Knowledge Tree
South Sea Company
Facts (19)
Sources
Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative ... jmphil.org Jan 24, 2025 19 facts
claimIn the early eighteenth century, slave-trading as a commercial venture was less profitable than its agents claimed, but as a financial scheme, it was highly profitable for entities like the South Sea Company and individuals like Humphry Morice.
claimThe South Sea Company did not require a government bailout after the 1720 South Sea Bubble, and the company was not highly profitable in commercial terms.
claimThe South Sea Company found the slave trade difficult to make profitable due to escalating competition for trade routes and colonial territories.
claimBy the late 1720s, the costs of British wars were so extensive that only the East India Company and the South Sea Company possessed the capital required to finance the government's debts.
accountBy 1719, the South Sea Company frequently petitioned the British Parliament for military intervention, claiming it could not meet its charter obligations or consolidate national debt without government assistance.
measurementThe South Sea Company increased its custodianship of the British national debt from 23.4% to 85.3% in 1720.
claimDavid Graeber incorrectly identifies the year of the South Sea Bubble event as 1710, which predates the formation of the South Sea Company.
accountBritish investors drove South Sea Company stock prices to over £1000 per share before the market crashed, devastating the investor class.
accountThe South Sea Bubble began when the Whig government, led by the Earl of Sunderland, implemented a scheme to swap government securities for South Sea Company shares, allowing the Company to assume a large portion of the national debt.
claimThe 1720 South Sea Bubble was exacerbated by the Bubble Act of 1720 and functioned as a method for the South Sea Company to meet its charter through financial profit derived from the myth of the commercial success of white supremacy.
measurementThe South Sea Company purchased £30,981,712 of unredeemed British national debt, increasing its custodianship of the total national debt from 23.4% to 85.3%.
accountThe South Sea Company was created in 1711 by a charter from Queen Anne with the specific commission to consolidate British national debt.
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.
claimAdam Smith notes that the British government relies on mercantile financiers like the South Sea Company and the East India Company to offer relief for financial emergencies because the seat of government is located in London, which Adam Smith describes as the world's greatest mercantile city.
accountThe South Sea Company held a charter to consolidate the British national debt by utilizing the presumed commercial profits derived from the transatlantic slave trade.
claimAccording to Bank of England records, the South Sea Company held the largest share of British public debt during the eighteenth century.
claimThe South Sea Company used wealth created by speculative finance to consolidate the British national debt.
claimIn the context of British slavery, the profits from human trafficking and enslaved labor were primarily captured by joint-stock companies, specifically the Royal African Company and the South Sea Company, rather than the British Treasury or the individual traffickers on ships.
claimDavid Graeber incorrectly characterizes the South Sea Company as 'too big to fail' in 1710, drawing a parallel to the 2008 U.S. government bank bailouts.