Summary
A new book, Ricardo’s Dream by Nat Dyer, reveals that Sir Isaac Newton’s wealth was closely tied to the transatlantic slave trade during his tenure as master of the mint at the Bank of England.
Newton profited from gold mined by enslaved Africans in Brazil, much of which was converted into British currency under his oversight, earning him a fee for each coin minted.
While Newton’s scientific legacy remains untarnished, the book highlights his financial entanglement with slavery, a common thread among Britain’s banking and finance elites of the era.
Should we now detract from his achievements just like with Columbus?
What was Columbus’ big achievement if you don’t mind me asking? Because he didn’t discover a new place (millions of people lived there already), he wasn’t even the first European to get to that part of the world (the Vikings did it centuries earlier), he didn’t prove the world was round (since that had been known since the ancient Greeks), and he didn’t even understand where he was. He thought he was in Asia.
On top of that, he was so ruthless to the Taino even by the standards of the time that he was brought back to Spain in chains because of it.
So what was his big achievement?
He created new trade routes between continents and got thrown to jail because of his claim of the new continent. You know, politics.
But sure, slavery is not ruthless.
Fucking morons and their double standards.
Those don’t sound like huge accomplishments. So why should we care?
Also, you aren’t specifying what was being traded and I think we both know why.