5fish
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Did Lord Nelson support slavery or not. I have two articles one says he supported slavery another is about a cause to clear his name... I want to point out Lord Nelson never owned a slave but while station in Jamaica he befriend the largest slave owner on the island...
His( Lord Nelson) apparent views on slavery were thrust to the fore in 2017 when writer/broadcaster Afua Hirsch labelled Nelson a “white supremacist” for supposedly using his parliamentary seat to vigorously defend the slave trade on behalf of wealthy, plantation-owning friends.
snip...
While he searched unsuccessfully for a Napoleonic fleet in the Caribbean, Nelson also found time to reflect on the relationship between Britain and its precious colonies in the region. In the letter scratched out at his desk on Victory, Nelson proclaimed: “I have ever been and shall die a firm friend to our present colonial system.” He went on to explain: “I was bred, as you know, in the good old school, and taught to appreciate the value of our West India possessions; and neither in the field or in the senate [House of Lords] shall their interest be infringed whilst I have an arm to fight in their defence, or a tongue to launch my voice against the damnable and cursed doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies.”
snip...
While stationed in the eastern Caribbean during the 1780s, Nelson met and married his wife, Frances, the niece of a wealthy slaveholder in the British island-colony of Nevis. The Duke of Clarence (and future King William IV) had also served with the Royal Navy in the region, and spoke up forcefully in parliament against Wilberforce and his plans for the abolition of the slave trade. So too did Admiral Lord Rodney, who before Nelson’s dramatic rise had been the most celebrated British naval commander of his age. The influence of such men helped to ensure that the early abolition campaigns of the 1780s and 1790s ended in failure. No wonder slaveholders like Simon Taylor were keen to cultivate their friendship.
https://nelson-society.com/nelson-and-the-slave-trade-a-position-statement-by-the-nelson-society/
snip... Here is the counter to the letter....
Nelson’s actions in no way support the notion that Nelson was overtly or privately racist or pro-slavery. There are many examples that support this notion and we highlight several below:
Any West Indian slave escaping to a navy ship (including Nelson’s) were signed on, paid and treated the same as other crew members. At the end of their service they were discharged as free men
In 1799 Nelson intervened to secure the release of twenty four North African slaves being held in Portuguese galleys off Palermo
In 1802 when it was proposed that West Indian plantation slaves should be replaced by free, paid industrious Chinese workers Nelson supported the idea
In 1803 Nelson rescued the Haitian General Joseph Chretien and his servant from the French. They asked if they could serve with Nelson, and Nelson recommended to the Admiralty that they be paid until they could be discharged and granted passage to Jamaica. The General’s mission was to end slavery, a fact of which Nelson was well aware. The general and his servant were well treated and paid.
The Nelson family used to have a free black servant called Price. Nelson said of him he was ‘as good a man as ever lived’ and he suggested to Emma that she invite the elderly Price to live with them. In the event Price declined.
CONTROVERSY
Much is made of a letter that Nelson penned in June 1805 to plantation owner Simon Taylor. The private letter to Taylor was published in 1807 by the anti-abolitionists, some eighteen months after Nelson’s death and therefore letter has been taken completely out of context. Work undertaken by the Nelson Society clearly demonstrates that this letter was altered after Nelson’s death to suit the cause of the anti-abolitionists. (See the article ‘Nelson Letter a Forgery’ on this website). An examination of the letter shows the following: Nelson gives his support to the colonial system whilst also criticising Wilberforce and his allies. Hence it is assumed Nelson supported the slave trade. However the letter should be read in the context of the conflict Nelson was engaged in, and the state of the war at that point. Nelson’s view can be understood as an expression of the necessity (in his view) to ensure Britain’s interests were not threatened or undermined. In June 1805 when it was written Britain, at war with both France and Spain, was under imminent threat of invasion. The survival of the country was reliant on Nelson catching up with Villeneuve’s fleet and at the point that the letter was penned Nelson was pursuing the French fleet across the Atlantic and back trying to bring them to battle. Nelson was under huge pressure; therefore any proposal that might destabilize the national economy at this critical time had to be anathema to him (or to any commander charged with such responsibility). With regards to his comments on Wilberforce Nelson was guilty of no more than relaying a commonly held view of the time that was tinged with suspicion of the sudden evangelism of the formerly dissolute Wilberforce.
Here is this article saying the fame 1805 letter is a fraud...
https://legionmagazine.com/en/2020/12/nelson-expert-exposes-pro-slavery-letter-as-fake/
snip...
Martyn Downer says he has incontrovertible evidence the original letter written by Admiral Horatio Nelson aboard HMS Victory four months before he died at the pivotal Battle of Trafalgar was doctored by supporters of the slave trade to counter moves in the British Parliament to outlaw the practice
The document was made public two years after Nelson penned the original aboard Victory off the Caribbean island of Martinique on June 10, 1805. It landed shortly before the Commons was to vote on MP William Wilberforce’s bill to abolish the slave trade.
His( Lord Nelson) apparent views on slavery were thrust to the fore in 2017 when writer/broadcaster Afua Hirsch labelled Nelson a “white supremacist” for supposedly using his parliamentary seat to vigorously defend the slave trade on behalf of wealthy, plantation-owning friends.
Did Lord Nelson Oppose The Abolition Of Slavery? | HistoryExtra
When Lord Nelson died he was hailed as Britain’s greatest seafaring hero – a reputation that survives to this day. However, a letter he wrote onboard HMS Victory reveals a different face, showing his vehement opposition to William Wilberforce’s campaign for the abolition of the slave trade...
www.historyextra.com
snip...
While he searched unsuccessfully for a Napoleonic fleet in the Caribbean, Nelson also found time to reflect on the relationship between Britain and its precious colonies in the region. In the letter scratched out at his desk on Victory, Nelson proclaimed: “I have ever been and shall die a firm friend to our present colonial system.” He went on to explain: “I was bred, as you know, in the good old school, and taught to appreciate the value of our West India possessions; and neither in the field or in the senate [House of Lords] shall their interest be infringed whilst I have an arm to fight in their defence, or a tongue to launch my voice against the damnable and cursed doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies.”
snip...
While stationed in the eastern Caribbean during the 1780s, Nelson met and married his wife, Frances, the niece of a wealthy slaveholder in the British island-colony of Nevis. The Duke of Clarence (and future King William IV) had also served with the Royal Navy in the region, and spoke up forcefully in parliament against Wilberforce and his plans for the abolition of the slave trade. So too did Admiral Lord Rodney, who before Nelson’s dramatic rise had been the most celebrated British naval commander of his age. The influence of such men helped to ensure that the early abolition campaigns of the 1780s and 1790s ended in failure. No wonder slaveholders like Simon Taylor were keen to cultivate their friendship.
https://nelson-society.com/nelson-and-the-slave-trade-a-position-statement-by-the-nelson-society/
snip... Here is the counter to the letter....
Nelson’s actions in no way support the notion that Nelson was overtly or privately racist or pro-slavery. There are many examples that support this notion and we highlight several below:
Any West Indian slave escaping to a navy ship (including Nelson’s) were signed on, paid and treated the same as other crew members. At the end of their service they were discharged as free men
In 1799 Nelson intervened to secure the release of twenty four North African slaves being held in Portuguese galleys off Palermo
In 1802 when it was proposed that West Indian plantation slaves should be replaced by free, paid industrious Chinese workers Nelson supported the idea
In 1803 Nelson rescued the Haitian General Joseph Chretien and his servant from the French. They asked if they could serve with Nelson, and Nelson recommended to the Admiralty that they be paid until they could be discharged and granted passage to Jamaica. The General’s mission was to end slavery, a fact of which Nelson was well aware. The general and his servant were well treated and paid.
The Nelson family used to have a free black servant called Price. Nelson said of him he was ‘as good a man as ever lived’ and he suggested to Emma that she invite the elderly Price to live with them. In the event Price declined.
CONTROVERSY
Much is made of a letter that Nelson penned in June 1805 to plantation owner Simon Taylor. The private letter to Taylor was published in 1807 by the anti-abolitionists, some eighteen months after Nelson’s death and therefore letter has been taken completely out of context. Work undertaken by the Nelson Society clearly demonstrates that this letter was altered after Nelson’s death to suit the cause of the anti-abolitionists. (See the article ‘Nelson Letter a Forgery’ on this website). An examination of the letter shows the following: Nelson gives his support to the colonial system whilst also criticising Wilberforce and his allies. Hence it is assumed Nelson supported the slave trade. However the letter should be read in the context of the conflict Nelson was engaged in, and the state of the war at that point. Nelson’s view can be understood as an expression of the necessity (in his view) to ensure Britain’s interests were not threatened or undermined. In June 1805 when it was written Britain, at war with both France and Spain, was under imminent threat of invasion. The survival of the country was reliant on Nelson catching up with Villeneuve’s fleet and at the point that the letter was penned Nelson was pursuing the French fleet across the Atlantic and back trying to bring them to battle. Nelson was under huge pressure; therefore any proposal that might destabilize the national economy at this critical time had to be anathema to him (or to any commander charged with such responsibility). With regards to his comments on Wilberforce Nelson was guilty of no more than relaying a commonly held view of the time that was tinged with suspicion of the sudden evangelism of the formerly dissolute Wilberforce.
Here is this article saying the fame 1805 letter is a fraud...
https://legionmagazine.com/en/2020/12/nelson-expert-exposes-pro-slavery-letter-as-fake/
snip...
Martyn Downer says he has incontrovertible evidence the original letter written by Admiral Horatio Nelson aboard HMS Victory four months before he died at the pivotal Battle of Trafalgar was doctored by supporters of the slave trade to counter moves in the British Parliament to outlaw the practice
The document was made public two years after Nelson penned the original aboard Victory off the Caribbean island of Martinique on June 10, 1805. It landed shortly before the Commons was to vote on MP William Wilberforce’s bill to abolish the slave trade.
