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West Africa

The abolition of slavery forced British traders to seek new sources of income. They soon started exporting palm oil back to Britain.

Palm oil

Palm oil

  • After the slave trade was abolished in Britain in 1807, British traders lost a key source of income.
  • But over the following decades, palm oil became a lucrative trade for British merchants.
Palm oil exports to Britain

Palm oil exports to Britain

  • This could be exported back to Britain and used in the machines that had become so essential to Britain’s Industrial Revolution.
  • In 1807, when the slave trade was abolished, roughly 100 tonnes of palm oil was exported to Britain.
  • By the end of the century, this had increased to 635,000 tonnes each year.
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