Latest / The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History / The Slave Trade's Hidden Ledger: The Women Who Financed Empire
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the men who ran the slave trade — the captains, the kings, the merchants. But there's a whole other layer that often gets missed: the women who bankrolled it. Luna: Wait, women were investing in slave ships? Lucas: Absolutely. Not in huge numbers, but enough that they show up in the ledgers and the court records. And it's not just widows inheriting shares — some were actively managing their own trading firms. Lucas: Take Elizabeth Thwaytes, for example. She was a widow in Liverpool in the 1750s, and she owned shares in multiple slave voyages. She wasn't just a silent partner — she was involved in the business decisions, corresponded with captains, the whole thing. Luna: Hmm, so how did that even work legally? I thought married women couldn't own property back then. Lucas: Right, that's the doctrine of coverture — a married woman's legal identity was essentially absorbed into her husband's. But there was an exception: if a woman was a femme sole, which could mean a widow, or sometimes a single woman, or even a married woman who got permission to trade independently, she could own and manage property in her own name. Lucas: And widows often fell into that category automatically. So when a slave-trading merchant died, his widow might inherit the business and keep it running. That's what happened with Mary Waring in Bristol. Her husband was a major slave trader, and when he died, she took over the firm and continued financing voyages to Africa. Luna: That's remarkable. What kind of scale are we talking about? Lucas: For some, it was just a share in one ship. But others were major players. In Nantes, France, there were women like Mme. Veuve Chaurand — 'veuve' means widow — who sponsored whole voyages to Ouidah, which was one of the biggest slave ports on the West African coast. These were substantial operations. Lucas: And it wasn't just in the big ports. Research into the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database shows that women were recorded as investors in maybe a few hundred voyages out of over thirty-five thousand. So it's a small percentage, but it's not negligible. Luna: Interesting. So what kind of women were these? Were they all widows? Lucas: Mostly, but not all. There were some unmarried women, and even some married women who operated under the femme sole exception. And they came from different backgrounds — some were from merchant families, others were from the gentry. Wealthy, obviously, because you needed capital to get into this trade. Lucas: But here's a twist: some of these women were connected to the abolition movement. There were Quaker women who inherited slave-trading fortunes and then used that money to fund anti-slavery causes. It's a really complicated moral ledger. Luna: So they were profiting from the trade and then supporting the movement to end it? Lucas: Exactly. And that's not as hypocritical as it sounds, because a lot of abolitionists initially thought you could reform the trade, not just end it. But it does show how deeply embedded the trade was in the economy, even among people who later opposed it. Lucas: You know, this conversation reminds me of something that might resonate with you. If you've been enjoying these deep dives with us, episode after episode, it's listeners like you that keep this ad-free and independent. If today's story gave you something to think about, that's the kind of support that matters. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the history flowing. Lucas: So back to the women. One of the most fascinating cases is that of Rachel Sassoon, a Jewish widow in London in the late 1700s. She was part of a family that had interests in the East India trade, but she also invested in at least one slave voyage. And she's just one example. Luna: What did they actually do? Like, were they just writing checks, or were they involved in the day-to-day? Lucas: For some, it was purely financial — they owned shares but left the management to male agents. But for others, like Elizabeth Thwaytes, they were actively managing the business. They hired captains, bought cargo, negotiated with suppliers. There are letters from these women that show they were just as savvy and ruthless as any male merchant. Lucas: And they faced unique challenges. A widow might have to fight to be recognized as a femme sole, or she might have to deal with male relatives trying to take control. So they had to be tough. Luna: It's odd to think of women as part of this brutal system, because we usually picture it as a male world. Lucas: Right. And that's why it's so important to tell these stories. The slave trade wasn't just a male enterprise — it was a family enterprise, and that meant women were woven into it. Their involvement challenges our assumptions about both women's historical roles and the nature of the trade itself. Lucas: We should also remember that not all women were on the side of the traders. There were women who resisted — like the enslaved women on the ships who revolted, or the free Black women in places like Philadelphia who boycotted slave-produced goods. But the women we're talking about today were on the other side of that ledger. Luna: I never learned any of this in school. Lucas: Which is exactly why we're doing this episode. The hidden history of women investors is one of those threads that, once you pull it, reveals how interconnected everything was. Lucas: Take the case of Grace James, a widow in Bristol who in the 1760s owned a quarter share in a ship called the Sally. The ship made two voyages to Africa, and Grace was listed as the owner. She even testified in a lawsuit about the ship's cargo. So she was not just an absentee investor. Luna: What was the cargo? Lucas: On the first voyage, they carried textiles, guns, and brassware — the usual trade goods to exchange for enslaved people. On the second, they went to Ouidah and took on over three hundred captives. We don't know exactly what Grace thought about that, but she was certainly profiting from it. Lucas: And there's a darker side to this too. Some women directly owned slaves on plantations, and they managed the brutal labor system. So the involvement of women in the slave economy wasn't limited to the financial side. Luna: So what happened to these women's fortunes after abolition? Lucas: Some invested in other industries — cotton, sugar, or even the new factories. Others saw their wealth disappear. And some, like the Quaker women, channeled their money into philanthropy. But the profits from the slave trade were so deeply entangled with the rise of industrial capitalism that it's hard to trace exactly where it all went. Lucas: There's one more woman I want to mention: Jane Allen, a widow in London who in the 1790s invested in a ship called the Liberty. That's a jarring name, right? A slave ship called the Liberty. But it happened. And Jane's investment helped that ship make a voyage to Bonny, on the Niger Delta, and carry over four hundred people into bondage. Luna: That's gut-wrenching. The disconnect between the name and the reality. Lucas: It's a stark reminder that the trade was normalized. Even the language used by the people involved — they talked about 'cargo' and 'business' — was designed to obscure the human reality. And women were part of that system of euphemism. Lucas: But it's not all bleak. The stories of these women also show us how women navigated a world that limited their legal rights. They found ways to wield power and accumulate wealth, even within a patriarchal system. That's a form of agency, even if we find it difficult to celebrate. Luna: Yeah, it's complicated. Lucas: It is. And that's what makes history so fascinating — it's full of moral ambiguity and unexpected actors. So next time you think of the slave trade, remember that it wasn't just a male story. It was a human story, and women played their part in it, for better and for worse.