What was the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade (SAST)?
An organisation that protested against slavery through publishing pamphlets, posters, petitioning and lobbying parliament.
Led by Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp and William Wilberforce.
What did Granville Sharp do?
- Won trials for Johnathan Strong and James Somersett.
- Co-founded SAST with Thomas Clarkson
- Wrote anti slavery pamphlets.
What are some methods of anti-slavery?
- Attend meetings
- Anti-slavery badges
- Poetry
- Singing songs
- Woman’s abolitionist jewellery
What are pressure groups?
Lobbying/putting pressure on government to change laws.
What were the economic arguments against slavery?
The economies of Britian’s Carribean colonies would be ruined.
United Kingdom’s economy damaged by abolition.
Why would some people not be pro-abolition?
Tens of thousands of people were employed directly in slave trade or processing slavery products from Americas.
What was one issue with expenses that worked in slavery’s favour?
All products produced by colonies would either not be available in Britain or much more expensive.
How did MPs cope with the slave backlash?
Slaves were property, not people.
Africans inferior to Europeans, not worth worrying about.
What was the Abolition Act?
- Passed by William Wilberforce 1807
- Illegal for British ships/people to participate in slave trade
What were some economic arguments against slavery?
- Inefficent and costly. (lacked incentive)
- More cheaply by paid workers in other colonies (like India)
- New agricultural methods.
- Industrial revolution reduced slavery reliance
- Oversupply and competition declined profitablity
What were arguable benefits from slavery? (and one reason against aboliton)
- Raw materials generated significant profits/fuelled industries
- Created jobs in related industry
- Property rights infringement
What were political arguments for slavery?
- Provided Royal Navy / military dominance
- Economics/merchantilism
What were arguments for slavery from ports?
- Abolishment lead to unemployment/poverty
- Infrastructure founded off slavery / less urban expansion
Why was the legacy of the French Revolution an advantage for abolitionists?
- French Revolution made British elite scared (same thing might happen to them)
- Slave revolt in French colony (Saint-Domingue/Haiti) 1791 scared British slave owners.
How did the legacy of the French revolution work against abolitionists?
- Abolitionist ideas (enlightenment prinicples) were similar/shared with French revolutionaries..
- Abolitionist movement could start uprising.
- War with France priority, unpatriotic/dangerous to disrupt trade during wartime.
What were enlightenment principles?
- Using logic/evidence instead of faith/tradition to improve society.
- Importance of individual capacity for reason.
- Rights for all humans, life, liberty
What were the conflicting main reasons for the success of the abolitionist movements?
- Parliamentary campaigns
- Propaganda (Thomas Clarkson evidence/Brookes slave ship diagram)
- Moral/religious arguments
- Show of public support (petitions, boycotts)
