440 Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

History, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence contained 28 grievances against King George III — not 27. The final grievance, the one Congress cut before signing, accused the British king of waging cruel war against human nature by trafficking enslaved Africans across the Atlantic, forcing slavery onto unwilling American colonists, and then inciting those same enslaved people to rise up and kill their enslavers. Did King George III and the British monarchy actually bear responsibility for slavery in the 13 colonies? Or was Jefferson's grievance a strategic sleight of hand — an attempt to pin a uniquely American system onto the crown he wanted to escape? Historian Brooke Newman, author of The Crown's Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery, joins us to find out. She traces the British monarchy's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade from Queen Elizabeth I through King George III, examines what Jefferson got right and what he got wrong, and delivers her verdict on one of the most explosive what-ifs in United States history. Brooke's Website | Book |Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/440 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction00:01:24 Episode Welcome and Jefferson's Cut Grievance00:03:15 Guest Introduction: Brooke Newman00:04:58 Jefferson's Claim and Brooke's Research Origins00:09:28 Timeline of Monarchies and Terminology00:12:03 England Enters the Slave Trade under Elizabeth I00:17:41 Crown Investments and Royal African Company00:30:15 Colonies Structured for Slavery00:37:02 Logistics of the Slave Trade by Revolution00:47:01 King George III's Views on Slavery00:52:20 Virginia's 1772 Slave Trade Ban and Royal Veto00:57:35 Dunmore's Proclamation: Not a Royal Act01:01:17 Was George III to Blame? Jefferson's Strategy01:04:26 Time Warp: If George III Abolished Slavery01:10:56 ConclusionRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft🎧 Episode 206: Christian Slavery🎧 Episode 351: Wealth and Slavery in New Netherland🎧 Episode 360: Slavery & Freedom in Massachusetts🎧 Episode 394: The Pursuit of Happiness🎧 Episode 438: The American Revolution and the Fate of the WorldSUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:18.5	Welcome to true Spies.
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0:28.2	Suddenly out of the dark that's appear in Laudan.
0:31.5	You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
0:32.9	What do they know?
0:34.0	What are their skills?
0:36.7	And what would you do in their position?
0:42.6	Vengeance felt good. Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
0:47.7	True spies from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:55.9	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast. Ben Franklin's World is a production of Cleo Digital Media.
1:01.2	And support for this episode comes from Massachusetts Historical Society, the first historical society founded in the United States in 1791. And so by the time Jefferson is making his claim
1:08.1	in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, what he's saying is both
1:13.6	strategic but also misleading. Because essentially, he's right in the sense that he's saying
1:20.6	Britain has enabled the conditions that have allowed for the expansion of slavery in North America. The British
1:30.2	monarchy has played a role in this through things like supporting these slave trading
1:34.8	companies, defending the monopolies of these companies, benefiting from the customs revenue,
1:40.0	issuing proclamations, encouraging people, English subjects and eventually British subjects,
1:45.6	to buy land and to invest in coerce laborers. But the misleading aspect of this is that by the time
1:53.9	we get to the lead up to the American Revolution, racial slavery is deeply entrenched in
2:00.4	colonial American society.
2:02.6	Economies are completely wrapped up in this.
	...

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