When Britain's central bank was founded in 1694, the capital that gave it life was inseparable from the suffering of millions of enslaved Africans. New scholarship now traces with precision how the Bank of England's founders, directors, and governors were not merely bystanders to the transatlantic slave trade but active architects of it — and how the wealth extracted from that system became embedded in the foundations of modern British finance. The research arrives at a moment when Caribbean and African nations are pressing with growing urgency for governments to move beyond acknowledgment tow
Bank of England's founding tied to slave trade wealth, research reveals
Millions of Africans were enslaved and trafficked; the Bank of England owned 599 enslaved people on plantations, and one director facilitated transport of over 30,000 enslaved people.