ABSTRACT
From 1750 to 1821, Britain’s Company of Merchants Trading to Africa relied upon its company slaves to fulfil its mission of facilitating Britain’s African trade. Company
slavery was a unique system within the Atlantic, for while these slaves were property, they received a wage, retained specific rights and integrated themselves into the local community. The toil of these slaves played an important role in expanding Britain’s African
trade, yet they consistently resisted the company and, in doing so, defined a coastal position for themselves.
