slavery notes

what was the enlightenment

• movement away from religion towards a more scienetfic approach

• more intellectual concerns about human rights

• challange to the blind obdience

• men by virtue of being human were fundementally the same and therefore must enjoy the same rights as one another

• recognition that in the pursuit of modernity the welfare of many was being challanged

• growing anti slave movement since it was a reaction aganist growing self interest and a greater belief of fellowship of man kind

who were the society fo effecting r the abolotion of the slave trade

• foundation of the group played signifcant weight in the aboltion of the slave trade in 1807

• established in 1787 by social reformers from strong religious backgrounds

• aimed on rasing both public awareness into slavery but also applying poltical pressure onto the government

• some key individuals were thomas clarkson and roger anstely

• they were up agaisnt that of the west india company who were sugar plantation owners with close links to government 50Mp’s were esitmated to be apart of this group

• they used propganda and played upon the sympathies of the public through emotive lanauge and imagry of phanplets and other methods for example wedgewoods plaque that drew attention to the moral arguements towards the aboltion of slavery, as well as the brookes ships cross diagram

• drawing attention to such moral arguments explains the sucess of this group

• 1792 - 519 petitions sent to government in that year alone

• 10,700 peition signed in manchester 1787

• it made a common appeal through an underlying religious argument and moral beleif which lead to its signifcance - this helped the movement maintian momentum when slavery was overwhelmiingly profitable (24% of annual income) and when the political atmopshere changed following the events of france and USA

zong ship case

• 1783 court trial

• 1781 a slave ship where 130 slaves where thrown overboard in order to make an insurance claim since slaves were dying from diease

• the court ruled it ok (demonstration of how slavery had become normalised and deep rooted into society)

• most important in society were pro slavery

• the abolitionists published the case in order to make it seem like an isolated case and expose the case

role baptists

• denomination suggests that everyone is equal

• it was attractive to slaves as the relgion was far more democractic

• large role in encourganing religious freedom

evangelicals

• believed in the strength of repentence and salvation and importance of turning away from sin, this formed the bedrock of their oppostion to the slave trade since they viewed it as a sinful practise which should be stopped

• granville sharpe and thomas clarkson

• their faith required them to spread their message of reptence and as a result they were practised in public speaking

• wilberforce - signifcant evangelical christian who regularly spoke in parliament on the issuses regarding the slave trade

• fundemental individuals - the faith contributed determined campaginers who helped to first organise the movements agaisnt slavery

• envolled groups such as the clapton sect

quakers

• yearly meetings of 1783 presented a petition agaisnt the slave trade signed by 273 people

• set up a committe which actively campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade

• published articles such as the ‘case for our fellow creatures’ which in 1784 sold 10,000 copies which was distrobuted amoung mps, the royal family and the general public

• motivation for the campaign stemmed from their religious belief that the existence of God was inside every human being and to do harm to another human being would be the same as doing harm ti gid

• slaves interests were ignored by the public in the pursuit of economic prospeirty

• the quakers organsational capabilties allowed for an effective challange to the practise of slavery

• they bought attention to a cause that was not broadly consdiered in society, cited with spearheading the moral crusiade

• wrote to queen charlotte in 1783 for the ending of slavery

untinarians

• willaim smith MP

• wnated parlimentary reform and abolition with close ties to william wilberforce

elizabeth heyrick

• invovlement in the boycott of west indian sugar to support the abolition movement

• took an educational approach to trying to end slavery by trying to shock the british public with the truth

• exposing the brutaitly of the system in order to bring about an emotional response

• if you arent fightning agaisnt slavery then you actively supporting it

hannah moore

• memeber of the womans group the blue stockings

• wrote 1788 ‘slavery a poem’

mary brikketcard

• 1792 publoshed a poem on the African slave trade adressed to women

• urged woman to boycott slave produced goods in protest

• since women were the main food purchaers they played an important role - with 300,000 joining the boyoctt of sugar by 1791

Ann Yearsly

• bristol milkmaid who published anti slavery poems aimed at a wide readership

• a poem on the inhumainty of th slavetrade in 1788

amelia opies

• a poem for children published on 1802

• belief that simple moral tales could be used effectively to educate the young

mary wollstonecraft

• vinidication of the rights of women

• focused on the plight for female slaves

overal finical factors when bringing about abolition

• the final hurdle towards abolition was through what to do in regards to compensation

• as the moral argument agaisnt the slave trade was winning many began to voice their desires for compensation

• led to £20 million being risdistrobuted

• slavers began to see the economocial gain which supporting abolition could do for them

adam smiths views on the slave trade

• 1776 wealth of nations

• viewed the slave trade is ineffiecent as the slave would have to be looked after by the slave owner rather than a paid workforce whom are self suffiecent

key points from eric williams decline thesi

• the slave system was only challanged in the late 1700’s because it was becoming unprofitable for those who enganged with it, the growth of industrialism in england had created a greater preferance for paid labour and as profits declined it became far easier to critque the slavery system

• british west indian surpluses had piled up in england which led to bankruptcy as in 1799 65 plantations had been abandoned and sold for debts

• production was at a loss 2.5% in 1800 and nothing by 1807

• a restritction was desired since there was a saturation when new colonies were occuring

• aboltion since plantation owners were becoming stressed at the lack of market but wilberforce thought that this could not be imputed into abolition

• sugar cultivation spread but it was lacking as their soil was exhausted and couldnt produce at the same rate

• less than 3% of profits of cotton went to the west indies and america

• there was an over dependence on triangular trade

• slump in cotton trade in the 1750’s due to colonial wars such as the american revolution in 1780

• rum was an essential part of cargo and was often drunk on ships but its prohibitation would have some major economical impacts

evidence which supports no abolition because of economical factors

• slave trade was extremely important to the british economy

• more than 35,000 slave voyages left liverpool at this time, the demand for ships and ports supported the growing economny since it provided thosands of jobs for industiries

• a network was created between west indies, britian, the americans and west africa which created export markets for the merchandise the countries new factories

• in bristol, 40% of peoples income was slave based

• 1784-1807 87% of britians textile output went aborad to african markets, where the british would use goods as bargaining counters on the african coast in return for slaves

• exchanging goods helped to develop markets for the british wares within the african continent - during the napolenic wars britian relied upon these markets alone

• slavery itself was fundemental in promoting the growth of other industires such as textiles

aboltion ocurring because of economic considerations

• decline thesis and how the economy is benefitting but also now being undermined by slavery

• better to have a more motovaited and cheaply paid workforce since they are self suffiecent and produce high quailitly - and their are pleanty of options in england adam smiths ideologies

• the need to subdue slave rebellions also ate into costs and many began to see the benefits of having a motivated work force

• 1/10 voyages encountered some kind of slave revolt which cut into profits

• would often only return 20-50%

• the growth of industrialism which showed how there was an alternate mode of commerence which had great potetntial

fincal considerations which supported abolition

• required vast sums of money to set up before any profit could be gained ships costing £3,153

• there were damages to cargo at sea this dented profit margins and was money that could not be reclaimed through insurance

• as money became more vunrable investors were more causatious as to where they were placing their capital

• the dent in profit margins had led to more causious investments

• boycotts back in england on slave made goods

• the science of farming hadnt yet been developed meaning yields were often poor

• plantation owners often suffered fincal burdens due to debt

• 1776 the glasgow merchants were more than £1.3 million in debt

• in liverpool merchants had lost over £700,000 and 12/30 merchant houses had gone bankcrupt by 1788

• the scale to which it opperated on made it more prone to uncertainty which made the economical decline more signifcant

fincal considerations which didnt lead to aboltion

• the return profit was often still 100% in places such as liverpool - this gave the perspective that financally there was minimal risk involved within the process of slavery

• 1/3 ships came in then the owner would not loose fincally

• e.g the anne cost £8000 but still came back with £4,847

• harvests could still be sucessful and money still was gained by selling the slaves

cugoana’s role in bringing about aboltion

• had influence in publiscing and intergrating into ideological and intellectual groups being an exslave

• thoughts and sentiments on the slave trade which was published in 1787

• showed that how as a christian you could not suppot the slave trade

• a civilised modern country cannot rely on slavery

• pressented a moral agrument

thomas clarkson

• epitomised the importance of indirect standing can still achieve if they were commited to go through with their conviction

• wrote an essay whilst at cambridge on whether it is lawful to enslave the unconsenting

• he worked mainly behind the scenes driving up mass support from the public

• his essay inspited prominent parlimentary figure wilberforce to take up the force of aboltion making him fundemental to the sucess of the abolition movement because he established a promintent voice for its cause within the heart of british authourity

• his essay inspired parliamentarty action and he was a talented public propagandist which ensured that the message would be well spread

• essay gathered broad interest

• 10,000 copies printed

• he was a trigger in the moral cause

• helped to establish wilberforce as the prominent voice for its cause within british authourity

• between 1787 and 1794 he travelled more than 30,000 miles to collect evidence and deliver lectures using visual imagry such as african made objects and ship parts to humanise the slaves

• most important of images used being the cut through section plan of a slave ship which bought the sense of immoralilty compared to other photos

• visted 317 ships of saliors to educate and convience of stopping slavery activities

• helped to set up 1,200 branches of EAST

equiano

• spoke from his on expierence within slavery

• ex slave whom bought his own freedom raising the issuse of slavery through speaking and talks

• 1789 → the interesting narrative of equiano

• publication → a greater sense of the moral weight as people were exposed to first hand truths which hightened the sense of moral outrage

• 1787 joined the sons of arica group which were ex slaves who worked alongside british abolitionists through lobbying - for example with the passing of the 1788 dolben act to restrict the number of slaves on a ship

• he dispelled misconceptions of africans showing the very cultured and respectful realitly of african people

wilberforce

• persistantly introduced a raft of abolition bills between 1791 - 1807

• without clarkson to prepare the ground work wilberforce however would not have been able to enjoy the sucess that he did

• excellent example of individual signficance and the effectiveness in working in combition

• adoption to the cause in 1787 made him a prominent figure in parlimanet who could rally and press the abolition movement more directly within parliament

• 1789 - select committee established into looking into the slave trade

• parliamentary face of abolition

• the bills that he introduced were usually late in session meaning mps had little time to really consider them, the poor execution of wilberforces actions

• his underlying conversativism was particuarly effective within his campaign however, the fears of revolution meant that mp’s were relecutant to engage with anything remotely radical

• wilberforce was able to steer people towards abolition without completely alienating those around him, giving the movement an overall air of respectabilitly

context of the american war of idependence

• its signifacne colonally led to the slave trade and legacy of war on british social reformes

• 1776 20% of american population were of african decent

• it sparked an intellectual debate due to the beliefs of liberty and rights which were centreal in the war

• british failure lead to a reflection upon the failings of slavery

• it had sowed the seed of doubt in the minds the many making people more recpitive towards the abolition movement

• the parreles between slavery and independence argument led to the aboltion disussion in britian

• new poltical atmophere had been created which empahsied the importance of freedom which was signifacnt to aboltionists, where people began thinking more indepth about human experiences. this created a greater justifcation for ending the slave trade

• led to the aboltionist movement becoming more established

• government passed the dollben act in 1788 which was a restriction on the number of slaves on a ship which was renewed every year with improvements up until 1799

events in france

• in 1802 slavetrade was re introduced into french colonial possesion which led to a critical consideration of its practise by the british

• to oppose slavery became that of patriotic duty

• wilberforce found it easier to gather government support which helped to boost his appeal thus the 1807 aboltion act

• too simplistic to say that it indirectly led to aboltion but rather a contributing factor to its infulence

• the abolition movement had been actively campaiging since 1787 and there was substaintial interest in the movement even before the readoption of the slave trade

• french re-establishing slavery thus breathed new life into a movement that was begning to loose momentum - helping to reinforce the movement

• french gov post the revolution in 1794 abolished slavery, and the british property classes with their fear of revolution saw the abolition movement as linked to such radical rheortics

• napolean inadvertly resuced the aboltion movement making the abolition movement both accpetable but also a patriotic duty

the hatian revolution - background

• 1791, there was a revolt in french controlled saiint domingue and by 1793 there was reported unrest

• 1794 the french had delcared an end to slavery and there was a drive to reognise the emmpancipation of enslaved people

• by 1802 however napolean had tried to renenstate slavery which was a sucess in some parts of the empire but in saint domingue rebuffed french armies, claiming indepence in 1802

• acted as a trigger for unrest to occur amoungst planations as they saw the opportuinty to rebel - e.g saint lucia in 1790’s took 2 years of guerilla warefare to reclaim

• this terrified individuals and governments back in england

• many revolutionaries were held in porthmouth prisons

• in saint domingue revolution had started due to social unrest and higherarches, the enslaved reacted by burning crops and taking up arms

• fires in kap aysis was the point when white authority was completely dismissed

• everyone (maroons) were envovled such as women who were both helping start the revolution but also fight

• toussiant lovuenture → became a powerful general leading black forces agaisnt the french colonialsts and other rivals

• created an assmebly to write a consitution in 1801 however there were divsions amoungst what people wanted - louveture (wanted to ally with spain and riguard (wanted to ally with france) struggled over power

• indepedence was gained in 1804 deciding eventually to ally with the french

British reactions to revolutions and rebellions

• britian had major internal issuses going on with their fears of revolution but also they were loosing colonies, the additional burden of slave resistance was a problem which they could do without

• the threat of rebellion placed signficant pressure and cost onto the goverment

• following the haitian revolution there was conservative backlash agaisnt the abolition movement which strengthed the pro slavery lobby.

• mainly due to the fears of rebellion which would case econmies to spread and further violent revolutions to occur - haitian had been particuarly violent with 1,000 planations destroyed and 12,000 people killed

• small revolts did occur in british colonies in 1791 - greneda, st vincent and st lucia

• william pitt the PM subsequently shifted his suport away from the abolition movement and the momentum of the movement began to decline

• measures were made to minisme the likehood of rebellion - colonial assembly in 1792 resolved to abandon the use of metal collars for shackling and there was hope that by making such changes there would be little challenge to the existing colonial order

• news of white people being murderd in their own beds led to miltia being sent to jamacia and 3,000 troops resisding there

• more lenient approach effectively neturalised the threat of rebellion

• the cost of subduing such events was incovieant, there was also signficant intterepution to trade and crop economies - this led to a more pratical realisation that slavery was not effective nor worth it

• not a defintive motive for ending abolition but rather in the conextual aboltion drive, once the inital shock of rebellion had subsided it only enhanced the prospect of further resistence