Case Study 8- Campaigners and Reformers (Part Two: Abolition of Slavery)

1807

The Slave Trade is abolished across the British Empire

1833

Slavery is abolished across the British Empire

White Slaves

Factory Workers

Quakers

A Christian denomination that was opposed to slavery as they believed it went against Christian beliefs

Plantations

an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on.

Cash Crops

an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit like cotton, coffee, tea etc.

The Anti-Slavery Society

established by middle class people in the late 18th century and its purpose was to educate people against slavery and increase social consciousness in society. They did this through peaceful and written protest like public meetings, pamphlets, posters and etc. By 1833, there were 73 Anti-Slavery societies

1783

The first anti-slavery petition was presented to Parliament with 300 signatures

1788

108 separate abolition petitions were sent to Parliament

1792

A petition signed by a quarter of the population of Manchester was sent

1797

Wilberforce’s petition was presented in Parliament

William Wilberforce

an MP for Hull and the leader of the Anti-Slavery Society. He was motivated by his Christian faith and spoke to Parliament and presented many bills in Parliament with the goal of ending slavery. He secured the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and became a figurehead for many Anti-Slavery Society

Olaudah Equiano

was formerly enslaved and wrote a bestselling auto-biography called ‘The Interesting Narrative and Life on One Olaudah Equiano’ in 1789 which detailed the horrors of slavery included the conditions people were subjected to in the Middle Passage and on plantations

Thomas Clarkson

he investigated slave ships and took witness testimonies about the horrific conditions on slave ships and published pamphlets and posters about the inhumane conditions

Granville Sharpe

A lawyer who supported the cases of black enslaved people who wanted to be free. He highlighted how few legal rights enslaved people had in Britain.

Zong

A slave ship where 133 enslaved people were thrown overbroad to save weight

Toussaint L’Ouverture

He led the Haitian independence from France, which led to slavery being abolished.

What did the Haitian independence demonstrate?

It demonstrated that enslaved people were willing to rebel and expected more from life

What were the economic changes that led to the abolition of slavery?

slavery became less profitable, as Brazil and Cuba were both producing sugar that was cheaper to import than the British growing it themselves. Local abolition groups began to boycott shops that sold West Indies sugar

West India Lobby

A group of around 60 MPs who directly benefitted from the slave trade and therefore stiffly opposed the abolition of slavery. They raised regulations instead of abolition and spread propaganda. They called black people ‘White Man’s Burden’ and that they were inferior

20 million pounds

former slave owners were paid this as compensation for their ‘loss of property’. Children under 6 were immediately freed after slavery was abolished but the rest of the slaves were gradual released

What did the British Empire do to other countries/empires?

It put pressure on other countries and empires to abolish slavery