Passage to
© The Royal Parks The Royal © Freedom Teachers Resource Pack
© Anti-Slavery International, London
1 3 Introduction Contents 4 Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1400-1700 5 Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1700-1790 6 Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1790-1838 7 Motions against the slave trade introduced by William Wilberforce 8 Timeline of the act to Abolish the Slave Trade 9 Characters 10 Curriculum Vitae: Thomas Fowell Buxton 11 Curriculum Vitae: Henry Brougham 12 Curriculum Vitae: Thomas Clarkson 13 Curriculum Vitae: Ottobah Cugoano 14 Curriculum Vitae: Olaudah Equiano 15 Curriculum Vitae: Stephen Lushington 16 Curriculum Vitae: Zachary Macaulay 17 Curriculum Vitae: Mary Prince 18 Curriculum Vitae: Ignatius Sancho 19 Curriculum Vitae: Samuel Sharpe 20 Curriculum Vitae: William Wilberforce 21 Buxton Memorial Fountain Fact File 22 Image 1 – Original Memorial Plaque 23 Image 2 – Anti-Slavery Society plaque 24 Image 3 – Enamelling 25 Image 4 – Enamelled metal roof, cross and stonework 26 Image 5 – Mosaic work 27 Image 6 – Carvings 28 Image 7 – Pillars 29 How the play works and Living History props 30 Issues raised by the play and activities 32 Arguments and counter arguments 34 Who writes history? 35 Women and the campaign to abolish the slave trade 36 Memorials © The Royal Parks The Royal © 2 Introduction Triangular Trade Abolition The law ended a trade that English merchants Until the 18th century, slavery was considered had been taking part in since 1562. an acceptable part of the economic system. 2007 was the 200th anniversary It allowed many countries to prosper from the By the 18th Century, it had become a triangular trade of goods produced by enslaved labour. sea journey. The first leg was to Africa from of the Act of Parliament that ports such as London, Liverpool or Bristol. British people began to be concerned about the Ships were loaded with copper, cloth, trinkets, slave trade and the treatment of Africans in the guns and ammunition. When they arrived in 1760s. There were petitions, marches, lobbies of abolished the slave trade to the Africa, the cargo was sold in exchange for parliament and boycotts of goods. People who slaves. campaigned against the slave trade came from British Colonies. The legislation all walks of life. They included: former enslaved The second leg became known as the Middle Africans such as Olaudah Equiano and Ignatius Passage. Slaves were taken to America and the Sancho; parliamentarians such as William was called An Act for the Abolition West Indies, where they would be sold for a Wilberforce; writers such as Thomas Clarkson; good profit. and religious groups like the Quakers and the evangelical Clapham Sect. of the Slave Trade. The ships were then loaded for the final leg of the triangle to their home port. From the British citizens were also part of the campaign. West Indies, the main cargo was sugar, rum It was a grass roots movement, similar in its day and molasses. From Virginia, it was tobacco and to the tens of thousands who worked to abolish hemp. apartheid in South Africa. The campaigners were It became law people of courage and principle who chose to British ships made more than 11,000 journeys. make their voices heard when it was sometimes It’s estimated that more than 12 million unpopular to do so. on 25th March 1807. enslaved Africans were transported and that 3 million of them died on the journey. The 1807 Act stopped the slave trade to the British colonies. But it didn’t stop slavery itself. The campaign in Britain continued until 1838 when slaves in the British colonies finally became free. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 3 Timeline of 1441 The start of European Slave trading in Africa slavery and 1502 The first African slaves arrived in the Americas the slave 1562 John Hawkins, a merchant, became the first known Englishman to 1400 capture and enslave African people and transport them across the Atlantic trade: to the Caribbean.
1400 - 1700 1632 King Charles I granted a license to a group of London merchants to transport enslaved people from West Africa
1646 The philosopher, Sir Thomas Browne, wrote against slavery
1655 England seized Jamaica from Spain. Slave uprising in Jamaica
1660 King Charles II granted a charter to English merchants trading to Africa
1672 The Royal African Company was formed by London merchants to regulate the English slave trade.
1675 35 enslaved Africans executed for conspiracy to rebel in Jamaica
1679 Slave revolt in St Domingue
1698 The Royal African Company lost its monopoly and the English slave trade was opened up to private traders.
1700 © The Royal Parks The Royal © 4 1729 Slave revolt in Cuba and war in Jamaica between the British and Timeline of runaway slaves slavery and 1735 77 slaves were burnt in a revolt in Antigua the slave 1700 1740 Free Africans release slaves on a British ship in Sierra Leone trade: 1700-1790 1753 Successful slave revolt on the ship The Adventure, off West Africa 1760-61 Slave rebellion in Jamaica and Nevis
1765 Slave uprising on 17 estates in Jamaica
1772 James Somerset, a slave who ran away from his owner, won a court case in Britain that gave him constitutional rights to his liberty
1776 The House of Commons debated the motion: “That the slave trade is contrary to the laws of God and the rights of man”.
1780 131 Africans thrown overboard from a slave ship Zong so that the owner could claim insurance
1781 Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African published
1782 First Quaker petition to parliament against the slave trade
1786 Thomas Clarkson published An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
1787 The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade formed. Thomas Clarkson published A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition. 11,000 people signed a petition against the slave trade in Manchester. Ottobah Cuguano, an ex-slave, published Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
1788 102 Abolitionist petitions handed into parliament 1790 1789 The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano published © The Royal Parks The Royal © 5 Timeline of 1791 Slave uprising in St Domingue, led by Toussaint Louverture slavery and 1792 310 petitions against the slave trade were handed to Parliament, with 400,000+ names. Thomas Clarkson encouraged 300,000 people to the slave boycott sugar and its products. MPs voted for an Anti-slave trade Bill 1790 but the House of Lords voted against trade: 1790-1838 1795-6 Slave rebellions in Grenada and St Vincent 1804 St Domingue was declared independent and was renamed Republic of Haiti
1805 MPs voted for an Anti-Slave Trade Bill but the House of Lords voted against
1806 The Foreign Slave Trade Abolition Bill became law. This banned British people importing slaves to foreign countries
1807 March 25th, An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade became law. This banned the trade of slaves to British colonies
1808 British West African Squadron established in Sierra Leone to suppress illegal slave trading by British citizens
1816 Slave rebellion in Barbados damaged the harvest before it was crushed
1817 Slave Regulation Act forced all slave owners to provide a list of all the enslaved people they owned every 2 years
1830 300,000 people in Britain boycotted sugar in protest at slavery
1831 Major slave revolt called ‘The Baptist War,’ led by Samuel Sharpe in Jamaica was brutally suppressed. The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave published.
1833 Slavery Abolition Bill passed by British Parliament.The government paid slave owners compensation and forced slaves to continue working for their owners as ‘apprentices’ for another six years
1838 500,000 people signed Thomas Clarkson’s petition to Parliament calling for an end to the Apprenticeship system. Parliament ended the system 1838 and enslaved people finally became free on August 1st © The Royal Parks The Royal © 6 Motions against the Slave Trade introduced by William Wilberforce in the House of 1792 Agreed by House of Commons but delayed by an inquiry by the Commons House of Lords 1793 Defeated by 61-3
1794 Lord’s inquiry peters out
1795 Defeated by 78-61
1796 Defeated by 74-70
1797 Defeated by 82-74
1798 Defeated by 87-83
1799 Defeated by 84-54
1804 Passed in House Commons but rejected by the House of Lords
1805 Defeated by 77-70 © The Royal Parks The Royal © 7 Timeline 1806 of the Act to 10 June House of Commons debated the resolution: That this House, conceiving the African Slave Trade to be contrary to the Principles of Justice, Abolish the Humanity and sound Policy, will with all practicable Expedition, proceed to 1806 take effectual Measures for abolishing the said Trade, in such Manner Slave Trade and at such Period as may be deemed advisable. The motion was agreed by 114-15
24 June An identical resolution was debated in the House of Lords and agreed by 41 votes to 21
1807
02 Jan Slave Trade Abolition Bill presented in House of Lords and given a 1st reading.
21, 23 Jan Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Lords from the planters of Trinidad; West Indian planters; merchants and corporation of Liverpool and the colonial agent of Jamaica
2, 6 Feb Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Lords from the merchants of London and a firm of dyers and calico printers
10 Feb House of Lords approved the Bill and sent it to the House of Commons
13, 16 Feb Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Commons from the merchants and corporation of Liverpool and London
19, 20 Feb Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Commons from the colonial agent of Trinidad, West Indian planters; the colonial agent of Jamaica; the planters of Glasgow and the proprietors of Bance Island
23 Feb Bill approved in House of Commons by 283 votes to 16
25 March Royal assent give to the Slave Trade Abolition Bill © The Royal Parks The Royal © 8 Characters Curriculum Vitae Thomas Fowell Buxton*
Henry Brougham*
Thomas Clarkson*
Ottobah Cuguano
Olaudah Equiano
Stephen Lushington*
Zachary Macaulay*
Mary Prince
Ignatius Sancho
Samuel Sharpe
William Wilberforce*
The characters in bold appear in the play
The characters marked by an * are mentioned on the Buxton Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens © The Royal Parks The Royal © 9 Thomas Date of Birth 1786 Fowell Date of Death 1845 Buxton Place of Birth Castle Hedingham, Essex
Family Son of a Quaker. Buxton had 8 children, 4 of whom died in an outbreak of whooping cough
Education Schools in Kingston upon Thames and Greenwich then Trinity College, Dublin
Work Partner in the Truman Brewery
MP for Weymouth
Led campaign against slavery in the House of Commons
Writing An Enquiry, Whether Crime and Misery are produced or prevented by our present system of Prison Discipline (1818) The African Slave Trade and its Remedy (1839) By Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1840 © National Portrait Gallery, London Membership Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (founder member)
Other interests Campaigned for starving population of Spitalfields in London Prison Reform Abolition of the death penalty
Sayings The slave sees the mother of his children stripped naked and flogged unmercifully; he sees his children sent to market, to be sold at the best price they will fetch; he sees himself not a man, but a thing – an implement of husbandry, a machine to produce sugar, a beast of burden! Speech in the House of Commons (15th May, 1823)
Best known for Campaigning in Parliament against slavery © The Royal Parks The Royal © 10 Henry Date of Birth 1778 Brougham Date of Death 1868 Place of Birth Edinburgh
Family Eldest son of an influential Cumberland family
Education Royal High School, Edinburgh then Edinburgh University
Work Lawyer
One of the founders of the Edinburgh Review magazine
Secretary to a diplomatic mission to Portugal
MP
Lord Chancellor (1830-1834)
Writing Scientific papers on light and colours Replica by James Lonsdale, 1821 Articles for the Edinburgh Review © National Portrait Gallery, London Fellow of the Royal Society
Membership Anti Slavery Society
Other interests Reform of the voting system Education for poor children The right to form trade unions Equal rights for women
Sayings “Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern but impossible to enslave.” Speech to the House of Commons (January 29, 1828)
Best known for Speaking out against injustice, including slavery © The Royal Parks The Royal © 11
Thomas Date of Birth 1760 Clarkson Date of Death 1846 Place of Birth Cambridgeshire
Family Son of a school teacher and priest
Education Wisbech Grammer School, St Paul’s School in London, Cambridge University (theology)
Work Writer and campaigner against slavery and the slave trade
Writing Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting (1785)
An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1786)
A summary View of the Slave Trade and the Probably Consequences of its Abolition (1787)
Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade (1788) By Carl Frederik von Breda, 1788 An Essay on the Slave Trade (1789) © National Portrait Gallery, London On the Comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition as Applied to the Slave Trade (1789)
The Print (1789) – the plan of the slave trader ship The Brookes loaded with slaves for the Middle Passage
Membership Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade (founder member) Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
Sayings “We cannot suppose therefore that God has made an order of beings, with such mental qualities and powers, for the sole purpose of being used as beasts, or instruments of labour” His 1785 essay
“Take courage, be not dismayed, go on, persevere to the last, ahead lies the elimination of slavery from the whole world” Speaking on 12th June 1840 to 5,000 people at the first meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in London
Best known for Collecting evidence against the slavery and the slave trade and leading the campaign outside Parliament © The Royal Parks The Royal © 12 No artistic impression of Ottobah Date of Birth after 1757 Ottobah Cuagoano is recorded Cuagoano Date of Death 1803 (approximately) (named John Stuart Place of Birth Ajumako (modern day Ghana) by his owner) Family Little known except that he was kidnapped in 1770 and sold into slavery for a “gun, a piece of cloth and some lead”
Education Self-taught then school in London
Work Slave in the West Indies
Servant in London
Writer and campaigner against the slave trade
Writing Narrative of the Enslavement of Ottobah Cugoano, a Native of Africa (1787)
Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1787)
Membership Sons of Africa, a group of black activists in London who campaigned against the slave trade
Other interests Unknown
Sayings “If there were no buyers there would be no sellers” Comment on the slave trade from his book of 1787
Best known for “When we found ourselves at last taken away, death was more preferable to life and a plan was concerted amongst us that we might burn and blow up the ship and to perish all together in the flames.” Conditions on a slave ship, from his book of 1787
Being the first African to campaign against the slave trade © The Royal Parks The Royal © 13 Olaudah Date of Birth 1745 (approximately) Equiano Date of Death 1797
(named Gustavus Vassa Place of Birth Eboe (modern day Nigeria) by his owner) Family Little known except that he was kidnapped aged about 11 with his sister and taken to the West Indies and then America
Education Self-taught
Work Slave in Barbados and Virginia
Slave of a Royal Navy Officer, then a British ship captain and a merchant
Merchant seaman, explorer, civil servant, writer and Campaigner against the slave trade
Writing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African (1789)
Membership Sons of Africa, a group of black activists in London who campaigned By Daniel Orme, published 1789 against the slave trade © National Portrait Gallery, London Other interests Extending the right to vote to all citizens
Sayings “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each has scarcely room to turn himself.” Life on a slave ship, from his book of 1789
Best known for Being the most prominent African to campaign against the slave trade © The Royal Parks The Royal © 14 Stephen Date of Birth 1782 Lushington Date of Death 1873 Place of Birth South Hill Park, Berkshire
Family Son of the chairman of the East India Company
Education Eton College and Oxford University
Work Lawyer
Judge
MP
Membership The Society for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery
The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (founder member)
By William Holman Hunt 1862 Other interests Emancipation of Catholics and full civil rights for Jews © National Portrait Gallery, London Reform of the legal system
Best known for Campaigning in Parliament against slavery and the slave trade. In 1824 he was chiefly responsible for an act banning the transfer of slaves between British colonies. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 15 Zachary Date of Birth 1768 Macaulay Date of Death 1838 Place of Birth Inverary, Scotland
Family Son of a Church of Scotland minister
Education Early education only but taught himself Greek and Latin
Work Clerk for a Glasgow merchant
Manager of a sugar plantation in Jamaica
Governor of Sierra Leone, the colony established in 1788 for freed slaves in West Africa
Secretary of the Sierra Leone Company
Editor of the Christian Observer, the magazine of the Clapham Sect
Editor of the Anti-Slavery Reporter Artist unknown © National Portrait Gallery, London Writing Negro Slavery or A view of some of the prominent features of that state of society as it exists in the United States of America and the colonies of the West Indies, especially in Jamaica (1824)
Membership Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Secretary of The African Institution, an anti-slavery organisation
The Clapham Sect, a group of evangelical Christian reformers
The Society for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery (founder member)
Fellow of the Royal Society
Best known for Compiling evidence against the slave trade and travelling on a slave ship © The Royal Parks The Royal © 16 No artistic impression of Mary Prince Date of Birth about 1788 Mary Prince is recorded Date of Death about 1833
Place of Birth Brackish Pond, Bermuda
Family Daughter of slaves. Married a former slave in 1826 but was taken by her owner to England and never saw her husband again
Education Unknown
Work Slave on a sugar plantation in Bermuda and on salt pans of Turk Island
Slave to John Wood, a plantation owner on Antigua
Servant to John Wood in London (from whom she ran away)
Servant to a member of the Anti-slavery Society
Writing The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave (1831)
Membership Unknown
Other interests Unknown
Sayings “To strip me naked – to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence” From her book of 1831
Best known for Being the first black woman in Britain to write a book about her life. John Wood, her former owner, tried to sue her for libel but lost the case. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 17 Ignatius Sancho Date of Birth about 1729 Date of Death 1780
Place of Birth A slave ship bound for the West Indies
Family When his mother died and his father committed suicide rather than live as a slave, 2 year-old Sancho was given to three sisters living in Greenwich
Education Educated by the Duke of Montagu
Work Child Slave
Butler to the Duchess of Montagu
Valet to the Duchess’s Son
Failed actor
Grocer
Writer and composer By Francesco Bartolozzi after Thomas Guisborough, Writing The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782) published 1802 © National Portrait Gallery, London Membership Unknown
Other interests Music performance and composition, literature
Sayings “In Africa, the poor wretched natives – blessed with the most fertile and luxuriant soil – are rendered so much the more miserable for what Providence meant as a blessing: – the Christians’ abominable traffic for slaves” From his book of 1782
Best known for Writing one of the earliest first-hand accounts of African slavery in English, being the first African in Britain to vote in parliamentary elections and for being painted by Sir Thomas Gainsborough © The Royal Parks The Royal © 18 Samuel Date of Birth 1801 Sharpe Date of Death 1832 Place of Birth Montego Bay, Jamaica
Family Unknown
Education Taught himself to read and followed the anti-slavery campaign by reading newspapers
Work Slave, Baptist minister and spokesman of slaves in Jamaica
Writing Unknown
Membership Leader of the Baptist meetings in Montego Bay
Other interests Unknown Artist unknown Sayings Sayings “I would rather dies upon yonder gallows than live in slavery”
Said just before his execution
Best known for Leading the 1831 Christmas Rebellion, the last big fight against slavery in Jamaica. He urged slaves across the island to refuse to work on Christmas Day unless their grievances were accepted. The rebellion lasted 8 days. Sharpe was caught and hanged at Market Square in Montego Bay. In 1975, the Jamaican government proclaimed Sharpe a national hero and renamed his execution spot Sam Sharpe Square © The Royal Parks The Royal © 19 William Date of Birth 1759 Wilberforce Date of Death 1833 Place of Birth Hull
Family Son of a wealthy merchant. Married Barbara Ann Spooner within 6 weeks of meeting her
Education Schools in Hull and Putney
Cambridge University
Work MP
Writing A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1806) Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in Behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies (1823)
Membership Clapham Sect, an evangelical Christian Group By William Say, published 1820 Committee to Abolish the Slave Trade (founder member) © National Portrait Gallery, London Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery
Society for the Suppression of Vice
Church Missionary Society (founder member)
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (founder member)
Other interests Improvement of factory conditions, Regular education for all children, Sending Christian missionaries to India
Sayings “Thank God that I have lived to witness the day in which England is willing to give £20 million for the abolishment of slavery” Speaking just before he died about the Bill to abolish slavery
Best known for Leading the parliamentary campaign to end the slave trade © The Royal Parks The Royal © 20 History Built to mark the emancipation of slaves after the 1833 Slavery Buxton Abolition Act Memorial Commemorates Anti-slavery campaigners: Thomas Fowell Buxton, William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Zachary Macaulay, Henry Brougham, Stephen Fountain Lushington and others Fact File Commissioned by Charles Buxton, son of Thomas Fowell Buxton MP
Original location Parliament Square
Present location Victoria Tower Gardens. It was moved here in 1957 to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1807 Act to abolish the slave trade
Designer Samuel Sanders Teulon
Design Style Gothic
Materials The spire is made from a timber frame and clad with enamelled sheet steel
Other materials include grey and pink granite, limestone, grey and red sandstone, rosso marble, wrought iron, mosaic and terracotta
Plaques Original plaque commemorates the emancipation of slaves and the campaigners who worked for them
Restoration A second plaque commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1989
2006-2007 by the Royal Parks, Black British Heritage and English Heritage at a cost of £90,000. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 21 Original Memorial Plaque © The Royal Parks The Royal © 22 Anti-Slavery Society Plaque © The Royal Parks The Royal © 23 Enamelling © The Royal Parks The Royal © 24 Enamelled metal roof, cross and stonework © The Royal Parks The Royal © 25 Mosaic work © The Royal Parks The Royal © 26 Carvings © The Royal Parks The Royal © 27 Pillars © The Royal Parks The Royal © 28 The audience meets a modern day researcher Living History Props How the who is investigating the slave trade. The Play Works researcher sets the scene and accompanies the At the end of the play Thomas Clarkson places group throughout the play. a number of symbolic objects on the Buxton Memorial, these are: The play lasts about 50 minutes and Together, they meet several characters who takes place in Victoria Tower Gardens. campaigned against slavery towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of 19th 1 century. The researcher will encourage debate A Quaker Hat, to symbolise the role of and invite the audience to ask questions of the Quakers in establishing the anti-slavery these characters. movement. They will explain how they got involved in the 2 campaign and they’ll refer to other important A Copy of Olaudah Equiano’s book, to figures, such as William Wilberforce, Thomas symbolise the importance of personal Buxton and Elizabeth Heyrick. testimonies from former slaves and the role of former slaves in the abolition movement. The characters lived at different times during the campaigns against the slave trade and slavery itself. Many of them never met and some 3 died before the others were born or joined the A petition roll, to symbolise how the ordinary campaign. people of Britain contributed the campaign, not just the great and the good. Petition rolls were Despite this, the audience experiences a slip in presented to parliament. time so that all the characters appear together at the end of the play. They ask the researcher 4 about how they are remembered and what Sugar artefacts, to symbolise the power of conditions are like now. customer boycotts and the activism of women.
5 A copy of Mary Prince’s book, to symbolise the role of women in the abolitionist cause and the power of personal testimony in winning people to the cause (see point 2 above)
6 A photo of the Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe, to symbolise the discontent of the enslaved and how their direct action contributed to the anti- slavery movement.
Samuel Sharpe is a Jamaican National Hero and his statue stands in Sam Sharpe Square in Kingston Jamaica, this is the site of his execution spot. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 29 Issues raised Activities 4 Compare the campaign to abolish slavery with a by the play modern campaign. What are the similarities and 1 differences? Collect some example materials What is a campaign? and activities from your chosen campaign. What do you think As a class brainstorm a definition. makes a campaign successful today? Is education important? Why? Campaigning 2 There were many elements to the anti-slavery The campaign to abolish the slave campaign. What do you think made the trade was one of the first times in campaign to abolish the slave trade successful? Use the timelines and the play to help you. history that thousands of people from Discuss in groups and present your findings to different backgrounds joined together the rest of the class. to fight for a common cause. Answers • It had a logo (shown on the left) © Anti-Slavery International, London • There were consumer boycotts • Personal testimonies • Local anti-slavery societies • Petitions and posters • Presenting the case and understanding the counter arguments.
3 Can you identify these campaigns? What are they about?
Note to teachers: Show flashcards of logos and celebrities involved. Pupils would say what campaign it is/discuss.
Answers A Amnesty International logo B Children in Need logo C Recycle logo – nationwide campaign D Fairtrade logo © The Royal Parks The Royal © 30 A C
B D © The Royal Parks The Royal © 31 Arguments and Activities 3 In 1776, The House of Commons debated the counter-arguments motion: “That the slave trade is contary to the 1 laws of God and the rights of man”. In groups debate the following statements What would the pro-slavery and anti-slavery (or other relevant topical issues). Put them on arguments have been? Write a script. When we meet Olaudah Equiano a scale of strongly agree, agree, unsure, disagree, and strongly disagree. The group must come to and Thomas Clarkson at the a consensus with each statement. 4 beginning of the play, it appears Use the table ‘Motions against the Slave Trade that Thomas Clarkson is a • 4x4 vehicles should be banned introducted by William Wilberforce in the House of Commons’. supporter of the slave trade. • Fizzy drinks should not be allowed in schools • Get pupils to find out about the House of • The Olympic logo was a waste of money It is later revealed that he is, in fact, Commons and the House of Lords. What are • Genetically modified crops are beneficial their roles? Who are the House of Lords? an abolitionist and is using the to society counter-arguments of slavery • Between 1792 and 1805, ten motions were • We should all be included on the organ disagreed by the House of Lords. Why do you supporters in order to help donor register think this was the case? Olaudah prepare for his pubic • Mobile phones should not be allowed campaign. This is known as in schools ‘playing devil’s advocate’. Note to teachers: Teacher will need to cut out statements and cards for each group, see the next page
2 In 2006, Tony Blair expressed a ‘deep sorrow’ for Britain’s role in the slave trade. Do you think the government should apologise over slavery. Debate this. Split the class into two. One group will prepare the arguments for and the other group the arguments against.
Useful Websites www.understandingslavery.com www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom www.parliament.uk © The Royal Parks The Royal © 32 To be cut out AGREE AGREE UNSURE DISAGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY © The Royal Parks The Royal © 33 Who writes Activities 4 Who do you most admire? It could be History? someone living or deceased. Collect source 1 material for that person. Why do you admire Discuss the reasons why we know much more them? In your opinion what contribution have about some historical figures than others. If you look at the plaque at the foot they made to society? Prepare a two-minute Make a list of the sources of information that presentation. of the memorial, it mentions some historians use to find out about people. of the people that worked to abolish slavery but not all. Answers Paintings Now look at the CVs of the people Drawings who campaigned against the slave Letters trade and slavery. You’ll see that Diaries some of them have much more Books detail than others. Newspaper reports Official archives and records The CVs of Mary Prince and Samuel Court reports Sharpe, for example, have several Obituaries sections where nothing is known. We don’t know what Mary or 2 Ottobah Cugoano looked like or Write an obituary for one of the abolitionists. exactly when they were born. An obituary is a notice of a death, usually in a newspaper; it includes a brief biography of the deceased person. You can find examples in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times.
3 A day in the life of ... Imagine that you are one of the people who campaign against slavery. Write a diary entry for them. It could be at any time in their life. Eg. Samuel Sharpe, the day before the Christmas rebellion. Or Mary Prince, on being sold at auction or working at the salt ponds. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 34 Women and the Activities campaign to 1 abolish the slave Find out how women contributed to the campaign to abolish the slave trade. trade and slavery Answers • Written accounts of their experiences Women played an important part • Stories and poems to promote the cause in the campaign to abolish the slave • Organised and joined anti-slavery groups trade and slavery. Yet they could • Took part in boycotts of sugar produced on not sign petitions. Women (and slave plantations many men) could also not vote in • Influenced men elections. (It wasn’t until 1918 that • Brought brooches and ornaments carrying the most women over the age of 30 had anti-slavery logo the right to vote; for the same voting • Helped to finance the anti-slavery societies rights as men, women has to wait through subscription until 1928 – not even a hundred years ago!) 2 Create a CV for Elizabeth Heyrick, a female abolitionist mentioned in the play. Use the same format as presented in the pack. Were there other British women involved? What did they do?
3 Write a newspaper article detailing the roles that women played in the campaign.
4 How did Mary Prince’s account of her life as a slave influence people? Give examples. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 35 Memorials Activities • What do you like or dislike about the The play takes place in Victoria Tower memorial? Gardens, which is the home of the • Why do you think the names of some Buxton Memorial. campaigners were not included on the memorial’s plaque? At the end of the play, the character • If you were asked to design an Anti-Slavery of Thomas Clarkson places a number memorial how would you do it? of symbolic objects on the Buxton • What would you include and what would you Memorial and creates an alternative leave out? memorial. • Which historical figures would you choose to commemorate and whom would you leave out? • Give reasons for the decisions you make. © The Royal Parks The Royal © 36