Royal African Company Monopoly Granted
Charles II granted the Royal African Company a monopoly on English trade in enslaved Africans in 1672, with the Duke of York (future James II) as its major shareholder. Between 1672 and 1713 the RAC transported an estimated 100,000 enslaved people to the English colonies in the Americas. The monopoly was broken in 1698 by independent 'separate traders', vastly expanding English participation in the slave trade. At its peak the RAC branded captives on the chest with 'DY' (Duke of York) or 'RAC', a detail that conveys the commodification of human beings that was the trade's most fundamental feature.
- Year: 1672 CE
- Category: Economic
