British Slave Inventory
Upvote:1
At what point were the numbers of slaves transported by the British to America first recorded?
The numbers of slaves were, of course, recorded to various degrees since the beginning of the trade, which was coincident with the establishment of the colonies. For example, the Dutch are recorded as bringing slaves to Jamestown in 1619 at the very dawn of the British colonization.
The first attempt to comprehensively measure the British trade, including the slave trade, was by Malachy Postelthwayt in his various works, including the Commercial Encyclopedia. His work, "The African Trade the great Pillar and Support of the British Plantation Trade in America" (1745) is the first work by him on this subject.
How many people were transported as slaves from Africa to America by the British?
It is not easy to compute this number because there were no official statistics, each state being an independent entity. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the total number imported to both the West Indies and to America was 2,130,000 between 1680 to 1786. This number is probably the estimate of Bancroft. The fraction delivered to the American colonies is unknown. Note that estimates are often exaggerated for political reasons. Carey (1872) made some of the most detailed estimates and he is cited by the US Census as an authoritative source. His estimate was about 250,000 imported up to 1790. This estimate may be too conservative, and the actual figure might be double that. Note that Carey's estimate is for slaves imported by anyone, not just British merchants.
How many of them died on the way?
Bancroft estimated it as one eighth (12.5%) and he is widely quoted, but it is quite a guess. Norris in 1790 stated that 5% of the British slaves died in transit as of that time:
Of the forty thousand purchased by the British, about a twentieth part are calculated to die on the voyage; and three-fourths of those that arrive in the West Indies, are disposed of to the French and Spaniards; the remainder are distributed in the British islands....
A Short Account of the African Slave Trade by Robert Norris (1790)
Conditions were a lot better in 1790 than in 1650 so over time you can assume the percentage lost in transit decreased.
More post
- 📝 Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?
- 📝 How did the Greeks and Romans move between their destinations?
- 📝 Have gun rights ever increased without a revolution?
- 📝 Historically accurate WW2 simulation
- 📝 Was there any treaty during WWI and II with the world countries and Sir Henry Dunant's Red Cross to respect those with Red Cross?
- 📝 How was occupied France governed during World War II?
- 📝 How controversial were "updates" of churches in the past?
- 📝 Is History a subject where certain knowledge is accepted by all historians or can any event be a source for debate?
- 📝 How compare the rights and conditions of the American slaves to those of Russian serfs?
- 📝 Outdoors Survival Knowledge for Samurai?
- 📝 How did the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth become official?
- 📝 Are there any palaces, temples or monuments built by the Seleucids surviving through to the present day?
- 📝 Is there basis in saying Venezuela was Aragonese?
- 📝 What was the extent of Kohl's government opposition to the independence of Ukraine?
- 📝 Were Tories "Catholics" and "Whigs" Anglican?
- 📝 About what percent of people died on the Oregon Trail?
- 📝 Did the treasure ship Cortes first sent from Mexico ever arrive in Spain?
- 📝 Discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland pre-1968
- 📝 A common find of metal detectorists across Britain is the silver "love token", from around 1700. Do any contemporary sources describe the custom?
- 📝 Were there commercials in the original broadcast of the moon landings, and how much did they go for?
- 📝 What is the layout of Ancient Egyptian pyramid shafts?
- 📝 Was there a contingency plan in place if Little Boy failed to detonate?
- 📝 Why did European alchemists seek metal transmutation in addition to the Elixir Of Life?
- 📝 What does this Swiss banner/blazon/coat of arms/flag stand for?
- 📝 How old was Bagoas when he met Alexander the Great?
- 📝 Why didn't Alexander invade India?
- 📝 When did countries begin making up a pretext before starting a war?
- 📝 What kind of evidence (if any) could be used to identify a large conquest in the time before writing?
- 📝 How could one understand the essence of Greek mythology and the deep meanings? Understanding the belief system of Ancient Greeks
- 📝 Why were the Thirteen Colonies more successful, both economically and socially, than other colonies?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 British Slave Inventory
- 📝 Why did the British scuttle the u-boats surrendered after WWII?
- 📝 Is it true that slavery was endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa previous to the establishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade?
- 📝 Was murdering a slave illegal in American slavery, and if so, what punishments were given for it?
- 📝 In the "Christmas truce" of 1914 were there any football (soccer) matches between British and German troops?
- 📝 Did the end of the British Raj in India create an economic loss for Britain?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?
- 📝 What were the reasons that the British colonies in North America rebelled but not others?
- 📝 Was there a tax in the fifties for British citizens traveling abroad?
- 📝 Why didn't the British Grand Fleet force an engagement with the German Imperial Navy in WW1?
- 📝 Why were slave owners even offered compensation via the 1837 Act if they'd lost the power in parliament to stop abolition in 1833?
- 📝 How likely is it that any non-Celtic language was spoken in the British Isles when the Romans invaded?
- 📝 How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
- 📝 How would you accurately use older British currencies when writing a story?
- 📝 Why did the Dutch, French & British acquire minor colonies in South America?
- 📝 On what basis do some historians accuse the British government of genocide during the great Irish famine?
- 📝 What date does a 1738 British author intend by "soon after the revolution"?
- 📝 Why did Mozambique join the British Commonwealth?
- 📝 How did the British Navy pass orders to its fleet before radio?
- 📝 Why did the UK allow India to be a republic rather than a democratic parliament under the British Monarch?
- 📝 Did galley captains put corks in the mouths of slave rowers to keep them quiet?
- 📝 What was the strategy to protect the British Museum during the World Wars?
- 📝 When was the last documented occasion that Arab or Ottoman slave traders abducted people from Europe?
- 📝 What made the English the dominant power of the British Isles?
- 📝 Why were the British so reluctant to allow Jewish migration to Palestine?
- 📝 Why did the British not introduce the sterling in India?
- 📝 What was lost when the British burned the White House in 1814?
- 📝 Was Roosevelt the "biggest slave trader in recorded history"?
- 📝 How confusing was British currency compared to decimal currency circa 1850?