The Business of Slavery

A ship's insurers argued in a London courtroom that murdering over 130 people wasn't a crime — it was a matter of lost cargo. That single case cracks open a much bigger story: slavery wasn't only a system of human cruelty, it was a fully organized business — with investors, ships, insurance policies, bank loans, and profits that flowed through merchants, ports, and factories thousands of miles from any plantation. This documentary follows the money — from the Royal African Company and Lloyd's of London's marine insurance market, to enslaved people used as loan collateral, to Britain's £20 million compensation payout to slave owners in 1833, to the modern banks and institutions that have had to publicly reckon with this history. Sources include the Slave Voyages database, UCL's Legacies of British Slavery project, and public disclosures from Lloyd's of London, Georgetown University, and JPMorgan Chase — full list in the pinned comment. #TheBusinessOfSlavery #History #Documentary #SlaveryDocumentary #EconomicHistory #economics