Latest / The Atlantic Slave Trade: Empire Built on Human Suffering — Fexingo History
The 1788 Dolben Act: Britain's First Slave Ship Regulation
In 1788, a backbench MP named Sir William Dolben steered an unprecedented bill through Parliament: the first law to regulate conditions on British slave ships. This episode traces the Dolben Act from its origins in the abolitionist pamphlet war to its passage amid fierce Liverpool opposition. We look at how Sir William Dolben, guided by Thomas Clarkson's research and James Field Stanfield's testimony, set a maximum number of enslaved people per ship tonnage — a reform that saved thousands of lives, even as critics dubbed it 'the slave trade regulation bill.' We explore the…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.