Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people's questions, and connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
The series “Bridgerton” portrays the British system of government and society in the 18th century, and it shows black people holding high positions in the series. Was it really like that in the 18th century?
Many were the illegitimate children of Carribean plantation owners and black slaves. Others were wives or children of the senior staff in the British East India Company. Those who were illegitimate were unlikely to marry well and the women often ended up as ladies’ companions. Legitimate children could certainly mix in society especially as the Indian wives tended to be higher caste which is associated with paler skin.
It does seem to be a modern trend to ensure that every production set in the 18th or early 19th century has a token black character among the gentry which gives an impression that they were more common than they really were.
I wouldn’t exactly say there were, the Bridgerton series is but just a fiction. Although, there were few black people in 18th century brits society. But not by a lot, since they were probably illegitimate children from people of high nobility, even though some black people managed some businesses, I don’t think they were part of high society.