Archived Articles: Britain’s Troubled End to Slavery/The West Africa Squadron
(I first wrote these two articles about a year ago- sadly, the website they’re on no longer exists, so I’m putting them on here as a digital archive.)
Britain’s Troubled Abolition of Slavery
The traditional narrative of the end of slavery is somewhat triumphant, especially from the British perspective. The well-trodden tale of Wilberforce and the Abolitionist’s noble quest to free their fellow man from the bondage of slavery is very well known. That story (like most of popular history) is rather reductive and rose-tinted — in fact sometimes the story reads as if Britain only created the slave trade so that they could abolish it and pat themselves on the back for a job well done. In reality, the abolition of slavery across the western world was a long, hard process where many of those who organized, run and profited from the slave trade were seen as more important than those who had suffered.
The Slave Trade was abolished in British colonies in 1807. This did not mean an end to slavery itself. At the height of war, the immense profits to be made from the plantations of the British West Indies were too great to be mitigated for some mere humanitarian cause, so slavery continued much the same after 1807 as it did before. What made full abolition inevitable in British territories was not a question of caring for a fellow man. It was instead a combination of economic and social changes which meant that it was financially unsound to continue an investment in slavery.
The problem with extractive labour such as plantation slavery is that you can only work people so hard before they die — something that is not true of machinery. The advent of the industrial revolution meant that the slave economy, which turned raw materials into processed goods in one place, was being upstaged by the extractive industrial economy, where raw goods were exported to the mother country for cheap and efficient manufacturing into finished goods. The growth of the cotton spinning industry in the UK from the 1770s is a sign of how the economy was beginning to shift. By the 1820s, the good money was in factories, not in plantations.
Furthermore, the new prominent middle class in the UK had their own moral qualms with slavery. These were still not based in much respect for their fellow man. While there were those who wholeheartedly respected black people, for most abolition was about the state of their immortal soul, not the physical state of other men. How could a diligent, god-fearing Anglican merchant look St. Peter in the eye if he’d made his money by enslaving other people? What else was there to do but to absolve themselves of sin by freeing the black man from his bondage? The shadow of slavery was beginning to shroud the new ‘liberal’ England that emerged in the late 1820s and 1830s and was brought to the foreground by Sam Sharpe’s Christmas Rebellion of 1831. The brutal suppression of the Rebellion by the colonial government, who executed up to 340 slaves after the end of the rising, caused outrage at home. With Britain struck by ‘reform fever’ having swept the old constitution away with the Great Reform Act of 1832, every “honest liberal Englishman” was in favour of Abolition, which was abolished officially on the 28th August 1833.
So, when the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came in to force in 1834, you would (naturally) expect two things. Firstly, that the slaves would be free, and secondly, that they would be compensated. Neither of these things happened. The Abolition act replaced slavery with a system of “apprenticeship” (indentured servitude) to their former masters until 1840. This measure, designed almost entirely for the benefit of the plantation owners, was of course massively unpopular with the former slaves. Protests in the Caribbean against the apprenticeships led to their end in 1838, but the damage had been done.
Even more galling was the compensatory payments made to slaveowners and investors. The British government spent £20 million in 1833 to compensate the owners for their loss- the largest payout in world history, so immense that the interest on the loans was still being paid until 2015. Yes, 2015. 46,000 people received payments of all sizes. Almost every part of British society had been invested in the trade and profited from its end — even the Anglican church. The Bishop of Exeter, for example, received compensation for the loss of 665 slaves.
With all this in mind, Britain sounds like one hell of a villain, and with good reason. I’m not going to refute that entirely, because much of how abolition was handled was villainous. However, there was one area where massive change was instigated, without having to invoke inordinate amounts of the national debt — the West Africa Squadron. Established in 1808, the Squadron (known as the Preventative Squadron from 1819) had the task of preventing the passage of slave ships from the Africa Coast to the Americas. Between 1808 and 1860, the Squadron seized 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. Its task was a difficult one, and a brilliant story of determination in the face of limited resources and apathy that deserves a future article.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa_Squadron
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/11/lets-end-delusion-britain-abolished-slavery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism_in_the_United_Kingdom#Slavery_Abolition_Act_1833
University College London UCL has an online database cataloguing the cost, and legacy of slavery. It’s 100% worth a look. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/
The West African Squadron and the End of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The West Africa Squadron (1808–1867) is one of those footnotes in grand historical narratives that are often cut out for lack of time. Their role in the international blockade of the West African ‘Slave Coast’ between the 1810s and 1860s was vital: between 1808 and 1860 West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. Their task was not easy. With too few ships, thousands of miles of coastline to cover in inhospitable conditions the Squadron had to deal with unfriendly locals, diplomatic disputes and limited support from leaders at home. But they had a job to do, and they did it well.
From Privateers to Preventative Squadron
When the act was initially passed in 1807, it included a clause stating that slave ships “shall and may be seized by any Officer of His Majesty’s Customs or Excise, or by the Commanders or Officers of any of His Majesty’s Ships or Vessels of War”[1]. This provision meant that the Royal Navy had been given a vital role to play in the ending of Slavery. However, the Navy had a slightly larger role on its hands at the time: The Continental Blockade of Europe. With most of the Royal Navy’s strength in Frigates and Sloops (smaller, fast ships that had the speed to catch a merchantman) occupied in keeping the ports of Europe closed, little could be spared to send to West Africa.
The Original Squadron, established in 1808, consisted of HMS Solebay and HMS Derwent was empowered to seize ships from any enemy country, but it wasn’t until 1810 that they could seize ships under the flag of one of the largest slave-trading powers, Portugal. At the same time, to augment the limited strength of the fleet, two privateers the Dart and the Kitty were empowered with Letters of Marque, allowing them to seize slave ships for a bounty from the government. Even though the Dart was the first ship to capture a vessel under the 1810 convention, profit-based anti-slavery patrols were (unsurprisingly really) not very popular.
The End of the Napoleonic Wars and the work of the monumental Congress of Vienna saw a wind change as Viscount Castlereagh managed to place a clause in the treaty committing all signatories to end the trade. While France abolished it in 1814 and Spain partially in 1817, the Squadron was massively hampered by limitations on its ability to seize ships.Foreign powers did little initially to aid the Squadron, and its power to seize ships was based on the presence of slaves on board the vessel at the time of boarding. This led, tragically, to the practice of Slave Traders dumping their human cargo, still shackled together, overboard when they encountered a patrolling ship. Courts in Freetown, Sierra Leone allowed for the legal seizure of foreign prizes by the Royal Navy. However, until the 1840s, foreign ships were still a risky target for the Squadron. Fear of poor relations with European powers meant that the Officers were restricted by treaty to certain ships.
1818 saw the appointment of Commodore Sir George Collier as the commanding officer of the West Coast of Africa Station, A new naval command operation out of Freetown from 1819 onwards. Collier, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, was himself a committed abolitionist. The Squadron was renamed the Preventative Squadron, consisting of 6 ships, with orders “to use every means in your power to prevent a continuance of the traffic in slaves.” His task saw his force fight an uphill struggle to end the trade across over 3,000 miles of the coast. Collier said of the trade as “more horrible than those who have not had the misfortune to witness it can believe, indeed no description I could give would convey a true picture of its baseness and atrocity”.[2]
The battle between the traders and the Squadron was one which reflected changing technology as much as morality. The Slavers ships pushed the capabilities of Sail power to the limit in order to outrun the Royal Navy, using cutting edge craft such as Baltimore clippers to outrun the patrols. The upper hand was regained through more refined ships arriving from the UK, as well as by using captured slave ships. One of the most successful of these was the HMS Black Joke, which caught 11 slavers between 1830 and 32.
The 1840s: Crisis and Renewal
Despite the work of the Squadron and diplomatic pressure from London, the trade continued, especially in South America. The huge cost of the trade, as well as the repercussions diplomatically for the seizure of vessels, was turning popular opinion against active work against slavers. Many saw the Squadron’s work as too heavy-handed and advocated that the only way to end the trade was through legitimate trade with Africa. When their attempts to do so failed, these “anti-Coercionists” began to take a less humanitarian angle and a more Laissez-Faire one to their argument, arguing that the UK’s interference in the trade was unwarranted and that if left alone the trade would die out anyway. Their power was so strong that they nearly managed to win a motion in the house of Commons to end all naval activity against the slavers. Thankfully, the motion failed, and when Lord Palmerston was made foreign Secretary in 1846, he allowed the work of Squadron to continue.
In 1850, he gave the Royal Navy permission to enter Brazilian Waters to break the Brazilian trade at both ends. By this point, the Squadron was well equipped for the task. With 25 ships, 3000 personnel (including 1000 local sailors able to pilot craft around the coastline) was in far better shape to take the slavers to the task. The arrival of paddle Steamers such as HMS Hydra (which operated with the Squadron from 1843 to 46), with their ability to work independently of the winds as well as shallow draughts that allowed passage up rivers and closer to shore, meant the squadron was able to overhaul the craft with ease. More active action was also taken against African coastal leaders who refused to end the trade, such as the deposing of the King of Lagos in 1851. The efficiency of the Navy in stopping the trade was such that the Brazilian trade was effectively over by the end of 1852. Brazil would finally legally abolish Slavery in 1888.
The 1850s to 60s: The decline of the Trade and the End of the Squadron
By this point, the anti-slavery mandate of the Royal Navy had extended to many other stations, with ships in East Africa, The Middle East and the Indian Ocean also operating against slave traders. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 was direct involvement by the US government in aiding the British, with Lincoln giving the British full authority to seize slavers under the US and Confederate flag. Even after the end of the civil war co-operation continued, with joint pressure resulting at an end of to the slave trade to Cuba.
The West Africa Squadron was absorbed in 1867 into the Cape of Good Hope Station and the Royal Navy command the operated out of South Africa. While their mandate was over, the anti-slavery activity of the Royal Navy continues to this day. The role of the navy in preventing the passage of slaves to the new world, and in ending the practice along the African shores was vital, but it is important we consider why they did so. There were great humanitarians in the fleet- no one who saw a slave ships cargo after they had been freed could have done so and still been aloof to the horror — but, as with all things, the policymakers have their own agenda. Some argue (somewhat correctly) that anti-slavery activity in Africa was a justification for Imperial conquest and economic dominance, especially during the Imperial Scramble of the 1880s onwards. However, the operation of the Squadron from 1808 onwards was unprofitable, dangerous and took a heavy toll on the manpower sent their due to disease and heat. Their task was difficult, and the rewards limited, but the lives they saved and the trade they ended was fundamentally a common good for humanity, and we should remember it proudly.
[1] https://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_06.htm
[2] https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/voices-royal-navys-anti-slavery-patrols-atlantic-ocean
