Great Britain. Parliament

Description

Issued with a general title page, and also as part of: 'Anno Regni Georgii II. Regis Magnae Britanniae, Franciae, & Hiberniae, vicesimo tertio. At the Parliament begun and holden at Westminster, the tenth day of November, 1747. And from thence continued . to the sixteenth day of November, 1749, being the third session of this present Parliament.Signed on first leaf of text: 6Y2; press fig. 3 on p.547.An important act that vastly enlarged the number of slaves taken from Africa. Established in 1662, the Royal Company of Adventures Trading to Africa was given exclusive rights to take slaves for the West Indian plantations. It functioned like most companies, issuing stock and etc., however the beneficiaries of the grant were uniquely the Merchants of London. In 1672, it was reformed as the Royal African Company. In 1698 the trade was opened entirely and was not controlled. Finally, with this act, the trade was to be completely free but no traders were to be incorporated under the name of The Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, with the crown charging forty guineas per ship. This caused the price of slaves to drop dramatically, making fortunes on both sides of the Atlantic. It was after the passage of this act that the greatest number of people were enslaved each year.

From Collection

Sidney Lapidus Slavery and Abolition Collection

Record Contributed By

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. The New York Public Library

Record Harvested From

The New York Public Library