Elon Musk recently stirred controversy by invoking the Bible to defend the British Empire’s role in the history of slavery. In a tweet, Musk claimed that the British Empire was a "driving force"

behind ending global slavery, despite its extensive involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

Musk tweeted: “Not many people these days know that the British Empire was the driving force behind ending the vast majority of global slavery. Slavery or de facto slavery was standard practice throughout the world from the dawn of civilization until a few hundred years ago. It is even discussed at length in the Bible, for example.”

He further amplified his position by sharing posts from another account that praised the British Empire, stating it "did a lot of good."

Britain's role in the slave trade, however, is well documented. Starting in 1562, the UK became the world’s largest slave-trading nation by the 1730s, and many cities in Britain still face the legacy of their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. During this period, millions of Africans were forcibly taken, with an estimated 3.4 million purchased by British and British colonial ships between 1662 and 1807. Of those, around 2.9 million survived the grueling Middle Passage and were sold into slavery in the Americas.

Musk’s comments have sparked backlash, especially in light of the broader, devastating consequences of British colonialism. For example, India suffered enormously under British rule, with widespread famines and economic exploitation that transformed the once prosperous country into one of the world’s poorest. Some estimates even suggest that British colonial policies contributed to the deaths of up to 100 million Indians over 40 years.

Historians and commentators, such as Afua Hirsch, have referred to the slave trade as one of the greatest human-made tragedies in history, highlighting the immense suffering caused by this brutal system. Photo by Daniel Oberhaus, Wikimedia commons.