Royal African Company

Royal African Company

Coat of arms
Company flag (c. 1665)
Formerly	Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa
Company type	Private
Industry	Mercantile trading
Founded	1660 (1660) in London, England
Founders	House of Stuart City of London merchants
Defunct	1752 (1752)
Key people	James II, Charles II
Products	Gold, silver, ivory, humans

The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast.^[1] It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of England; the RAC was founded after Charles II ascended to the English throne in the 1660 Stuart Restoration, and he granted it a monopoly on all English trade with Africa.^[2] While the company's original purpose was to trade for gold in the Gambia River, as Prince Rupert of the Rhine had identified gold deposits in the region during the Interregnum, the RAC quickly began trading in slaves, which became its largest commodity.

Historians have estimated that the RAC shipped more African slaves to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade than any other company. The RAC also dealt in other commodities such as ivory, which were primarily sourced from the Gold Coast region. After William III of England rescinded the company's monopoly in 1697 under pressure from the Parliament of England, the RAC became insolvent by 1708, though it survived in a state of much reduced activity until 1752, when its assets were transferred to the newly founded African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821.^[3]