Economic Growth and the Ending of Transatlantic Slave Trade

This is the first study to consider the consequences of Britain's abolition of the Atlantic slave trade for British imperial expansion and the world economy. This study is the first to consider the consequences of Britain's abolition of the Atlantic slave trade for British imperial expansion and the world economy. It argues that the British led the way in ending that trade just when it was beginning to be important for the world economy, when there was a great need for labour around the world, and shows that Britain's control of the slave trade and great reliance on slave labour had played a major role in its empire's rise to world economic dominance. Contesting the view that Britain stood to benefit from the abolition of the slave trade, the author shows that British economic expansion was hindered greatly as a result.

This is the first study to consider the economic consequences of Britain's abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. Why did Britain pull out of the slave trade just when it was becoming important for the world economy and the demand for labour around the world was high? Caught between the incentives offered by the world economy for continuing trade at full tilt and the ideological and political pressures from its domestic abolitionist movement, Britain chose to withdraw, believing, in part, that freed slaves would work for low pay which would in turn lead to greater and cheaper products. David Eltis here contends that this move did not bolster the British economy; rather, it vastly hindered economic expansion as the Empire's great reliance on slave labour had played a major role in its rise to world economic dominance.