The Royal African Company was set up in 1660 - by the ruling Stuart family and City of London merchants - to exploit gold fields up the Gambia River. But it soon developed into a brutal and sustained slave trader, shipping more enslaved Africans to the Americas than any other company.

In today’s Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor William Pettigrew, whose research into the Royal African Company grounds the slave trade in politics and not economic forces.

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. It was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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