Royal African Company

Royal African Company
Company type	Trading company
Industry	Trade (gold, ivory, slaves)
Founded	1660
Founder	Merchants from the City of London and House of Stuart
Fate	Ceased operations under African Company Act 1750; holdings transferred to African Company of Merchants
Headquarters	London, England
Area served	West African coast, English colonies in America
Key people	James Stuart, Duke of York (Governor); Edward Colston (Deputy Governor); Charles Hayes (Sub-Governor); Malachy Postlethwayt (Director)
Products	Gold, ivory, enslaved Africans
Number of employees	Not specified
Parent	None

The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by merchants from the City of London alongside the House of Stuart to conduct commerce along the West African coast. Supervised by the Duke of York, sibling to Charles II of England, it was founded following Charles II's 1660 Stuart Restoration. The company was granted a royal monopoly over all English trading activities with Africa. Initially, its operations concentrated on the trade of gold along the Gambia River, a region surveyed by Prince Rupert of the Rhine during the Interregnum. However, the RAC rapidly transitioned to focusing primarily on the slave trade.

Scholars estimate that the RAC transported more enslaved Africans to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade than any other enterprise. Besides slaves, it also dealt in commodities such as ivory, chiefly sourced from the Gold Coast. Following the revocation of its monopoly by William III of England in 1697, influenced by the Parliament of England, the company faced insolvency by 1708 but maintained limited operations until 1752. Its remaining holdings were subsequently transferred to the newly formed African Company of Merchants, which operated until 1821.

Background

European traders along Africa’s west coast conducted business from fortified trading posts known as factories, lacking sovereignty and protection against tropical diseases. Local coastal tribes acted as intermediaries between Europeans and interior slave-hunters. Exploration further inland was minimal, and competition among European powers—particularly with the Dutch—was fierce. Prior to the Restoration, Dutch traders dominated supplying enslaved Africans to English plantations in the West Indies, but English Navigation Acts sought to replace them. Between 1676 and 1700, exports of gold were roughly equivalent in value to those of enslaved people. After the 1697 Peace of Ryswick, both prices and volumes of slaves doubled, making enslaved Africans Africa’s most lucrative export until trade declined after 1807.

Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa

Chartered in 1660 as the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa, it held exclusive rights over English commerce along Africa’s west coast, with an initial emphasis on acquiring gold. A six-person governing committee, including figures such as the Earl of Pembroke and Lord Craven, managed it. In 1663, a new charter authorized expansion into the slave trade. This third iteration of an English African company acquired strategic assets like Fort Cormantin from the East India Company. The charter prohibited others from engaging in trade involving slaves, ivory, and other specified goods.

In 1663, Captain Holmes led an expedition that seized Dutch settlements prior to hostilities; a year later, Fort James was established on the Gambia River as a central trading post. Nonetheless, Dutch naval forces under Michiel de Ruyter soon recaptured most forts except for Cape Coast Castle. The 1667 Treaty of Breda confirmed English possession of Cape Coast Castle.

The company operated these forts as centers for trade and military staging while enforcing its monopoly by confiscating unauthorized English vessels ("interlopers"), sharing captured assets with the Crown through prize courts.

Substantial debts accumulated during the 1667 Second Anglo-Dutch War. Afterward, commerce persisted at a reduced scale through licensed private traders. In 1668, the company established the Gambia Adventurers, granted a ten-year license for trading north of the Bight of Benin, before reintegrating this trade into its operations upon license expiration in 1678.

Royal African Company of England

After suffering substantial financial setbacks, the African Company relinquished its charter in 1672, paving the way for the more expansive Royal African Company of England. This new charter granted the company authority to construct forts and trading posts, deploy military forces, and impose martial law along the West African coast to facilitate commerce in "gold, silver, negroes, slaves, goods, wares and merchandises whatsoever". The company experienced growth until 1687, during which it established six forts along the Gold Coast and secured a strategic position at Ouidah on the Slave Coast. Cape Coast Castle was strengthened and became second in prominence only to the Dutch establishment at Elmina. The rivalry between England and the Netherlands lessened as Dutch military capability was insufficient for assertive action during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Slave trade

During the 1680s, approximately 5,000 enslaved individuals were transported annually by the company to Caribbean destinations. Many captives bore brands such as "DoY," representing the Governor, the Duke of York, who ascended as King James II in 1685; others were marked with the company's initials, RAC. Historian William Pettigrew highlights that this company "shipped more enslaved African women, men and children to the Americas than any other single institution" throughout the transatlantic slave trade era, with investors fully cognizant and benefiting financially from these operations.

From 1672 to 1731, company-owned vessels carried 187,697 enslaved individuals on 653 voyages to English colonies in America; tragically, 38,497 perished during transit. Its predecessor, the Company of Royal Adventurers (1662–1672), transported 26,925 enslaved people across 104 voyages, with 6,620 deaths occurring en route.

Later activities and insolvency

Following the Glorious Revolution in 1689, the company lost its exclusive trading rights and discontinued issuing letters of marque.Edward Colston transferred a significant portion of his shares to William III, thereby securing royal support. To sustain operations without monopoly privileges, parliament enacted the Trade with Africa Act 1697, which permitted all English merchants to trade with Africa provided they paid a ten percent export duty to the company.

Between 1694 and 1700, the company was instrumental in the Komenda Wars within present-day Ghana, aligning with merchant John Cabess and regional kingdoms to overthrow Eguafo’s ruler and establish a lasting fortification at Komenda. Control over French forts fluctuated as English forces captured and lost them repeatedly; notably, Fort James was destroyed by French forces. Despite challenges during the War of Spanish Succession, Komenda remained under English control following the Peace of Utrecht. These military engagements resulted in considerable financial losses for the company.

The company struggled to remain competitive under revised trade regulations and declared insolvency in 1708, continuing limited operations until around 1750. In 1709, Charles Davenant authored Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa, urging restoration of the company's monopoly on slave trading to counteract Dutch competition—a move he argued was necessary to justify maintaining expensive fortifications that only a joint-stock enterprise could support. During the early 1720s, Captain John Massey was assigned as engineer at the company's fort on the Gambia River, but due to harsh conditions he turned pirate.

The Royal African Company persisted in slave trading until 1731 before redirecting its commercial efforts towards ivory and gold dust.

Between 1668 and 1722, it supplied gold to the English Mint. Coins produced from this gold bore an elephant emblem beneath the monarch’s portrait, inspiring the term guinea.

Members and officials

Upon its establishment, the company's charter outlined roles including a Governor, Sub Governor, Deputy Governor, and 24 Assistants, collectively operating as a contemporary board of directors.

James Stuart, Duke of York (who later became King James II) held the position of Governor from 1660 until 1688 and continued as the principal shareholder during his reign as monarch.
Edward Colston (1636–1721), known both as a merchant and philanthropist, was a shareholder between 1680 and 1692 and served as Deputy Governor from 1689 to 1690.
Charles Hayes (1678–1760), a mathematician and expert in chronology, acted as sub-governor during the company's final year in 1752.
Malachy Postlethwayt, who served as director and advocate, played a significant role in shaping company policies.

List of notable investors and officials

Charles II of England
Sir Edmund Andros
Sir John Banks
Benjamin Bathurst, Deputy Governor for the Leeward Islands
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Sir John Buckworth (1622/23–1687)
Sir Josiah Child
Sir Robert Clayton
Sir George Carteret
John Cass
Sir Peter Colleton
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven
Lawrence Du Puy
Sir Samuel Dashwood
Ferdinand Gorges, descendant of Ferdinando Gorges
Francis Hawley, 1st Baron Hawley
George Frideric Handel, documented investor with financial ties to the trade
Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys, Commander overseeing Leeward Isles matters and company Assistant
Sir John Lawrence
John Locke
Sir John Moore
Samuel Pepys
James Phipps of Cape Coast Castle
Thomas Povey
Sir William Prichard
Sir Gabriel Roberts
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Tobias Rustat
Robert Aske
Sir John Shaw, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Vyner, 1st Baronet
Matthew Wren (writer)

Dissolution

The Royal African Company ceased operations under the African Company Act 1750, with its holdings transferred to the African Company of Merchants. These assets comprised nine trading stations on the Gold Coast, referred to as factories: Fort Anomabo, Fort James, Fort Sekondi, Fort Winneba, Fort Apollonia, Fort Tantumquery, Fort Metal Cross, Fort Komenda, alongside Cape Coast Castle, which served as the administrative hub.

External links