Table 1.

Historical databases consulted

Database and type	Description of database	Search terms used	Nature of material and number of relevant documents found	Purpose of analysing this material/nature of material was founds
Historical texts (scholarly source)	460,000 texts from invention of printing to 1914. Predominantly English language books from the British Library.	“Free-grown sugar”, “free-labour sugar” “Slave-grown sugar”	Books, book chapters and research summaries 24 results for free-grown sugar 76 results for slave-grown sugar	Analysis provided an overview of the key actors and processes involved in the market category formation and (re)silencing. We found a considerable number of documents that gave us the perspectives of policymakers, fewer that expressed the ideas of entrepreneurs, and very few that captured the voices of sugar consumers
House of commons parliamentary papers (historical source)	Keyword-searchable database of documents created by or for the British parliament	“Free-grown sugar”, “free-labour sugar” “Slave-grown sugar”	75 total results from 1833 to 1902. These took the form of records of speeches in parliament (50 results); reports of parliamentary committees (12 results); papers presented to parliament by civil servants (13 results)	The documents we found provide us with statistical data that allowed us to understand the important role of slaves in supplying the UK’s sugar needs up to the 1870s. Other materials provided us with insight into legislative decision-making and the lobbying process
British library newspapers parts I–V (historical source)	Keyword-searchable database of newspapers located throughout the British Isles	“Free-grown sugar”, ‘free-labour sugar”, “Slave-grown sugar”	Newspaper articles and commentaries. 639 results	The primary sources found here allowed us to see how sugar production and consumption were discussed during this time period. The material was rich in discussion of the sugar industry and its regulation. There were occasional references to consumer preferences and decision-making
Times digital archive (historical source)	Keyword-searchable database of Britain’s paper of record	“Free-grown sugar”, ‘free-labour sugar”, “Slave-grown sugar”	Newspaper articles “free-grown sugar” 54 “slave-grown sugar” 303 “free-labour sugar” 102	Similar to above
Economist historical archive (historical source)	Keyword-searchable database of all articles published in the Economist, a newspaper that covered news from a classical liberal perspective	“Free-grown sugar”, ‘free-labour sugar”, “Slave-grown sugar”	Newspapre articles, analysis and commentaries “free-grown sugar” 9 “free-labour sugar” 62 “slave-grown sugar” 31	Articles provided insight into the ways in which sugar production and consumption were discussed during this time period. They allowed us to understand why policymakers permitted slave-produced sugar to flood the British market after 1846
Slavery and anti-slavery: A transnational archive. Part I: debates over slavery and abolition Coverage: up to 1888 (historical and scholarly source)	Slavery and anti-slavery includes documents from the United States and Europe. Over 1.5 million cross-searchable pages 7,247 books, 80 serials, more than fifteen manuscript collections, & court records	“Free-grown sugar”, ‘free-labour sugar”, “Slave-grown sugar”	Books, serials, court records 9 relevant sources identified. The earliest dates from 1793, the approximate time the market category was created	Our search of this database yielded fewer relevant documents than expected but it did allow us to material than expected but this reflects the learn about popular attitudes to slavery in the 1790s, the approximate time the market category was created