's Deep Ties to the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Readers writing to The Guardian responded to an article by historian William Pettigrew about the lasting significance of the transatlantic slave trade to Britain's politics, economy, institutions and culture.

One letter cited Pettigrew's book, “Britain's Slave Traders: A Forgotten History,” and referenced University College London's Legacies of British Slavery project, which documented compensation payments made to 46,000 people with a financial interest in slave ownership at the time of abolition in 1834. According to the letter, the roughly £20 million paid out is generally reckoned to be worth around £17 billion at 2019 prices, or 40 percent of total government expenditure in 1834 — a debt only fully repaid in 2015.

The letter also argued that the slave trade provided seed funding for the Industrial Revolution, with income from Caribbean sugar plantations funding new industries through an expanded banking system, and that defending these assets in turn stimulated the growth of the British navy, according to The Guardian.