Eric Williams perspective – Capitalism & slavery

The slave trade was central to the triangular trade. It was in the words of
one British merchantilist the spring and parent where in others flow. “the
first principle and foundation of all the rest, “ echoed another.” “The
main spring of the machine which set every wheels in motion.”
The slave trade kept the wheels of the metropolitan countries running. It
stimulated navigation and ship building and employed seamen. It raised
fishing villages to flourishing cities. It gave sustenance to new industries
based on the processing of colonial raw materials.It yielded large profits
which were ploughed back into metropolitan industries and finally it
gave rise to an unprecedented commerce and made the Caribbean
territories among most valuable colonies the world has ever seen.
It must be showed that in 1729, the BWI absorbed ¼ of British iron
export and Africa where the price of a negro was commonly arrived at as
being equal to the price of one Birmingham gun, was one of the most
important markets for the British amorment industry.In 1753, there were
120 refineries in England, 80 in London and 20 in Bristol. In 1780, the
BWI supplied 2/3 of the £6,500,000 of cotton imported into Britain.
Up to 1770, 1/3 of Manchester’s textile export went to Africa.
In 1709, the BWI employed 1/10 of all British shipping engaged in
foreign trade between 1709 – 1787, British shipping engaged in foreign
trade quadrupled.
Liverpool’s export to Africa in 1770, which was compiled as a result of
a census of British manufacturers included items such as brass, textile,
candles, earthware, gun powder, glass, iron, lead, looking glass, pepper,
sugar and salt. In 1774, there were 8 sugar refineries in Liverpool. Two
distillers were established in the town of Bristol for the expressed
purpose of supplying slave ships. There were a number of chain and
anchor foundries and dealers in iron, copper, bras and lead. In 1774,
there were 15 factories that made rope. Half of Liverpool sailors were
involved in the slave trade, which by 1783 was estimated to bring the
town a clear profit of £340,000. The slave trade transformed Liverpool
from a fishing village into a great center of international commerce.
The population rose from 5,000 in 1700 to 34,000 in 1773. It was a
common saying in the town that is principle streets had been marked out
by the chain of the slaves and the walls of its houses, cemented by the
blood of the African slaves.
The remarkable value of the slave trade can also be represented
statistically. In 1773, total British imports from the BWI amounted to ¼
of the total British imports. Britain exports to the BWI was also 1/11 of
thetotal export trade.
Exports from the mainland colonies was half the West Indian figure
where exports were less than double. For the years 1714 – 1773, British
imports from the W.I was 1/5 of the total import trade from the mainland
colonies.
For these 60 years, i.e 1714 – 1773, the slave trade accounted for 21% of
British imports, 8% of British exports and nearly 14% of British external
trade.
Britain was accumulating great wealth from the slave trade. The increase
of consumption goods that resulted from that trade inevitably led to the
development of the productive power of the country. We must know that
this industrial expansion require finance.

Banking
Many of the 18th century banks established in Liverpool and
Manchester, the slaves in metropolist and the cotton capital
respectively was directly associated with the slave trade. There
large sums were needed for the cotton factories and for the canals
which improve the means of communication between the two
towns.
For London, only one name needs to be mentioned, ie, Barclays.
Two members of the Quaker family – David and Alexander, were
engaged in the slave trade in 1756. David began his career in
America and the West Indies commerce and became one of the
mist influential merchants of his day. He was not merely a slave
trader but actually owned a great slave plantation in Jamaica. The
Barclays married into the banking family of Gurney & Freame.
Like so many other interest marriages in other branches of
industry, it was intended to keep Quaker wealth in Quaker hands.
From this marriage sprang Barclays Bank.

Heavy Industry
Heavy Industry played an important role in the program of the
Industrial Revolution and the development of the slave trade. Sone
of the capital which financed the growth of the metallurgical
industry was supplied directly by the slave trade. It was the capital
accumulated from the West Indies trade that financed James Watts
and his steam engine. One of the lead iron mongers of the 18th
century was intimately, Anthony Bacon connected with the slave
trade.

Insurance
In the 18th century when the TAST was most valuable and West
Indian property among the most valuable property in the British
empire, the slave trade occupied an important position in the eyes
of the rising insurance companies.
In the early years when Lloyds was a coffee house and nothing
more, many ads in the London Gazette runaway slaves, Lloyds was
a place where they should be returned. Lloyds, like other insurance
companies, insured slaves and slave ships.

The Development of British Industry in 1783

The slave trade made an enormous contribution to Britain’s
industrial development. The profits from the slave trade fertilized
the entire industrial system of the country. Three instances can be
given:
1. The slate Industry in Wales, which provided the material for
roofing, was revolutionized by the new methods adopted by
Lord Penrhyn on his estate, who owned estates in Jamaica and
was chairman of the West India committee in the 18thcentury.
2. The leading figure in the 1st great railway project in England
which linked Liverpool and Manchester was undertaken by
Joseph Sanders of whom little is known.
3. However, three other men prominently identified with this
undertakings had close connection with the slave trade.
Gascoyne of Liverpool, a starwant champion of the West India
interest, John Gladstone and John Moss were all involved in the
slave trade. The British West India interest also played a
prominent part in the construction of the Great Western railway.
But it must not be inferred that the triangulartrade was solely and
entirely responsible for the economic development. The growth of
the internal market in England, the ploughing-in of the profits from
industries to generate still further capital and achieve still. Greater
expansion played a large part but this industrial development
stimulated by mercantilism later outgrew mercantilism and
destroyed it.
In 1783, the shape of the thing to come was clearly visible. The
steam engine potentialities was not an academic question. Sixty –
six engines were in operation, 2/3 of these in mines and foundries.
Improved methods of coal mining, combined with the influence of
steam, resulted in a great expansion of the iron industry.
Production increased four times between 1740 & 1788. The of
furnaces rose by 1/2. The iron bridge and the iron railroad had
appeared.
Cotton, the queen of the industrial revolution, according to Eric
Williams, responded readily to the new inventions. The spinning
jenny, the water frame, the mule revolutionized the industry, which
as a result showed a continuous upward trend. Between 1700 –
1780, imports of raw cotton increased more than three times and
exports of cotton goods fifteen times.
The entire economy of England was stimulated by this great
increased production.

The Industrial Revolution in the U. S

The economic success of the British soon led another nation to try
to follow the path. In Northern Europe mechanic investors in
France, Belgium, Holland and some of the German states set out to
imitate Britain’s success. Eg. In the young US secretary of the
treasury Alexander Hamilton, called for an Industrial Revolution in
his reports on manufacturers in 1791. Many Americans felt that the
US had to become economically strong in order to maintain US
recently won independence from Great Britain. In cities up and
down the Atlantic coast, leading citizens organized associations
devoted to encourage manufacturers.
The industrial Revolution unfolded in the US evenmore
vigourously than it had in Great Britain. The young