Methods of the Abolitionists (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

Abolitionists were limited by the technology of the time, which meant the methods of mass communication were limited to books, pamphlets, newspaper articles and public events. Public speeches became an important persuasive method of the abolitionists. They could gather audiences of around a few thousand; the hope was that the audience would then spread the message further. Other methods were used by the abolitionists, such as petitions, legal action, lobbying MPs and sugar boycotts.

These methods were designed to:

• Increase public awareness of the horrors of the trade

• Pressure Parliament into taking action

• Economically damage the slave trade

Public meetings, lectures and tours

• In the 18th Century, public meetings were the best way to gain publicity

• A network of local abolition groups was established across Britain

  • These groups would organise public meetings to try to persuade more people to support their campaign

• Thomas Clarkson conducted speaking tours from 1787 to 1794

  • His tours covered over 35,000 miles, mainly focusing on ports with connections to the trade in enslaved people

  • He interviewed over 20,000 sailors, gathering information about their experiences of the Middle Passage

• Clarkson brought physical evidence with him to the public meetings

  • He showed people examples of the chains, manacles and whips used during the Middle Passage

• Clarkson also showed a diagram of the Liverpool slave ship, the Brookes, showing the cramped conditions in which 450 enslaved people were stowed below decks

  • This image was reproduced and shown throughout the country

• Clarkson’s work was vital in changing the views of the British public towards the trade

  • Most British people were unaware of the conditions of the Middle Passage and the treatment of enslaved people before Clarkson began his tours

• John Newton, a former slave ship captain who had become an abolitionist, spoke at many public meetings, giving firsthand testimony of the slave trade

Evidence from formerly enslaved African people

• Members of the Sons of Africa gave crucial evidence to support the abolitionist arguments

  • Their personal accounts provided evidence of the horrors of slavery

  • They spoke at abolitionist meetings, lobbied politicians and started a letter-writing campaign

• In 1787, Ottobah Cugoano published a book called 'Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery'

• Olaudah Equiano published his autobiography. 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano' in 1789

  • The book became a bestseller and changed many people’s views of the trade in enslaved people

• The evidence of both Equiano and Cuguano helped to challenge widely held racist stereotypes about enslaved African people

• Although not a member of the Sons of Africa, Ignatius Sancho was another important abolitionist who had experienced the horrors of enslavement firsthand

  • Sancho’s book ‘The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African’, was published in 1782

  • Sancho also wrote letters to the editors of newspapers calling for the abolition of the trade

Evidence from former enslavers

• John Newton was the most notable abolitionist who had experience of participating in the slave trade as an enslaver

  • He had formerly been a slave ship captain, but after ‘an intense religious conversion’ became a clergyman and an abolitionist

• In 1780, he was appointed Rector of the Lord Mayor’s Church in London

• Many people came to listen to his famous sermons against slavery

  • In 1788, 34 years after he had retired from the slave trade, Newton published a pamphlet called ‘Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade’

  • He described the horrific conditions of the slave ships during the Middle Passage, and apologised for his involvement in it

    • A copy of the pamphlet was sent to every Member of Parliament (MP)

• Newton also regularly spoke at public abolitionist meetings, providing firsthand evidence from his own experiences as an enslaver

• Alexander Falconbridge was a former ship’s surgeon who became an abolitionist

  • Falconbridge acted as Thomas Clarkson’s bodyguard on his speaking tours after Clarkson was threatened on a visit to Liverpool

• The evidence provided by former enslavers was important in confirming the evidence of other abolitionists

Petitions and campaigns within Parliament

• William Wilberforce became the voice of the abolition movement within Parliament

  • Wilberforce introduced his first abolition Bill to Parliament in 1789

    • This was defeated; however, he continued to introduce abolition Bills every year until 1807

• In 1796, Wilberforce’s Bill passed Parliament with 230 votes in favour to 85 against

  • However, it only passed with an amendment which stated the trade in enslaved people would be abolished ‘gradually’

    • This did not commit the Government to taking action

    • British involvement in the trade continued

• Wilberforce regularly held meetings with other MPs to try to gain their support for abolition

• Wilberforce was an effective speaker and made use of much of Thomas Clarkson’s evidence in his speeches to Parliament

  • However, Wilberforce faced powerful opponents

    • Many MPs had financial links to the trade and so were reluctant to support abolition

• Other abolitionists aimed to help the cause in Parliament through lobbying and petitions 

• Throughout the 1770s, the Quakers regularly lobbied MPs to try to gain their support for abolition

• In 1788, Olaudah Equiano led a delegation from the Sons of Africa to the House of Commons to support a proposed law to improve conditions on slave ships

  • Equiano also spoke to several MPs and the prime minister in an attempt to gain their support for abolition

Sugar boycotts

• Boycotting sugar grown by enslaved labour was one of the most effective methods of the abolitionists

  • The boycotts damaged the profits of enslavers and slave merchants

  • This meant investors began putting their money elsewhere

• By 1792, an estimated 400,000 people were taking part in the sugar boycott

  • Indian sugar produced by paid workers was falling in price

  • This gave people an alternative to sugar grown by enslaved labour

    • Indian sugar companies advertised their sugar as ‘not grown by slaves’, trying to appeal to those who supported abolition

• Women played a crucial role in the sugar boycott, as buying and preparing food was seen as a woman’s role in this time period

  • Women and working-class men had no political rights in Britain at the time

  • The boycott was an effective way of showing their support for abolition

• Women persuaded grocers to stop selling sugar produced by enslaved people

  • Some also extended their campaigns to other products produced by enslaved labour, like rum

  • Some textile workers also began to refuse to use cotton produced by enslaved labour

• Grocers in some parts of the country reported that sales of sugar decreased by over a third within a few months of the boycott

Other types of publicity

• Abolitionist campaigners used every type of media that was available to them

  • This included writing and staging abolitionist plays, paintings depicting the horrors of the slave trade and pro-abolitionist cartoons

• The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade raised money that was then used to produce books, pamphlets and articles to spread a pro-abolition message

  • In 1787, they produced more than 80,000 pamphlets and books

• In 1787, the potter Josiah Wedgwood released a cameo in black and white for abolitionists to wear

  • The inscription ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother?’ became the catchphrase of British abolitionists

  • The design appeared on china and jewellery, popular with middle-class women who supported abolition

• William Cowper wrote a poem to publicise the cause, called 'The Negro's Complaint'

  • This poem spread all over Britain and was sometimes put to music and sung as a ballad

• In 1788, Hannah More published the poem ‘Slavery: A Poem’

  • This was widely read and had a significant impact on the campaign