Révélations sur le rôle de la City dans la traite négrière
Le fondateur de la Banque Rothschild aurait profité de ses relations avec des esclavagistes.
http://www.slate.fr/story/7289/révél...raite-négrière
samedi 27 juin 2009
Nathan Mayer Rothschild, le fondateur de la dynastie des banquiers d'affaires au XIXe siècle et William James Freshfield, le fondateur de Freshfields, un des grands cabinets de la City à Londres, auraient profité financièrement de l'esclavage.
C'est le résultat d'une enquête publiée ce samedi par Le Financial Times à partir de documents tirés des archives nationales. Les deux banques symboles du capitalisme du XIXe siècle ont pourtant toujours été décrites comme des adversaires de l'esclavage.
Dans le cas de Nathan Rothschild, les documents révèlent qu'il aurait enregistré des gains en utilisant les esclaves comme garantie dans les relations bancaires avec un esclavagiste.
Selon le FT, ce n'est pas la première fois que des banques sont suspectés de s'être enrichis grâce à la traite négrière, mais ces révélations sont susceptibles d'avoir un plus grand retentissement que les affaires passées.
JPMorgan, la banque d'investissement, avait ainsi été contrainte à créer un fonds de 5 millions de dollars en bourses en faveur d'étudiants noirs en Louisiane pour s'excuser en 2005 de ces liens passés avec l'esclavage.
Des historiens interrogés par les journalistes du quotidien économique estiment que les documents exhumés pourraient aider à mieux comprendre l'importance de l'esclavage en Grande-Bretagne. «Nous avons besoin de combler le fossé entre ceux qui nient le rôle de l'esclavage et ceux qui croient que la Grande-Bretagne a été entièrement construit sur le sang des esclaves», a estimé l'un d'entre eux.
[Lire le dossier complet sur le FT]
Rothschild and Freshfields founders had links to slavery, papers reveal
By Carola Hoyos
Published: June 26 2009 23:32 | Last updated: June 26 2009 23:32
Two of the biggest names in the City of London had previously undisclosed links to slavery in the British colonies, documents seen by the Financial Times have revealed.
Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the banking family’s 19th-century patriarch, and James William Freshfield, founder of Freshfields, the top City law firm, benefited financially from slavery, records from the National Archives show, even though both have often been portrayed as opponents of slavery.
Far
from being a matter of distant history, slavery remains a highly
contentious issue in the US, where Rothschild and Freshfields are both
active.
Companies alleged to have links to past slave injustices have come under pressure to make restitution.
JPMorgan,
the investment bank, set up a $5m scholarship fund for black students
studying in Louisiana after apologising in 2005 for the company’s
historic links to slavery.
The archival documents have already prompted one of the banks named in the records to take action in the US.
When
the FT approached Royal Bank of Scotland with information about its
predecessor’s links with slavery, the bank researched the claim, updated
its own archives and amended the disclosures of past slave connections
that it had previously lodged with the Chicago authorities.
But it is the disclosures about Mr Rothschild and Mr Freshfield that are likely to prompt the biggest stir.
In
the case of Mr Rothschild, the documents reveal for the first time that
he made personal gains by using slaves as collateral in banking
dealings with a slave owner.
This
will surprise those familiar with his role in organising the loan that
funded the UK government’s bail-out of British slave owners when
colonial slavery was abolished in the 1830s. It was the biggest bail-out
of an industry as a percentage of annual government expenditure –
dwarfing last year’s rescue of the banking sector.
The
chief archivist of the Rothschild family papers, Melanie Aspey, reacted
with disbelief when first told of the contents of the records, saying
she had never seen such links before.
Niall Ferguson, Laurence A.Tisch professor of history at Harvard and author ofThe World’s Banker: A History of the House of Rothschild, said the documents showed “how pervasive slavery was in the structure of British wealth in 1830”.
In
Mr Freshfield’s case, the records reveal that he and his sons had
several slave-owner clients, mostly based in the Caribbean. The lawyers
acted as trustees of the owners’ estates and in one case tried to claim
unpaid legal fees for the firm through the government scheme set up to
compensate owners after abolition.
Nick Draper,
a University College London academic who examined the documents, which
will now form the basis of a comprehensive British slavery database at
UCL, said the records would hopefully promote a better understanding of
of the significance of slavery in Britain.
“We
need to fill the gaps between those who deny slavery’s role and those
who believe Britain was built entirely on the blood of slaves,” he said.
Both Rothschild, the bank, and
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer were quick to point to their
predecessors’ anti-slavery credentials.
Rothschild
said Nathan Mayer Rothschild had been a prominent civil liberties
campaigner with many like-minded associates and “against this
background, these allegations appear inconsistent and misrepresent the
ethos of the man and his business”.
Freshfields
said James William Freshfield was an active member of the Church
Missionary Society, “which was committed to ... the abolition of the
slave trade”.
Apologies and acknowledgements
Several institutions have apologised for, or acknowledged, their links to slavery including:
●In March 2002, Deadria C. Farmer-Paellmann, a lawyer and activist, launched an unsuccessful legal action against Aetna
, a healthcare benefits company, and others for unjust enrichment
through slavery. Legislation in California and Illinois prompted several
companies to research their past and some to apologise and make
atonement gestures.
●In
mid-2000 Aetna, prompted by Ms Farmer-Paellmann, was one of the first
to apologise for insurance policies written on slaves 140 years earlier.
●In 2002, New York Life,
the insurer, donated documents about the insurance it sold to slave
owners in the 1840s to a New York library. It also backed educational
efforts.
●In 2005 JPMorgan, the investment bank, apologised that two of its predecessors in Louisiana – Citizens Bank and Canal Bank – had mortgaged slaves. The bank made its research public and set up a $5m scholarship fund for African- American pupils.
●Lehman Brothers apologised in 2005 for its predecessors’ links to slavery, while Bank of America said it regretted any actions its predecessors might have taken to support or tolerate slavery.
Wachovia Bank, since acquired by Wells Fargo,
also apologised for its predecessors having owned and profited from
slaves. It set up a programme offering $1bn in loans for black car
dealerships.
●In October 2001 students at Yale University
pointed out its past links with slavery. The university noted it had
already founded the Gilder-Lehrman centre for the study of slavery.
Brown University has set up a commission to look into links with slavery and how it should make amends.
●In 2006 Tony Blair, prime minister, expressed “deep sorrow” for the UK’s role in the slave trade.
●Last week the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution apologising for slavery and segregation.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009SLAVES
La pourriture Rothschild
Ils se foutent pas mal de nous
Esclavagisme et holocaustes des peuples