SLAVE OWNERS BENEFITED immensely after slavery ended. The compensation paid to British slave ownersin 1834 is $200 billion in today’s equivalent.
This is according to Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, pro-vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and noted historian.
He made the remarks as he delivered a special lecture at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed on Thursday night, under the theme: The Emancipation Project, 1838-1937 – Emancipation Economics: Financial Compensation For Enslavers And Legal Freedom For The Enslaved. The event was hosted by the Barbados Museum & Historical Society as part of their ongoing lecture series.
Sir Hilary said the large sum of money paid to the slave owners at the time represented just over 40 per cent of the British government’s total expenditure for that year (RMB)
