Royal African Monopoly Case Study

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Reasons for success following the fall of the Royal African Monopoly After years of protest from British merchants, the monopoly of the Royal African Company was removed allowed Bristol to develop into a wealthier sea port city due to the Bristol Society of Merchants Ventures. The Society lobbied for the removal of the Royal African Company’s monopoly so that other cities could benefit. Shortly after the monopoly was lifted, a Bristolian ship, “The Beginning” owned by Stephen Baker made her maiden voyage as a legal slaving ship to the African coast to send slaves to Jamaica before returning in 1699. This was the beginning of Bristol on its way on becoming the largest slaving port in England. Originally Bristol was a in a positive position …show more content…

One such example was sugar, which had massive impacts on the wealth of the city, reflected in the public structures like the Theatre Royal, infirmary and Merchants Hall . In the case of commodities like sugar Dresser illustrates the wide range of industrial facilities which dealt with sugar once it was on British soil from the West Indies in the form of sugar mills, sugar refineries and boiling houses. The raw product would then be turned in sugar as a refined product or used in distilling spirits to be sold on the international and domestic markets. The large number of sugar based infrastructures based in Bristol illustrates the reliance on the slave trade from the market and at the height of the slave trade it is unsurprising that Bristol was able to reap the financial benefits of the trade to its advantage. Other products and commodities which had an impact on Bristol as a result of the becoming involved with the slave trade included tobacco, glassmaking and copper. All of these had an important role to play in aiding the wealth and growth of Bristol during this period. At the height of Bristol’s success as a slave trading port the average tonnage of ships coming into Bristol totalled 591 tonnes from 1729-38 with the largest averages going to areas with prior historical …show more content…

One example of this is John Pinney who made his money from slave- made sugar and invested his money into private property instead of investing it back into the business. He built a grand townhouse called number 7 Great George Street, later inheritated by his son. It should be significant that those heavily involved with slave trade benefited on a personal level as a reflection of the wider success that the slave trade had on Bristol. As a result of its success, the citizens of Bristol were able to reap the benefits which came with immense growth in a very short space of time. Many families were offshore plantation owners and merchant families became very wealthy and spend vast amounts of money on property and luxury goods like ivory or gold being imported from Africa. The removal of the monopoly now allowed for trading of African slaves legally into other cities other than London such as Bristol and some historians argue that this crucial piece of legislation in the British slave trade was the catalyst of Bristol’s power as the largest English slave trading port. The end of the monopoly allowed for free trade and the development of the independent parties being more involved in the slave trade

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