There is not one specific pinned down person, who can be blamed for the slave trade. Many people participated in making it possible, and many people stood by and did nothing as it happened. You can even say everyone is to blame for it. Through the activity that we did in class, my partner and I organised a diamond shape in order from who to blame the most to the least. To begin we said that the plantation owner who bought the slaves for his plantation came first, because not only are they directly influencing the slave trade but also if there is a demand then there will be supply. They can also be blamed for the inhumane and barbaric actions that were brought upon the slaves.
The next layer would be the ship captain who transported the slaves and the auctioneer who sold the slaves because they were the ones putting the trade into action and supplying the actual demand. Next come the politicians in the British government who voted against the abolition of slavery, the African chief from a neighbouring tribe who arranged the capture of the slaves, and the foreman at the plantation who was in charge of beating the slaves if they disobeyed. These people took actions that perpetuated slavery and helped it develop.
The last layer of the diamond shape would include the customer who bought cheap cotton goods in Liverpool, the mill owner in Liverpool wh bought cheap cotton and used it in his factory, and the gunsmith who manufactured the guns, all of which either were sold in Africa or were made by the slaves. These people indirectly participated and added onto the slave trade, as they made or used items that were either done by hard labour on plantations by slaves, or items that were used in order to buy the slaves.
In conclusion, I think that you cannot pin down the blame on someone for such a huge and broad issue in history, even as it still happens to this day. Everyone somehow participated in it, either directly or indirectly, or just by not doing anything about it. Nowadays slavery takes different forms but still does not have one person to blame. There are always two sides to a story.
This was very insightful because my choices were quite different to yours but when I see your reasoning behind your points, I understood why you would put them in this order.
Do you not think that the African chief providing these slaves in the first place should be one of the main people to blame? Slave trade would not have been as common if the tribes looked after each other instead of providing for the enemy which just lead to more slaves being captured and traded by Africans in exchange for guns. I would also understand more thoroughly if there was a deeper explanation.
However, your ranking has gotten me to reevaluate mine due to some very convincing arguments which back up your reason as to why they are to blame or are not to blame.