The South Sea Bubble and the erasure of slavery and impressment
The South Sea Bubble and the erasure of slavery and impressment
When the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, there was an outpouring of critical commentary. This took a variety of forms but centred around common themes of fraud and ruin. Three hundred years later, there is a renewed focus on the horrors of the slave trade. In addition, slaving companies needed the help of the Royal Navy and the navy used impressment. Forced labour was an essential part of the Bubble story but is often erased from it or merely mentioned in passing. Complaints by wealthy people about their losses have drowned out the voices of the enslaved.
Atlantic history, Royal African Company, Royal Navy, South Sea Bubble, forced labour, slavery
888-900
Paul, Helen
d925e4be-28d4-42f5-824d-aec37750e062
2 November 2021
Paul, Helen
d925e4be-28d4-42f5-824d-aec37750e062
Abstract
When the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, there was an outpouring of critical commentary. This took a variety of forms but centred around common themes of fraud and ruin. Three hundred years later, there is a renewed focus on the horrors of the slave trade. In addition, slaving companies needed the help of the Royal Navy and the navy used impressment. Forced labour was an essential part of the Bubble story but is often erased from it or merely mentioned in passing. Complaints by wealthy people about their losses have drowned out the voices of the enslaved.
Text
0013838X.2021
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 November 2021
Published date: 2 November 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
I would like to thank Giovanni Iamartino and Nicholas Brownlees for inviting me to contribute to this special issue. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the editor.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 University of Southampton. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
Atlantic history, Royal African Company, Royal Navy, South Sea Bubble, forced labour, slavery
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 452245
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452245
ISSN: 1744-4217
PURE UUID: 9ef7bae1-f351-4580-93f7-db2e13a891dd
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Date deposited: 01 Dec 2021 17:36
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:08
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