Is the abolition of foreignness possible? Was the abolition of the slave trade and legal slavery in most parts of the world or the emancipation of women possible? Was it possible to overcome the ingrained racism of the early twentieth century? This web page explores the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as a case study in overcoming ingrained practices which had lasted for hundreds of years, underpinned by industries practising and depending on the slavery. The emancipation of women and the eradication of racism present similar case studies. Below we explore modern manifestations of slavery.
Abolition of the Slave Trade
In 1783 in Britain, and most of the world, slavery was an accepted and legal practice.
Sick slave being thrown overboardIn that year, a case was heard before the British courts. The insurer of the slave ship Zong, which carried African slaves from Africa to the Americas, refused to pay a claim for “lost cargo”. That lost cargo was more than 100 sick slaves that had been thrown overboard by the ship’s captain, so that their value could be claimed against the insurers. If the slaves had died of natural causes (their sickness), no claim could be brought against the insurers. The insurers won their case. Efforts to bring murder charges against the ship owners failed. The slaves were not human beings they were goods.
Thomas Clarkson later in life.The growing realisation by a small number of people of the horror of slavery, and the brutality of the slave trade led to action. Lawyers like Granville Sharp worked for changes to the law. Former slaves like Olaudah Equiano wrote their stories and worked for freedom. The Quakers had campaigned in North America and Britain against slavery for almost a century. In 1783 British Quakers petitioned parliament for abolition of the trade. In 1785 Peter Peckard, the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University set a Latin Essay on the topic Is it Right to Make Slaves of Others Against their Will? A young man of 24 named Thomas Clarkson entered the competition and won. What he learned was to change his life, which he devoted to abolition of the slave trade. He and others, after a struggle of almost 20 years achieved their goal and abolished the trade. Later he wrote about the effect the essay competition had on him: