Britain's Anti-Slavery Campaign and the West Africa Squadron (1780-1820) - Drachinifel

Today we look at the run up to and start of the British anti-slavery efforts at the start of the 19th century.



Drachinifel channel on the considerable British anti slavery operations in the face of the rest of the world that had no problem with it. The flags in the thumbnail show the British verses other nations that engaged in the practice. The Royal Navy also had to deal with private British vessels engaged in slaving. It was very hard to stamp out. And remember that slaves from Africa were bought from African slavers, who had been engaged in the practice for thousands of years, along with the Arabs, and pretty much everyone else. All the modern talk about what happened being a unique crime perpetrated by colonial powers ignores history where people in different regions routinely preyed upon their neighbours and engaged in massacres, torture and slavery for as long as can be remembered.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, March 12, 2026.]