Why was slavery Abolished?
In 1807 the buying and selling of slaves was outlawed by the british parliament. By 1833 it had been abolished altogether. However, there are different opinions about why this happened.
On of the reasons this could of happened is because of the white middleclass men. Granville sharp was a white middle class man who saw the evil actions of a slave owner to his slave and he took many of these to court and fought for the rights of black people. By doing this he could try and stop slavery in Britain. Another influential man in the white middle class was William Wilberforce who was a Quaker who thought it was against Christian religion to make blacks slaves. He was an mp who made campaigns against the slave trade and was successful however, was this the only reason why the slave trade was abolished?
Another factor that could influence the abolishment of slavery was the white working class. In 1788 10000 white people signed a petition. In 1792 the support grew to 20000. when the slave trade was finally abolished in 1807 they continued to complain and persist to make slavery illegal. In 1814 one and a half million people signed the petition. From this evidence it seems like the slave trade was abolished for this reason but there could be something more influential.
The actions of the black people may have changed the laws about slavery. In the eighteenth century many black slaves in Britain began to demand to be treated like ordinary servants and they demanded wages. Others refused and ran away the slave owners tried to get them back however no one knew the legal position of slaves. When these cases were taken to court the judges made different decisions and every one was confused. Granville sharp helped many of these slaves who wanted to be free and fought their cases in court. By 1800 most black slaves were free through there own efforts. Another man who made in impact was olaudah equiano. He was bought when he was very young and he worked on a ship. While he was in London he learnt English and became Christian. He was sold in America but bought himself and left to England and wrote the story of his life and it was widely read by everyone. He alerted the public about the ship song. The ideals of equality were behind the French revolution. The slaves were treated very harshly and the death rate was very high because of it. In 1791 the slaves rebelled murdering white plantation owners and setting alight the sugar fields. British troops who had made an alliance with the French were too defeated. Slavery was abolished, and in 1804 the island became independent and was called Haiti.
From the 1770s onwards the west indies were becoming less important to Britain. Cuba and Brazil could produce cheaper sugar. Many plantations in the west indies were closed down. The demand for slaves fell. Fore example, in 1771 barbados imported 2728 slaves but in 1772 no slaves were important. The slave trade was abolished in 1807. It then took another 27 years to get slavery itself abolished. It was a gradual process. First, parliament passed laws to improve conditions however in Jamaica slaves went on strike and 100 slaves were shot and 300 hanged. This made people realised that slavery could never be improved and in 1833 slavery was finally abolished.
Which of the previous factors made the most impact on the slave trade? It would depend on what view you would look from. An English historian would say that the abolition of slavery was the most virtuous acts recorded in the history of nations. On the other hand a west Indian would say that it is the fact that slavery became unprofitable that it was abolished and that the whites were “very conscious” that slavery was wrong (thee historian is saying that they are not really being virtuous and just seeing that it is unprofitable). These maybe the views from both sides but the neutral view would probably say that the most influential factor because the rebelling made the whites see how bad they were treating the black and it involved many people dying which can often change views easily.
On of the reasons this could of happened is because of the white middleclass men. Granville sharp was a white middle class man who saw the evil actions of a slave owner to his slave and he took many of these to court and fought for the rights of black people. By doing this he could try and stop slavery in Britain. Another influential man in the white middle class was William Wilberforce who was a Quaker who thought it was against Christian religion to make blacks slaves. He was an mp who made campaigns against the slave trade and was successful however, was this the only reason why the slave trade was abolished?
Another factor that could influence the abolishment of slavery was the white working class. In 1788 10000 white people signed a petition. In 1792 the support grew to 20000. when the slave trade was finally abolished in 1807 they continued to complain and persist to make slavery illegal. In 1814 one and a half million people signed the petition. From this evidence it seems like the slave trade was abolished for this reason but there could be something more influential.
The actions of the black people may have changed the laws about slavery. In the eighteenth century many black slaves in Britain began to demand to be treated like ordinary servants and they demanded wages. Others refused and ran away the slave owners tried to get them back however no one knew the legal position of slaves. When these cases were taken to court the judges made different decisions and every one was confused. Granville sharp helped many of these slaves who wanted to be free and fought their cases in court. By 1800 most black slaves were free through there own efforts. Another man who made in impact was olaudah equiano. He was bought when he was very young and he worked on a ship. While he was in London he learnt English and became Christian. He was sold in America but bought himself and left to England and wrote the story of his life and it was widely read by everyone. He alerted the public about the ship song. The ideals of equality were behind the French revolution. The slaves were treated very harshly and the death rate was very high because of it. In 1791 the slaves rebelled murdering white plantation owners and setting alight the sugar fields. British troops who had made an alliance with the French were too defeated. Slavery was abolished, and in 1804 the island became independent and was called Haiti.
From the 1770s onwards the west indies were becoming less important to Britain. Cuba and Brazil could produce cheaper sugar. Many plantations in the west indies were closed down. The demand for slaves fell. Fore example, in 1771 barbados imported 2728 slaves but in 1772 no slaves were important. The slave trade was abolished in 1807. It then took another 27 years to get slavery itself abolished. It was a gradual process. First, parliament passed laws to improve conditions however in Jamaica slaves went on strike and 100 slaves were shot and 300 hanged. This made people realised that slavery could never be improved and in 1833 slavery was finally abolished.
Which of the previous factors made the most impact on the slave trade? It would depend on what view you would look from. An English historian would say that the abolition of slavery was the most virtuous acts recorded in the history of nations. On the other hand a west Indian would say that it is the fact that slavery became unprofitable that it was abolished and that the whites were “very conscious” that slavery was wrong (thee historian is saying that they are not really being virtuous and just seeing that it is unprofitable). These maybe the views from both sides but the neutral view would probably say that the most influential factor because the rebelling made the whites see how bad they were treating the black and it involved many people dying which can often change views easily.
this was originally written by Laura Boltzmann