Trading Places - a history of Liverpool Docks

Slavery

During the 18th century Liverpool was Britain's main slaving port. Liverpool ships carried about 1.5 million Africans across the Atlantic in conditions of great cruelty. There they worked on plantations in the Caribbean and southern states of America. Very few slaves came to Liverpool. Below you can learn more about Liverpool's role in the slave trade.

Docks involved

• Canning Dock

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Liverpool's ships and traders controlled most of the slave trade from 1750 until abolition (the end of slavery) in 1807. 33-50% of Liverpool's activity at that time involved slavery in some way. This may have been in trading slaves, in ship repair or importing goods from the Americas. The town made a lot of money from slavery and as a result Liverpool grew.

The Trade

Liverpool was one corner of the famous Slave Triangle, along with Africa and America. There were three stages:

• Liverpool to West Africa - Traders carried textiles, firearms, alcohol, beads and cowries (shells) to West Africa. These were exchanged for Africans.
• West Africa to the Americas - The enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The journey usually took six to eight weeks. Conditions on board were terrible and many Africans died [image, new window].
• The Americas to Liverpool - Once the ships reached the Americas the captains sold their captives. The ships returned to Liverpool with goods such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, tobacco and wood.

The Growth of Liverpool's Slave Trade

• 1700 - Liverpool's slave trade began with a ship called 'Liverpool Merchant'.
• 1744 - More than half of all the ships involved in the slave trade left from Liverpool. Half of all slaves at this time were carried on Liverpool-based ships.
• 1780 - Nearly twice as many slaving ships left from Liverpool as from Bristol and London together.
• 1795 - Reports from this year suggest that Liverpool controlled 60% of the British slave trade and over 40% of the European slave trade.

Overall, Liverpool ships carried half of the three million Africans transported by British slavers to America.

Why Were Liverpool Slave Traders So Successful?

• Liverpool's geographical position meant that merchants had easy access to goods that were needed in Africa. These included textiles from Lancashire and Yorkshire, pottery, copper and brass from Staffordshire and Cheshire and guns from Birmingham.
   
• Liverpool merchants developed expert knowledge and had good contacts with traders on the African coast. They knew which goods to send to Africa. They also knew which goods would sell on different parts of the coast [image, new window].

Impact on Liverpool and the Surrounding Area

Liverpool's success did not all come from slavery, but it did bring a lot of money to the town. Towns in northwest and central England supplied Liverpool with goods, and so also benefited from the trade.

Abolition

Nearly all the leading people in Liverpool, including many of the town's mayors, were involved with the slave trade. Several Liverpool MPs invested money and supported the trade in Parliament. However, not everyone in Liverpool was pro-slavery. A few people, including William Roscoe, worked to abolish the trade.

The slave trade was outlawed in Britain from 1st May 1807 but merchants used their contacts to keep trading with Africa and the Americas. They brought back palm oil from Africa - this became a very profitable trade. They also imported raw cotton. This was produced by slave labour on the plantations in the southern states of America until 1865. A few local people were still involved in slaving. This was mainly by investing in voyages organised from abroad. As late as 1860, an American slave ship picked up supplies in Liverpool.

Today

There is still evidence of Liverpool's role in the slave trade around the city centre.

• Earle, Cunliffe, Gildart, Tarleton and Bold Streets in the city centre are named after merchants involved in the slave trade.
• The exterior of the Town Hall shows scenes involving Africans.

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Canning Dock & Slavery

The Canning Graving Docks were used for the repair and fitting out of slaving ships in the late 18th century. Ship repair was very important at the time shown by the fact that there were only two wet docks but three graving docks.

Slave ships also visited the wet dock. There they were filled with local goods including Manchester cottons, copper and brasswares, beads, liquor, firearms and gunpowder to take to West Africa where they would be exchanged for enslaved Africans.

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