Latest / The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History
The Secret Currency of the Slave Trade
We often think of the Atlantic slave trade as a simple exchange: people for goods. But the reality was far more complex, driven by a web of credit, debt, and distant financial centers that had little to do with the plantations themselves. In this episode, we explore how the Royal African Company’s monopoly in West Africa collapsed under the weight of its own financing, and how British merchants in London began to treat enslaved human beings not just as cargo, but as collateral for massive loans from the Bank of England. We trace the rise of the Liverpool merchant houses, focusing on figures…
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