The London Committee and mobilization of public opinion against the slave trade

Abstract

During the late eighteenth century organized anti-slavery, in the shape of the campaign to end the African slave trade (1787–1807), became an unavoidable feature of political life in Britain. Drawing on previously unpublished material in the Josiah Wedgwood Papers, the following article seeks to reassess this campaign and, in particular, the part played in it by the (London) Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. So far from being a low-level lobby, as historians like Seymour Drescher have suggested, it is argued here that the Committee's activities, both in terms of opinion-building and arranging for petitions to be sent to the house of commons, were central to the success of the early abolitionist movement. Thus while the provinces and public opinion at the grass roots level were undoubtedly important, not least in the industrial north, it was the metropolis and the London Committee which gave political shape and significance to popular abolitionism.

Sömürülen Liberya’da Çekişmeler

“…Western countries have come under immense attack for the exploitation of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade era, particularly, the immoral procedures adopted by King Leopold of Belgium (Rossiter 1993, Eltiset al, 2000, Genovese E. D., 1974Oldfield, 1992 The transformation of European economies from labour to capital-intensive system, during and after the industrial revolution, refined the modus operandi of the slave trade. Plantations started emerging in different African and Asian countries to produce industrial raw materials.…”

“…It would have been anomalous for a racially polarised society of the nineteenth century, to accord Liberia diplomatic recognition, or issue the accreditation of ambassadors. 46 This partly explained why the US artfully distanced itself from the Liberian enterprise. The refusal of the United States to act as a regulatory authority empowered the manumitted slaves to deprive indigenous Liberians their civil liberties.…”

“…Through negotiations with local chiefs, 2,386 Sierra Leoneans in captivity in Liberia returned home in exchange for 6,721 Liberians captives in Sierra Leone. 19 The Fernando-Po Labour Imbroglio Western countries have come under immense attack for the exploitation of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade era, particularly, the immoral procedures adopted by King Leopold of Belgium (Rossiter 1993, Eltiset al, 2000, Genovese E. D., 1974Oldfield, 1992). 20 The negative opinions motivated the United States to show some interest in an unsavoury development.…”