Lest you think I'm only calling out white Americans and our role in white supremacy, today's post is dedicated to the people who started it all: the British!! Well, many European nations also participated in and benefited from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and thus, white supremacy, but she was the one who ultimately connect "us" with "them." After all, the colony, then state, of Virginia, the home of many of our enslaver presidents, was named after her...
Queen Elizabeth I never owned slaves herself, but she did fund a couple of famous men who helped found the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and personally profited from it, as well. Sir John Hawkins was an active slave trader, and Sir Frances Drake helped set up the slave trade routes. This would bring a lot of money into the British Empire.
During this time, the British Empire also expanded into Africa, colonizing land while profiting from the slave trade. This would go beyond Queen Elizabeth I, with every monarch after her dealing with, and profiting from the Transatlantic Slave Trade in their own way.
Over the years, some of them, notably, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, were known to be staunch abolitionists, but it didn't stop any of them from continuing to participate in and profit from, colonialism well outside of Europe. The one doesn't really cancel the other...It is also notable, that while much of that empire has since been lost, there has never been any real talk or plans for reparations to their former victims.
Here are more sources on the British monarchy's role in the slave trade:
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