Origins of Abolitionism
By the eighteenth century, Great Britain was reaping monumental financial rewards from the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade, commonly known as the triangular slave trade, was composed of three parts: European goods were traded for African slaves; African slaves were sold in the Americas for plantation crops; plantation crops were transported for sale and consumption in Europe.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, slavery had few opponents in England. Indeed, English society valued the slave trade for its significant contribution to the nation’s wealth, and romanticized the adventurous lives of traders on the high seas. In the late eighteenth century, however, Quakers and other religious leaders began to change attitudes toward slavery by drawing attention to the inhumanity and cruelty of the slave trade. One of most effective voices against slavery in England was Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846). Clarkson, along with the abolitionist Granville Sharpe, established the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787. To expose the barbarity of the slave trade, Clarkson gathered evidence, such as the tools of torture used on slave ships, and interviewed thousands of slave ship sailors. He also developed powerful allies, such as M.P. William Wilberforce, who used his political influence to lobby for abolitionist causes in Parliament. Clarkson, Granville, Wilberforce, and other activists began spreading their message. They published protest pamphlets, raised funds, and organized public lectures and rallies. Twenty years after the founding of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, their work was partially rewarded by the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. This act prohibited Great Britain from participating in the transatlantic slave trade.
Thomas Clarkson
In 1787, Thomas Clarkson, perhaps the greatest proponent of the abolitionist movement in England, helped establish the Committee for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade. Clarkson collected and publicized compelling evidence against slavery and used his political influence to speak out against slavery throughout England and France. After Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807, Clarkson wrote the History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the African Slave Trade, which was instrumental in bringing about the final abolition of slavery in Great Britain in 1833.
Stowage on the British Slave Ships
This diagram and description of the Liverpool-based slave ship, Brookes, shows the number and placement of Africans in the ship’s hold, contrary to the legal regulations of the slave trade. The layout, based on Thomas Clarkson’s information, was given as evidence before Parliament as argument against the slave trade.
William Wilberforce
Although William Wilberforce supported many social reforms, he is best known for his unrelenting efforts to abolish slavery. A Member of Parliament from 1780-1825, he continued to introduce anti-slavery motions for almost two decades to no avail. His diligence paid off in 1833, however, when, days before his death, he saw the passage of the Abolition of Slavery Act through Parliament.
Anti-Slavery Poetry
Anti-Slavery poetry is often criticized today for portraying idealistic and stereotypical representations of Africans and slaves. However, in its own time, some of this poetry reached a wide audience and it often did educate its readers about the injustices of slavery.
The poet, playwright, and writer Hannah More (ca. 1745-1833) was a tireless advocate for evangelical and reform movements. Supportive of the abolitionist cause until the end of her life, More disseminated anti-slavery sentiment through her poetry. Her poem “Slavery” (1788) attracted significant public attention, and “The Sorrows of Yamba,” also attributed to More, was widely circulated in broadside, pamphlet, and musical forms.
Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Published after Great Britain enacted the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807, this volume of poetry does not simply celebrate the end of the Slave Trade: it demands the end of West Indian slavery altogether.
Elizabeth Heyrick
Elizabeth Heyrick, a radical abolitionist and social reformer, wrote Immediate, Not Gradual Abolition in 1824, a publication that marked a turning point in the official stance of the British abolitionist movement. As treasurer of the Female Society for Birmingham, Heyrick stood up to advocate the immediate abolition of slavery at the National Conference of the Anti-Slavery Society. Although considered too radical by many abolitionists, she threatened to withdraw the organization's funds if “immediatism” was not adopted, and her insistence would eventually carry the movement forward toward this goal.
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano (ca. 1745-1797) was one of the first blacks to level a written attack on the slave trade. His autobiography, published in 1789, sold extremely well and was effective in spreading anti-slavery sentiment. Equiano wrote about being kidnapped into slavery from his homeland, about his life as a slave in the West Indies, and ultimately, his return to freedom. Equiano’s publication was an early and influential prototype for later American slave narratives.