Movement towards Emancipation

 The enslaved tried to free themselves from slavery

by using resistance and revolts (emancipation from
below).
 Apart from the enslaved, a group of abolitionists
worked tirelessly to complete what the enslaved had
Abolition: already started. These abolitionists were
humanitarians, industrialists and religious groups
Interest Groups such as the Quakers, Saints/ Clapham Sect, Baptists,
Moravians and Methodists. Some prominent names
associated with this movement were: Thomas
Buxton, William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and
Granville Sharp.
 On the other hand, there were
those who favoured and argued
for slavey.
Abolition:
Interest
Groups
Two main groups: West India
Interest and the Planters/
Plantocracy in the Caribbean.
  Strong desire to be free
 Enticement from maroon communities ( benefits and
rights of freedom)
 Loneliness that caused depression

Why Enslaved  Suppression of their culture

 Socio- psychological dehumanisation suffered
Africans ( punished publicly)

opposed their  Difficulty of maintaining family life

 Restriction of mobility
enslavement  Harsh treatment
 Rape
 Abolition movement (misinterpreted debates)
 missionaries
Reasons the Enslaved felt that Revolts could bring about freedom

They were skilled in the use

They had vastly They knew the countryside They planned their activities
of guerilla warfare which
outnumbered the whites very well carefully
could be effective in combat

In larger colonies like

Jamaica, British Guiana and
They strategically timed They also aimed to take
Honduras (Belize), they Inspiration from St. Domigue
actions whites by surprise
could elude the whites and
defeat them.
 Effects of revolts on emancipation
process
1.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON
SLAVERY

1. Brutal suppression of revolts with

cruel deaths for leaders
2. Increase in/ tightening of security
on estates and in colonies
3. Harsher measures for the
enslaved workers e.g. the
treadmill
Effects of revolts on
the planters
 They suffered financial losses
 Destruction of estates (cane fields and
machinery)
 Enslaved (legal property) were murdered,
damaged or ran away

Planters constantly lived in fear

The instability created by these revolts made
it difficult for planters to get loans, as it was seen as
risky investment
Planterssometimes had to terminate their
business because of severe losses and increase in
debts
 By the 18th century, evidence of African slavery was seen throughout Britain, as enslaved
black attendants were often seen accompanying retired planters.

The effects of A large number of these planters were penniless younger sons who boasted of their new status
by parading with their new status symbol.

slavery and This growing number of enslaved Africans prompted the English people to question the
country’s laws to establish if slavery was legal in Britain
revolts on The issue came to the forefront with the Somerset case of 1772.

political At the conclusion of the case Lord Mansfield judgement declared that slavery was indeed

opinion in against the British Laws.

Europe
Following the judgement there was an increased support for abolition.

The uprisings encouraged the abolitionists. The first step was to end the trade in captive
Africans (1807). This was followed by registration (1815).
 Arguments against slavery

ECONOMIC
 Free trade would help Industrial development (industrialists would be able to
produce more if slavery and the Navigation Act were moved out of the way, the Act
gave British West Indian planters protection in Britain)
 The expansion of the British market was restricted because British planters were
given preferential treatment
 If slaves were freed, they would be able to purchase British manufactured goods
with wages they would receive.
 It was cheaper to pay enslaved Africans than to take care of them
 Slave labour was less productive than free labour
 Britain gained more money from custom duties by exporting manufactured goods
and less by the slave trade.
 Arguments against slavery

RELIGIOUS
Enslavement against the will of God
Christianity urges its followers to love thy neighbour as thy self
All men are equal in the sight of God
Missionaries were persecuted because they worked among slaves
God’s judgement would be upon the nation that practises slavery
The enslaved were forced to work on Sunday which is a violation of the fourth
commandment
Religious instructions of slaves were denied by planters.
Enslavement encouraged laziness, sexual promiscuity and other vices
Africans had souls and were not savages .
 Arguments against slavery

HUMANITARIAN (Humanitarians usually focused on the harsh existence of the

enslaved)
 Enslavement was cruel, inhumane and unjust e.g. the thread mill
 They were not properly provided for, e.g. insufficient food.
 They were regarded as part of the estate stock
 The judicial system was tilted against them( couldn’t give evidence in court and many
judges were slave owners)
 They had no legal rights ( family, property etc)freedom the natural condition of man.
 Enslavement marked with excessive mortality
 The slave laws were repressive
Methods used by abolitionists to
secure abolition of the Slave Trade
and slavery

 Public Meetings
 Sermons from the church pulpit on Sundays
 Petitions
 House to house calls
 Pamphlets
 Essays
 Presentations in parliament
 Tea parties
 The abolition campaign was started by the Quakers. A fundamental Quaker belief
is that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. English Quakers began to
express their official disapproval of the slave trade around 1727 and promote
reforms.

Abolition of They subsequently decided to form a small, non-denominational group to gain

wider Anglican and Parliamentary support. The new committee had nine Quaker
the slave trade members and three evangelical Anglicans, which strengthened the committee's
influence as Quakers were debarred from standing for Parliament. The three
Anglicans who co-founded the committee were Granville Sharp, Thomas
1807 Clarkson, and William Wilberforce.

The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, also known as the
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and sometimes referred to as the
Abolition Society or Anti-Slavery Society, was a British abolitionist group
formed on 22 May 1787. The law was passed in 1807and came into operation in
1808 abolishing the slave trade in the British colonies and making it illegal to
carry enslaved people in British ships.
Registration
(1815) and
Amelioration
(1823) in
British Islands