The West Africa Squadron sailing to Brazil is a particularly forceful example of Royal Navy diplomacy. In this account, British ships threatened destructive action against ports unless Brazilian authorities acted against the slave trade. Sea control allowed a dominant navy to make such demands far from home. The episode also exposes the coercive edge of anti-slavery enforcement: a humanitarian objective was pursued through an explicit threat of naval violence.
Notable Point · 2:00:40-2:01:08
Anti-slavery coercion off Brazil
The West Africa Squadron's threat against Brazilian ports illustrates how nineteenth-century sea control could be turned into coercive anti-slavery policy.