The abolitionist campaigns

Jan 2018

Origins of the Abolition Movement For most of the eighteenth century, few people in Britain questioned the nature of the slave trade. Few knew much about it. Very few were actually interested. In fact many made a living, not just from the trade itself, but from the industries and trades that depended on it, such as sugar refining, tobacco trading, making metal goods and cloth manufacture. In the second half of the 18th century the climate of opinion began to change, slowly at first, but gaining momentum towards the end of the century. Gradually more and more people began to support the abolition of the slave trade, forbidding the transport of Africans to the New World as slaves.

Why did opinions change?

The growth of cities and new industries led to a raised awareness of political issues.

The French Revolution (1789) highlighted to the working classes the power of the people and ability to overcome their masters.

Word begins to come back from the Americas that raw goods used in factories were farmed by slaves.

Poor workers could empathise deeply with those kept in slavery and earning nothing.

Aim of the Abolitionists

The first group to publicly announce its opposition to slavery was the Society of Friends (a Christian group also known as the Quakers). In 1761 they decided none of their members could be involved in the slave trade.

In 1787, the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was set up. William Wilberforce MP represented the Committee in Parliament. Nine of the original twelve members were Quakers.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade

The origins of the abolitionist movement

Arguments of the abolitionists: Christian, humanitarian and economic

The methods of the abolitionists e.g. meetings and publicity

Influence of slaves and former slaves e.g. Olaudah Equiano

Key abolitionists

Defenders of the Slave Trade

Why was the abolitionist campaign eventually successful?

At first they’d argued among themselves over how to tackle slavery, but in the end they decided that trying to end slavery immediately was too big a task. Why?

A huge part of Britain's wealth relied on the products produced by slaves in the West Indies.

A ban attacked the property rights of slave owners who had paid a lot of money for their slaves.

If slave owners demanded compensation for their lost slaves, abolition would be too expensive for the government to consider.

The Society decided that the best approach was to try to end the slave trade, rather than slavery itself. This would at least end the misery of the Middle Passage. It would also make current slaves a valuable commodity, forcing their masters to treat them better.

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade decided that its first step was to concentrate on the reasons why the slave trade had to be abolished. Clarkson had gathered much evidence; more came from Olaudah Equiano, who had been kidnapped in Africa but eventually was able to buy his freedom, and from John Newton, once a slave ship captain himself. Further evidence was gathered from the writing of Adam Smith, the Scot who wrote one of the world’s greatest books on economics.

Task

1. Using the information above, complete a T-table showing arguments for ending only the slave trade and arguments for abolishing slavery as a whole. Remember to use your own words where possible.

2. What did the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade decide its aim would be?

Arguments for ending only the slave trade

Arguments for abolishing slavery

What were the Abolitionists main arguments?The abolitionists put forward various arguments to support their cause of banning the slave trade. These can be grouped into the following areas.

Economic

Adam Smith wrote ‘The Wealth of Nations’ in 1776. He wrote that slaves were the most inefficient and costly form of labour that could be used. Sugar could be produced more cheaply by paid non-slave workers in India. Therefore, it was unlikely that Caribbean sugar trade could continue anyway.

Some argued that British industry no longer depended so heavily on the slave trade. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing - new British factories had many vacancies for unemployed people. Also, British trade, with its colonies in India and the Far East, was growing rapidly.

Humanitarian

Slaves were denied their freedom and their human rights. People began to become more aware of the horrific experiences of slaves. Evidence of cruel treatment of slaves from testimonies like that of Olaudah Equiano and the extensive research conducted by abolitionists convinced many to end the slave trade. These arguments were very compelling!

Also, many British sailors died on the triangular trade. The slave trade brutalised all who took part in it.

Christian

The Bible taught that people should treat each other with kindness and love. God created mankind as brothers and sisters - slavery broke the rules of the Ten Commandments. They argued slavery was an unjust and evil system which angered God. Many Christian groups campaigned against slavery, including the Quakers, the Methodists and the Catholic Church.

Task 1

Using the information above for support match the correct beginnings and endings to form complete sentences in your jotter.

Beginnings EndingsFor most of the eighteenth century... ...of the committee of the Society

Few people knew or cared about... ...few were interested in the slave trade

The slave trade provided... ...the cruelties of the slave trade.

A movement to abolish the slave ...jobs for many people in Britaintrade...

The first group to oppose the slave ...were the Quakerstrade...

The Society to Abolish the Slave Trade... ...was founded in 1787

Quakers made up three quarters... ...grew in the second half of the century

TASK 2

Using the information, copy the diagram below into your jotter and add in the Religious, Economic and Humanitarian arguments against slavery

ECONOMICRELIGIOUS

HUMANITARIAN

Arguments against the Slave Trade

The Abolitionists - Key Individuals Between 1761 and 1787 a number of influential people had had similar ideas aboutending the slave trade. The main ones were Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, John Newton, William Wilberforce and William Pitt. There were many others who also helped, but each of these men contributed something special to the movement, though each joined the movement under different circumstances and for different reasons.

Granville Sharp

Granville Sharp was a civil servant living in London. He was a deeply religious man, both his father and grandfather holding important posts in the Church of England.

He also held radical political views. For example, supporting the reform of Parliament and fair wages for labourers.

His talent was to use the law in the struggle against the slave trade.

He was walking to the surgery of his brother, who was a doctor, when he saw a badly injured black man, Jonathan Strong, waiting in the queue for treatment. He took him inside and, while his brother

mended his wounds, he heard Strong’s story.

Strong had been beaten senseless with a pistol butt by his owner, David Lisle, who had taken him from Barbados to London. Lisle then abandoned him for dead. After spending four months in hospital, Strong worked for the next two years at a job Sharp found him.

Then, one day in London, Lisle recognised him in the street and hired two professional slave hunters to kidnapped him, so that Lisle could sell him for £30.00 to a West Indian Planter. Strong smuggled a note to Sharp, who took the case to a law court. The Lord Mayor of London decided that, as Strong had committed no crime, he was free to go. This was the first legal victory against the slave trade. Unfortunately Strong died from the after-effects of his wounds five years later.

TASK

1. Answer the following questions in full sentences:

a. What were Sharp’s motives for becoming involved in the struggle against the slave trade?

b. What was Sharp’s talent?

2. Create a storyboard depicting the tale of Jonathan Strong.

Thomas Clarkson

Thomas Clarkson came from a relatively well-off family who sent him to study at Cambridge University. While there he entered an essay competition entitled ‘Is it right to make men slaves against their will?’ and to his surprise he won the prize.

Clarkson contacted Granville Sharp, and he and 10 others formed the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in May 1787. Clarkson had the special task of collecting as much damning evidence about the slave trade as possible. He started in London and there saw his first slave ship.

Clarkson also visited Bristol and Liverpool and collected evidence such as iron handcuffs, branding irons and thumbscrews. He also talked to over 20,000 seamen and found that they too suffered in the slave trade, since no one cared if they lived or died, but the slaves were kept alive because they were worth money. Some captains resented his interference, and in Liverpool they tried to kill him by pushing him into the dock, but failed.

Clarkson gathered evidence which he published in a forceful writing style, convincing many outside Parliament of the evils of the slave trade. Perhaps the most important single piece of evidence he gathered and published was ‘The Print’, a drawing of the Liverpool slave ship the Brookes. This drawing showed how 450 slaves were stowed like sardines for the Middle Passage, but the Brookes had even carried as many as 609 slaves.

“I found myself for the first time on the deck of a slave vessel. The sight of the rooms below and the gratings above, and the explanations of all these, filled me with melancholy and horror. I soon found a fire of indignation kindling in me.”

No one person devoted more of his time, energy or money to ending the slave trade than Thomas Clarkson. But he could not, other than by petitions and propaganda, affect those who could make the decision – Parliament.

Tasks

Using the information on Thomas Clarkson, answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. What were Clarkson’s motives for becoming involved in the struggle against the slave trade?

2. Summarise the methods Clarkson used to collect evidence against the slave trade.3. Why is Source A, the Brookes, such powerful evidence against the slave trade?4. What were Clarkson’s main achievements in the struggle against the slave trade?

Olaudah EquianoEquiano was an African writer whose experiences as a slave prompted him to become involved in the British abolition movement. In his autobiography, Olaudah Equiano wrote that he was born in the Eboe province, in the area that is now southern Nigeria. He described how he was kidnapped with his sister at around the age of 11, sold by local slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia.

In Virginia he was sold to a Royal Navy officer, Lieutenant Michael Pascal, who renamed him 'Gustavus Vassa' after the 16th-century Swedish king. Equiano travelled the oceans with Pascal for eight years, during which time he was baptised and learned to read and write.

Pascal then sold Equiano to a ship captain in London, who took him to Montserrat, where he was sold to the prominent merchant Robert King. While working as a deckhand, valet and

Source A

barber for King, Equiano earned money by trading on the side. In only three years, he made enough money to buy his own freedom. Equiano then spent much of the next 20 years travelling the world, including trips to Turkey and the Arctic.

In 1786 in London, he became involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was a prominent member of the 'Sons of Africa', a group of 12 black men who campaigned for abolition. In 1789 he published his autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African'. He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely popular, helped the abolitionist cause, and made Equiano a wealthy man. It is one of the earliest books published by a black African writer.

Tasks

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Why did Equiano become involved in the abolition movement?

2. How did Equiano become a slave?

3. Summarise Equiano’s life before he became free

4. How did Equiano gain his freedom?

5. Summarise what Equiano did when he arrived in Britain

John NewtonJohn Newton was an Anglican clergyman and former slave ship master. It took him a long time to speak out against the Slave Trade but he had an influence on many young evangelical Christians, particularly William Wilberforce.

At just 11 years old, Newton 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. He became a

midshipman but after demotion for trying to desert, he requested an exchange to a slave ship bound for West Africa.

Eventually he reached the coast of Sierra Leone where he became the servant of an abusive slave trader. 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.

Despite this, he continued to participate in the Slave Trade. In 1750, he made a further voyage as master of the slave ship 'Duke of Argyle' and two voyages on the 'African'. He admitted that he was a ruthless businessman and a unfeeling observer of the Africans he traded. Slave revolts on board ship were frequent. Newton mounted guns and muskets on the desk aimed at the slaves' quarters. Slaves were lashed and put in thumbscrews to keep them quiet.

In 1754, after a serious illness, he gave up seafaring altogether. In 1757, he applied for the Anglican priesthood. So popular was his preaching, that the church could not accommodate all those who flocked to hear him. Newton began to deeply regret his involvement in the Slave Trade. His advice was sought by many influential figures in Georgian society, among them the young M.P., William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was contemplating leaving politics for the ministry. Newton encouraged him to stay in Parliament and "serve God where he was". Wilberforce took his advice, and spent the rest of his life working towards the abolition of slavery.

Tasks

1. Who was John Newton?

2. What experience led Newton to convert to evangelical Christianity?

3. What was Newton like as a slave ship captain?

4. How did Newton contribute to the Abolitionist Movement?

James Ramsay

James Ramsay witnessed the suffering of the enslaved people as a ship’s doctor in the Navy. In 1759, his ship, HMS Arundel, was stationed in the West Indies when a slave ship, the Swift, approached seeking help.

The ship had been struck down with dysentery. Many of the slaves and crew were dead. Ramsay treated over 100 victims packed together in the most inhuman and filthy conditions.

I first saw at first-hand what was going on when I was a navy doctor. In the West Indies a slave ship from Africa approached our fleet and asked for help. An epidemic of dysentery had killed many slaves and crew. I was the only navy doctor who volunteered to go on board and help. I was extremely shocked.

He published “An Inquiry into the Effects of Putting a Stop to the African Slave Trade” in 1784. These were the first anti-slavery works by someone who had personally seen the suffering and were therefore very influential.

Tasks1. What evidence did James Ramsay give about the horrors of the slave trade?2. Why do you think people would listen to what he had to say?

Female Abolitionists- As the main food purchasers, women played an important role in organising the sugar boycotts of the 1790s, after the bill for the abolition of the Slave Trade was defeated in Parliament in 1791. .

As a result of this, in 1791, 300,000 people took part in a sugar boycott which reduced sales of slave produced sugar by a 1/3 in some places and up to ½ in others. Indian, non-slave produced sugar, sales increased by 10 times as much.

Hannah More helped to give the abolition movement a public voice. She was a friend of William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, spoke out openly against the slave trade and joined the boycott of slave-produced West Indian sugar in 1778.

In 1788, she wrote “Slavery, a Poem” to coincide with Wilberforce’s parliamentary campaign for abolition. The poem described a mistreated, enslaved female separated from her children and it questioned Britain’s role in the slave trade.

More also denounced Christians involved in the slave trade, stating that "they are not Christians who infest Africa's shores, but are rather white savages ruled by lust gold or lust of conquest".

Women also brought and wore the anti-slavery cameos (brooches) produced by Wedgwood to publicise their support. Women of all classes joined the movement including the influential Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire.

Tasks

1. What was the sugar boycott?2. What evidence is there that it was successful?3. Who was Hannah More?4. What contributions did she make to the abolitionist campaign?5. Why would wearing an anti-slavery brooch have an impact on ending the slave

trade?

William Wilberforce

One of those who came to hear John Newton preach in London was a rich young man called William Wilberforce. He was looking for a serious purpose to his life which he had spent up till then socialising, but he was also a friend of the Prince of Wales, a member of Parliament, and a close friend of William Pitt, the Prime Minister. Newton advised him to read the Bible, and wait until he felt clearly what God wanted him to do, and at the same time stay in touch with Pitt and his other friends. He became a regular visitor to Newton’s home, where he said ‘I was never in Newton’s company for half an hour but I heard him speaking of the evils of the slave trade and lamenting his part in it’. Encouraged by Newton, Wilberforce joined the Society for the

Abolition of the Slave Trade, and soon became its leader.

In 1789 Wilberforce introduced for the first time a Bill to abolish the slave trade. He had consulted with William Pitt the Prime Minister, and had his support. He was also armed with a huge amount of evidence from Thomas Clarkson. He was also a very good speaker and debater. In the House of Commons Wilberforce had to face the supporters of the slave trade and their agents, who were MPs employed by groups of people to defend their interests.

Tasks

1. In what ways does Norris try to make the Middle Passage sound comfortable?2. How accurate is the description of the Middle Passage given by Norris? Explain your answer.3. Evaluate the usefulness of Source A as evidence of conditions on the Middle Passage?

5

“The slaves’ quarters on board ship are fitted up as well as possible. I admit they are chained up. They have several meals a day, some of their own country

provisions with the best sauces of African cookery; and, by way of variety, another meal of pulse, a porridge after the European taste. After breakfast they have water to wash themselves, while their quarters are perfumed with spices and lime juice. Before dinner they are entertained with singing and dancing in the manner of their

country.”William Norris in 1789 on behalf of the slave traders of Liverpool to the

House of Commons

Source A

Tasks

1. In what ways in Source B does Wilberforce attempt to convince his listeners that the evidence he is giving is accurate?2. From your own knowledge, how accurate is the evidence given by Wilberforce?3. What was the purpose of Wilberforce’s speech?4. Compare Sources A and B as evidence of how slaves were treated on the MiddlePassage? 4 Marks

Wilberforce’s Persistence!

Despite Wilberforce’s eloquence and Clarkson’s evidence, the Bill was defeated in the House of Commons. The slave traders and plantation owners had too many friends and allies in the House of Commons. Both men realised they would have to step up their campaign both inside and outside Parliament. Each year Wilberforce introduced a Bill to abolish the slave trade in the House of Commons. Each year the majority against it got smaller. Finally in 1804 his Bill passed the House of Commons; John Newton heard the news and died a happy man days later. Unfortunately the Bill was rejected by the House of Lords. Saddened by both events, the abolitionists carried on.

In 1807 Wilberforce tried yet again, with the support of the new Prime Minister, Lord Grenville, as Pitt his old friend had died the year before and this time the Bill passed both Commons and Lords. The final vote in the House of Commons was 283 in favour and only 16 against. The slave trade had finally been abolished.Not only did the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade outlaw British ships from taking part in the slave trade, it laid down terms to apply if any other ships tried to do so.

“One slave captain has told me that he never leaves the coast of Africa during daylight, because the slaves are so upset. The pulse they are fed is nothing but coarse English horse beans. They get so little food and water that even the Assembly of the planters in Jamaica suggested that Parliament act to improve it. Some may talk of perfumes and lime juice, but surgeons tell you the slaves are stowed so close that there is no room to step between them; Sir George Young has testified that even in a ship which had spaces for another two hundred slaves, the stench was intolerable. The truth about the song and dance is that, for the sake ofexercise, those miserable creatures, often suffering from disease, are forced to dance by the terror of the lash, and sometimes by the use of it.”

Wilberforce’s response to Norris, 1789

Source B

This is summary of the terms of the 1807 Act.

Tasks

1. How long did it take from the introduction of the first Bill in 1789 to abolish the slave trade?2. Equiano and Sharp died before the first Bill was introduced. Which of the campaigners lived to see the slave trade abolished?3. Which of the terms of the Act shows that Britain was at war when the Act was passed?

1. Anyone trafficking in slaves is liable to a fine of £100 per slave.2. Any ship involved in carrying slaves will be confiscated.3. Every shipowner, part-owner, agent, captain, mate and ship’s surgeon taking part in the slave trading will be fined, individually, £100 per slave.4. Insurance of a slave ship is prohibited; companies doing so will be fined £100 for each policy issued, as well as three times the amount of the premium.

Methods Used by the AbolitionistsOnce the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade had organised its arguments and evidence, the members needed to publicise its case, and make sure that they reached the people who could make a difference.

MeetingsIn the days before radio, television and cinema, public meetings were one of the most important ways of publicising a cause. Perhaps the biggest single stimulus to publicising the evils of the slave trade was the case of the Zong in 1781, where Captain Collingwood had thrown over a hundred slaves to death. One of the main speakers at meetings held after this was John Newton. Newton shared a platform at many other meetings with speakers like Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano. All of them spoke powerfully against the evils of the slave trade.

BooksJohn Newton wrote several books about his experiences in the slave trade, but another book had even more impact. Olaudah Equiano was one of the few who had managed to buy his freedom after being enslaved. He published The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano in 1789 and it is almost the only account written by an African telling of his experiences as a slave. Partly because of this it became a best-selling book, and changed the minds of many about the slave trade.

Publicity One of the twelve men who had founded the Society was Josiah Wedgwood. He was a wealthy manufacturer of china goods. He used his factory to make a range of articles to publicise the Society’s aims. He had a genius for design and

it was he who drew the seal used by the abolitionists. The seal was also used to produce the Wedgewood Cameo (opposite) which was inscribed “Am I not a man and a brother?” It was produced in its thousands and given away for free to promote the cause. Thomas Clarkson commented that “fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen promoting the causes of justice, humanity and freedom”. The seal also appeared on cups, saucers and all sorts of goods the Society sold to raise money and publicise their cause. Wedgwood also played an active part in the Society’s other efforts to publicise their cause.

They wrote pamphlets, stuck up posters, bought space in newspapers where they could print articles and sent deputations to the headmasters of big schools asking to address their pupils. Publicity was key to promoting the message of the abolitionists and increasing public awareness.

Boycotting Sugar

The abolitionist, Hannah More encouraged other women to boycott sugar – many persuaded grocers to stop selling sugar produced by slaves.

In 1791, 300,000 people took part in a sugar boycott which reduced sales of slave produced sugar by a 1/3 in some places and up to ½ in others. Indian, non-slave produced sugar, sales increased by 10 times as much.

By 1792, 400,000 people were boycotting slave produced sugar and grocers reported that sales had dropped by one third.

Petitions

One important method used was the organising of petitions. The abolitionists printed each petition that they organised and sent copies to the King and Queen, officials, and to the men who could actually change the law – the members of Parliament. During 1787 and 1788 over 100 petitions containing 60,000 signatures were presented to parliament in just three months. Just about every town and city in the country organized a petition against the slave trade at one time or another. For example, 20% of Manchester’s population signed a petition to abolish slavery.After the first Abolition Bill was rejected in 1791, the abolitionists flooded parliament with Petitions. By 1792, they had presented 519 petitions with over 390,000 signatures. This was important because the huge number of signatures showed that public opinion was turning against Atlantic Slavery.

Lobbying Parliament

Most members of parliament were rich men and many owned plantations in the West Indies or had made money in the Slave Trade. This would make it very difficult to get a law abolishing slavery through parliament. However, the trade would never end unless it was made illegal through parliament. Several people lobbied Parliament – this involved meeting with MPs to try to persuade them of the evils of the Slave trade. This included Olaudah Equiano – no mean feat in the 18th Century considering he had been a slave.

In 1788, he led a delegation to the House of Commons to support William Dolben’s Bill to improve the conditions on slave ships by limiting the number of enslaved people that a ship

could carry. He also spoke to a number of MPs and the Prime Minister, in support of a law banning the trade.

Speeches

In 1781, at the age of 21, William Wilberforce was elected to Parliament. He was an extremely clever and witty speech maker. In 1787, he met Thomas Clarkson and a collaboration was formed lasting nearly 50 years. Clarkson collected evidence about Atlantic slavery which he gave to Wilberforce to use in his speeches in Parliament. Wilberforce made many speeches about slavery in Parliament. He campaigned, on and off, for the next 18 years without success.

Bills

Wilberforce tried to get MPs to accept a Bill against the Slave trade in 1789. He repeated his attempt each year from 1790 until 1806. Each time he was fiercely opposed by those making their fortunes from the trade. In 1791, MPs voted by 163 to 88 against Wilberforce’s Bill. Eventually, a Bill to end the trade was passed in 1792 but with an amendment that the ban would be ‘gradual’ which those with an interest in the trade interpreted to mean ‘never’.However, abolitionists continued to lobby Parliament for a total ban, and this was finally achieved in 1833. 

Tasks

1. Write a summary of the methods of the abolitionists to publicise their cause. You can choose what style you want to complete the task, for example:

Bullet point list Mind map

2. How important were petitions in leading to the abolition of the slave trade in 1806? (9 marks)

Why did Abolition take so long?Wilberforce had introduced his first Bill to abolish the slave trade in 1789, yet it took a full 18 years of hard campaigning to end the evil, even with the support for most of that time of William Pitt the Prime Minister. The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade had campaigned outside Parliament for six years before that, while Granville Sharp had brought his first law case as early as 1765. Why indeed had it taken so long?

Why did Abolition take so long?

Wilberforce had introduced his first Bill to abolish the slave trade in 1789, yet it took a full 18 years of hard campaigning to end the evil, even with the support for most of that time of William Pitt the Prime Minister. The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade had campaigned outside Parliament for six years before that, while Granville Sharp had brought his first law case as early as 1765. Why indeed had it taken so long?

Moral Argument

Pro-slavery people claimed the Bible agreed that slavery was

just. They said slaves were happier living as Christian

slaves than non-Christian free Africans.

Military Argument

Because the slave trade brought in lots of money, Britain had a very strong

military. Without slaves, they would be weakened.

Unemployment

Pro-slavery campaigners said many people had jobs in the

slave trade.

Without it, unemployment would skyrocket!

Sugar Argument

They said without slaves there would be

no sugar.

Money Argument

Pro-slavery campaigners said that slavery had made Britain

very powerful and rich. The slave trade paid a lot of tax to the

government.

Pro Slave Trade CampaignThe first major reason is that the slave trade had many supporters who were very effective in campaigning for the slave trade.

• People who were making fortunes through owning plantations in the West Indies or trading slaves got behind this campaign

• They made speeches in support of the trade• They said there would be no sugar or rum in Britain without ‘negroes’• They scared people into believing Britain would lose all its wealth• They said abolishing the trade would make hundreds of thousands of Brits

unemployed• They also wrote articles in magazines encouraging people to support slavery• They also published pictures which showed that slaves were treated well and that

some British families suffered more than slaves on plantations

Powerful Supporters in ParliamentThe planters in the West Indies, the merchants who bought their produce and the planters living in Britain, some of them MPs themselves, were also well organised, powerful and wealthy enough to bribe other MPs to support them. They also had the support of King George III before he went insane. Parliament was always ready to listen to the views of the ‘West India interest’ as they were known.

• MPs who supported the trade were powerful and well organised• They gave many speeches supporting the trade• They also deliberately slowed down any moves towards abolition• They argued more time was needed to investigate slavery• Many MPs gave speeches warning that France, Holland or Denmark would simply

steal Britain’s place if they withdrew from the slave trade• Some supporters of slavery gave evidence to parliament (parliamentary enquiries)

saying that the middle passage was not brutal; that slaves had music, games & dancing

• Some MPs proposed gradually reducing the slave trade rather than abolishing it

Source A written by Malachi Postlethwaite in 1746.

If we have no Negroes, we can have no sugar, tobacco, rum etc. Consequently the public revenue, arising from the importation of plantation produce, will be wiped out. And hundreds of thousands of Britons making goods for the triangular trade will lose their jobs and go a begging.

Source B sent to the House of Commons by the Assembly of Planters from Jamaica in 1789.

The plan to abolish the slave trade is based on false information. It is based on prejudice, and on a few examples of bad treatment of slaves. We planters have worked hard and taken risks, and our success has poured wealth into Britain. It is unfair that we have our property, the slaves, taken away from us.

Opposition from port cities (Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow)• People in towns like Bristol & Liverpool campaigned to keep the slave trade• The Mayor of Liverpool, Thomas Leyland, claimed that abolishing the trade would

seriously harm the city• He scare mongered (exaggerated to scare people); saying cities like Bristol would

lose 60% of its trade and all the sugar refineries would have to close down• This worried many ordinary people as they felt their jobs were at risk

French RevolutionAnother major reason for the long delay in abolishing the slave trade was the French Revolution. In 1789 the French people overthrew their king and in 1793 executed him. Britain and many other countries declared war on France, and these wars lasted till 1815, when Napoleon, the French leader, was defeated at Waterloo.

This led to several reasons why the British Parliament was reluctant to end the slave trade.

o Britain needed a lot of money to fight France; ending the slave trade would cost the country money.

o In Haiti the slaves had followed the example of their French masters and in arevolution they had ended plantation slavery; British slaves on islands in the West Indies might revolt if the slave trade was ended, thinking they were free.

o Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Haitian ‘slave’ leader had shown that slaves coulddefeat European armies; this endangered British lives and property in the West Indies.

o Britain needed ships and sailors to protect her trade and herself from invasion; it was claimed that the slave trade was a training ground for the Navy.

Source C sent to he House of Commons by the mayor, merchants and people of Bristol to Parliament as early as 1775.

The abolition of the slave trade will destroy the welfare, prosperity and possibly the existence of the West Indian islands, while Bristol itself, one of the most prosperous towns of England, will lose three-fifths of its trade. In Bristol itself the trades of salted herrings for consumption in the West Indies, shipbuilding, ship repairing, ropemaking, sailmaking and iron forging will be destroyed. The ending of new supplies of slaves will stop sugar growing, and the sugar refineries of Somerset, not convertible to any other use, will have to be abandoned. The Newfoundland fisheries, maintained by men originating in Bristol, will lose the bulk of their trade in dried cod for the Americas and the provisioning of slave ships.

Tasks

1. By selecting information from above (including the sources!) create a list in your own words of the reasons for people disagreeing with the abolition of the slave trade.

2. Compare the views of Source A and C about the importance of the slave trade on the British economy? 4

3. Evaluate the usefulness of Source C as evidence of attitudes in Britain towards the slave trade in the later eighteenth century. 5

4. Explain the reasons why many people in Britain continued to support the slave trade. 6

Historical debate

Historians have argued about several aspects of abolition of the slave trade. They have argued about why it took so long, and also about why the campaign was eventually successful.

The views of several historians as to the reasons for the eventual success of the campaign are given below:

Historian V The main reason for the abolition of the slave trade was economic. Britain no longer needed the slave trade. Britain’s industries were growing rapidly.

Historian W The revival in religion was the main reason for ending the slave trade.

Historian X While the abolitionist movement was not a one-man band, much of the credit must go to Wilberforce.

Historian Y I’m quite cynical about why Parliament abolished the slave trade. I think it was an act of war, or at least one way of helping to win the war.

Historian Z The reasons for abolition are complex. The main reasons were that it suited the government in its war against France, and the British West Indian planters at the time.

Learning Intention – Identify the reasons why parliament continually rejected Wilberforce’s Bill.

Here are some longer extracts from what these historians have written, but they are not in the same order.

A The abolition of the slave trade was one major result of the revival of religious feeling towards the end of the eighteenth century. The same feeling of Christian brotherhood that motivated the founders of the antislavery movement also moved their supporters inside and outside the House of Commons. The Society’s slogan ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ struck a religious note that hit the spirit of the age, and their honesty and conviction in the justice of their case moved others around them.

BWhile we must give credit to the efforts of Wilberforce, Clarkson and the other abolitionists, the truth is that Britain no longer needed the slave trade. While the trade stimulated the growth of ironworking in Birmingham, Sheffield and Falkirk, by the turn of the century these factories had growing markets elsewhere, particularly from the armed forces in the wars against France. Other industries tell a similar story. In addition, Britain no longer depended on slave-grown sugar from the West Indies. Free labour in India could produce as much sugar as Britain needed, and at a lower price.

CThe key factor in the abolition of the slave trade was Nelson’s naval victory at Trafalgar in 1805. At a stroke his destruction of the hostile French and Spanish fleets secured Britain from invasion, and meant that even if she could not win the war, she would not lose it. Control of the seas meant British warships could stop and search any ship at sea, and take them to Britain as prizes. The abolition of the slave trade gave Britain the pretext to stop any foreign vessel, and the opportunity to destroy enemy trade.

DThe crucial cause of the success of the abolitionists was the leadership ofWilberforce. He had no motive other than ending an evil that stained bothBritain and mankind. His persistence and ability as a speaker convinced others, high and low, of the need to end the trade. His contacts in high places, especially with Pitt the Prime Minister, and his harnessing of the talents of Clarkson to produce a stream of damning evidence against the slave trade produced a tide that eventually swamped the slavers. To an extent events were on his side. Britain’s industries no longer depended on the markets of the Triangular trade, while British India produced sugar that was 10 per cent cheaper than Jamaican.

Task

Read the views of Historians V to Z. Using the structure below match them up to the longer extracts giving evidence for your selection.

1. Extract A was written by Historian ___ because it says...2. Extract B was written by Historian ___ because it says...3. Extract C was written by Historian ___ because it says...4. Extract D was written by Historian ___ because it says...5. Extract E was written by Historian ___ because it says...

EThe irony is that the wars against France both delayed the abolition of the slave trade, but made its end more certain in the long run. At the start, the need for national security was vital, so the government was reluctant to end a profitable trade that produced money, ships and men. In addition the events in Haiti where Toussaint L’Overture ended slavery amid massacres of planters who resisted, frightened many. But with the capture of many French and Spanish sugar islands the danger was that they would flood Britain with sugar; planters on older British islands wanted to prevent this by stopping them getting supplies of slave labour, and so joined the campaign to end the slave trade.