Content overview: “Peterloo Massacre and Slavery: How 19th-Century Manchester Workers and Enslaved Africans W”. New research from the Global Threads public history project reveals how the exploitation of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean was deeply connected to the struggles of Manchester cotton workers during the Peterloo massacre of 1819. The study shows that despite being separated by thousands of miles, both groups were oppressed by the same economic forces. Robert Wedderburn, a Black abolitionist in London, highlighted these shared struggles at the time, describing slavery as hanging 'like a spectre' over Peterloo and other Mancunian fights for equality.
The Peterloo massacre, where peaceful protesters were killed by the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry, became a pivotal moment in British history, leading to voting rights for working-class people and the founding of the Manchester Guardian. By linking these two histories, Global Threads underscores how the wealth from enslaved labor underpinned industrial capitalism in Manchester, and how the fight for workers' rights was intertwined with the abolition of slavery. For the complete material, the listing points back to the source inside the network.