Britain's War Against the Slave Trade: The Operations of the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron 1807–1867

by Anthony Sullivan

Long before recorded history, men, women and children had been seized by conquering tribes and nations to be employed or traded as slaves. Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Arabs were among the earliest of many peoples involved in the slave trade, and across Africa the buying and selling of slaves was widespread. There was, at the time, nothing unusual in Britain’s somewhat belated entry into the slave trade, transporting natives from Africa’s west coast to the plantations of the New World. What was unusual was Britain’s decision, in 1807, to ban the slave trade throughout the British Empire.

Britain later persuaded other countries to follow suit, but this did not stop this lucrative business. So the Royal Navy went to war against the slavers, in due course establishing the West Africa Squadron which was based at Freetown in Sierra Leone. This force grew throughout the nineteenth century until a sixth of the Royal Navy’s ships and marines was employed in the battle against the slave trade. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans.

The slavers tried every tactic to evade the Royal Navy enforcers. Over the years that followed more than 1,500 naval personnel died of disease or were killed in action, in what was difficult and dangerous, and at times saddening, work.

In Britain’s War Against the Slave Trade, naval historian Anthony Sullivan reveals the story behind this little-known campaign by Britain to end the slave trade. Whereas Britain is usually, and justifiably, condemned for its earlier involvement in the slave trade, the truth is that in time the Royal Navy undertook a major and expensive operation to end what was, and is, an evil business.

Genres: History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published July 19, 2020

About the author

Anthony Sullivan was born in London but has lived most of his life in Surrey. He is an undergraduate of the Open University, where he studied history and is also a member of the Naval Records Society. He is the author of Man of War (2017) and Britain's War against the Slave Trade (2020).

Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the most accessible title to just jump into, but for researchers or people with an interest and knowledge of the history of slavery or England's naval history, it should be an insightful read. Reading the ARC on my phone, I found some formatting to be awkward, such as the list of terminology prefacing the book being spread across pages and out of order. Viewing it on the computer and not on mobile fixes this issue, I'm not sure if the final copy will have this issue.
The information included in this book is interesting, but I feel my lack of familiarity with naval terms and traditions held me back from fully enjoying it. I found it hard to keep track of ships and their crew, or who was fighting who. I appreciated the talk of parliaments, monarchs and US policies, as I have some background with how slavery fit into those realms. I'm not sure how to make it more approachable for the common reader, maybe a dedicated section to each ship at the end, or focusing a bit more on the prose than the onslaught of dates, numbers of crew and ship names. For someone researching the topic, the data will be extremely helpful, for someone seeking a casual read about an interesting subject, this may not be your cup of tea.

[Terry Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more geared towards someone researching that time period for a class etc. It really drives into the weeds about each individual action taken by the West African Squadron. For the casual amatuer historian the first and the last chapter sums up this period of history nicely.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for the general reader.