David Olusoga traces the bitter propaganda war waged between the pro-slavery lobby and the abolitionists and reveals how, in 1834, the government arrived at the decision to compensate Britain's 46,000 slave owners with the equivalent of £17billion in today's money. He goes on to investigate what happened to the wealth generated from the slave trade and the compensation pay-out, revealing links to aspects of Britain's industrialisation in the 19th century, expansion of the railway network, and a number of the country's most well-known institutions
These slave owners who were compensated should have their ancestors traced and each of those ancestors should pay back the compensation proportionately and this money should be given to the ancestors of the slaves
These slave owners who were compensated should have their ancestors traced and each of those ancestors should pay back the compensation proportionately and this money should be given to the ancestors of the slaves