Cardinal Lavigerie's “Anti-Slavery Crusade,”
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Turning Points in Transnational Anti-Slavery Activism: Cardinal Lavigerie’s “Anti-Slavery Crusade,” the British and Foreign Anti- Slavery Society, and the “Anti-Slavery Revival” of the Late Nineteenth Century, 1888-1890 A thesis submitted by Samantha Travis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Tufts University May 2017 Adviser: Dr. Elizabeth Foster Travis ii Abstract This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the British and Foreign Anti- Slavery Society’s relationship with Cardinal Lavigerie, a French Catholic clergyman and prominent anti-slavery activist, and his transnational anti-slavery campaign between 1888 and 1890. Given the intensity of the imperial rivalry between Britain and France at this particular point in the nineteenth century, the fact that a British organization would openly and enthusiastically engage with Lavigerie seemed to be—and remains—something of a historical curiosity. While a number of historians have already discussed the overall significance of the relationship between the Anti-Slavery Society and the Cardinal’s campaign in bringing about the “anti-slavery revival” of the late nineteenth century, this study focuses on particular moments or points of contact between the two in an attempt to provide a more nuanced and clarified view into the ways in which Lavigerie’s campaign was presented, received, and adopted by the British. Travis iii Acknowledgements This thesis owes much to the unwavering support and encouragement of a number of people. I would first like to my adviser, Professor Elizabeth Foster, for her steady guidance and insightful feedback throughout the course of this project. She has been an exceptional mentor over the last two years, and I am extremely grateful for all of the advice—both personal and professional—that she has offered to me throughout my time at Tufts. I would also like to thank Professor Hugh Roberts and Professor Heather Curtis for serving on my thesis committee and for providing helpful comments and challenging critiques during my thesis defense. Additionally, I would like to thank my fellow graduate students in the History Department at Tufts University for their camaraderie and friendly support, especially Katie Anderson, Marena Cole, Malcolm Gent, Kristin Glomstad, Isabel Loyola, Nick Scott, Neelum Sohail, and Damir Vucicevic. I am also grateful to Professor David Proctor for his regular check-ins and interest in my project. My friends and family in Florida also deserve a great deal of acknowledgement. I would like to thank Professor Adrian O’Connor and Professor Larissa Kopytoff at the University of South Florida for their whole- hearted encouragement of my studies. And, of course, I would like to thank my parents, Dave and Cindy Travis, and my brothers, Kyle and Austin, for their unfailing love and support. Thank you. Travis iv Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I: The Meeting in London, 1888 .................................................................................. 18 Section I: Background and Mutual Benefits ...................................................................................... 21 Section II: The Composition of the Meeting ....................................................................................... 24 Section III: Cardinal Lavigerie’s Appeal as a “New Witness” ......................................................... 26 Section IV: Cardinal Lavigerie’s Proposals to End the Slave Trade ............................................... 35 Section V: The Cardinal’s Reception and the Underlying Tensions ................................................ 37 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 42 Chapter II: The Brussels Conference, 1889-1890 ..................................................................... 44 Section I: The Debate in the House of Commons ............................................................................... 48 Section II: Cardinal Lavigerie and the Anti-Slavery Society Prepare for the Brussels Conference .............................................................................................................................. 64 Section III: The Brussels Conference .................................................................................................. 68 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 76 Chapter III: Cardinal Lavigerie’s Anti-Slavery Congress, 1890 ............................................ 79 Section I: Cardinal Lavigerie’s Transnational Anti-Slavery Network ............................................ 81 Section II: The Conference at Lucerne ............................................................................................... 87 Section III: The Paris Congress of 1890 .............................................................................................. 98 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 108 Conclusion: Cardinal Lavigerie and the Anti-Slavery Society’s Relationship After 1890 ................................................................................................................................... 111 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 116 Travis 1 Introduction In its description of the meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society held on July 31, 1888, the Times noted how “[t]here was a strange conjunction of circumstances” at this particular gathering of anti-slavery activists due to the imposing presence of one man: Cardinal Charles Marital Allemand Lavigerie. Cardinal Lavigerie had traveled to Prince’s Hall in London in the hopes of bringing to light the continued existence of the slave trade in Africa, but the author seemed particularly baffled that Lavigerie, a French Roman Catholic “Prince of the Church,” would travel to London to address members of the British Anti-Slavery Society, a “body composed in the main of Nonconformists and members of the Society of Friends.”1As he pointed out, one might have assumed that such a meeting would be “the last assembly with which…an Archbishop of Algiers and Carthage would care to fraternize.” Yet, to the author’s amazement, “their unity now seem[ed] natural.” To him, the differences—national, religious, and linguistic—that distinguished Lavigerie from his British and largely Protestant audience did not impede the French cardinal in his goal of effectively rallying the Society’s support for his newly launched “anti-slavery crusade.”2 The article repeatedly commented upon how significant this event was for 1 The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society underwent numerous name changes throughout its 2 While in this instance the Times article did not outright refer to Lavigerie’s efforts as a “crusade,” the author presented Lavigerie as a “crusader,” thereby echoing language that will be seen and referred to throughout the course of this thesis. It was a rather common way to characterize the Cardinal’s campaign, as both he and those he associated with often referred to it as such. For examples of primary sources which refer to Cardinal Lavigerie’s anti-slavery campaign as a “crusade,“ see Cardinal Lavigerie, Slavery in Africa: A Speech Made at the Meeting Held in London July 31, 1888 (Boston: Cashman, Keating, 1888), 5. Also, “Cardinal Lavigerie’s Crusade against Slavery” in The Anti-Slavery Reporter 8, no. 4 (July 1888): 85–90. Travis 2 British/French and Protestant/Catholic relations, as the meeting seemed to “cast down barriers…and rendered possible and natural [a] truly catholic meeting.” Given the broader historical context in which this event took place, the Anti- Slavery Society’s reception of Cardinal Lavigerie was indeed “remarkable,” and its significance extended beyond the event itself as it revealed the potential for transnational cooperation during a period of “aggressive nationalism” and intense imperial competition.3 The “strange” scene at Prince’s Hall described above took place within the context of the “scramble for Africa,” a period characterized by an explosion of European interest in imperial expansion on the African continent during the late nineteenth century.4 The Berlin Conference of 1884-85, which effectively brought the European Powers together to “carve up” the African continent, had taken place only three years before the Anti-Slavery Society invited Cardinal Lavigerie to London, and the famous Fashoda incident of 1898, which almost saw British and French forces “go to war for empire” in the middle of Africa, loomed on the horizon.5 By the time of Lavigerie’s visit to London, the governments of the various European Powers—especially Britain and France—were entering into a 3 The Times. August 1, 1888. The Times Digital Archive. Also, William Mulligan, “Chapter 8: The Anti-slave Trade Campaign in Europe, 1888-1890,” in A Global History of Anti-Slavery Politics in the Nineteenth Century, eds. William Mulligan and Maurice Bric (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013), 150, 160. Also, François Renault, Cardinal Lavigerie: Churchman, Prophet,