<P> In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish on its own by Act of Parliament, separate from that of Walton - on - the - Hill, with two parish churches . At the same time it gained separate customs authority from Chester . </P> <P> On 3 October 1699, the very same year that Liverpool had been granted status as an independent parish, Liverpool's first' recorded' slave ship, named Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa, arriving in Barbados with a' cargo' of 220 Africans, returning to Liverpool on 18 September 1700 . The following month a second recorded ship, The Blessing, set sail for the Gold Coast . </P> <P> The first wet dock in Britain was built in Liverpool and completed in 1715 . It was the first commercial enclosed wet dock in the world and was constructed for a capacity of 100 ships . By the close of the 18th century 40% of the world's, and 80% of Britain's Atlantic slave activity was accounted for by slave ships that voyaged from the docks at Liverpool . Liverpool's black community dates from the building of the first dock in 1715 and grew rapidly, reaching a population of 10,000 within five years . This growth led to the opening of the Consulate of the United States in Liverpool in 1790, its first consulate anywhere in the world . </P> <P> Vast profits from the slave trade transformed Liverpool into one of Britain's foremost important cities . Liverpool became a financial centre, rivalled by Bristol, another slaving port, and beaten only by London . In the peak year of 1799, ships sailing from Liverpool carried over 45,000 slaves from Africa . </P>

What did liverpool have to do with the slave trade