Long before recorded history, men, women and children had been
seized by conquering tribes and nations to be employed or traded as
slaves. Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Arabs were among the earliest
of many peoples involved in the slave trade, and across Africa the
buying and selling of slaves was widespread. There was, at the
time, nothing unusual in Britain's somewhat belated entry into the
slave trade, transporting natives from Africa's west coast to the
plantations of the New World. What was unusual was Britain's
decision, in 1807, to ban the slave trade throughout the British
Empire. Britain later persuaded other countries to follow suit, but
this did not stop this lucrative business. So the Royal Navy went
to war against the slavers, in due course establishing the West
Africa Squadron which was based at Freetown in Sierra Leone. This
force grew throughout the nineteenth century until a sixth of the
Royal Navy's ships and marines was employed in the battle against
the slave trade. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron
captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. The slavers
tried every tactic to evade the Royal Navy enforcers. Over the
years that followed more than 1,500 naval personnel died of disease
or were killed in action, in what was difficult and dangerous, and
at times saddening, work. In Britain's War Against the Slave Trade,
naval historian Anthony Sullivan reveals the story behind this
little-known campaign by Britain to end the slave trade. Whereas
Britain is usually, and justifiably, condemned for its earlier
involvement in the slave trade, the truth is that in time the Royal
Navy undertook a major and expensive operation to end what was, and
is, an evil business.
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