Abolition PP Notes

nDeclaration of Independence
nQuakers and other groups opposed slavery
nDevelopment of secret runaway slave communities
nUnderground Railroad
nInternational laws forbidding slavery
n1776 – Independence would be the beginning of an actual end to slavery in the U.S.
nAbolition Groups
nSociety of Friends
nPennsylvania Antislavery Society
nNew York Manumission Society
n(NY abolished slavery 1799 – members like Alexander Hamilton)
nInfluence of Anti-Slavery Campaigns
nRobert Carter III – freed more slaves than any other owner in history: 450 in 1791
nFreed slaves in the Upper Southern States went from 1% to 10% after 1776
nMany men who free slaves were influenced by their fight in the Revolution and it’s principles of equality for all men
nAnti-Slavery society formed in 1787
nSlave trade abolished in 1807, bye Britain
nSlaves in British colonies set free in 1834
nArguments for abolition…
•Moral Argument: ‘it was wicked’
•Economic Argument: ‘slavery was not worth it’
•Legal Argument: ‘slavery was illegal’
•Religious Argument: ‘slavery was unchristian’
•Political Argument: ‘slaves hated slavery’
•Revolutionary Argument: ‘slavery would lead to more revolts’
nMoral Argument
n‘Slavery is an evil of the first magnitude. It is a most horrible iniquity to traffic with the souls of men. Any man who deals with his fellow creatures with such wickedness should be held as the abomination of all mankind. Those who are the procurers and holders of slaves are the greatest villains in the world.’
nEconomic Argument
nIn 1776 Adam Smith, in his book The Wealth of Nations argued that slave labour was inefficient, maintaining that a person with no rights had no reason to work hard.
nBy the 1790s, French sugar was costing 20% less than British sugar. London merchants were no longer able to make good profits from the sugar trade.
nThey started to transfer their investments from Caribbean plantations to the new cotton mills in Lancashire or the Empire in India.
nLegal Argument
nBy the 1770s there were some 15,000 black people in Britain. Most, brought by their owners from the West Indies, worked as household servants.

nA number of test cases seemed to show that slavery was not legal under British law
nSomerset case 1771-72: a slave, James Somerset, had been brought to England and now refused to be taken, against his will, back to the colonies. The law decided that he could not be forced to go.
nLegal Argument
nZong case 1781: the slave ship Zong had left Africa with 470 slaves and a crew of 17. By the time it was nearing Jamaica, most of the slaves were ill. The captain knew that he would not be able to sell the slaves in such poor condition so he ordered the sick slaves to be thrown overboard. He claimed that he had to do this to save the lives of the others and the crew because he was short of water. This allowed him to claim on the insurance value of the slaves. In fact, the insurers refused to pay and the case went to court. The ship owners claimed that the slaves were ‘goods and property’, not human beings. This case caused widespread horror, and helped to get the Anti-Slavery campaign going.
nReligious Argument
n‘repugnant to our religion’ (Barnsley Methodists)
n‘A system full of wickedness, hateful to God, and a curse and disgrace to Britain’ (Derby)
n‘A system revolting to the feelings of mankind and inconsistent with the counsels of Heaven’ (Hereford Ladies)
nAgitation to abolish the slave trade began in Britain in the 1760s. Many of its first members were Quakers.
nThey received massed support from the Baptists and Methodists and, in 1787, persuaded Granville Sharp to become the chairman of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
nProblems in the Caribbean
nThere was never a time when the white British rulers of their Caribbean islands felt totally secure.
nSlavery was never accepted, by the Africans particularly, but also by the native born black populations.
nThere were a number of serious revolts:
n1730-40 First Maroon war, Jamaica
n1735-36 Revolt in Antigua
n1760 Tacky’s revolt in Jamaica
n1763 Kofi’s revolt in Guyana
n1795-96 Second Maroon War in Jamaica
n1795-97 Fedor’s rebellion, Grenada
nThe Revolutionary Argument
nThe idea of fighting against oppression was encouraged by the ideas and activities of the French Revolution.
nThe French island of Saint Domingue was the richest colony in the world, and the biggest slave market in the Americas.
nThe French Revolution began in 1789 and, in 1791, the French Government declared all people equal.
nThe whites in Saint Domingue would not accept this, and the slaves rose up in revolt.
nThe Revolutionary Argument
nTheir leader was Toussaint L’Ouverture and, in 1794, the French Government granted all slaves in Saint Domingue their freedom.
nThe British, and other slave-owning countries in the Caribbean were horrified and sent troops to crush the rebellion.
nThey were easily defeated by Toussaint L’Ouverture.
nIn 1798 he became the first ruler of an independent black state.
nSlave Abolition Act 1833
nAfter 1807 slaves were still held, just not sold
nAct 1833 Was given approval from British crown:
nEnded slavery, but forced into indentured servants with apprecticeships (1834)
nApprenticeships slowly ended (1840)
nAfter 1807 slaves were still held, just not sold