Slavery Flashcards
What were some of the methods of capture?
Kidnap by assailants
Sold by tribal leaders
Sent to slave houses
What was sold in exchange for slaves?
Weapons, cotton, sugar, rum, coffee etc
What were the conditions on a slave ship?
Densely packed, lots of disease, chained in rows to the floor, cramped, death common
Time to complete the Middle Passage
3-4 months on average
How high were the shelves on ships?
Less than 1m high
How many slaves could be transported at one time?
600+ depending on size
When was the Dolben Act?
1788
What did the Dolben Act outline?
Fixed number of slaves allowed on a ship
How much space were men and women given on a ship?
6ft by 1’4” for men
5ft by 1’4” for women
How many died on passage and on arrival according to whom?
12.5% on passage
4.5% dies on arrival
William Wilberforce
What were auctions like?
Treated like animals for sale
Sometimes oiled, washed and shaved
Graded and examined
What were plantations like for people?
Brutal, labour intensive work
Separated from families
Branded and issued with a new name
“Seasoned” to work in harsh conditions and receive the lash
How many slaves remained when slavery ended in the West Indies?
670 000 of 2 million
What were crimes and punishments?
Neglect, absence from work, eating sugar cane, theft
Receive the whip, beating, breaking of bones, chain, iron crook or even murder
Shortened lives expected
How much profit could British slave ship owners make?
20-50%
How much of textiles was exported from Manchester?
50%
What were the main slave ports in Britain?
Liverpool and Bristol
How much did Liverpool’s population increase by, and from when?
5000 to 78 000
From 1700 to 1800
How did slavery benefit ordinary people? Give an example
Generated jobs
Birmingham had 4000 gun makers which exported 100 000 guns to the slave trade a year
Why did the humanitarian campaign grow?
Increasing concern for others welfare
Belief to care for those who were less fortunate
What event had raised issues of human rights at this time?
The Enlightenment
What was the first humanitarian campaign?
Foundling Hospital for abandoned children in 1739
Who were the Quakers?
A religious group formed in 1650 who believed God was found in everyone, and everyone was equal before God.
When did the Quakers petition the slave trade? How many signed?
June 1783
273 signatures
How many were in a committee set up by the Quakers?
23 to campaign the abolition of slavery
When was a second Quaker committee set up?
July 1783
Sent out articles on slavery
When was the Quaker pamphlet made? How many copies were made? What was it called?
1784
10 000 copies
‘The Case of our Fellow Creatures, the Oppressed Africans’
Who was the Quaker pamphlet distributed to?
MPs, the royal family and the public
What notable places did the Quakers visit?
Eton, Harrow and other elite schools
What did Evangelical Christians believe in?
Strength of repentance as salvation
Had to turn away from sins to reach heaven
Name two notable Evangelicals?
Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson
How did the Evangelicals gain support against slavery?
Wrote speeches and researched to form stronger arguments. Were against the inhumanity of the institution and morals
Role of Granville Sharp in Jonathan Strong case
Strong arrived at his house
Had a 4 month recovery to full health
Sharp took David Lisle (who aimed to recapture Strong) to court
Freed Strong and benefitted the campaign against slavery
Where did Sharp propose a colony for free slaves?
Sierra Leone
How much did the gov. contribute to the Sierra Leone Company?
£1700
Why did Sierra Leone fail?
Agriculture thought to be good but many contracted malaria on arrival
122 died as a result
Why did Sharp lose some support?
Supporter of the French Revolution
Seen as too radical
Who designed ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother’?
Josiah Wedgewood
What was the purpose of the ceramic by Josiah Wedgewood?
Shows a slave begging for freedom which appealed to the white superior, and Christian nature
Aim to show a grateful figure for the abolition of slavery
What was the Brookes diagram?
Poster of a ship which carried 482 slaves
Impersonal, but hard evidence
How many slaves had the Brookes ship carried in the past?
Between 609-780
How many copies of the Brookes poster were printed?
7000 +
Who led the Zong ship and when?
Captain Luke Collingwood
1781
How many slaves were on the Zong?
440
How many slaves had died on the Zong after 3 months?
60
How much were slaves ensured by per head?
£30
What controversial event happened on the Zong?
Collingwood ordered the sickest slaves to be thrown overboard in order to claim on the insurance
Claimed there was not enough water
How many slaves were thrown overboard on the Zong?
133
How much spare water was there?
420 gallons
Who attempted to prosecute for murder in the Zong case? When?
Granville Sharp
1783
What did Lord Mansfield say about the Zong case?
It was not a murder case it was ‘just as if horses were killed’
What organisation did Thomas Clarkson set up with the Quakers and in what year?
The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
1787
What type of people were members of the Society?
Social reformers from many religious backgrounds including Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp
What was the aim of the Society?
Aimed to raise awareness amongst the public and apply political pressure to the government by raising petitions and bills in the House of Commons
By 1792, how many anti-slavery petitions had been signed?
519
How many of the 50 000 population in Manchester has signed a petition by what year?
10 700 by 1787
Who presented an abolition Bill to Parliament every year, and between which years?
William Wilberforce
From 1791-99
Whose MP was Wilberforce?
Hull