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The Acoustics of Abolition Recovering the Evangelical Anti–Slave Trade Discourse Through Late-Eighteenth-Century Sermons, Hymns, and Prayers

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The Acoustics of Abolition Recovering the Evangelical Anti–Slave Trade Discourse Through Late-Eighteenth-Century Sermons, Hymns, and Prayers The Acoustics of Abolition Recovering the Evangelical Anti–Slave Trade Discourse Through Late-Eighteenth-Century Sermons, Hymns, and Prayers Daniel Gilman Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in History Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Daniel Gilman, Ottawa, Canada, 2013 ii Abstract This thesis explores the late-eighteenth-century movement to end Britain’s transatlantic slave trade through recovering one of the major discourses in favour of abolition, namely that of the evangelical Anglicans. This important intellectual milieu has often been ignored in academia and is discovered through examining the sermons, hymns, and prayers of three influential leaders in this movement: Member of Parliament William Wilberforce, pastor and hymn writer John Newton, and pastor and professor Charles Simeon. Their oral texts reveal that at the heart of their discourse lies the doctrine of Atonement. On this foundation these abolitionists primarily built a vocabulary not of human rights, but of public duty. This duty was both to care for the destitute as individuals and to protect their nation as a whole because they believed that God was the defender of the enslaved and that he would bring providential judgement on those nations that ignored their plight. For the British evangelicals, abolishing the slave trade was not merely a means to avoid impending judgement, but also part of a broader project to prepare the way for Jesus’s imminent return through advancing the work of reconciliation between humankind and God as they believed themselves to be confronting evil in all of its forms. By reconfiguring the evangelical abolitionist arguments within their religious framework and social contexts, this thesis helps overcome the dissonance that separates our world from theirs and makes accessible the eighteenth-century abolitionist discourse of a campaign that continues to resonate with human rights activists and scholars of social change in the twenty-first century. iii Acknowledgements “It’s a dangerous business . going out of your door,” Bilbo wisely cautions Frodo in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. “You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”* The elderly hobbit was quite right. When I began this thesis, I had little idea of the adventure it would be or that it would require my travelling across the Atlantic to work through five archives in Oxford, Cambridge, and London. In the process I, like the unsuspecting hobbit, incurred a debt of gratitude to many without whose assistance my thesis would never have been completed. This unexpected journey began at the prompting of Dr. Richard Connors. His inspiring lectures and conversations about history sparked in me an interest for further historical investigation that could not be satiated by an undergraduate degree. Both as a professor and as a thesis supervisor he has always gone above and beyond the call of duty. Guiding me along the application process, meeting with me regularly to discuss my work, critiquing and editing several drafts of this thesis, and working with me in the archives in London, England, he sacrificed an incredible amount of time, energy, and thought toward helping me thrive. His input, corrections, encouragement, and inspiration were integral to this thesis, and I am profoundly grateful. This thesis was enriched by the support of the professors and administration of the Faculty of History at the University of Ottawa. I would like thank my examining committee, Dr. Damien-Claude Bélanger and Dr. Lotfi Ben Rejeb for their insightful critiques as well as Dr. Michel Bock for serving as chair. I would also like to gratefully * J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings, 2nd ed. (London: Unwin Hyman, 1966), 83. iv acknowledge Suzanne Dalyrymple’s patience and dedication, which made the administrative tasks for every part of this degree a pleasant experience for me. Beyond the University of Ottawa, I also had the privilege of receiving input on my work from Dr. John Coffey, professor at the University of Leicester, to whom I am grateful for taking the time to meet with me and discuss my research. I would also like to thank Dr. Miles Taylor, Director of the Institute for Historical Research, for taking time to discuss my work with me and for making it possible to attend the Neale Colloquium 2012, “Emancipation, slave-ownership and the remaking of the British imperial world,” where I had the opportunity to speak with experts in abolition from around the world. I would like to specifically thank Marylynn Rouse of the John Newton Project (www.johnnewton.org) for helping me find my bearings in the scholarship of John Newton and directing me toward the repositories of his personal papers as well as providing digital copies of his work. Dr. John Piper is the one who first highlighted for me the connection between William Wilberforce, John Newton, and Charles Simeon, the three individuals who form the nexus of my thesis, and I am sincerely grateful. All my research would be for naught were I unable to synthesize and communicate it, and thus I am grateful to Rachel Starr Thomson for editing this thesis. Her skill both for improving the technical aspects of my work and for helping make my thesis more engaging is deeply appreciated. She is an incredible person to work with and a precious friend. I also received input from Ashley Chapman and am grateful for her thorough reading of this manuscript and helpful corrections. I would also like to thank the students from the University of Ottawa’s mini- enrichment course, “Slavery, Freedom, and Human Rights,” for allowing me the v privilege of sharing my thesis with them in its nascent form. Thank you Amber, Amy C., Amy Z., Annabel, Cait, Emerald, Emma, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Kathleen, Kimberly, Liam, Lirca, Mackenzie, Maddy, Marcus, Martine, Quinn, Rachel, Sonia, Tai, and Valeriya. I would like to extend a warm thank-you to Lady Elizabeth Berridge, Baroness of the Vale of Catmose, for her private tour of the Palace of Westminster. Although it is not footnoted in this thesis, seeing the hall that served as the House of Commons where the abolition of the slave trade was debated added an element to my research that can neither be quantified nor cited. Baroness Berridge is an example of a public servant dedicated to caring for the marginalized and is a true inspiration to me. I am also grateful to the librarians and archivists at the Bodleian Library, British Library, King’s College Library, Lambeth Palace Library, and Ridley Hall Library. Working through the private papers, correspondence, and manuscripts of these abolitionist giants was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I would especially like to thank Elaine Thornton at Ridley Hall Library for opening up the library and providing access to the archive when it would have otherwise been impossible. My cross-continental research as well as this thesis as a whole was made possible by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Master’s Scholarship as well as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the University of Ottawa’s Excellence Scholarship. The full extent of my research in England was made feasible by the gracious accommodations provided by Phil, Heather, Ben, and Sam Fellows, Ian and Jane Macaulay, Patricia Babington-Smith, Jonathan McNally and Scott Newberry. I would like to thank each one of them for their gracious hospitality and friendship. vi My community and friendships have been an integral part of my completing this thesis. To the men of Lowertown, Andrew Reid, Cory Anderson, Daniel Avitan, Evgeni Petrenko, Jared Gordon, Joshua Buck, Matthew Solheim, Lindsay Tsang, Mark Sutherland, Peter Mahaffey, and Tyler Roggie thank you for your friendship and support. Serving and living with you has been and is a wonderful blessing. Andy Falleur, Barry Whatley, Diane Scharf, Jon Ruby, Nathan Piche, and Tariq Waris thank you for mentoring me. Thank you also to my siblings, Sarah, Naomi, Joshua, Devorah, Hannah, Jonathan, Tikvah, Abigail, and Natan, for your lifelong support and precious friendship. Thank you to my first teachers: Mother, thank you for teaching me not only to read and to write but also to care about the marginalized and exploited. Dad, thank you for teaching me to think critically and to synthesize information as well as for being an example to me of integrity and faith. Thank you both for teaching me to love God with all that I am. He has not only been my greatest inspiration, but is also my life and sustenance. Writing a thesis about a subject that touches on the suffering of not just thousands but millions of others is disturbing in many ways. My comfortable, voluntary trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the archives was a stark contrast to the journey the enslaved Africans were forced upon across the very same ocean. This paper is written in their memory and dedicated to those in our present day whom the law neither recognizes as persons nor protects as humans. April 2013 Ottawa, Ontario vii Table of Contents Title Page………………………………………………………………………………......i Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………...vii Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………..……..viii Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter One:
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