It was during the reign of George III that abolitionism began to be a major social movement, leading to the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. But what do we know about the king’s views on slavery? Professor Trevor Burnard considers the evidence <\/p>

A story often told about George III (1738\u20131820) is that he was being driven in a carriage, along with the prime minister, presumably William Pitt the Younger, when he encountered a much grander equipage belonging to a wealthy West Indian planter.<\/p>\n

George turned to Pitt and muttered \u201cHow about the duties, eh Pitt? How about the duties?\u201d The implication behind the story is that such ostentatious displays of wealth by absentee planters showed that West Indian planters could be taxed more \u2013 and that the substantial revenues that Britain received from sugar Customs duties could be further enhanced.<\/p>\n

The story is undoubtedly fictional. It is unlikely that any British monarch has ever shared a carriage with his or her prime minister. It is also a story that is suitably ambivalent; it does not indicate one way or another George\u2019s opinions about slavery in the British West Indies, where most sugar coming to Britain was produced, save that the king demonstrated an eager readiness to advance the tax revenues of Britain alongside a recognition that the wealth produced through sugar in the Caribbean was considerable.<\/p>\n

Boston Tea Party: Igniting a Revolution<\/h4>\n
Member exclusive |<\/strong> Discover the causes, tensions, and violent origins of the Boston Tea Party. Join leading experts as they explain the key players involved in the plan \u2013 and why tea was so important to the story.<\/p>\n

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That ambivalence about slavery is important because we don\u2019t really know for certain what George\u2019s attitude towards slavery and the slave trade was in the second half of the 18th century. We wish we knew more about his precise views.<\/p>\n
George was an important figure in the history of slavery in the British empire. It was during his reign, for example, that abolitionism began to be a major social movement, leading to the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.<\/p>\n
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Read more | Abolition in Britain: the link between slavery and national identity<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It was also during his long reign (1760-1820) \u00a0that Britain\u2019s involvement in the slave trade and plantation agriculture reached its height. Britain received massive wealth from its plantation colonies in the British West Indies and British North America. In 1774, if you added the wealth of those plantation colonies to the wealth of England and Wales, the total would increase by almost a quarter; only London contributed more to British wealth than its overseas slave societies. Britain was the greatest slave trader in the world during the 18th century, its activities peaking in the 1790s, when the start of the Haitian Revolution (1791\u20131804) led to a boom in sugar production and hence the importation of enslaved people in the British Caribbean.<\/p>\n
A budding abolitionist?<\/h2>\n
There are some hints that as the Prince of Wales, George III expressed budding abolitionist ideas. David Armitage of Harvard University has examined his early writings when he was being tutored in political thought and international law in the 1750s. His examination of George\u2019s essay on Montesquieu\u2019s De L\u2019esprit des loix<\/em> (1748) shows that a young George completely accepted Montesquieu\u2019s arguments that slavery was immoral. In his essay, George argued that there could be no basis for slavery in natural law, civil law or the law of nations because it was wrong to enslave any person against their will.<\/p>\n\n
Watch: An introduction to George III<\/h3>

Boston Tea Party: Igniting a Revolution<\/h4>\nMember exclusive |<\/strong> Discover the causes, tensions, and violent origins of the Boston Tea Party. Join leading experts as they explain the key players involved in the plan \u2013 and why tea was so important to the story.<\/p>\n

Boston Tea Party: Igniting a Revolution<\/h4>\n
Member exclusive |<\/strong> Discover the causes, tensions, and violent origins of the Boston Tea Party. Join leading experts as they explain the key players involved in the plan \u2013 and why tea was so important to the story.<\/p>\n