The History Book

176

THE VERY BEING

OF THE PLANTATIONS

DEPENDS UPON THE

SUPPLY OF NEGRO

SERVANTS

THE FORMATION OF THE

ROYAL AFRICAN COMPANY (1660)

I

n 1660, the Company of Royal

Adventurers Trading to Africa

was established in England.

Its charter, endorsed by the king,

gave its ships the exclusive right

to trade on the West African coast,

and permitted its members to set

up forts there, in exchange for

giving the English Crown half the

resulting profits. Twelve years later,

the company was reorganized as

the Royal African Company and

given still greater powers: to build

forts and “factories” (where slaves

were held before being shipped over

the Atlantic), and employ its own

troops. The company’s particular

significance is due to its crucial role

in facilitating and developing the

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Slaves and colonies

BEFORE

1532 The Portuguese found

their first settlement in Brazil.

1562 British slave trading

in Africa begins with the

voyage of John Hawkins.

1625 The British claim

Barbados on behalf of James I.

1655 The British capture

Jamaica from Spanish

colonists.

AFTER

1672 The company is

reconstituted as the Royal

African Company.

1698 African trade is legally

opened to all English

merchants, provided they

pay a ten percent levy to

the company on all goods

exported from Africa.

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177

See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■

The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27

slave trade. It transported many

thousands of Africans to a life of

slavery, working with West African

leaders to build a trade that lasted

even after the company disbanded

in 1752, and that would eventually

see millions of Africans displaced

to lives of toil in the Americas.

Foundation of the company

Soon after its foundation, the

company became involved in the

Second Dutch War, a trade conflict

between the Netherlands and

England during which the Dutch

took many English forts, excluding

them from the slave trade during the

war. Involvement in the war almost

brought the Company of Royal

Adventurers to bankruptcy, but in

1672, with a new charter from the

king, the company re-emerged,

renamed, restructured, and granted

the right to carry slaves for sale in the

Americas. It prospered, transporting

some 100,000 slaves between that

year and 1698 when, royal power

having been restricted by the Bill

of Rights, the company lost its

monopoly over the trade. After

1698, other merchants were allowed

to join the trade but had to pay a

levy to the company of 10 percent

on all their African exports. The

involvement of other merchants

strengthened the trade to the point

THE EARLY MODERN ERA

The Atlantic slave trade was banned

from 1807, but continued for decades.

This engraving shows captives aboard

an American ship, the Wildfire, bound

for Cuba in around 1860.

English Crown needs revenue.

English merchants see profit

in the slave trade.

Millions of

Africans are

displaced and

enslaved in the

growing

transatlantic

slave trade.

Royal African

Company is

formed to

organize trade

to enrich

merchants and

the Crown.

Africa is a potential source of slaves.

that it became part of the fabric of

British mercantile life, continuing

throughout the 18th century.

The slave trade itself was

much older than the Royal African

Company. Portuguese traders in

the late 14th century were the first ❯❯

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