‘Everyone Knows that Laws Bring the Greatest Benefits to Mankind’: The Global and Local Origins of Anti-Slavery in Abyssinia, 1880–1942

Whyte, Christine

doi:10.1080/0144039x.2014.895137

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, Emperor Haile Selassie envisaged abolition "not as a simple withdrawal of slavery's legal status in the British Empire but as an emancipation process which would move the slaves into other forms of employment, putting them to work in a newly modernized Ethiopian military, civil service and education system" (Whyte 2014, p. 661). This, in addition to the emperor's commitment to an imperial modernizing project (Whyte 2014), meant that the obvious solution to this quandary was therefore massive economic aid and assistance for Ethiopia, as recognized by Noel-Buston (1932, p. 519); but such aid was not forthcoming.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” The Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

Gaiya¹

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The abolition of slavery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was a long process. In terms of the economic views of abolitionists, there has been an excessive focus on the economic ideas of liberal abolitionists and their approach to Civilization, Christianity and Commerce. However, there was a “developmental abolitionism” which has received little attention. Afro-American Martin R. Delany and Liberian James S. Payne were writers who approached abolitionism through this developmentalism. They favored more interventionist measures at building the material power and national autonomy of black nations to undercut the power of slave-using African chiefs, to provide indigenous Africans with employment, and to undermine the profitability of slave-based cotton production in the Americas. They also implicitly and indirectly approached labor scarcity with solutions ranging from promoting labor-saving technology to cultivating national prosperity that would improve emigration to Africa or increase birth rates.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” The Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

Gaiya¹

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, in Ethiopian law, traceable to the Fetha Nagast , “it was unacceptable to simply leave a penniless and propertyless slave to his fate” (Whyte 2014, p. 659). Therefore, Emperor Haile Selassie envisaged abolition “not as a simple withdrawal of slavery’s legal status in the British Empire but as an emancipation process which would move the slaves into other forms of employment, putting them to work in a newly modernized Ethiopian military, civil service and education system” (Whyte 2014, p. 661). This, in addition to the emperor’s commitment to an imperial modernizing project (Whyte 2014), meant that the obvious solution to this quandary was therefore massive economic aid and assistance for Ethiopia, as recognized by Lord Noel Edward Noel-Buxton (1932, p. 519); but such aid was not forthcoming.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” the Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

Gaiya¹

2023

J Hist Econ Thought

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The abolition of slavery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was a long process. In terms of the economic views of abolitionists, there has been an excessive focus on the economic ideas of liberal abolitionists and their approach to “Civilization, Christianity, and Commerce.” However, there was a “developmental abolitionism” that has received little attention. Afro-American Martin R. Delany and Liberian James S. Payne were writers who approached abolitionism through this developmentalism. They favored more interventionist measures aimed at building the material power and national autonomy of Black nations to undercut the power of slave-using African chiefs, to provide indigenous Africans with employment, and to undermine the profitability of slave-based cotton production in the Americas. They also implicitly and indirectly approached labor scarcity with solutions ranging from promoting labor-saving technology to cultivating national prosperity that would improve emigration to Africa or increase birth rates.

show abstract

“…White, ‘ “Everyone Know that Laws Bring the Greatest Benefits to Mankind” ’. See also Meirs, ‘Britain and the Suppression of Slavery in Ethiopia’.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Italo‐Abyssinian Crisis and Australian Settler Colonialism in 1935

Paisley

2017

History Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

By exploring the themes of settler colonialism and modernity in Australian commentary about Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, this paper sets out to consider Italy's war in north Africa as an international crisis with significance for Australian progressive narratives about Aboriginal conditions, status and rights important to Australia's international reputation. Thus, Australia's role as a member of the League and a mandatory power will be read in the context of international debate about Italy, modernity, race and violence. My case study draws from the experiences of Bessie Rischbieth, alternate delegate for Australia to the League of Nations in 1935, who observed the Abyssinian protest being made before the Assembly. Rischbieth was seemingly persuaded by Italy's claims to the right to land and territory in the context of immigration restrictions into the United States (and we might add, in relation to Australia) and was provided evidence of slavery in Abyssinia mobilised by Italy and earlier by the Anti‐Slavery Society in London in defence of the civilising influence of Europe upon a fellow (non‐European) member of the League. However, Rischbieth was also an activist within liberal humanitarian networks critical of Aboriginal policy in Australia in this same era. Her responses to the crisis in African and League affairs offer some insight into the proximities between settler colonialism in Australia and the ‘race’ issues raised by the annexation of Abyssinia by Italy, and its implications for collective security and global governance.

show abstract

‘Everyone Knows that Laws Bring the Greatest Benefits to Mankind’: The Global and Local Origins of Anti-Slavery in Abyssinia, 1880–1942

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” The Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” The Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

“How Can I Liberate the Slaves?” the Neglected Tradition of Developmental Abolitionism

The Italo‐Abyssinian Crisis and Australian Settler Colonialism in 1935

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About