Canals and Transatlantic Slavery: A Literature Review

Matthews, Jodie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8876-4264 (2020) Canals and Transatlantic Slavery: A Literature Review. Canal & River Trust.

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Abstract

The review investigates how we can learn more about the profits of slavery being invested in the building of canals in Britain. There are many cities that we are used to associating with the history of canals whose industrial development was linked to the slave trade, such as Liverpool and Manchester. The review also reminds us that the canals transported goods produced by enslaved people, including indigo, tobacco, rice, cotton, and sugar. Canal, port and boat records offer researchers the chance to think more about the journey of commodities from plantation to consumers in Britain.