How Did Individualds End The Slave Trade? Flashcards
What was Thomas Clarkson a member of?
. Society for the abolition of the slave trade
. He founded 1,200 branches
What did Thomas Clarkson collect and why?
. Information about the horror of the slave trade to convince people to support its abolition
. Objects that displayed the skill and talent of African craftspeople such as dyed cloth
. Samples of natural products like African ivory, gum, rice, pepper and rare + beautiful woods
. Clarkson carried his collection of African productions everywhere to prove Britain could carry on profitable trade with Africa without slavery
. Humanised slaves and showed images
How did he collect the information?
. He rode on horseback for two years
. Interview 20,000 sailors
. In 1790 he visited 317 ships and spoke to more than 300 sailors
Clarkson essay
. Winning essay for a competition whilst at Cambridge uni
. An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
. Inspired prominent parliamentary figures like Wilberforce and persuaded Wilberforce to join the movement
Why was Clarkson important?
. Made sure no details were left out so the public were well informed
. Talented propagandist
. Furnished Wilberforce with the details of the slave trade for his parliamentary speeches
. 10,000 copies of his work was distributed to MPs
. Driving force behind the scenes
Who was William Roscoe?
. The Liverpool abolitionist
. Elected as MP in 1806
. Unitarian
. Voted in favour of abolition
What did Roscoe write?
. Poems denouncing the slave trade
. The Wrongs of Africa (1787-88)
What was Wilberforce’s religion?
Evangelical Christian
Who asked Wilberforce to support abolition?
A wealthy female abolitionist, Lady Middleton, asked him to use his power as an MP
Wilberforce’s first bill
. Introduced in 1791
. Defeated by 163 voters to 88
What did Wilberforce argue successfully?
In 1805 he argued it was unlawful for any British subject to transport slaves but it was blocked by the House of Lords
What did Wilberforce die 3 days after?
The bill to abolish slavery in 1833
When did Wilberforce adopt the cause?
After 1787
Wilberforce’s bills
. His bill eventually became the abolition act in 1807
. After 1791 he presented a bill in every parliamentary session until 1799
. These bills were usually introduced late in the session when members had little time to properly consider the motion so they were usually defeated
When did Wilberforce make his first speech and what did he do?
. 1789
. He secured a select committee to investigate the slave trade
Wilberforce importance
. Gave the movement a figurehead which people could rally around
. White male so his importance was more well documented than other groups such as women
When and where was Ignatius Sancho born?
1729 on a slave ship in the mid Atlantic
Sancho’s parents
. Mother died soon after his birth
. Father killed himself to avoid being enslaved
Sancho in England and life in Greenwich
. Brought to England in 1731
. Forced to live with three sisters
. They did not believe in educating him
. Sancho ran away
After Sancho ran away
. Stayed with Duke of Montague who lived nearby in balckheath
. He worked as a butler
. He wrote poetry and two stage plays
. Composed music
. All published anonymously
What happened after Sancho left the Montagues?
. In 1773, he left
. Opened a grocery shop in Charles Street, Westminster, with his wife Anne.
. Sancho frequently wrote at his experiences as an African in Britain
What did Sancho describe himself as?
‘Only a lodger and hardly that’
What happened after Sancho died?
. Died in 1780
. Two years later his letters were published and were an immediate best-seller, attracting over 1,200 subscribers.
. First African to have an obituary on the paper
James Ramsay’s naval career
. Saw the suffering of slaves as a navy ship’s doctor in 1759 when he was called to treat dysentery cases on board a slave ship.
. Ramsay treated over 100 victims both slaves and sailors
What did Ramsay do on St Kitts?
. Became an Anglican minister on St Christopher (St Kitts)
. He welcomed both black and white parishioners into his church
. Appointed surgeon to several plantations
What did Ramsay think about slavery and what did he see on the plantations?
. Strongly criticised the harsh conditions and the brutality of the overseers
. He saw slaves whose hands were chopped off with axes, when they got tangled in the sugar presses.
. He left St Kitts in 1777, exhausted by the conflict.
When did Ramsay return to Britain?
1781
What was his essay and inquiry called? - why were they influential
. ‘Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies’ - essay
. ‘An Inquiry into the Effects of Putting a Stop to the African Slave Trade’
. First anti-slavery works by a mainstream Anglican writer who had personally seen the suffering
Which other two abolitionists did Ramsay meet and when?
. Met Wilberforce in 1783
. Met Clarkson in 1786
. He encouraged Clarkson to get first hand evidence of the trade
What did Ramsay publish in 1788 and what happened?
. ‘An Address to the Publick, on the Proposed Bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade’
. New attacks were made on his character in the House of Commons
. Ramsay was deeply upset, became ill and did not live to see abolition of the the slave trade dying in 1789
Who was Equiano?
. Also called Gustavus Vassa
. A former slave who wrote about his experiences and toured with his book as part of the abolitionist movement
What happened when Equiano was 11?
Sold to a captain in the Royal Navy, Michael Pascal, who gave him his new name
Who was Equiano later sold to?
. Sold to Robert King, a Quaker merchant in Philadelphia
. King converted him to Christianity and taught him to read and write
What did Equiano do at 21?
. Bought his freedom
. Became a seaman and travelled all over the world
. He eventually settled in London and became involved with the abolition movement
What book did Equiano write?
. ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African’
. The book made him famous and furthered the abolitionist cause
. He travelled extensively across the British Isles selling and reading his book
Why was Equiano so important?
. Others could not project their cause from experience
. Raised the profile
. Work carried a greater sense of moral wight and heightened sense of moral outrage
. In 1787 he joined the Sons of Africa
. Dispelled misconceptions of Africans
Equiano death worth
. Equiano married an English woman
. Upon his death in 1797 he left an estate worth £950 - about £80,000 in early 21st-century value
What did Sons of Africa organise a march on parliament in support for?
. 1788
. Supported Dolben Act
What did Granville Sharp help form?
. One of 12 men who in 1787 helped to form the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the slave trade
. First chairman of the society
How did Sharp help the cause?
. Used his political + legal knowledge and contacts to become the leading defender of African people in London
. Saved many African people from being sent back to slavery in the West Indies, often at his own expense.
What other case was Sharp involved with and what was the impact of such cases?
. Slave ship Zong court case
. Raised public awareness of the horrors of slavery - turn public opinion against the slave trade
What happened to Cugoano at 13?
Sold into slavery in Ghana and was shipped to Grenada
How and when was Cugoano freed?
In 1772 he was purchased by an English merchant who took him to England, where he was freed
Where did Cugoano work and what group did he join?
. Worked for the Cosways
. Here he became acquainted with British political and cultural figures
. He joined the Sons of Africa
What did Cugoano become a leader of?
. London’s black community
. In 1786 - one of the first identifiable Afro-Britons actively engaged in the fight against slavery
What did Equiano do in 1786 with Granville Sharp?
Joined William Green, another Afro-Briton, in successfully appealing to Granville Sharp to save a black person, Harry Demane, from being forced into West Indian slavery
What did Cugoano do with Equiano?
. Cugoano was taught to read and write
. Together they continued the struggle against slavery with public letters to London newspapers
. In 1787, Equiano’s help, he published an account of his experiences
What was Cugoano’s account of his experiences called?
Narrative of the Enslavement of a Native of Africa
How and when did Cugoano upset Wilberforce?
.1793
. Cugoano described him as a hypocrite when he refused to support the campaign to end slavery in the British Empire
When did the slave ship Zong court case happen?
1783
When did the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade start?
1787
In what year did Wilberforce make his first speech to parliament on the cause of abolition?
1789
How many times did Wilberforce introduce a bill to ban the slave trade?
15 Bills from 1791-1807
What did Wilberforce’s investigation into slavery lead to?
First parliamentary bill in 1791 - it was defeated by 163 votes to 88 but raised slavery’s profile
Background of James Somerset case
. In 1771 a slave James Somerset, who had been brought from Jamaica to Britain, ran away.
. He was recaptured and put on a ship bound for Jamaica
What did Sharp do with the James Somerset case?
Intervened and put the case before Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of England
Result of the James Somerset case
. After months of legal argument, Mansfield finally decided that a master had no right to force a slave to return to a foreign country
. Somerset was freed
What did Sharp hope the James Somerset case would do?
Finally settle whether it was lawful to hold people as slaves in England and Wales
Impact of the James Somerset case?
Although this judgment did not actually state that slavery was illegal in England, it laid down the notion that slaves person could not be forcibly removed from England
Who was Cugoano’s account of his experiences sent to?
George III, Edmund Burke and other leading politicians
What did Cugoano’s book fail to do?
Persuade the king to change his opinions and the royal family remained against abolition of the slave trade
What was Cugoano the first African to publicly demand in his book?
The total abolition of the slave trade and the freeing of all slaves
What was Cugoano’s books and when was it published?
‘In Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species’ (1787)
What did Cugoano criticise in his book?
Religious and secular pro-slavery arguments and demanded the immediate abolition of the slave trade and emancipation of all slaves
What did Cugoano also call for
Punishments for slave owners
