Issue 4: The Abolitionist Campaigns Flashcards
What arguments were presented in opposition to the abolition of the AST?
Plantation owners argued that they would not be able to continue in business without the slave trade, as they would run out of labourers to work on their plantations.
• Many jobs for working people in Britain depended upon the continuation of the slave trade, as it brought raw materials into the country for manufacture and provided work in shipbuilding and docking.
• People in Britain benefited from sugar, cotton and tobacco being affordable and in plentiful supply thanks to the slave trade.
• Cities such as Bristol and Liverpool depended on the slave trade for their prosperity.
• The French Revolution in 1789 left many wealthy and powerful people in Britain fearful that any change that harmed Britain’s economy might lead to a workers’ revolution in Britain as well - so they thought it would be too risky to abolish the slave trade.
• The slave rebellion in Haiti in 1791 left many plantation owners fearful that any moves to abolish the slave trade might encourage the enslaved Africans on their plantations to revolt so they spoke up against abolishing the slave trade.
Slave traders and plantation owners argued that enslaved Africans were treated well on the plantations. They published propaganda images which showed happy Africans at work in the fields
Why did the abolitionist movement to grow in Britain from the 1780’s onwards?
• Religious groups such as
been supporting the abolition of the slave trade for many years, even banning anyone involved in the slave trade from joining their society. This provided organised support for abolition, which made others question whether the slave trade should be abolished.
The case of the Zong, a slave ship on which where 133 enslaved people were thrown overboard in order to claim insurance, was widely reported in newspapers and drew attention to how badly the enslaved people were treated. This motivated people in Britain to support the abolitionist cause, as well as encouraging those who were already pro-abolition to form an abolitionist society.
• Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson decided to form the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which began in 1787. The existence of a formal organisation which was focused on abolishing the slave trade encouraged pro-abolition people to become active in trying to end the slave trade.
• A group of Africans who had escaped slavery and travelled to Britain formed an abolitionist group called the Sons of Africa. They wrote about their experiences, toured the country and spoke at abolitionist meetings. Their message reached tens of thousands of people and provided them with evidence of how badly enslaved people were being treated in the Caribbean. This caused more people to support the abolitionist movement.
Thomas Clarkson collected evidence of the tools used in the Atlantic Slave Trade and toured Britain making speeches and showing the audiences the shackles, whips and thumbscrews that were used to control the enslaved Africans. This helped to convince people that the slave trade had to be abolished on moral grounds.
• Josiah Wedgwood helped the abolitionist movement to grow by designing an image of an enslaved African, which then appeared on pendants, brooches and pottery from Wedgwood’s factory. This became a symbol of the abolitionist movement, helping to raise its profile and so win more support.
—
•
•
The abolitionists set up petitions against the slave trade, for which they collected signatures and then sent these to Parliament. By 1792 they had presented 519 petitions with over 390,000 signatures. While this did not persuade Parliament to abolish the slave trade at this time, the petition campaign did help to win the abolitionist movement more public support.
Female abolitionists organised a sugar boycott in 1792, which affected many people who had not previously considered the case for abolition of the slave trade. 400,000 people were boycotting slave- produced sugar by the end of the year. This led to sugar sales dropping by over a third and helped to build support for the abolitionist movement by drawing public attention to their cause.
What arguments are presented in support of the abolition of the AST?
•
The moral argument that it was wrong to engage in the slave trade just because other countries were doing so, and just because it was profitable.
The moral argument that it was wrong to consider African people to be inferior or subhuman in any way, so they should not be deprived of their freedom.
The moral argument that African people were suffering excessively as a result of the slave trade, with evidence of terrible conditions on the Middle Passage and appallingly low life expectancy of enslaved Africans on the plantations.
The religious argument that slavery was against the Laws of God - as a Christian country, Britain should not be involved in the slave trade.
• The economic argument that there were more profitable alternatives to the slave trade, with Africa having more to offer through trade of goods and craft skills.
•
The economic argument that the slave trade did not bring a secure profit as it was vulnerable to slave revolts and popular boycotts of slave plantation products such as sugar.
What contribution did William Wilberforce make to the abolitionist movement?
Wilberforce was a MP which meant he could make the abolition in Parliament. He was also an eloquent speaker and commanded a lot of respect in Parliament.
In 1787 Wilberforce started working closely with the newly formed
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
From 1789 onwards Wilberforce regularly introduced bills in Parliament calling for abolition of the slave trade. These bills were repeatedly
voted down.
Wilberforce achieved partial success in 1792 when a bill was passed which called for a ‘gradual’ abolition of the slave trade - but no time limit was set for this, so it did not lead to any significant progress towards abolition, although it did show growing sympathy among MPs for the abolitionist cause.
Wilberforce had close working relationships with successive prime ministers William Pitt and Lord Grenville, who were both sympathetic to abolition and encouraged Wilberforce to keep introducing abolitionist bills in Parliament.
. In 1807, yet another bill introduced by Wilberforce became the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, passed on 25th March 1807. It did not abolish slavery but it did outlaw the slave trade in the British colonies.
Which individuals other than William Wilberforce contributed to the growth of the abolitionist movement?
Some of the most prominent individuals included:
Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa) - leading member tre of the Sons Of Africa and author of a best-selling autobiography that wen drew public attention to the horrors of slavery
Ottobah Cugoano - leading member of the Sons Of Africa who wrote a book making the case for the abolition of slavery
Granville Sharp prosecution lawyer in the case of the Zong, co- founder and chairman of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
• Thomas Clarkson - co-founder of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, he travelled extensively collecting evidence of the horrors of slavery which were then used as visual props to support his speaking tours around Britain
• Josiah Wedgwood - joined the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and designed a motif for the abolitionist movement which then appeared on pendants, brooches and pottery, giving the abolitionist movement a strong visual identity which helped to publicise its work.
• John Newton - former slave trader turned clergyman and poet, who wrote a pamphlet describing the horrors of the Middle Passage
William Fox - produced a pamphlet urging a boycott of sugar produced on slave plantations this became the best-selling pamphlet of the 18th century, selling 200,000 copies, and led to the sugar boycott, in which about 400,000 people took part in Britain.
• Lord Grenville, who became Prime Minister in 1806 after William Pitt’s death, and actively encouraged support for a parliamentary bill abolishing the slave trade.
Why was the AST finally abolished in 1807?
The success of the abolitionist campaign, which built up substantial
public support for abolition between 1787 and 1807.
The role of Wilberforce, who put the case for abolition in Parliament.
The slave trade was becoming less profitable over time, as new industries and improvements in agriculture were benefiting the British
economy.
Sugar could now be sourced at a lower cost and without the use of slavery from Britain’s other colonies such as India. The ‘sugar boycott’ during 1791-92 also demonstrated that slave traders were not guaranteed profits from sugar produced on slave plantations.
Growing fear of slave revolts, especially after the successful slave rebellion in Saint Domingue in 1791, made investment in the slave trade look like a less secure investment.
France had banned slavery in its colonies after the 1789 Revolution but Napoleon made slavery legal again in the French colonies in 1804. Britain was at war with France and if they abolished the Atlantic Slave Trade that would be harmful to France.
Prime Minister William Pitt had originally supported abolition but then changed his mind when Britain and France went to war with each other. However, after Pitt’s death the new Prime Minister, Lord Grenville, appointed several abolitionist MPs to his Cabinet and actively supported Wilberforce’s Abolition Bill in 1807.
