THE CROWN'S SILENCE

Royals profited handsomely from slavery, says this account.

Historian Newman, author of A Dark Inheritance: Blood, Race, and Sex in Colonial Jamaica, opens in 1558, when Elizabeth I assumed the throne of a nation with an empty treasury and an economy dwarfed by three European empires: France, Spain, and Portugal. The queen did well, although Newman points out unsettling details. Spain and Portugal fiercely defended trade monopolies over gold, silver, and agricultural products from Africa. Slavery was harder to defend because some Africans had no objection to selling members of other tribes, and English traders often simply raided coastal towns and kidnapped their inhabitants. Elizabeth encouraged this semi-piratical behavior, often loaning navy vessels and always insisting on a percentage of the take. Profits continued under successors James I and Charles I, who encouraged settlements throughout North America. The first major colony at Jamestown was a catastrophe before settlers discovered that tobacco farming was profitable. Growing tobacco is grueling; hired or indentured labor proved unsatisfactory, so growers quickly tapped into the thriving African slave trade. All 13 colonies possessed slaves until early in the 19th century, although most went to southern states to grow tobacco and later cotton. As Britain’s monarchs lost power after upheavals in 1640 and 1688—especially power to levy taxes—their involvement with slavery increased because they needed money. Beginning with Charles II (reigned 1660-1685) and ending with George IV (Britain abolished slavery in 1834), they used their remaining authority to grant monopolies; accepted cash, stock, and honors from slavers who hoped for favors; and used influence with Parliament and rival monarchs to line their pockets. Readers may grow tired of gnashing their teeth, since every monarch acted shamefully and the author herself discovers disgraceful racism in the traditional heroes of abolition, but it’s an engrossing tale.

An account of powerful people behaving badly that’s hard to resist.