FEATURE
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WHAT DO BARCLAYS BANK AND BLUES MUSIC HAVE IN COMMON? By Anna Howell, Economics (2019)
T
he arguable beauty of economics as a discipline lies in the complexity and implicit links between seemingly unrelated markets and how effects of phenomena on the other side of the world can be felt in our own homes. Moreover, historic economic events continue to act as lessons for policymakers, permeating the current economic climate with the wisdom of hindsight. A particularly moving example of this fact occurred in 2007 when the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, gave a tearful tribute and apology to those individuals victimised in the Transatlantic Slave Trade to mark the 200th anniversary of its abolition, acknowledging that many institutions still benefit from the wealth created through the UK’s participation whilst gesturing towards the surrounding skyscrapers in London’s thriving financial area (Muir, 2007). The Transatlantic slave trade refers to the barbaric buying and selling of enslaved African people for manual labour and profit purposes as early as the 16th century (Williams, 2010). The relationship between this inhumane industry, Barclays bank and the Blues music genre is the epitome of the intricate web of economic activity across nations and throughout history.
Barclays bank and the Blues music genre is the epitome of the intricate web of economic activity across nations and throughout history. The British Empire was one of the most prominent slave trading nations due to significant naval technology progress throughout the 15th century allowing more frequent and secure expeditions across the Atlantic to reach societies on the African coast (Klein et al, 2010). Over the ensuing two centuries, the British economy experienced major industrial advances, with increasing demand for overseas commodities, such as sugar and cotton: maintaining profits accumulated from slave-produced goods and therefore the trade of slaves themselves (White, 2009). At the beginning of the 18th century, 80% of British exports were to Europe, whilst, by
the turn of the 19th century, 60% of British exports went to Africa and America. From a purely economic perspective, the prosperity from the trade allowed certain major UK cities to flourish – particularly Liverpool, from which more ships left in pursuit of foreign slaves than all other British ports combined at the end of the 1800s (International Slavery Museum, 2015). Merchants of goods produced abroad by slave labour had to find means of financing the voyages, sailor wages, ship maintenance, and insurance against the risk that the ship may not return; British financial and insurance markets developed rapidly to meet this new enlarged demand. One particular example is of James Barclay, whose wealthy family had profited from the slave trade, becoming a partner in a goldsmith bank in 1736 – founding one of the largest most established British banks in our 21st century society: Barclays (Ackrill and Hannah, 2001). We have seen how the British financial intermediaries may have been impacted by the slave trade from an economic perspective, yet how did this same industry influence Blues music? The smooth soulful sounds of artists such as B.B. King and Robert Johnson have evoked both appreciation and melancholy in Blues fans worldwide since their music careers during the 1900s. However, many are unaware that this music genre embodies a poignant reminder of the oppression and maltreatment of African slaves during the 17th century Transatlantic slave trade. Inspired by work-songs and Gospel music of African American individuals, the lyrics and melodies represent the everyday hardships faced by an entire demographic. Historians have deduced that, on vast plantations where the African slave workers were denied their cultural freedom, singing work songs allowed them to subdue the tedium of the work whilst also expressing their narratives and religious teachings without punishment (Evjenth et al, 1994). Field Hollers; a kind of musical ‘cry’ many African slaves used to communicate during work, are also prevalent in the very roots of Blues and Gospel music (Kopp, 2005). Along with many other musical stimuli, these songs facilitated the evolution of the Blues genre over succeeding decades. It is consequently of vital importance to reflect on how, out of one of the most disturbing historic examples of mankind’s greed, this iconic genre was born and should continue to act as a tribute to those persecuted in the slave trade. 31
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