The institution of slavery was a huge factor of the British commercial empire. The slave trade was in many ways the foundation of the commercial empire. It is explained that "Slavery contributed to the economic development of Great Britain" (Faragher 88), because it created large amounts of profit, supplied much of the cotton for British textile mills, and it helped the growth of manufacturing by creating a market for exports. I think it is obvious that slavery was largely responsible for the success of the British Empire. Without slaves I don't think the empire would have grown as fast as it did. Since they helped produce a large profit a lot of "capital acquired through slavery was incested in the new industrial methods of producing cotton
