Scientist and banker benefited from gold mined primarily by enslaved Africans in Brazil, book claims

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.

  • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    14 hours ago

    Did anyone bother to read this article?

    1. No one is calling to cancel him
    2. Dyer explicitly says an epochal thinker
    3. Dyer then says he was apart of his time
    4. And the last third of the article is quotes from other academic all like “That groks.” Or “matches what I researched in this corner.”
    • nek0d3r@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      12 hours ago

      If anything, all I can really imagine that’s necessary is to not worship him. Kind of like when you get out of grade school and find out that the US founding fathers were not in fact gods, but disgusting men that were products of their time.

    • Mr_Blott@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      12 hours ago

      It’s amazing how

      He was a part of his time

      And

      He was apart of his time

      Sound like total opposites. The latter makes no sense though