Cambridge University Press The Price of Emancipation: Slave-Ownership, Compensation and British Society at the End of Slavery (Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series)

Product Description When colonial slavery was abolished in 1833 the British government paid £20 million to slave-owners as compensation: the enslaved received nothing. Drawing on the records of the Commissioners of Slave Compensation, which represent a complete census of slave-ownership, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the extent and importance of absentee slave-ownership and its impact on British society. Moving away from the historiographical tradition of isolated case studies, it reveals the extent of slave-ownership among metropolitan elites, and identifies concentrations of both rentier and mercantile slave-holders, tracing their influence in local and national politics, in business and in institutions such as the Church. In analysing this permeation of British society by slave-owners and their success in securing compensation from the state, the book challenges conventional narratives of abolitionist Britain and provides a fresh perspective of British society and politics on the eve of the Victorian era. Review Review of the hardback: 'The Price of Emancipation is a well-researched and argued book, and a major contribution to the study of British history and West Indian slavery in the first half of the nineteenth century.' Stanley Engerman, Journal of Economic History Review of the hardback: '… an important contribution to our understanding of why compensation was introduced, and how it was funded and administered.' The Black and Asian Studies Association Newsletter Review of the hardback: 'Draper has written an outstandingly good and important work.' H-LatAm '… a valuable contribution to emancipation studies, and most appropriate for upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level courses.' Scott Hancock, The New West Indian Guide Book Description This book is a comprehensive analysis of the extent and importance of absentee slave-ownership and its impact on British society. About the Author Nicholas Draper is Research Associate at the Department of History, University College London.