Movement, Settlement and Empires, 1500-1900. Where did it all start?

What can we learn from this picture? The meeting of Moctezuma and Cortes at Tenochititlan, 1519. The British Empire and the Slave Trade 1500-1900.

Objective- To be able to explain the basics of the slave trade. keywords

• - Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. • Freedom- The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. • Emancipation- freeing someone from the control of another. • Abolition- the act of putting an end to something by law.

“To one of his female slaves he had given a doze of castor oil and salts together, as much as she could take; he then got a box, about six feet by two and a half, and one and a half feet deep; he put this slave under the box, and made the men fetch as many logs as they could get; and put them on the top of it; under this she was made to stay all night.” A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper

Why was the slave trade abolished? Why was it so hard? Racist ideas?

1580s

St. Maurice, patron Saint of Soldiers. Medieval Racist ideas

• Long before Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which showed that all humans are part of the same species. • As the slave trade developed, Europeans created racist ideas which could be used to justify the trade. • Africans were thought to be sub-human, uncivilised, and inferior to Europeans in every way. And as they were ‘not one of us’, they could be bought and sold. • Scientists and philosophers like David Hume could state that Africans were ‘naturally inferior to the whites’. It was widely believed that Africans and Europeans had developed separately. • Therefore, they said the African was inferior to the white man, a separate species more closely related to apes than to whites. • Even after Darwin whites were seen to be at the top of the family tree of the human race, as the most ‘civilised’ race due to ancient achievements. Ancient achievements of other groups were deliberately ignored. The traditional view: Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce • University- essay competition. • The essay attracted a lot of attention and enabled him to meet other abolitionists, including Granville Sharp. • Ending slavery became his driving passion for the remaining 61 years of his life. • In 1787, Clarkson, Sharp and William Wilberforce were instrumental in forming the Committee for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade. • The Committee helped to persuade the member of parliament William Wilberforce to take up the abolitionist cause. Clarkson's task was to collect information for the committee to present to parliament and the public. Led to speeches in Parliament like that of William Pitt in 1792. (page 81) • Travelling around Britain, particularly to the ports of Liverpool and , gathering evidence about the slave trade from eyewitnesses, especially from sailors who had worked on slave trading ships. • Clarkson also bought examples of equipment used on slave ships, including handcuffs, shackles and branding irons, which he used as visual aids. • In 1808 Clarkson published his book 'History of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade' and, although his health was now failing, continued to campaign for the complete abolition of slavery. Other things…. • The awful conditions/punishments for slaves became more well known. • Slave resistance/ rebellion • Freed slaves such as , and Moses Roper. • Speeches in Parliament like that of William Pitt in 1792. (page 81) • Religious groups like the Quakers. • Female anti-slavery societies, ie Elizabeth Heyrick and her sugar boycott. • The Slave Trade was abolished in British Empire in 1807. • 1823- new anti-slavery society formed- more direct- ie, sugar boycotts. Crucial ? Olaudah Equiano • Olaudah Equiano was an African writer whose experiences as a slave prompted him to become involved in the British abolition movement. • In his autobiography, Olaudah Equiano describes how he was kidnapped with his sister at around the age of 11, sold by local slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia. • He describes in real term the conditions of slavery • In 1786 in , he became involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was a prominent member of the 'Sons of ', a group of 12 black men who campaigned for abolition. • In 1789 he published his autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African'. • He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely popular, helped the abolitionist cause, and made Equiano a wealthy man. It is one of the earliest books published by a black African writer. • In 1792, Equiano married an Englishwoman, Susanna Cullen, and they had two daughters. Equiano died on 31 March 1797. Top ten reasons/people that ended the slave trade. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) pages 76- 79 and 84-88. In order of importance- giving reasons.