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Thomas Clarkson • Cambridge University- Won a Latin Essay Competition on the Subject of Whether It Was Lawful to Make Slaves of Others Against Their Will

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Thomas Clarkson • Cambridge University- Won a Latin Essay Competition on the Subject of Whether It Was Lawful to Make Slaves of Others Against Their Will Thomas Clarkson • Cambridge University- won a Latin essay competition on the subject of whether it was lawful to make slaves of others against their will. • Ending slavery became his driving passion for the remaining 61 years of his life. • He translated his prize-winning essay into English and it was published in 1786. • The essay attracted a lot of attention and enabled him to meet other abolitionists, including Granville Sharp. • In 1787, Clarkson and Sharp 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. • He devoted his time and energy to travelling around Britain, particularly to the ports of Liverpool and Bristol, 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 1789, he travelled to Paris where he attempted unsuccessfully to persuade the new French government to abolish the slave trade. • 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. • In 1833, parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, which gave all slaves in the British empire their freedom. • Clarkson retired to Ipswich where he died on 26 September 1846. Who else played a part? 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 writes that he was born in the Eboe province, in the area that is now southern Nigeria. He 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. • In Virginia he was sold to a Royal Navy officer, Lieutenant Michael Pascal, who renamed him 'Gustavus Vassa' after the 16th-century Swedish king. Equiano travelled the oceans with Pascal for eight years, during which time he was baptised and learned to read and write. • Pascal then sold Equiano to a ship captain in London, who took him to Montserrat, where he was sold to the prominent merchant Robert King. • In Montserrat Equiano earned money by trading on the side and in three years made enough money to buy his own freedom. Equiano then spent much of the next 20 years travelling the world, including trips to Turkey and the Arctic. • In 1786 in London, he became involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was a prominent member of the 'Sons of Africa', 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..
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