The Man in the Margins – The Black Sailor’s Voyage to Nelson’s Column (II)

The Man in the Margins – The Black Sailor’s Voyage to Nelson’s Column (II)

04 Oct 23
Posted by: Cdre David Burns RN (rtd)
39 minutes, 6 seconds read
Message from the Editor

As a diversity and inclusion resource for Black History Month, in the second article of a two-part series, the author examines how slavery, the law and conflict pushed black sailors into the Royal Navy before and after Trafalgar, and how those black sailors were treated. A 40 minute read.

Seeking Freedom in the Atlantic System Slavery fuelled the generation of black maritime labour in the Atlantic system during the 18th century. War fuelled the demand for that labour in the Royal Navy. The only way to legally escape bondage was by manumission, in which an owner voluntarily freed a slave,[1] or by emancipation, in which an authority directed the end of slavery in a particular jurisdiction or for a particular group of slaves. Some slaves might be allowed to buy their own freedom as an incentive to labour, particularly if they had a trade or some other means by which to generate s…

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