The sugar-slavery system 

Tate Britain was built to house the national collection of British art, following a donation of art from Sir Henry Tate. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England. It was constructed 1893 - 1897 opening as the “National Gallery of British Art”. It officially adopted the name “Tate Britain” in 1932 and “The Tate Gallery” in 2000 (to reflect the opening of Tate Modern and the division of the collection). 

Henry Tate and Abram Lyle founded separate, competing sugar refining business in 1859 and 1865 (respectively). The companies were merged in 1921, becoming Tate & Lyle (after the death of both individuals).

The companies, built upon the sugar industry, were inseparable from the expansion of slavery in the Caribbean. Sugar plantations were dependent on enslaved African Labour, the economic backbone of the Caribbean region from the 1600s through the 1800s under colonial rule. 

After indigenous populations were decimated by European colonists who brought disease and violence, the colonists began importing Africans to the Caribbean through the “transatlantic slave trade” to work on the plantations. The scale of sugar production, indentured brutal labour and living conditions, as well as the constant threat of indiscriminate punishment and death. The system created repeated cycles of abuse and bondage, where millions of Africans were forced into slave labour. 

The Caribbean plantations supplied 80-90% of the sugar consumed in Western Europe, generating immense profits for colonialists. The cycle of death and replacement created a constant demand for more enslaved labour, making the transatlantic slave trade inseparable from the region's sugar economy. 

The British abolished the slave trade in 1807 and “emancipated” enslaved people in their Caribbean colonies in 1838. However, the legacy of the sugar-slavery system endured socially and economically far beyond, as these societies faced enduring challenges including the persistence of plantation economies, and continued inequality and exploitation for decades, with most Caribbean nations only gaining independence from British colonial rule in the mid to late 20th century. 

The sugar industry is stained with the blood of those sold into bondage to build their wealth. Tate & Lyle is the company most synonymous with that system of abuse.