Emancipation and the remaking of the British Imperial world

Explores the significance of the slavery business and emancipation in the formation of modern imperial Britain

Explores the significance of the slavery business and emancipation in the formation of modern imperial Britain

Slavery and the slavery business have cast a long shadow over British history. In 1833, abolition was heralded as evidence of Britain’s claim to be the modern global power. Yet much is still unknown about the significance of the slavery business and emancipation in the formation of modern imperial Britain. This book engages with current work exploring the importance of slavery and slave-ownership in the re-making of the British imperial world after abolition in 1833.The contributors to this collection, drawn from Britain, the Caribbean and Mauritius, include some of the most distinguished writers in the field: Clare Anderson, Robin Blackburn, Heather Cateau, Mary Chamberlain, Chris Evans, Pat Hudson, Richard Huzzey, Zoë Laidlaw, Alison Light, Anita Rupprecht, Verene A. Shepherd, Andrea Stuart and Vijaya Teelock.The impact of slavery and slave-ownership is once again becoming a major area of historical and contemporary concern: this book makes a vital contribution to the subject.

Introduction – Catherine Hall, Nicholas Draper and Keith McClellandPart I: Formations of capital: beyond ‘merchants and planters’1. The scope of accumulation and the reach of moral perception: slavery, market revolution and Atlantic capitalism – Robin Blackburn2. Slavery, the slave trade and economic growth: a contribution to the debate – Pat Hudson3. Slavery and Welsh industry before and after emancipation – Chris EvansPart II: From slavery to indenture4. From slavery to indenture: scripts for slavery’s endings – Anita Rupprecht5. Re-examining the labour matrix in the British Caribbean, 1750–1850 – Heather Cateau6. After emancipation: empires and imperial formations – Clare AndersonPart III: The imperial state7. Imperial complicity: indigenous dispossession in British history and history writing – Zoë Laidlaw8. Concepts of liberty: freedom, laissez faire and the state after Britain’s abolition of slavery – Richard HuzzeyPart IV: Public histories, family histories9. Family history: history’s poor relation? – Alison Light10. Writing Sugar in the Blood – Andrea Stuart11. Legacy and lineage: family histories in the Caribbean – Mary ChamberlainPart V: Reparations, restitution and the historian12. The Mauritius Truth and Justice Commission: ‘eyewash’, ‘storm in a teacup’ or promise of a new future for Mauritians? – Vijaya Teelock13. Jamaica and the debate over reparation for slavery: an overview – Verene A. ShepherdIndex