The Treaty of Utrecht and the Slave Trade

In 1713 the city of London, already an important financial centre, celebrated enthusiastically the Treaty of Utrecht. There was even a torchlight procession. There is a fine print of Queen Anne celebrating in a procession in the Strand. But strange to say, it was not the acquisition of Gibraltar nor of Minorca which was being greeted with such pleasure. Nor was the cession to Britain of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia thought to justify a celebration. What cheered the City of London was that at last the contract to import slaves into the Spanish empire was granted to the British government.