Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Not Made By Slaves

The British boycott of sugar made by slaves helped to bring an end to the slave trade in the British Empire. From Atlas Obscura:
By 1792, some 400,000 Britons were either abstaining from sugar or sourcing it from India. (Many consumers believed that East Indian sugar, while still produced in grim conditions, was preferable to sugar produced under slavery.) James Wright, a Quaker shopkeeper, advertised that he would no longer sell sugar, “till I can procure it through channels less contaminated, more unconnected with slavery, less polluted with human blood.” Pro-slavery politicians soon complained that the popular press was against them. (Read more.)
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