5.6.3

West Africa

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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.

Illustrative background for Palm oilIllustrative background for Palm oil ?? "content

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.
Illustrative background for Palm oil exports to BritainIllustrative background for Palm oil exports to Britain ?? "content

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.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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