You’d think from the way some people talk that the British Empire invented slavery, ran it single-handedly, and then quietly slunk away in shame. That’s the cartoon version of history pushed by activists who want every discussion of colonisation to be a morality play with Britain cast as the eternal villain. But here’s the truth they don’t want to admit: slavery has existed in every civilisation in recorded history. The British Empire’s part in it was ugly, but small compared to the vast, bloody scale of human bondage across the world and throughout history. And Britain, unlike most of the civilisations before and after it, actually ended slavery at home and in its empire.
