Bristol City Slavery Foundations
18th century Britain was a country where trade in minerals and slaves ruled the roost. At the center of the vicious business was Bristol City, a locality substantial local mineral deposits. Since the city could make high-grade metal gold abundantly and cheaply, families involved in the trade amassed wealth. Some of the families used their wealth to acquire stately homes, some of which exist today. Bristol’s wealth grew through trade with the West African people, and the exploits of one merchant, Abraham Elton, epitomizes that trade. Slave and mineral trade between Britain and West Africa accounted for most of Bristol’s wealth.
Influential personalities like Elton take credit for building Bristol’s early history through shrewd mineral trade with West Africa. As the demand for gold, iron, and brass increased, profits from slave trade soared. Elton and other merchants used proceeds from the business to fund other enterprises, which eventually ushered in the age of industrial revolution on Britain. One of Elton’s Thomas Goldwin, sponsored Abraham Dobby to experiment on iron smelted with coke. The project proved revolutionary. Dobby’s metal was tough enough to make tools that would not bend or break. It became the precursor to modern iron. Courtesy of the African trade, for example, the iron bridge, became a reality.
The city of Bristol owes its wealth to the early citizens who exploited the trade with Africans to usher in the industrial revolution. Figures like Elton and Goldwin used their fortunes to begin projects that would mark Bristol out as a thriving trading center as well as etching their names onto British history as great merchants. Their efforts in supporting the slave and mineral trades set Bristol on the path to industrial prosperity.