Scientists benefitted from the slave trade

While 12–15 million Africans were forcefully taken from their homeland to be used as enslaved labour in the Americas in the 15th to the 19th centuries, European science flourished. Newton published his theory of gravity, telescopes were not only being used to study space but became a fashionable possession, and the Global North delighted in the exotic new plants and animals ‘discovered’ in Africa. These histories cannot be viewed in isolation; the pursuit of science and the slave trade supported one another.

Scientists were complicit in furthering slavery. Those who could benefit from the network of ships moving from one continent to another so readily aligned themselves with the slave trade to gain access to Africa and the Americas. In doing so, they became reliant on slavers for food, shelter, equipment and local transport. Scientists and slave traders worked together.