Anti-slavery movements

The age of enlightenment

During the eighteenth century ideas from the Age of Enlightenment led to a growing

dislike for slavery, and concern about the welfare of enslaved Africans across the

Atlantic world. Events such as the American war of independence, the French and

Haitian Revolutions and the abolitionist movement for emancipation helped to merge

the ideas and action.

British anti-slavery movements

Thomas Clarkson initiated the movement to abolish the slave trade. John Wesley,

founder of the Methodist Church, campaigned vigorously against it. The Clapham Sect

formed ‘The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade’. Josiah Wedgwood

produced supporting china cameos. The Act to Abolish the Slave Trade was passed in

1807, effective January 01, 1808.

Granville Sharpe was the first Englishman to agitate publicly against slavery. He was

joined by Thomas Clarkson, James Ramsey and William Wilberforce. The Society of

Friends ( the Quakers) sought to eliminate enslavement. In 1823, Anti-Slavery Society

was founded. With the support of free traders, industrialists and new business interests,
the reformed parliament and the impact of a series of revolts in the Caribbean, the

British parliament passed the law to abolish slavery in 1833, effective August 01, 1834.

French anti-slavery movements

The French abolition movement developed slowly. The National Revolutionary

government abolished slavery in 1794, but it was restored by Napoleon in 1803. The

‘Societe pour L’Abolition de L’Esclavage’ put pressureon the French government which,

by 1840, had taken the first steps towards abolition. Declining returns from the cane

sugar producers in the French colonies and in the 1848 revolution led to the success of

the motion which ended slavery in the French colonies in 1848.

Spanish anti-slavery movements

In the Spanish colonies, civil war, rebellion and industrial technology encouraged the

abolition movement, and other forms of labour became important: contract workers,

Chinese indentured workers and free white wage earners. In Puerto Rico slavery was

abolished in 1873. Civil war in Cuba 1868-1878 led to a government plan for gradual

emancipation in 1880. In 1886 the remaining enslaved were freed.

Abolition of the slave trade 1807

The most determined spokesman for the abolition of slavery was William Wilberforce.

The Bill was eventually passed in 1807. The law came into operation January 01, 1808.

The first bill to abolish the trade in captured Africans on moral grounds was debated in

the House of Commons in 1783. It was defeated because the slave system was

considered important to the British economy. The abolition came in 1808 when

Parliament was satisfied that this was in the best interest of the national economy.

Activity

Create a chart showing the course of the emancipation movement in Britain

Questions

1. What was the Enlightenment and how did it affect the anti-slavery movement?

2. In what ways was the British anti-slavery movement different from those of

France and Spain?

3. What role did the enslaved Africans play in the emancipation process?

4. What factors assisted the French and Spanish emancipation process? Give three

factors for each country.