How Did Religion End The Slave Trade?

Question 1

John Pinney justification as a slave owner

Answer 1

. John Pinney - ‘But surely God ordained them for use and benefit of us; otherwise his Divine Will would have been manifest by some particular sign or token.’

Question 2

Who was John Newton

Answer 2

. An Anglican clergyman
. Former slave ship master

Question 3

Newton early life

Answer 3

. At 11 he went to sea with his father
. In 1743 he was on his way to a position as a slave master on a plantation in Jamaica, when he was pressed into naval service

Question 4

What happened to Newton after demotion and why was he demoted?

Answer 4

. Demotion for tying to desert
. He requested an exchange to a slave ship bound for West Africa
. In Sierra Leone he became the servant of an abusive slave trader

Question 5

What happened to Newton after he was a servant and on the way back to England?

Answer 5

. In 1748, he was rescued by a sea captain and returned to England.
. During a storm, when it was thought the ship might sink, he prayed for deliverance.
. This experience began his conversion to evangelical Christianity

Question 6

Turning point in Newton’s lie

Answer 6

. Whilst aboard a slave vessel he became ill with a violent fever and asked for God’s mercy
. But he continued to participate in the slave trade as masters of slave ships

Question 7

When and what caused Newton to give up seafaring?

Answer 7

He gave it up in 1754 after a serious illness

Question 8

What did Newton do after seafaring

Answer 8

. In 1757 he applied for Anglican priesthood
. In 1764 he finally became a priest

Question 9

How did Newton feel about slavery in later life?

Answer 9

He began to deeply regret his involvement

Question 10

Newton’s tract

Answer 10

. 1787- supporting the campaign, ‘Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade’,
. It graphically described the horrors of the Slave Trade and his role in it.

Question 11

When did Quakers start questioning slavery and why were they against it?

Answer 11

. Since the beginning of the movement
. Quakers believe that God can be found inside every human being
. Therefore to enslave a human would harm God

Question 12

Importance of the Quakers

Answer 12

In 1783, from the Quaker’s London HQ, a petition against the slave trade was signed by 273 people and presented to the government

Question 13

Why were the Quaker’s successful?

Answer 13

. Nation wide organisation of small groups of Quakers pre-disposed to the anti-slavery movement
. Many Quakers were literate with important links to publishers/print workshops and could distribute literature

Question 14

Who was Anthony Benezet

Answer 14

A Quaker teacher, writer and abolitionist

Question 15

How did Benezet help poor black children?

Answer 15

In 1750 he set up an evening class forpoor blackchildren from his own home

Question 16

What did Benezet do to help end slavery?

Answer 16

Campaigned for the Quaker HQ in London to denounce slavery and wrote many anti-slavery pamphlets

Question 17

Unitarian beliefs

Answer 17

. Unitarianism was labelled as heresy
. First to accept women as ministers and are concerned with advancing social justice and equality

Question 18

Evangelist beliefs

Answer 18

Their belief in the strength of repentance as a means of salvation put them at odds with the practice of slavery which they saw as sinful

Question 19

How did Methodism help the cause?

Answer 19

Held meetings and the abolitionist message reached people normally excluded from conventional politics

Question 20

Importance of the spread of nonconformity

Answer 20

Spread in new urban and industrial communities enabled the abolition message to reach large numbers of working people - both men and women who were traditionally barred from having an opinion

Question 21

Who was John Wesley

Answer 21

An early leader in the Methodist movement

Question 22

Why did Wesley hate slavery?

Answer 22

. In 1730s, Wesley visited America wherehe came into contact with enslaved people.
. This experience left him with a loathingof slavery

Question 23

What did Wesley write?

Answer 23

. In 1774, he wrote a tract called “Thoughts on Slavery”
. In it, he attackedthe Slave Tradeand proposed a boycott of slave-produced sugar and rum

Question 24

Apart from the tract, how else did Wesley help the cause

Answer 24

. In August 1787, he wrote to the Abolition Committee to express his support
. In 1788, he preached a sermon in Bristol at personal risk and a disturbance broke out

Question 25

Baptist beliefs

Answer 25

. Everyone is equal.
. No hierarchy of bishops or priests exercising authority over members
. Baptist faith attractive to slaves as the religion more democratic

Question 26

The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade - establish drate original members and impact of membership

Answer 26

. Established In 1787
. Original members: 9 were Quakers, 3 were Evangelical Christians.
. Inclusion of 3 non-Quaker members made the society more acceptable to the general public who viewed Quakers as on the edge of society

Question 27

Josiah Wedgwood pottery business

Answer 27

. Designed, manufacture and distribute dthe ceramic medallion of a male slave in chains saying ‘Am I not a man and a brother’
. The publicly advertised the wearers support of abolition

Question 28

Josiah Wedgwood religion

Answer 28

Wedgwood was a Dissenter, a member of the Unitarian sect.

Question 29

What influenced Josiah Wedgwood to become actively involved in abolition

Answer 29

. Closely associated with the Lunar Society of Birmingham
. In 1773 society member Thomas Day publishedThe Dying Negro, an epic poem which influenced Wedgwood

Question 30

What society was Josiah Wedgwood a part of?

Answer 30

. In 1787 - Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
. Used his connections to publicise the cause

Question 31

What did newton become in 1779 and who sought his advice?

Answer 31

. Rector of St Mary Woolnoth
. Advice sought by many influential figures such as Wilberforce

Question 32

Newton and Wilberforce

Answer 32

. Wilberforce was contemplating leaving politics for the ministry
. Newton encouraged him to stay in Parliament Wilberforce took his advice, and spent the rest of his life working towards the abolition of slavery

Question 33

Who did Benezet influence?

Answer 33

Thomas Clarkson

Question 34

What was Benezet ‘s pamphlet called and when was it written?

Answer 34

‘Some Historical Account of Guinea’ - 1772

Question 35

Who read Benezet ‘s pamphlet?

Answer 35

. John Wesley
. Benezet ‘s appeals to the British legal system, to show that slavery was contrary to the founding laws of the empire, influenced Clarkson and Sharp

Question 36

Who did Benezet write to and what did he encourage?

Answer 36

Queen Charlotte in 1783 to encourage her to consider the plight of the enslaved

Question 37

Who was William Smith?

Answer 37

. A leading Unitarian in the Anti-Slavery campaign
. A MP from 1784 to 1830

Question 38

What were William Smith’s major concerns as MP?

Answer 38

. Parliamentary Reform
. The Abolition of all Religious Tests as to Civil Matters
. The Abolition of the Slave Trade

Question 39

Who was William Smith closely associated with?

Answer 39

William Wilberforce

Question 40

Who was the Clapham sect comprised of?

Answer 40

Wealthy, evangelical Anglican laymen, including Wilberforce

Question 41

What did the Clapham Sect do from the 1790s onwards?

Answer 41

Used their high status networks both inside and outside Parliament to bring about the end of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade

Question 42

Where was the Clapham sect founded and with what aim?

Answer 42

In Sierra Leone and aimed to resettle former slaves and establish legitimate commerce with Africa

Question 43

Why is it ironic that the Clapham sect was founded in Sierra Leone?

Answer 43

After abolition the navy seized slave ships and put African captives to slave labour in Freetown