The abolition of slavery

Question 1

What were the three key factors that contributed to the abolition of slavery?

Answer 1

• The Baptists Wars
• Abolitionist petition 1832-3
• Anti-slavery MPs

Question 2

Where did the Baptists Wars occur?

Answer 2

Jamaica

Question 3

What did enslaved Baptist preacher Samuel Sharpe do?

Answer 3

• Said that they were promised ‘freedom in Christ’
• Said that the majority of England were aligned against slavery and were calling for emancipation

Question 4

What did many of Sharpe’s followers even go on to falsely believe?

Answer 4

That Britain had already granted emancipation to the colonies and that the planters were actually disregarding the will of their King and parliament

Question 5

What happened in Jamaica on Christmas Day 1831?

Answer 5

A peaceful protest began; slaves refused to work unless they were given working wages and free time

Question 6

What was the result of plantation owners rejecting demands for working wages and free time?

Answer 6

There was an uprising within two days that would last for a month. Two more months of sporadic uprisings meant that British troops had to come in to restore order. This meant that hundreds of slaves, including Sharpe, were killed. The slaves caused more than £1 million in property damage and killed 14 planters

Question 7

Why was the uprising in Jamaica not in vain despite the fact that it was put down by British troops?

Answer 7

It convinced those were on the fence about the issue, as the idea of England having to be constantly at war to put down slave uprisings was unpalatable. They believe the time, money and energy required to keep slavery in the colonies was no longer worth it

Question 8

How many signatures did the abolition petition presented to parliament in May 1832 have?

Answer 8

130,000, the largest abolition petition at this time. Despite this, the GRA, which was passed a month later, did not include the issue

Question 9

What happened to strengthen the fight for emancipation between 1832-3?

Answer 9

Petitions continued to be presented to parliament

Question 10

What did Buxton say in May 1833?

Answer 10

He had 40 abolition petitions from different areas signed by people who couldn’t believe that people could be legal chattles and that people of a different colour should be entitled to the same rights as the rest of their species

Question 11

What did the constant petitioning of humanitarian and evangelical abolitionists do?

Answer 11

Put pressure on government, as they showed that the vast majority of the population supported abolition

Question 12

Who had lost much of their power as a result of the GRA?

Answer 12

The Tories

Question 13

Why was parliament more democratic following the GRA?

Answer 13

• The franchise had been extended from 4% to 6% of the population
• It had abolished the corrupt rotten and pocket boroughs

Question 14

Why did the December 1832 GE provide a boost for abolitionists?

Answer 14

Because the Whigs had a majority and its MPs supported abolition. Because most MPs were supporters of abolition, when the abolition bill was eventually put forward in 1833, it took only three months to pass through the lords and commons, as pro-slavery MPs had lost power

Question 15

Why did the Colonial Secretary Lord Stanley’s Abolition of Slavery Bill actually not achieve support from many abolitionists?

Answer 15

Because slaves would still have to act as apprentices for their masters for another 5-7 years

Question 16

Make the case that the abolition of slavery was a successful reform

Answer 16

• Britain set the example for other countries
• Finally managed to take it from theory into political reality after such a long time
• The Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron played an active role in stopping the slave trade, seizing 1,600 slave ships and freeing 150,000 Africans

Question 17

Make the case that the abolition of slavery did not go far enough?

Answer 17

• Slavery would not have been so rife if Britain hadn’t monopolised it in the first place
• Slavery continued in other areas of the British Empire, like those run by the East India Company, suggesting that slavery had just been stopped in the areas it was no longer profitable
• A further 1 million people would be enslaved and transported in the 19th century
• It was replaced by an arguably equally deplorable system of indentured servitude

Question 18

What did supporters of the GRA think the country would benefit from as a result?

Answer 18

A ‘spirit of liberty and independence’

Question 19

Why were the abolitionists disappointed with the GRA?

Answer 19

Because it didn’t include the abolition of slavery

Question 20

Who led the production of anti slavery petitions?

Answer 20

Evangelical and humanitarian groups

Question 21

How had attitudes to slavery changed since the turn of the century?

Answer 21

The literate, non conformist, more democratic, urban society now saw it as abhorrent

Question 22

Who was the most reluctant to allow abolition?

Answer 22

The plantation owners in the colonies, as they depended on slave labour for their workforce

Question 23

What to McCord and Purdue say about the influence of plantation owners on the abolition process?

Answer 23

‘Vested interests might impede or slow down the rate of change; they were never able to frustrate it entirely’

Question 24

What was formed following the Baptist Wars?

Answer 24

A parliamentary inquiry, which led to the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act

Question 25

When was slavery to officially end according to the act?

Answer 25

1 Aug 1834

Question 26

Why was this not actually the case in practise?

Answer 26

Because slaves were reclassified as apprentices, with release dates set as far ahead as 1840

Question 27

What small victory did peaceful protests about this manage to achieve?

Answer 27

It brought these dates forward to 1838

Question 28

How much did the government pay out in compensation to slave owners?

Answer 28

£20,000,000

Question 29

What two things did this compensation payment show about parliament?

Answer 29

• That it had recognised that slavery was no longer morally acceptable
• That there were lots of vested interests within parliament

Question 30

Why was a system of indentured labour introduced?

Answer 30

To satisfy plantation owners by helping to negate the loss of their workforce

Question 31

Define indentured labour

Answer 31

Indian workers agreed to work in the British colonies for a specific period, usually five years, for agreed wages and specified conditions

Question 32

Why were the regulations put in place to protect these workers ineffective?

Answer 32

Because there were many abuses in the system and this allowed it to become just a new form of forced labour

Question 33

What did the abolitionists do in 1839?

Answer 33

Created the anti-slavery society, which harbours the goal of ending slavery worldwide.