Factors Leading to the Abolition of the Slave Trade
The Economic, Social and Political Factors of the Abolition of the Slave Trade by Jessica Comeau
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade had deep and far reaching affects on the continent of Africa and its people. Prior to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, there was an active slave trade within Africa, although the connotation of the word slave was not the same for the Africans as it was for the Europeans. In an African society, a slave could eventually marry into the master’s family and rise to a prominent position within the state. Similarly, in the African society slaves were often taken solely to pay off debts and once the debt had been worked off, the ‘slave’ was free to go. This understanding of the word slave did not denote an entire lifetime of slavery, but merely was used to describe a person who was in a position similar of that to a servant or ward. In the European society at this time, the term slave was used to describe a human who was reduced to the status of being property to another human being. When the Trans-Atlantic slave trade came to be abolished in the 19th century, the economic, social and political landscapes were very different than they had been leading into the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. There are historians who have tried to make a case for economic factors being the largest contributor to the end of the slave trade, but it was the total summary of social, political and economical aspects which led to the eventual abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The politics of the abolition of the slave trade were diverse and complex. Abolitionist efforts were taking place on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, with abolitionists working to change laws both in Europe and the United States of America. The first attempt to abolish slavery was the British Act of 1807. Coming shortly after the period of the Haitian Revolution, it would not be hard to say that one led to the other.[1] The Haitian revolt frightened slaveholders
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade had deep and far reaching affects on the continent of Africa and its people. Prior to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, there was an active slave trade within Africa, although the connotation of the word slave was not the same for the Africans as it was for the Europeans. In an African society, a slave could eventually marry into the master’s family and rise to a prominent position within the state. Similarly, in the African society slaves were often taken solely to pay off debts and once the debt had been worked off, the ‘slave’ was free to go. This understanding of the word slave did not denote an entire lifetime of slavery, but merely was used to describe a person who was in a position similar of that to a servant or ward. In the European society at this time, the term slave was used to describe a human who was reduced to the status of being property to another human being. When the Trans-Atlantic slave trade came to be abolished in the 19th century, the economic, social and political landscapes were very different than they had been leading into the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. There are historians who have tried to make a case for economic factors being the largest contributor to the end of the slave trade, but it was the total summary of social, political and economical aspects which led to the eventual abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The politics of the abolition of the slave trade were diverse and complex. Abolitionist efforts were taking place on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, with abolitionists working to change laws both in Europe and the United States of America. The first attempt to abolish slavery was the British Act of 1807. Coming shortly after the period of the Haitian Revolution, it would not be hard to say that one led to the other.[1] The Haitian revolt frightened slaveholders