Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance

In his Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (1787), Quobna Ottobah Cugoano theorized that the creditors of the rapidly growing national debt had begun to use their growing financial leverage to manipulate the political priorities of Great Britain in order to deepen nation...

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Main Author: Carrie DeAnne Shanafelt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Aperio 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Modern Philosophy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jmphil.org/article/id/2500/
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author Carrie DeAnne Shanafelt
author_facet Carrie DeAnne Shanafelt
author_sort Carrie DeAnne Shanafelt
collection DOAJ
description In his Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (1787), Quobna Ottobah Cugoano theorized that the creditors of the rapidly growing national debt had begun to use their growing financial leverage to manipulate the political priorities of Great Britain in order to deepen national dependence on plantation slavery and expand moral complicity in human trafficking and forced labor. This article examines Cugoano's charge of national guilt in the context of eighteenth-century debates about public debt and the profits of slave-trading, as well as in the context of twenty-first-century financial exploitation of global disasters and labor abuse.
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spelling doaj-art-96c5b17bdddf4ad6a3ac8f5122d4242b2025-01-31T16:08:54ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522025-01-016210.25894/jmp.2500Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative FinanceCarrie DeAnne Shanafelt0English, Yeshiva UniversityIn his Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (1787), Quobna Ottobah Cugoano theorized that the creditors of the rapidly growing national debt had begun to use their growing financial leverage to manipulate the political priorities of Great Britain in order to deepen national dependence on plantation slavery and expand moral complicity in human trafficking and forced labor. This article examines Cugoano's charge of national guilt in the context of eighteenth-century debates about public debt and the profits of slave-trading, as well as in the context of twenty-first-century financial exploitation of global disasters and labor abuse.https://jmphil.org/article/id/2500/Ottobah CugoanoslaveryfinancedisasterGreat Britaineighteenth century
spellingShingle Carrie DeAnne Shanafelt
Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
Journal of Modern Philosophy
Ottobah Cugoano
slavery
finance
disaster
Great Britain
eighteenth century
title Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
title_full Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
title_fullStr Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
title_full_unstemmed Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
title_short Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative Finance
title_sort ottobah cugoano on british slavery national debt and speculative finance
topic Ottobah Cugoano
slavery
finance
disaster
Great Britain
eighteenth century
url https://jmphil.org/article/id/2500/
work_keys_str_mv AT carriedeanneshanafelt ottobahcugoanoonbritishslaverynationaldebtandspeculativefinance