Liverpool's Research Proposal in The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The purpose of this research proposal is to identify how the involvement of Liverpool in the Transatlantic slave trade developed its economy, particularly how it contributed to the emergence of financial organizations from the middle of the eighteenth century until the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. By the late eighteenth century, Britain accounted for approximately half the entire world’s slave voyages, with Liverpool accounting for more than half of Britain’s share. Liverpool’s involvement with the Transatlantic slave trade was noticeable and it soon became one of the leading slave trading ports in the world.

It also experienced a dramatic population growth from 5000 to 78,000 between 1700 and 1800. Liverpool soon experienced economic development from British industrialization and financial institutions based on the slave trade.

The establishment of finance institutions, which still exist today, is one of slavery’s lasting legacies. By tracking back the origin of the banks that were set up in Liverpool at this time, the connection between the slave trade and financial organizations would be clarified.

My hypothesis for the question raised above is that merchants of Liverpool that greatly benefited from the Transatlantic slave trade turned into bankers and started their banking business with accumulated wealth. Their deep knowledge and understanding of trade with an increased need of planters and slave traders for credit due to the expansion of overseas trade let the bankers build even more wealth and stimulate Liverpool’s economy as well.

According to Barclays Group Archives, a man named Arthur Heywood became a citizen of Liverpool in 1736 and in 1739, he married Elizabeth, grand-daughter of a wealthy Liverpool merchant John Pemberton and acquired a large fortune.

Get quality help now

Writer Lyla

Verified

Proficient in: Slavery

5 (876)

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Arthur’s brother Benjamin came to Liverpool in 1741 and the Heywood brothers became merchants. With many slave vessels, the Heywood brothers engaged in at least 133 slave trading voyages between 1745 and 1789 according to ‘Transatlantic Slave Trade Database,’ by Davis Eltis and profited greatly from the Transatlantic slave trade. After accumulating wealth from the slave trade, they established Arthur Heywood, Sons & Co. at Liverpool in 1773. By looking at customer accounts to 1800 and customer signature books and register from the bank, it is clear that the bank held the accounts of Liverpool Corporation, of leading merchants such as William Brown and of manufacturers. Heywood’s bank was taken over by Martins Bank in 1883 which itself was bought by Barclays in 1968, which is now one of the major banks in the United Kingdom. (A Virtual Tour of the Black and Asian Presence in Liverpool, 1500 – 1850/ nationalarchives)

From the early life of the Heywood brothers as merchants, it is shown that the brothers were extremely active in the slave trade and built wealth from that. After they became bankers and discontinued to make direct investments in slaving voyages, they still retained connections with slavery through their banking business by offering credit to slave traders and planters. Slave traders/merchants were able to continue their trade via credit arrangements thanks to Arthur Heywood, Sons & Co. and active slave trade stimulated the economy.

According to the National Archives, Thomas Leyland (1752-1827) was a merchant, banker, millionaire and three times Mayor of Liverpool. He was involved in various trading businesses and built up much of his fortune from participation in the slave trade, particularly in the last two decades of the eighteenth century.

Letter Book of Thomas Leyland, May 1786 – Sep. 1788 includes 2,262 copies of business letters on 780 numbered pages preceded by an index of addresses of 290 names arranged alphabetically. A number of references to the slave trade appear in the letters. In a letter to Hibbert, Stephens & Raester of Kingston, Jamaica, of 13 December 1787 Leyland talks of the ‘Sales of our Ship Enterprizes Cargo of 484 Negroes neating £23,934.4 currency’. In a letter of 24 June 1786 to Justin Brennan in Cadiz Leyland has written ‘I perceive that you are no advocate for the African trade, it is however the principal business from this port’.

The Thomas Leyland Company account books, July 3, 1789-May 18, 1793 contains records for the slave ships Hannah (1789-90) and Jenny (1792-1793), which made trips from Liverpool to Africa, then across the Atlantic to Jamaica and other West Indian Islands. These record the goods (sugar, food, arms, and cloth) and slaves sold in each port and instructions to ship captains for the treatment of slaves. The account book opens with an itinerary of the trade mission and instructions for the captain on selling and purchasing cargo (pages 1-3). Following that are the invoice for goods shipped and purchased (page 5-14), sales for the slaves (pages 21-23), and accounts with Thomas Leyland, who funded the expedition (pages 24-29).

According to HSBC Group Archives, Leyland had an interest in sixty-nine slaving voyages from Liverpool. The ships in which he was concerned delivered an estimated 22,365 Africans to the Americas. He was part owner with David Tuohy in the slave ship Kitty in 1789. In 1802 Leyland entered into a banking partnership with Clarke and Roscoe, a firm of Liverpool bankers. With the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Leyland set up Leyland & Bullin’s Bank in York Street, Liverpool with his business partner Richard Bullin. His bank later became part of the North & South Wales Bank, which merged into the Midland Bank (now HSBC) in 1908. Thomas Leyland left a fortune of £600,000 in 1827, making him one of the wealthiest decedents in Britain at the time. (Records: HSBC Holdings plc, Group Archives, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6AE)

The Thomas Leyland records show that Thomas Leyland built up much of his fortune from participation in the slave trade. He participated in a number of slave trade voyages, owned a slave ship and set up his own bank in Liverpool. Thomas Leyland left a fortune of £600,000 in 1827, making him one of the wealthiest people in Britain at the time. It is clear that the slave trade contributed to the economic prosperity of Liverpool by looking the fact that even a single person who was involved in the slave trade business became extremely wealthy.

There is a close correspondence in the life of the Heywood brothers and Thomas Leyland. They both started their career as merchants/slave traders and built wealth by engaging in the Transatlantic slave trade. With capital assets, they had ability to cope with change such as a rise in need of credit among slave traders and the abolition of slave trade and to start banking business. They both became extremely rich from their new business and also helped stimulating the overall economy of Liverpool by offering credit to merchants and by boosting more trades and credit arrangements.

In Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy, 1660–1800, Kenneth Morgan addresses some questions such as “What financial rewards did Britain gain from slavery and Atlantic trade?”. Then he focuses on the economic fortunes of particular British ports such as Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London and on the impacts of slavery on British industrialization. The book describes the overall economic growth of Britain while this research proposal focuses on one city, Liverpool, and the impacts of the slave trade on Liverpool’s financial organizations. The author also talks about how Liverpool became a wealthy port city by illustrating the process of British industrialization in depth and by giving examples from textile and railway industries. It is well shown how Atlantic slave-based trades have stimulated growth in certain manufacturing or service industries but this subject is not handled in this research proposal.

Liverpool banks & bankers, 1760-1837 by John Hughes is a good guide for tracking the overall history of banks and its founder/owner in Liverpool from 1760 to 1837. The book mentions both the Heywood brothers and Thomas Leyland and describes their life briefly from their first career as merchants/slave traders at first, and then as bankers. The author also includes information about how their descendants continue their careers in banking business. Hughes’ argument that slavery existed at the foundation of many notable banks at the time is similar to the hypothesis of this research proposal. However, the book concentrates on the bankers’ personal life and family stories rather than the banks itself and lacks detailed explanations about the origin of the banks and information of their connection to the Transatlantic slave trade.

In The Atlantic Slave Trade: Effects on Economies, Societies and Peoples in Africa, the Americas, and Europe, Joseph E. Inikori insists that Britain’s reliance on slave trade had played a role in its rise to world economic dominance. The book helps its readers to understand how the trade led to Britain’s economic prosperity by mentioning two major British banks, Barclays and Lloyd’s, that developed rapidly from slave trade profit acquired during the mid-eighteenth century. Both later became important sources of credit for British industry. Inikori’s argument is similar to mine in that the development of port city of Liverpool was derived from the Transatlantic slave trade in forms of credit relations and export activities. However, the book is limited and lacks detailed information due to its broad coverage from economic aspects to social aspects.

Again, the question raised in this research proposal is what impacts the involvement of Liverpool in the Transatlantic slave trade had on its economy, particularly regarding financial institutions. A plausible answer that I came up with is that is that merchants of Liverpool that greatly benefited from the Transatlantic slave trade turned into bankers and started their banking business with accumulated wealth. Thomas Leyland and the Heywood brothers, for example, who were originally merchants, became successful in their new business with their deep knowledge and understanding of trade, accompanied with an increased need for credit among merchants due to the expansion of overseas trade. This let the bankers build even more wealth and stimulated Liverpool’s economy as well. Their banks flourished and later became part of one of the major banks in the United Kingdom such as HSBC Bank and Barclays Bank.