Bristol's involvement in the slave trade actually dates back to the 15th century when England bought sugar from Portuguese plantations on the island of Madeira. In 1497 John Cabot set sail from Bristol to North America to explore colonization.

In 1607 the settlement of Jamestown was founded in Virginia. In 1623 England established a colony on the island of St. Kitts, and in 1625 staked its first settlement on Barbados. During the 1660's the demand for sugar increased the need for slave labor on the islands. In 1672 the London-based Royal African Company was established with a monopoly on African slave trading. By 1679 slave revolts had occured on St. Kitts, Barbados, Jamaica and Haiti.

In 1688 the Bristol vessel Society, carrying slaves and ivory from Guinea, was seized off the coast of Virginia in violation of the Royal Company's exclusivity on slave trading. Debate ensued and in 1698 the monopoly was ended after local merchants in Bristol successfully lobbied the British government to be allowed to practice in the slave trade. Soon after the first legal slave ship was launched from Bristol.

In 1737 Bristol overtook London as England's leading slave port. A decade later Liverpool became the major slave trading port of the British Empire. In 1750 a major slave revolt occured on the Bristol vessel King David. After a series of crucial events (Lord Mansfield's ruling in 1772 that a slave residing in England can not be forced back to his plantation by his master, the American Revolution of 1776 and the infamous Zong incident in 1783, in which slave cargo was sent overboard for insurance purposes) the attitude towards slavery in England began to change.

In 1788 Bristol abolitionists held their first town meeting. In 1807 the trade is abolished.

Hosts: Bristol Culture & Leisure Services:  www.bristol.gov.uk

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