Condemned: The Transported Men, Women and Children Who Built Britain's Empire

In the early 17th century, Britain forcibly removed men, women, and children from their homes and sent them to far-flung corners of the empire to be sold to colonial masters, creating a brutal system of human bondage that continued into the 20th century. Graham Seal's book reveals the traumatic struggles of those shipped around the empire, showing how the earliest large-scale kidnapping and transportation of children to the American colonies was quickly bolstered with shipments of the poor, criminal, and rebellious to different continents, allowing Britain to build its colonies while turning a profit.

Format: Hardback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2021
Publisher: Yale University Press

In the early seventeenth century, Britain took drastic measures to address its surplus population, forcibly expelling men, women, and children from their native lands and transporting them to distant corners of the empire to be sold to colonial masters. This oppressive regime evolved into a brutal system of human bondage that persisted into the twentieth century.

Drawing on firsthand accounts, letters, and official documents, Graham Seal unveils the harrowing experiences of those forcibly shipped across the empire. He demonstrates how the initial large-scale kidnapping and transportation of children to the American colonies were swiftly augmented with shipments of the impoverished, criminal, and rebellious to various continents, including Australia. From Asia to Africa, this global trade in forced labor enabled Britain to establish its colonies while generating substantial profits. Incisive and poignant, this account sheds light on the full extent of a cruel chapter in the history of the British Empire.

Weight: 648g
Dimension: 166 x 241 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300246483