"Black Charlie", shoemaker in Norwich: 1823
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There were Black people in England during the 18th- and 19th-century.
"Black Charlie" lived in Norwich in 1823. "Olaudah Equiano" lived in
London (c. 1789). Thus Black people were known by some White people.
Did Jane Austen's interest in people extend to African Blacks? If not,
would Jane Austen have favoured the Abolitionists? As the Abolitionist
cause was not opposed by the English government, her silence, especially
as a "Bluestocking" is troubling. If Jane Asten did not know the plight
of African slaves in the British Colonies, this would be far more troubling!
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