Slavery and Empire Still Mark the British Countryside

In May 2024, the British Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch claimed that Britain was enriched by national “ingenuity and industry” rather than by colonialism and trans-Atlantic slavery.

Her statement flew in the face of mounting historical evidence to the contrary, notably the acclaimed Legacies of British Slavery database. In fact, Britain’s trans-Atlantic slavery business developed an entire infrastructure that shaped many British institutions and communities: transport, ports, docks, customs houses, warehouses, counting houses and all their employees. It encompassed plantation ownership and management, financial services and much more. And that doesn’t even include the reinvestment of slavery profits into British industry.