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Original poster

EMPIRE- did you know this history?

211 replies

Needacupofteaandcrackers · 15/11/2025 07:50

Just watched Empire on BBC….. I didn’t realise the timelines of how long it was tolerated. I’ve been to a few trust sites and only now I’m made to connections on wealth. 🥹

OP posts:
BMW6 · 15/11/2025 08:23

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/11/2025 08:16

If you are under 40, you may well have studied this at school. I'm in my mid 60s and we didn't.

I'm 67 and this was covered extensively in my school

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/11/2025 08:21

BigMommasHouse · 15/11/2025 07:56

Where did you think ‘old money’ wealth comes from? If they weren’t personally exploiting people in colonised countries they were investing in businesses that did.

If they weren’t exploiting people in other countries they were exploiting workers in this country from the feudal system where the people were literally owned by the lord of the manor through to the horrors of the Industrial Revolution.

A good many businesses still are exploiting workers by not paying them a living wage and not providing them with safe working conditions. There's plenty of modern slavery about in the UK and sweatshops and plantations in poorer countries overseas where many UK companies have suppliers. Too many consumers either can't afford to buy ethically or can't be bothered to check.

Sausagenbacon · 15/11/2025 08:21

Following on from the Mansfield Park comment, in Persuasion the hero sorts out the financial concerns of Mrs Smith (?) In the West Indies.

Sausagenbacon · 15/11/2025 08:18

I didn’t realise the timelines of how long it was tolerated
Sorry, what do you mean?
I watched for a bit, but gave up as I find Olusaga irritating.

Disco2022 · 15/11/2025 08:18

Yeah I'm 41 and was super shocked when I took a post colonial module in 2003 at uni. Then quite angry that we spent so much time on bloody Henry VIII!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/11/2025 08:16

If you are under 40, you may well have studied this at school. I'm in my mid 60s and we didn't.

RhaenysRocks · 15/11/2025 08:13

Didn't you learn about it at school? We did loads on the Empire, the slave trade triangular route, East India Company.

JamesClyman · 15/11/2025 08:08

I think Paxman's book on the subject is better than the TV series.

Also try Kwasi Kwarteng's "Ghosts of Empire" (KK is a better historian than he was Chancellor of the Exchequer).

Nothing beats Jan Morris's books though. Not fashionable today as s/he saw the Empire in a positive light.

Not sure what you mean by "tolerated" though???

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/11/2025 08:05

I assume it's about David Olusoga's current 3-part series on BBC2, which is also extremely good, and that OP is talking about slavery and indentured labour.

It's all there if you look, but until recently most people weren't looking. In Mansfield Park, published in 1814 before the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, Jane Austen is perfectly clear that the Bertram family have a plantation on Antigua. I read that in my teens and just didn't think about it, but now it's obvious that they had become immensely wealthy and were living lives of luxury as a direct result of exploiting enslaved workers. It's right that the National Trust should recognise this.

LilyCanna · 15/11/2025 07:58

I thought this might be a thread about ‘Empire’ the podcast (which is very good).
Don’t know exactly what you’re talking about - slavery?

BigMommasHouse · 15/11/2025 07:56

Where did you think ‘old money’ wealth comes from? If they weren’t personally exploiting people in colonised countries they were investing in businesses that did.

If they weren’t exploiting people in other countries they were exploiting workers in this country from the feudal system where the people were literally owned by the lord of the manor through to the horrors of the Industrial Revolution.