Why Was Slavery Abolished in 1807/1833? Essay Example
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade which began in the early 16th century, gained ground in the following three centuries and was eventually abolished in the 1800s. By the late 18th century, the British population began to find the slave trade both morally and financially disagreeable. The four main factors which contributed to the abolition of the slave trade were the campaigns of the white middle class, the mass support from the white working class, the protestations by the black slaves and the economic impracticality of the trade. The abolition was successful mainly due to the effort of the middle class, which surged ahead in its demands for the freedom of the African slaves and was amply backed by the other three factors.
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One could argue that the white middle class campaigners were the prime influence in the abolition of the slave trade, as they initiated and persisted with the anti-slavery movement. The campaigners ranged from uneducated yet enlightened people like Granville Sharp, through Methodist clerics like George Fox, to established politicians like William Wilberforce. They were appalled at the inhuman treatment meted out to the African slaves and took it upon themselves to fight for their freedom. This contributed greatly to the final abolition of the trade. George Fox, the pioneer of the movement, founded a group called the ‘Quakers’, which comprised of evangelical white campaigners who believed in the Christian values of equality in the eyes of God. In 1783, they sent their first petition to the Parliament in which they wrote ‘that a nation professing the Christian Faith, should so far counteract the principles of humanity and justice as by a cruel treatment of this oppressed race, to fill their minds with prejudices against the mild and beneficent doctrines of the Gospel’; aiming this argument towards the religious members of Parliament. A similar petition was sent to Parliament two years later. Their speeches, essays and letters conveyed
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One could argue that the white middle class campaigners were the prime influence in the abolition of the slave trade, as they initiated and persisted with the anti-slavery movement. The campaigners ranged from uneducated yet enlightened people like Granville Sharp, through Methodist clerics like George Fox, to established politicians like William Wilberforce. They were appalled at the inhuman treatment meted out to the African slaves and took it upon themselves to fight for their freedom. This contributed greatly to the final abolition of the trade. George Fox, the pioneer of the movement, founded a group called the ‘Quakers’, which comprised of evangelical white campaigners who believed in the Christian values of equality in the eyes of God. In 1783, they sent their first petition to the Parliament in which they wrote ‘that a nation professing the Christian Faith, should so far counteract the principles of humanity and justice as by a cruel treatment of this oppressed race, to fill their minds with prejudices against the mild and beneficent doctrines of the Gospel’; aiming this argument towards the religious members of Parliament. A similar petition was sent to Parliament two years later. Their speeches, essays and letters conveyed