Knowledge Tree
slave trade
Facts (27)
Sources
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Brown University slaveryandjusticereport.brown.edu 12 facts
claimJohn Brown justified his participation in the slave trade by stating that it was permitted by the 'Supreeme Governour of all things' and by all nations of Europe, asserting he would only desist if convinced it was wrong in the sight of God.
quoteAn anonymous critic warned Moses Brown that a Newport merchant would not easily abandon the lucrative slave trade for the slow profits of a manufactory, stating: “An Ethiopian could as soon change his skin as a Newport merchant could be induced to change so lucrative a trade … for the slow profits of any manufactory.”
claimThe inhabitants of Newport, Rhode Island, held the largest share of the slave trade among all the United States, with the trade serving as the primary driver of the town's commerce and wealth.
quoteJames Tallmadge delivered a student commencement oration in 1798 regarding the evils of the slave trade, stating, "We leave for future generations to investigate . . ."
perspectiveEarly abolitionists, including Moses Brown, believed that the institution of slavery was dependent on the continued importation of Africans and would naturally wither away if the slave trade were stopped.
claimMoses Brown attempted to combat the slave trade by encouraging local manufacturing in Rhode Island, believing that new investment opportunities would incentivize merchants to abandon the slave trade.
claimJohn Brown justified the slave trade in November 1786 by arguing that Black people were an inferior race incapable of surviving as free people, that enslaved people were better off in America exposed to Christianity and civilization than in Africa, and that the slave trade was the most lucrative commerce in the world.
claimThe United States Constitution prohibited Congress from interfering with the slave trade into U.S. ports for twenty years, until 1807.
claimDespite the 1787 prohibition against slave trading, the slave trade continued in Rhode Island because state officials lacked the will and resources to prosecute offenders.
quoteJohn Brown argued that the slave trade was permitted by the 'Supreeme Governour of all things' and by all nations of Europe, and therefore he would not desist from the trade until convinced it was wrong in the sight of God.
claimJohn Brown, a slave trader and treasurer of the College of Rhode Island, argued that trafficking enslaved people was 'right, just and lawful,' comparing the act of bringing a cargo of slaves to bringing a cargo of jackasses.
claimTallmadge characterized the argument that the slave trade was essential to national prosperity as an excuse similar to a thief explaining why he could not live in affluence without his neighbor's wealth.
Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative ... jmphil.org Jan 24, 2025 6 facts
claimOttobah Cugoano asserts that the agents of the slave trade who profited from the trafficking of African people effectively made the British nation moral and financial captives.
claimThe South Sea Company found the slave trade difficult to make profitable due to escalating competition for trade routes and colonial territories.
claimThe rhetorical justification for the slave trade and the commodities produced by enslaved labor established a precedent for the amoral economics of the slave trade, often framing slavery as a 'necessary evil' during a state of emergency that never ends.
claimThe South Sea Company remained attractive to investors who believed in the myth of infinite future profits, despite the actual unprofitability of the slave trade.
accountPamphlet debates regarding the British national debt during the eighteenth century typically followed a recurring pattern: a writer highlighted the impoverishment of the Treasury due to wars defending the slave trade, an anonymous financier urged investors to hold stock and ignore the debt, politicians defended themselves against corruption charges, and the discourse devolved into personal attacks.
claimThroughout the 18th century, skeptical pamphleteers criticized the British Treasury's reliance on financiers involved in the slave trade.
'The Lehman Trilogy' and Wall Street's Debt to Slavery reparationscomm.org Nov 10, 2021 3 facts
accountIn the 1873 novel 'The Gilded Age' by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, the character Beriah Sellers treats the slave trade as a market to be exploited.
claimThe financialization of slave-assets allowed investors to profit from slavery even in jurisdictions that had formally outlawed the slave trade, such as the United States after 1808.
claimCommercial systems that developed alongside colonial slave economies persisted after the abolition of the slave trade by operating from a greater distance.
Understanding Historical Slavery, Its Legacies, and Its Lessons for ... link.springer.com Jan 22, 2019 2 facts
referenceRichard Wilson's 2010 article 'Rethinking 1807: museums, knowledge and expertise' discusses how museums handle the history of the slave trade.
referenceJoel Quirk's 'The Anti-Slavery Project: From the Slave Trade to Human Trafficking' traces the evolution of anti-slavery efforts from the historical slave trade to contemporary human trafficking.
Debt bondage en.wikipedia.org 2 facts
Initiation of Section 301 Investigations of Acts, Policies, and ... federalregister.gov Mar 17, 2026 1 fact
quoteThe United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states: “[n]o one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”
History of forced labor in the United States - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
accountUpon contact with Europeans, Native American tribes began participating in the slave trade and attempted to use captives from enemy tribes as a method of playing one tribe against another in a divide and conquer strategy.