British Imperialism In Lagos

The British colonial government in Lagos did not have local support to abolish domestic slavery because it would upset and cause conflict with the individuals of power in Lagos. Rather, the British used a variety of terms to describe slavery, for example “[they] insisted that ‘domestic’ slavery in Africa was ‘benign’ or ‘mild’, and that slaves should be regarded as ‘servants,’ ‘serfs’ or ‘family retainers,’ rather than downtrodden beasts of burden.” The British feared that upsetting the regional social system and structure would cause a social revolution in the city. This proves that the British walked a fine line between their own government policies, which has abolished slavery and the social power of elite Africans of the city and interior.
They also had to justify their own colonial treatment of the native’s population. In eighteen fifty-one, the British believed that their ability “intervene…[was] beyond “persuasion, negotiation and other peaceful means.” This reveals that the British know what they were doing was wrong. However, the wealth of Lagos contrasted British actions for the fact that they have taken the city to create wealth for Britain through the city itself. They wanted to continue to have this wealth otherwise there was no reason to colonialize the city or region. They knew that the geographical location of the city was a place for a high volume of trade. The British faced the problem of wanting to promote legitimate trade. The reason the British did this was “[the thought that through] the encouragement of legitimate trade…[would] protect British and British immigrants interest in the city.” This allowed the idea for the British to use contract labor, which there was a very fine line between British contract labor and slavery. At the start of British intervention at Lagos colonial authority’s worked with their government mandated abolition of slavery, and attempted to work with the native population on not resentencing British policy. For the fact that one of largest sources of conflict was the long-term resistance of African elites. The
It caused problems between the colonial administration and the native population. This was a typical problem across the city of Lagos and it created an anti-British feeling among the native population in the city and the interior. It was another was a source of conflict for the elite African, who made their wealth on the slave trade and who owned slaves, and the colonial administration. Milliner (full name), who was in charge at Lagos, believe that the fugitive slave problem was a logistical issue to overcome. The fact that the British went with “Freeman’s policy of not returning slaves to their masters despite the difficulty the policy brought to the administration.” The British did in a sense work with their promise of anti-slavery even through it caused conflict with native elites. However, it was still not a very well-functioning policy. The reason that Freedom’s policy was used was the fact that the British were willing to take the fugitive slaves and use them for British labor. The British’s policy was for “fugitive slaves… [to be] nothing more than a central labor pool organized for the interest of British commerce at Lagos.” The British understood that they could exploit the fugitive slaves for labor rather than giving the fugitive slaves back to their masters. This reveals the importance for the British to make a profit from Lagos and they were willing to exploit the domestic slaves of