The Impact of the Caribbean Trade on the British Economy (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

Trade with Caribbean plantations brought many benefits to the British economy. Individual plantation owners and investors made huge personal fortunes. The benefits of the Caribbean trade extended to many sections of society. The Caribbean trade created many employment opportunities both in Britain and in the Caribbean.

Many industries benefited from the importation of cheap goods produced by enslaved labour, such as sugar, cotton and tobacco. There were also benefits to British industries that exported goods to Africa and the Caribbean. The banking and finance industries benefited from providing the loans and insurance policies that underpinned much of the investment in the triangular trade. Industries like shipbuilding also benefited from the increased demand for ships.

Impact on employment for British people

• Young, educated British men had many job opportunities available to them in the Caribbean

  • In this time period, firstborn sons inherited property rights from their fathers

  • For younger children from middle-class families, moving to the Caribbean was an attractive option

  • It gave them a chance to earn their own fortune there

    • They could work on plantations as bookkeepers or overseers

  • Absentee plantation owners would hire attorneys to run their plantation on their behalf

  • There was also demand for doctors and lawyers

• In Britain, job opportunities were mostly based around ports and mostly offered employment opportunities for working-class men

  • Men from port towns would often be hired to work as the crew on board slave ships

    • Larger slave ships would also employ a surgeon, coopers and sometimes carpenters 

• Back on land, jobs were available in the dockyards in the ports

  • As populations grew around these ports, businesses providing services like inns and barbers also profited

• Many industries benefited from the importation of goods produced by enslaved labour

  • Ships arriving in Liverpool provided cotton for Lancashire and Yorkshire textile mills

  • Some of the cloth produced in these mills was sold back to slave merchants who then took it to trade in Africa

  • A type of rough cotton called ‘Welsh plains’ was produced

    • This was then exported to plantations, where it was used to provide clothing for enslaved people

    • The trade in enslaved people boosted the textile industry, providing many jobs

• In the 1760s, there were 22 sugar refineries in Bristol

  • These benefited from the importation of cheaper sugar produced by enslaved labour

• Other job opportunities developed as a result of the demand for British exports in the Caribbean

  • The Scottish fishing industry benefited from exporting salted herring to the Caribbean plantations

    • It was a main food source for enslaved people

  • Birmingham was the world’s leading producer of metalware, producing brass pots, kettles and pans

    • These were exported both to the Caribbean and to Africa

  • Welsh copper vessels were exported to the plantations and used in the boiling of sugar and the distilling of rum

  • Glass manufactured in Bristol was used to transport brandy and rum on slave ships

Impacts on banking and finance

• Slave-merchants required significant funds to launch a slave ship

• Banks would provide merchants with loans to fund their businesses

  • Banks then profited from the interest paid to them by merchants

  • David and Alexander Barclay made vast amounts of money from the trade in enslaved African people

    • They set up Barclays Bank to provide loans to other slave-merchants

  • The Bank of England provided finance for slave traders and plantation owners

    • People running the bank also owned plantations

• Banks gained significant wealth from the trade and also created jobs for British people

  • London became the financial centre of the trade in enslaved people

• Slave merchants faced several risks whilst their boats were at sea

  • Voyages were at risk from storms, hurricanes and even piracy

    • To try to reduce this risk, merchants took out insurance policies on the enslaved African people and on their boats

    • This meant merchants could still receive some profit if their boat sank

• Lloyds of London began as an insurance company specialising in providing these insurance policies for slave ships

  • Lloyds profited from the insurance premiums paid by slave merchants

Impacts on shipbuilding

• From the late 1600s onwards, a major shipbuilding industry developed around Liverpool

  • Increased demand for ships due to the trade in enslaved African people was the main reason behind this growth

• The growth of shipbuilding led to the creation of jobs not only in shipyards, but in connected industries in the supply chain

  • Jobs like sail makers, rope makers, joiners and timber merchants all benefited from the increased demand for ships

  • Slave ships required chains and manacles for the captive people, which created jobs for metal workers

  • The Welsh copper industry benefited from demand for copper sheathing, which was used to protect the hull of ships

Impacts on wealth and investment

• The slave trade created significant wealth for Britain

  • This wealth was created through individual fortunes, company profits and increased tax revenue for the government

• By the 1770s, British businesses were making over £1.33 million in export sales to the Caribbean

• Individuals and families made fortunes from the slave trade 

  • These fortunes allowed some families to move from the middle class to the upper class, often through marriage

  • Many of these families displayed their new wealth through the building of stately homes

    • Inveresk Lodge in Musselburgh and Auchincruive House in Ayrshire are examples of stately homes built from the profits of the trade in enslaved African people

• Institutions also benefited from fortunes made from the slave trade

  • Some Scottish private schools were established from funds made from the trade in enslaved Africans

• Profits from the trade were also invested in British industry

  • Wealthy merchants invested in coal mining

  • Money from the slave trade was used to build canals and railways across Britain

  • Enslavers also provided the money to finance the development of James Watt’s steam engine

    • Britain’s industrial revolution greatly benefited from the trade in enslaved African people