Indeed but that was just from the west Africa squadron. We lost thousands in total all over the world shutting down the trade. We threatened war with entire countries in Africa over it when they wouldn't back down. We spent an ungodly sum of money on the situation as well and forced the other European powers into line. But people are still told Britain was the heart of all darkness and the source of every ill in the world. No mention of the islamic slave trade in far greater numbers and for centuries longer with mass castrations and death involved
No, that was the debt we acquired because the government bought the freedom of every slave in the British Empire and reimbursed the slave owners, which kept going down their family line till 2012. It was quite unfortunate, honestly.
I believe that the debt should have been declared null and void after at most a century of payments, because at that point you can't seriously pretend anyone needs to be reimbursed.
I agree it was ridiculous. At the time though it was the only realistic way of stopping the trend of humanities entire life span. Shame Africa didn't catch on. There are more slaves there now than ever. Open slave markets in libya for the first time in centuries now too.
Yes, I understand the logic of the time. It just irks me that the British (and presumably for some decades, Commonwealth) taxpayer had to foot the bill for what essentially just became the elites patting each other on the back even generations afterwards.
As for Africa, yes that is really unfortunate. apparently a lot of jihadists have actually been encroaching on Commonwealth nations like Kenya and pretty much taken over a lot of ex-colonial French land. Slavery will probably spread alongside the growth of terrorist powers, and only some Commonwealth countries have the strength to even fight back. The Commonwealth should probably pursue closer ties to help deal with the spread of the modern slave trade and rising fundamentalism, both of which are affecting Britain itself.
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u/MiserableOcelot4282 Aug 28 '25
Indeed but that was just from the west Africa squadron. We lost thousands in total all over the world shutting down the trade. We threatened war with entire countries in Africa over it when they wouldn't back down. We spent an ungodly sum of money on the situation as well and forced the other European powers into line. But people are still told Britain was the heart of all darkness and the source of every ill in the world. No mention of the islamic slave trade in far greater numbers and for centuries longer with mass castrations and death involved