Wealth Generation and Deployment in the Liverpool Slave Trade, 1750-1807: An Investigation of Cashflows

这篇论文是关于跨大西洋奴隶贸易领域争论最激烈的话题之一--所获得的利润水平以及这些利润是如何分配的。通过对一群利物浦奴隶贩子的深入调查，我将运用我作为一名特许会计师的知识来重新审视这场辩论。我的调查将把商人的奴隶贸易利润与他们的其他贸易企业的利润隔离开来，然后确定这些财富是如何分配的。在黑人生命也是运动之后，要求赔偿的呼声越来越高，这样的调查的相关性从未像现在这样大。它的意义超出了学术历史的范畴。英国奴隶制遗产项目着眼于奴隶制财富如何渗透到英国社会，但它的重点是奴隶制而不是奴隶制。对一群奴隶贩子的集中金融分析--以利物浦的历史为背景--基本上没有出现在学术讨论中。这个项目重新审视了围绕奴隶贸易的盈利能力以及它是否推动了利物浦乃至工业革命的增长的辩论。我调查的关键将是建立奴隶贸易活动和商人财富之间的联系。最近的两项研究旨在将奴隶贸易产生的利润追溯到利物浦的发展。朗莫尔(2007年)试图调查“奴隶贸易对18世纪末利物浦的文化、物质和经济影响”，波普(2007年)探讨了奴隶商人在财产上的投资，目的是评估他们的社会愿望。两人都对自己的工作提出了警告，指出如果没有更详细的调查，就不可能区分奴隶贸易收益与其他贸易活动的收益。尼古拉斯·拉德伯恩(2009)将商人威廉·达文波特的奴隶贸易利润从他的其他商业企业中分离出来，但他调查的重点并不是达文波特财富的分配。这项研究将提供所需的详细调查，以加强朗莫尔、波普和拉德本的工作，并使人们能够更深入地了解利物浦奴隶贸易财富的产生和分配。为了承担这个项目，我将把我作为一名会计师的专业知识与在准备我的获奖硕士论文时培养的研究技能结合起来。

This thesis relates to one of the most hotly debated topics in the field of the transatlantic slave trade -the level of profits achieved and how these profits were deployed. By in-depth investigation of a group ofLiverpool slave traders, I will use my knowledge as a chartered accountant to re-examine this debate. Myinvestigation will isolate the merchants' slave trade profits from those of their other trading ventures andthen ascertain how that wealth was deployed. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement andgrowing calls for reparations, the relevance of such an investigation has never been greater. It is ofinterest beyond academic history. The Legacies of British Slave Ownership project, looks at how wealthfrom slavery permeated British society, however its emphasis is on slave ownership rather than the slavetrade. A focussed financial analysis of a group of slave traders, contextualised in the history of Liverpool,is largely absent from the academic discourse.This project takes a fresh look at the debate around the profitability of the slave trade and whether it fuelled the growth of Liverpool and indeed the industrial revolution. Key to my investigation will be establishing the link between slave trading activities and the merchants' wealth. Two recent studies have aimed to trace profits generated by the slave trade to the development of Liverpool. Longmore (2007) sought to investigate the "cultural, physical and economic impact of the slave trade on late eighteenth-century Liverpool", and Pope (2007) explored the investments of slave merchants in property and aimed to gauge their social aspirations. Both caveat their work by stating that without more detailed investigation it was not possible to distinguish slave trade gains from those of their other trading activities. Nicholas Radburn (2009) isolated merchant William Davenport's slave trading profits from his other business ventures, however the focus of his investigation was not on the deployment of Davenports wealth. This study will provide the detailed investigation required to build upon the work of Longmore, Pope and Radburn and allow greater insights into both the generation and disbursement of Liverpool's slave trade wealth. In order to undertake this project, I will blend my expertise as an accountant with research skills developed whilst preparing my prize-winning Masters dissertation.