In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • The Development of the Anti-Slavery Movement after 1807
  • Mike Kaye

From the first meeting of the 12 men of the London Committee in May 1787 to the actual abolition of the slave trade throughout the British colonies in March 1807, took just under 20 years. In this relatively short period of time, a campaign developed into a mass movement that not only managed to challenge traditional assumptions about the slave trade, but also convinced many people that they had an obligation to end it.

The campaign between 1787 and 1807 successfully engaged the support of different sections of society including both radicals and conservatives as well as members of the political élite and working class people. Ordinary members of the public voiced their opposition to the slave trade through a variety of mechanisms, including public meetings, petitions and consumer boycotts of slave produced goods. The strength of public opinion slowly began to have an impact in parliament as did the escalating human costs of maintaining the slave system, especially after the Haitian slave revolt in 1791.1

The achievements of the movement to abolish the transatlantic slave trade were unparalleled at the time and even today there are only a limited number of campaigns which could claim to have had the same impact. The dynamic relationship between the campaign, public opinion and parliament was instrumental to its success and this inter-relationship can be seen in other campaigning initiatives to combat slavery over the following two centuries.

1. The Campaign against Slavery Itself

After the passage of the 1807 act the abolitionists needed to confront slavery head on, but instead the anti-slavery movement lost momentum. Many considered that their work was now done and argued that slavery would die a natural death now that the trade had been stopped. Some wanted to ameliorate the conditions in which slaves were held, but did not favour total abolition. Others were reluctant to do anything which might damage the British economy or involve attacking the vested interests of absentee landowners.

Nevertheless, after 1807 abolitionists managed to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to sign petitions calling for an end to the foreign slave trade. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the British government pressed rival European powers to sign [End Page 238] treaties which prohibited the slave trade, but France, Spain and Portugal distrusted Britain's motives and wanted time to supply their colonies with slaves. In the end only a declaration stating that the slave trade was 'repugnant to the principles of humanity and universal morality' was agreed. The international slave trade was not made illegal and no time frame was set for its abolition.2

In 1823 a new generation of abolitionists joined older colleagues to form the London Society for Mitigating and Gradually Abolishing the State of Slavery throughout the British Dominions. The name reflected the cautious and conservative line the new group was taking.

Enslaved Africans and their descendants were not interested in a gradualist approach. In 1816 a slave rebellion in Barbados led to the destruction of a quarter of the country's sugar crop. Some 120 enslaved Africans died in the fighting or after being captured and a further 144 were tried and executed.3 Another large rebellion took place in Guyana in 1823 involving some 9,000 slaves. Around 250 slaves were killed as the revolt was put down and a young white missionary, John Smith, was made a scapegoat for the rebellion. Smith was sentenced to be hanged and died in prison before King George IV pardoned him.

Once again the actions taken by enslaved Africans to free themselves would prove crucial to the direction of the abolitionist movement in Britain. Smith was seen as a persecuted martyr by many in Britain and this had the effect of bringing the Church of England deeper into the anti-slavery movement. Thomas Clarkson was one of only three anglicans who founded the London Committee in 1787, but when he took to the road again in 1823 to mobilize support for the cause he received support not only from quakers, but also from the Church of England, the Scottish clergy and the Bible and Church...

pdf

Share