The British Atlantic Slave Trade and Indian Cotton Textiles: The Case of Thomas Lumley & Co.

Abstract

This article addresses the role of Indian cotton textiles as one factor in the rapid growth of the British Atlantic slave trade in the century before the abolition of the trade in 1807. The Anglo-African trade statistics compiled by Marion Johnson opened our eyes to the important role of re-exports of Indian cotton textiles in the slave trade. I have therefore used the records of the London merchant Thomas Lumley to draw an accurate picture of the commercial networks that led from India via Britain to West and West-Central Africa. As a result, I have been able to map the trade routes followed by Indian cottons, examine the Asian dimension of the British Atlantic slave trade, and highlight the regional differences in consumer demand for Indian textiles in pre-colonial West and West-Central Africa.