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81-669: Anti-Slavery Society was a name used by various abolitionist groups including: United Kingdom [ edit ] Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1787–1807?), also referred to as the Abolition Society Anti-Slavery Society (1823–1838) , full name Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout

162-696: A black man." In 1781 the Dublin based Universal Free Debating Society challenged its members to consider if "enslaving the Negro race [is] justifiable on principles of humanity of [sic] policy?" Despite the ending of slavery in Great Britain, the West Indian colonies of the British Empire continued to practice it. British banks continued to finance the commodities and shipping industries in

243-791: A British official to establish this colony for freed slaves. When the Royal Navy later intercepted illegal slave trading ships, its crews frequently resettled the liberated Africans at Freetown. From 1823, the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions (also known as the Anti-Slavery Society) became the primary organised group working for legislation to abolish slavery. The Society and supporters, including captive and freed Africans, missionaries and evangelical movements in

324-567: A few evangelical religious groups condemned slavery (by then applied mostly to Africans) as un-Christian. A few secular thinkers of the Enlightenment criticised it for violating the rights of man . James Edward Oglethorpe was the first to act on the Enlightenment case against slavery on humanistic grounds. In his " Georgia Experiment " he convinced Parliament to ban slavery in his Province of Georgia from 1735. However, slavery

405-462: A fine of £100 for every slave found aboard a British ship. The 1807 act's intention was to entirely outlaw the slave trade within the British Empire , but the lucrative trade continued through smuggling. Sometimes captains at risk of being caught by the Royal Navy would throw slaves into the sea to reduce their fines. Abolitionist Henry Brougham realized that trading would continue, and so as

486-454: A membership of educated Londoners, mostly African former slaves. It was closely connected to the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Petitioning peaked in 1792, with up to 100,000 signatures (Manchester alone contributed 10,639), and regional anti-slavery groups started taking the lead, especially in the north of England . Women had increasingly played a larger role in

567-585: A moment the sincerity of Sharpe, Wilberforce, Buxton and their followers. But the moral force they represented would have met with greater resistance had it not been working along lines favorable to English investment and colonial profit. Antislavery sentiment may have grown in the British Isles in the first few years after the Somersett case. In 1774, influenced by the case and by the writings of Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet , John Wesley ,

648-517: A nation proud And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, And let it circulate through ev'ry vein Of all your empire. That where Britain's power Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too. Cowper was a close friend of John Newton , who had been involved in the slave trade during his naval career. In later life, following his conversion to Christianity, and his ordination in the Church of England, Newton

729-547: A new MP successfully introduced the Slave Trade Felony Act 1811 . This law at last made slave trading a criminal felony throughout the empire, and for British subjects worldwide. This proved far more effective and ended the trade across the Empire, as the Royal Navy ruthlessly pursued slave ships. In 1827, Britain defined participation in the slave trade as piracy and punishable by death. Between 1808 and 1860,

810-588: A separate Act was passed in the UK to give greater British protection to Freetown in West Africa (now the capital of Sierra Leone ), a colony established in 1788 for the resettlement of former slaves and Poor Blacks from London, as well as Black Loyalists who had initially been relocated to Nova Scotia following the American Revolutionary War . The Timni chief Nembana sold a strip of land to

891-497: A slave in chains with the simple but effective question: "Am I not a man and a brother?" was very effective in bringing public attention to abolition. The Wedgwood medallion was the most famous image of a black person in all of 18th-century art. Clarkson wrote; "ladies wore them in bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length the taste for wearing them became general, and thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things,

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972-608: A union of non-conformist churches and many had previously campaigned against the slave trade. In 1831, enslaved man Sam Sharpe led the Christmas Rebellion ( Baptist War ) in Jamaica, an event that catalyzed anti-slavery sentiment. This combination of political pressure and popular uprisings convinced the British government that there was no longer any middle ground between slavery and emancipation. On 28 August 1833,

1053-435: A work of literary merit. In 1789 Clarkson's promoted the committee's cause by encouraging the sale of Equiano's memoir and inviting the former slave to lecture in British ports linked to the slave trade. William Wilberforce introduced the first Bill to abolish the slave trade in 1791, which was defeated by 163 votes to 88. As Wilberforce continued to bring the issue of the slave trade before Parliament, Clarkson and others on

1134-602: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade , also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade , and sometimes referred to as the Abolition Society or Anti-Slavery Society, was a British abolitionist group formed on 22 May 1787. The objective of abolishing

1215-802: The Brookes . After the formation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787, William Wilberforce led the cause of abolition through the parliamentary campaign. It finally abolished the slave trade in the British Empire with the Slave Trade Act 1807 . He continued to campaign for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, which he lived to see in the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 . The Atlantic slave trade , also called Triangle trade , encompassed

1296-622: The African Institution , and others were members of wealthy Unitarian families in Manchester. By 1788 there were 206 female subscribers. One prominent female subscriber was writer and polymath Elizabeth Carter . Several members of the society also subscribed to the African Institution (founded 1807 to create a viable, civilised refuge for freed slaves in Sierra Leone ). The Sons of Africa abolitionist society had

1377-692: The British Empire (the Poor Blacks of London) and the United States. Great Britain had promised freedom to American slaves who left rebel owners to join its cause during the American Revolutionary War. It evacuated thousands of slaves together with its troops and transported 3,000 Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. About a decade later, they were offered a chance to resettle in Freetown and several hundred made

1458-639: The Clapham Sect were subscribers to the society as well. Director of the Bank of England and founding member of the Philanthropic Society in St. George's Fields Jeremiah Harman was also a promenade supporter and subscriber of the initial publication of the Society. According to Claire Midgley (2004), the proportion of female subscribers to the society was typical of philanthropic societies of

1539-682: The Court of the King's Bench , had to judge whether Somersett's abduction was lawful or not under English Common Law . No legislation had ever been passed to establish slavery in England. The case received national attention and five advocates supported the action on behalf of Somersett. In his judgment of 22 June 1772, Mansfield held, The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law, which preserves its force long after

1620-588: The London Society of West India Planters and Merchants to represent their views. From its inception in 1780, the organisation played a major role in resisting the abolition of the slave trade and that of slavery itself. The Society brought together three different groups: British sugar merchants, absentee planters and colonial agents. Writing critically of English altruism in abolishing the slave trade, African-American historian W. E. B. Du Bois in 1948 said, The rise of liberal and philanthropic thought in

1701-654: The Royal African Corps was recruited from West African volunteers, and eventually included freed slaves from the Caribbean before it was disbanded in 1819. In 1796, John Gabriel Stedman published the memoirs of his five-year voyage to the Dutch -controlled Surinam in South America as part of a military force sent out to subdue bosnegers , former slaves living in the interior. The book is critical of

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1782-408: The Slavery Abolition Act received Royal Assent , paving the way for the abolition of slavery within the British Empire and its colonies. On 1 August 1834, all slaves in the British Empire (except for India) were emancipated, but they were indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system that meant gradual abolition: the first set of apprenticeships came to an end on 1 August 1838, while

1863-496: The 1851 Reduction of Lagos deposed "the usurping King of Lagos ". Britain signed anti-slavery treaties with more than 50 African rulers. After the 1807 Act, slaves could still be held, though not sold, within the British Empire. In the 1820s, the abolitionist movement may have revived the campaign against the institution of slavery. In 1823 the first Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Britain. The Society's members consisted of

1944-527: The African continent by such British groups as the African Association (1788) promoted the abolitionists' cause. Such expeditions highlighted the sophistication of African social organisation; before this, Europeans had considered them 'other' and uncivilised. The African Association had close ties with William Wilberforce , who became known as a prominent figure in the campaign for abolition in

2025-1485: The British Dominions Anti-Slavery International (1839–present), founded as the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society United States [ edit ] American Anti-Slavery Society (1833–1870) Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1833) The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1837) Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1833) Fall River Female Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1835) Ladies’ New York City Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1835) Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1835) Ohio Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1835) Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women (founded 1837) New York State Anti-Slavery Society , first meeting held in Utica October 19, 1836 ( History of slavery in New York (state) ) Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1838) American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1840) Neel's [Neil's] Creek Anti-Slavery Society in Indiana with members including Lyman Hoyt Others [ edit ] Belgian Anti-Slavery Society (founded 1888) See also [ edit ] Category:American abolitionist organizations Birmingham Ladies Society for

2106-400: The British Empire. Africans themselves played a visible role in the abolition movement. In Britain, Olaudah Equiano , whose autobiography was published in nine editions in his lifetime, campaigned tirelessly against the slave trade. Also important were horrific images such as the famous Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion of 1787 and the engraving showing the ghastly layout of the slave ship ,

2187-560: The British abolitionist movement in 1783 when the London Society of Friends' yearly meeting presented its petition against the slave trade to Parliament , signed by over 300 Quakers. They were also influenced by the publicity that year about the Zong massacre , as the shipowners were litigating a claim for insurance against losses due to more than 132 slaves having been killed on their ship. "In 1787, approximately three-quarters of

2268-533: The Caribbean) and tobacco and rice (in the American South), which they took back to British ports. The merchants traded in three places with each round-trip. Political influence against the inhumanity of the slave trade grew strongly in the late 18th century. Europeans and Africans worked for abolition of the slave trade and slavery. Well-known abolitionists in Britain included James Ramsay , who had seen

2349-728: The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and were the first to present a petition against the slave trade to the British Parliament. As Dissenters , Quakers were not eligible to become British MPs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Anglican evangelist William Wilberforce led the parliamentary campaign. Clarkson became the group's most prominent researcher, gathering vast amounts of data and gaining first-hand accounts by interviewing sailors and former slaves at British ports such as Bristol , Liverpool and London. Mainly because of Clarkson's efforts, he trailed

2430-457: The Committee travelled, raised funds, lobbied, and wrote anti-slavery works. They conducted a protracted parliamentary campaign, during which Wilberforce introduced a motion in favour of abolition almost every year. The committee was later joined by the Quaker philanthropist William Allen , who worked closely with Wilberforce and with his fellow Quaker members, and Wilberforce's fellow members of

2511-521: The North American colonies and by the 18th century, traders began to import slaves from Africa, India and East Asia (where they were trading) to London and Edinburgh to work as servants. Men who migrated to the North American colonies often took their East Indian slaves or servants with them, as East Indians have been documented in colonial records. David Olusoga wrote of the sea change that had taken place: To fully understand how remarkable

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2592-807: The Relief of Negro Slaves was founded in Birmingham , England, on 8 April 1825. In 1807, the British Parliament voted to abolish the international slave trade under the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act , and enforce this through its maritime power, the Royal Navy . The society wound up its work after the Act was passed. The United States also prohibited the African slave trade in the same year, taking effect on 1 January 1808. In 1808

2673-699: The Relief of Negro Slaves , also known as the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society World Anti-Slavery Convention (1840) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Anti-Slavery Society . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anti-Slavery_Society&oldid=1184626904 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

2754-402: The Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Britain used its influence to coerce other countries to agree to treaties to end their slave trade and allow the Royal Navy to seize their slave ships . Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade. For example,

2835-741: The Slave Trade Act was past. The first anti-slavery statement was written by Dutch and German Quakers , who met at Germantown , Pennsylvania in 1688. English Quakers began to express their official disapproval of the slave trade in 1727 and promote reforms. From the 1750s, a number of Quakers in Britain's American colonies also began to oppose slavery and called on English Quakers to take action with parliament. They encouraged their fellow citizens, including Quaker slave owners, to improve conditions for slaves, educate their slaves in Christianity , reading and writing, and gradually emancipate (free) them. An informal group of six Quakers pioneered

2916-663: The UK in 1832, which was £443 million and government spending which was £51.5m. In 1839, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was formed. At the time, Britain continued to import cotton and other commodities from the U.S. Deep South , which relied on slavery for cotton production , to fuel the spinning and weaving mills in Manchester and other northern cities. The finished goods furnished Britain's low-wage export manufacturing economy , with surpluses exported to Europe and India. London merchant banks made loans throughout

2997-513: The United Kingdom The buying and selling of slaves was made illegal across the British Empire in 1807, but owning slaves overseas was permitted until it was outlawed completely in 1833, beginning a process where from 1834 slaves became indentured "apprentices" to their former owners until emancipation was achieved for the majority by 1840 and for remaining exceptions by 1843. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, English Quakers and

3078-518: The abolition crusade. Moreover, new fields of investment and profit were being opened to Englishmen by the consolidation of the empire in India and by the acquisition of new spheres of influence in China and elsewhere. In Africa, British rule was actually strengthened by the anti-slavery crusade, for new territory was annexed and controlled under the aegis of emancipation. It would not be right to question for

3159-536: The abolition of the international slave trade when the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act 1807 , at which time the society ceased its activities. (The United States also prohibited the African slave trade the same year, to take effect in 1808.) In 1823 the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions (also known as the Anti-Slavery Society)

3240-477: The anti-slavery movement but could not take a direct role in Parliament . They sometimes formed their own anti-slavery societies. Many women were horrified that, under slavery, women and children were taken away from their families. In 1824, Elizabeth Heyrick published a pamphlet titled Immediate not Gradual Abolition , in which she urged the immediate emancipation of slaves in the British colonies. Despite

3321-464: The case of Knight v. Wedderburn (1778), Wedderburn said that Knight owed him "perpetual servitude". The Court of Session of Scotland ruled against him, saying that chattel slavery was not recognised under the law of Scotland and slaves could seek court protection to leave a master or avoid being forcibly removed from Scotland to be returned to slavery in the colonies. At this point the plantocracy became concerned, and got organised, setting up

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3402-544: The colonies they had earlier established which still relied upon slavery, despite the legal developments in Great Britain. In 1785, the English poet William Cowper wrote, We have no slaves at home.—Then why abroad? And they themselves once ferried o'er the wave That parts us, are emancipate and loos'd. Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free, They touch our country and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks

3483-455: The colonies, worked to achieve the first stage of legal emancipation in the colonies. It also supported abolitionists in the United States. Many British supported lecture tours by American abolitionists in Britain who were raising funds for efforts in the United States. Such supporters sometimes provided refuge to Americans who had escaped from slavery and helped raise money to buy their freedom, as for Frederick Douglass . Abolitionism in

3564-543: The common law of slavery in the English-speaking world and it helped launch the movement to abolish slavery. After reading about Somersett's Case, Joseph Knight , an enslaved African who had been purchased by his master John Wedderburn in Jamaica and brought to Scotland, left him. Married and with a child, he filed a freedom suit , on the grounds that he could not be held as a slave in Great Britain . In

3645-604: The country setting up a network of 1,200 local abolition groups. They campaigned through public meetings and the publication of pamphlets and petitions , a petition in 1792 got 400,000 signatures and the petition in 1814 got 1,375,000 signatures. One of the earliest books promoted by Clarkson and the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was the autobiography of the freed slave Olaudah Equiano . The movement had support from such freed slaves, from many denominational groups such as Swedenborgians , Quakers, Baptists , Methodists and others. They reached out for support from

3726-510: The cruelty of the trade at first hand; the Unitarian William Roscoe who courageously campaigned for parliament in the port city of Liverpool for which he was briefly M.P., Granville Sharp , Thomas Clarkson , Josiah Wedgwood , who produced the " Am I Not A Man And A Brother? " medallion for the Committee; and other members of the Clapham Sect of evangelical reformers, as well as Quakers . Quakers made up most of

3807-537: The final apprenticeships were scheduled to cease on 1 August 1840, two years later. The apprenticeship system was deeply unpopular with slaves. On 1 August 1834, as the Governor in Port of Spain , Trinidad addressed an audience about the new laws, the mostly elderly, unarmed slaves began chanting: "Pas de six ans. Point de six ans" ("Not six years. No six years"), drowning out his voice. Peaceful protests continued until

3888-489: The government passed a resolution to abolish apprenticeship and the slaves gained de facto freedom. Full emancipation for all slaves was legally granted on 1 August 1838, ahead of schedule, making Trinidad the first British slave society to fully end slavery. The government set aside £20 million for compensation of slave owners for their "property" across the Empire, but it did not offer former slaves compensation or reparations (though that has never happened anywhere). This

3969-457: The judgement was generally taken at the time to have determined that slavery did not exist under English common law and was thus prohibited in England. By 1774, between 10,000 and 15,000 slaves gained freedom in England. The decision did not apply to British overseas territories; e.g. the American colonies had established slavery by positive laws . Somersett's case became a significant part of

4050-564: The late afternoon of 22 May 1787, eventually caught the attention of millions of people around the world, including the first and greatest student of what today we call civil society. The result of the series of events begun that afternoon in London, wrote French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville decades later, was "absolutely without precedent...If you pore over the histories of all peoples, I doubt that you will find anything more extraordinary". The building that once stood at 2 George Yard

4131-610: The latter part of the eighteenth century accounts, of course, for no little of the growth of opposition to slavery and the slave trade; but it accounts for only a part of it. Other and dominant factors were the diminishing returns of the African slave trade itself, the bankruptcy of the West Indian sugar economy through the Haitian revolution , the interference of Napoleon and the competition of Spain. Without this pressure of economic forces, Parliament would not have yielded so easily to

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4212-590: The leader of the Methodist tendency in the Church of England , published Thoughts Upon Slavery , in which he passionately criticised the practice. In his 1776 A Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy and Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals , the clergyman Humphry Primatt wrote, "the white man (notwithstanding the barbarity of custom and prejudice), can have no right, by virtue of his colour , to enslave and tyrannise over

4293-491: The lifetime of the movement, in many ways leading the campaign. On 17 June 1783, Sir Cecil Wray (one of the Members of Parliament for Westminster ) presented the Quaker petition to parliament. Also in 1783, Beilby Porteus , Bishop of Chester , issued a call to the Church of England to cease its involvement in the slave trade and to formulate a policy to improve the conditions of Afro-Caribbean slaves . The exploration of

4374-420: The little influence they carried, many female abolitionists made a big impact on the abolition of the slave trade. An important campaigner was Anne Knight . She was born into a Quaker family in Essex and took active roles in the anti-slavery campaigns. Knight formed the Chelmsford Female Anti-Slavery Society. She also toured France, giving lectures on the immorality of slavery. The Birmingham Ladies Society for

4455-428: The monarch. In Cartwright's Case of 1569 regarding the punishment of a slave from Russia, the court ruled that English law could not recognise slavery, as it was never established officially. This ruling was overshadowed by later developments. It was upheld in 1700 by Lord Chief Justice Sir John Holt when he ruled that "As soon as a man sets foot on English ground he is free". English colonists imported slaves to

4536-418: The most powerful empire on Earth." -- Los Angeles Times : The Idea That Brought Slavery to Its Knees. Nine of the twelve founding members of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, or The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, were Quakers: Five of the Quakers had been amongst the informal group of six Quakers who had pioneered the movement in 1783, when the first petition against

4617-416: The move. Freetown was the first settlement of the colony of Sierra Leone , which was protected under a British Act of Parliament in 1807–08. British influence in West Africa grew through a series of negotiations with local chieftains to end trading in slaves. These included agreements to permit British navy ships to intercept chieftains' ships to ensure their merchants were not carrying slaves. Also from 1800

4698-411: The new industrial workers of the cities in the Midlands and north of England. Even women and children, previously un-politicised groups, became involved in the campaign especially the successful sugar boycott. At this time, women often had to hold separate meetings as there were social rules against their appearing in public meetings. They could not vote, nor could the majority of the men in Britain at

4779-533: The people on Earth lived under some form of enslavement, serfdom, debt bondage or indentured servitude. There were no slaves in Britain itself, but the vast majority of its people accepted slavery in the British West Indies as perfectly normal." The Quakers decided to form a small, committed, non-denominational group so as to gain greater Church of England and Parliamentary support. The new, non-denominational committee formed in 1787 had nine Quaker members and three Anglicans . As Quakers were not prepared to receive

4860-437: The reasons, occasions, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory. It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England; and therefore the black must be discharged. Although the legal implications of the judgement are unclear when analysed by lawyers,

4941-452: The rise of British abolitionism was, both as a political movement and as a popular sentiment, it is important to remember how few voices were raised against slavery in Britain until the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Some of the first freedom suits , court cases in Britain to challenge the legality of slavery, took place in Scotland in 1755 and 1769. The cases were Montgomery v. Sheddan (1755) and Spens v. Dalrymple (1769). Each of

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5022-440: The sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England, they were not permitted to serve as Members of Parliament , having Anglican members strengthened the committee's likelihood of influencing Parliament. The new society was named the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, later often referred to simply as the Abolition Society. The reverberations from what happened on this spot, on

5103-437: The slave trade was achieved in 1807. The abolition of slavery in all British colonies followed in 1833. Adam Hochschild posits that this anti-slavery movement is the first peaceful social movement which all modern social movements are built upon. A number of the founders had been meeting at George Yard since 1783, and over four years grew their circle of friends to include Thomas Clarkson, an unknown at that time. The society

5184-399: The slave trade was presented to Parliament. Three Anglicans were founding members: The society did not aim at ending slavery altogether, but only to abolish British involvement in the international slave trade . They would do this by awareness-raising campaigns highlighting some of the cruel practices involved in the trade. The mission of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade

5265-661: The slaves had been baptised in Scotland and challenged the legality of slavery. They set the precedent of legal procedure in British courts that would later lead to success for the plaintiffs. In these cases, deaths of the plaintiff and defendant, respectively, brought an end to the action before a court decision could be rendered. African slaves were not bought or sold in London but were brought by masters from other places. Together with people from other nations, especially non-Christian ones, Africans were considered foreigners and thus ineligible to be English subjects; England had no naturalisation procedure. The African slaves' legal status

5346-435: The supply chain to planters, factors, warehousers, carters, shippers, spinners, weavers, and exporters. The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society campaigned to outlaw slavery in other countries, and pressured the British government to do more to enforce the suppression of the slave trade, by declaring slave traders to be pirates and pursuing them as such. The Society is in operation today as Anti-Slavery International ,

5427-414: The time. In 1792, after multiple petitions had been presented, the House of Commons voted in favour of the gradual abolition of the slave trade, a decision subsequently reversed by the House of Lords, which wanted to hear its own evidence for and against the trade. The abolitionists negotiated with chieftains in West Africa to purchase land to establish ' Freetown ' – a settlement for former slaves of

5508-406: The time. Across the whole society, female subscribers comprised about 10 per cent of the membership, while in some centres, notably Manchester (with 68 women, or nearly a quarter of the total), the percentage was higher. Some of the most identifiable women were members of leading Quaker families, such as the wife of William Dillwyn, Sarah; others were members of the Clapham Sect and also members of

5589-462: The towns and cities of England. Clarkson's Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade , published in 1788, was one of the first books on the subject. Petitions were presented to the House of Commons (over 100 in 1788 ), anti-slavery rallies held, and a range of anti-slavery medallions , crockery and bronze figurines were made, notably with the support of the Unitarian potter Josiah Wedgwood whose production of pottery medallions featuring

5670-401: The trafficking in slaves by British merchants who exported manufactured goods from ports such as Bristol and Liverpool, sold or exchanged these for slaves in West Africa (where the African chieftain hierarchy was tied to slavery), and shipped the slaves to British colonies and other Caribbean countries or the American colonies . There traders sold or exchanged the slaves for rum and sugar (in

5751-432: The treatment of slaves and contains many images by William Blake and Francesco Bartolozzi depicting the cruel treatment of runaway slaves. It was an example of what became a large body of abolitionist literature. The Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament on 25 March 1807, making the slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire. It was partly enforced by the West Africa Squadron . The Act imposed

5832-646: The world's oldest international human rights organisation, with its headquarters in London. On 20 December 1841, the first multilateral treaty for the suppression of the slave trade, the Treaty for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade , was signed in London by the representatives of Austria , Britain , France , Prussia , and Russia . There was a treaty between Britain and the United States of America in 1862. The Slave Trade Department

5913-438: Was a bookstore and printing shop. The proprietor was James Phillips , publisher and printer for Britain's small community of Quakers . On that May afternoon, after the pressmen and typesetters had gone home for the day, 12 men filed through his doors. They formed themselves into a committee with what seemed to their fellow Londoners a hopelessly idealistic and impractical aim: ending first the slave trade and then slavery itself in

5994-573: Was an active abolitionist. He described slavery as a "stain on our National character." One important contribution by Newton to the abolition of slavery was his influence on William Wilberforce. Newton convinced Wilberforce that he would achieve more by remaining in Parliament than by becoming a priest in the Church of England. In 1783, an anti-slavery movement began in Britain. That year a group of Quakers founded their first abolitionist organisation. The Quakers continued to be influential throughout

6075-554: Was because abolitionists had not planned for much more than the long-awaited reform of the law, and felt that freedom along with the option of returning to Africa to live in Freetown , or the nearby state of Liberia , was infinitely preferable to continued chattel slavery. In context, the £20 million voted by Parliament to compensate slave owners under the 1833 Act can be compared with the Gross Domestic Product of

6156-420: Was established by twelve men; including individuals who later became prominent campaigners, such as Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp . As Anglicans they were able to be more influential in Parliament than the more numerous Quaker founding members - given Non-conformists were not allowed to hold positions of power. The society worked to educate the public about the abuses of the slave trade and achieved

6237-487: Was founded, which worked to abolish the institution of slavery throughout the British colonies. Abolition was passed by parliament in 1833 (except in India, where it was part of the indigenous culture ); with emancipation completed by 1838. It is a forgotten irony that Quakers and Non-conformists, who founded the Society, were denied equality until the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. 22 years after

6318-488: Was reinstated in 1751. He also encouraged his friends Granville Sharp and Hannah More to pursue the cause vigorously. Soon after his death in 1785, they joined with William Wilberforce and others in forming the Clapham Sect . The slave trade had been banned in England in 1102, by the Church Council of London , convened by Anselm . However, the council had no legislative powers, unless decreed and signed by

6399-537: Was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom". By educating the public, the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade gained many members. In 1787, Clarkson's speaking tour of the great ports and cities of England raised public interest. Publication of the African Olaudah Equiano 's autobiography heightened public awareness, as the former slave expressed an unanswerable case against slavery in

6480-411: Was to inform the public of the inhuman and immoral treatment of enslaved Africans committed in the name of slavery, to campaign in favour of a new law to abolish the slave trade and enforce this throughout the British Empire . The society's methods for pursuing its goals included writing and publishing anti-slavery books, abolitionist prints, posters and pamphlets , and organising lecture tours in

6561-436: Was unclear until Somersett's Case in 1772, when the fugitive slave James Somersett forced a decision by the courts. Somersett had escaped and his master, Charles Steuart, had him captured and imprisoned on board a ship, intending to ship him to Jamaica to be resold into slavery. While in London, Somersett had been baptised and three godparents issued a writ of habeas corpus . As a result, Lord Mansfield , Chief Justice of

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