CAPE HISTORY UNIT ONE

1. Final Dismantlement of slave
systems, 1807-1886
The abolition of the trans-atlantic
trade in Africans.

2. Lest you forget-
Doris Hamilton-Willie
• Reasons for passing of Act to abolish Slave
trade
• A) hard work of Abolitionists.
• B) Establishment of Continental blaockade by
napoleon Bonaparte during napoleonic wars.(
glut of sugar on british market which meant fall
in price.
• C) Planters in older colonies supported
abolition.( fearing competition from newer
colonies)

3. Reasons for passing of abolition of
slave trade act.
• British slave traders supplied slaves to foreign
territorries and provided competition for British
West indian sugar production.
• The death of British Prime Minister , William Pitt
in 1806 cleared the way for appointment of men
who supported the abolition movement. (William
WyndhamGrenville, PM , and foreign secretary
Charles James Fox )

4. From Columbus to castro-
Eric Williams
• Abolition of slave
trade ;
• 1803 Denmark
• 1807 Britain
• 1817 France
• 1818 Holland
• 1820 Spain
• 1824 Sweden
• Abolition of slavery:
• 1833 Britain
• 1846 Sweden
• 1848 France
• 1863 Holland
• 1873 Puerto Rico
• 1880 Cuba

5. State of Jamaican plantation sector
prior to 1807
• Between 1799 and 1807-65 plantations
abandoned, 32 sold due to bankruptcy
• 1806 –price of sugar less than cost of
production.

6. Freedom Delayed: Verene Shepherd
• Opposition to the
Transatlantic Trade in
Africans by:
• Slave Activists: In Africa,
On middle passage, on
plantations. Strategies
included running away,
everyday acts of
sabotage, wars of
resistance.
• White Activists:broad-
based alliance of
religious sects,
politicians, philosophers,
intellectuals,
industrialists, workers’
organisations and
women’s groups.
Religious groups included
Baptists, methodists,
Moravians and Quakers.

7. Opposition to TTA: White Activists
cont’d
• Society for the abolition of the Slave Trade
formed in 1787 by Granville Sharpe and Thomas
Clarkson.
• Adam Smith, -Economist-( The Wealth of
Nations)
• Influential whites included: Thomas Fowell
Buxton, George Fox, John Wesley, Joseph
Sturge, Josiah Wedgewood, Joseph
Woods,James Phillips,Joseph Hooper,
George Harrison, John Barton

8. Women Activists
• Women contributed approximately 10 % of
financial support of the Society for The Abolition
of the Slave trade.
• Women included:Mary Birkett, Hannah Moore,
Mary Wollstonecraft.
• A considerable body of working and middle
class women were involved in the campaign
from its early stages.
• Stategies used by women included speaking out
against the TTA, boycotting slave grown
produce and writing anti-slavery tracts.

9. Black Activists
• Ignatius Sancho-went to
England at age 2 in 1731. (
First African to vote in Britain).
He was a popular shopkeeper.
First African prose writer to
have his work published in
England. Vocal opponent of
trafficking in Africans.Wrote
numerous letters soliciting
support against the slave
trade.
• Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus
Vassa-kidnapped in Africa at
age 11. Eventually bought his
freedom from his third master,
a Quaker. He wrote and
published his abolitionist
autobiography and best seller,
The Interesting narrative of the
Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa, The African.
He travelled extensively
around Britain giving talks
about the evils of the TTA.

10. Black Activists, Cont’d
• Ottabah Cugoano- First published African critic of the
TTA. Kidnapped in Ghana and enslaved . Migrated from
Grenada to England around 1752 and given his freedom.
Published in 1787,”Thoughts and Sentiments of the Evil
and Wicked traffic of the Slavery nd Commerce of the
human Species. “He wrote that enslaved people had
both the moral right and moral duty to resist their
masters.
• “Sons of Africa” group of Africans in London who gave
support to abolition movement.
• Testimonies of slaves- exposed by abolitionists
• Black Activists included: Robert mandeville,Thomas
Cooper, Jasper Goree and William Greene.

11. Role of Haiti
• St. Domingue Revolution of 1791 led to
emancipation and Haitian independence.
• Haitian constitution of 1805 declared that
any enslaved person who arrived in Haiti
would be declared a citizen. This
effectively abolished slavery and replaced
it with citizenship.
• Haiti became the Atlantic symbol of black
redemption and liberation.

12. Liberties Lost- Verene Shepherd
• European Abolitionist
Movements
• French Abolitionist Movement
influenced by Marie Jean
Condorcet, Antoine Lavosier,
Jacques-Pierre Brissot,
Honors Mirabeau, Etienne
Claviere, Louis-Alexandra La
Rochefoucauld and Jerome
Petion.
• 1791- French national
assembly debated and
condemmed both the
transatlantic slave trading and
colonial slave owning.
• Declared that any person who
arrived on French soil would
be free of slavery.
• French govt. distinguished
between slave trading and
slave owning.
• 1794 Convention in paris
abolished slavery.
• Slave trading continued under
law.

13. Legislating Abolition
• An act of the British Parliament
was needed to end the slave
trade.
• Petitions started to reach the
Parliament around 1776.
• In 1776 Davis Hartley
presented the first Bill against
slavery and the TTA. This was
rejected.
• In 1783 the house of
Commons next debated a bill
to abolish the TTA on “moral
grounds”. This was not
supported as it was the view of
the majority of members that
slavery was too important to
the economy of the British
empire for the TTA to end.
• 1787- Founding of a
Committee for Effecting the
Abolition of the Slave trade “-2-
phased approach taken: first
abolition of trade then abolition
of slavery.

14. Legislating abolition, cont’d
• 1781- William Wilberforce introduced bill to
abolish TTA ( defeated by 163 votes to 88).
• 1804-House of Commons passed “ Slave
Abolition Bill” – thrown out by House of Lords.
• 1805-Prime Minister, William Pitt secured Order-
In-Council indicating that as of 1806 certain
Crown Colonies, would not longer be allowed to
import Africans.( William Pitt died in 1806)
• Government of new Prime Minister, Lord
Grenville was opposed to TTA.

15. Legislating Abolition Cont’d
• 1806 –Resolution moved by Charles Fox for the
immediate and total abolition of the slave trade.
• 1807-Slave trade Abolition Bill was passed in the
House of lords by 40 votes to 20. Became law in
May 1807 and became effective 1st january
1808.
• The exception to this Act: ships which were
already cleared to trade Africans. These ships
could operate until march 1808.

16. Responses to Abolition
• English slavers sailed
under flags of other
countries that still had
slave trade , eg. France,
Spain, Portugal.
• Slave captains often
threw human cargo
overboard if they were
discovered by British
navy.
• In 1811 the British govt.
increased the penalties
for these offences in hope
of reducing these
activities.
• Haitian govt. patrolled the
high seas and freed the
slaves and granted them
Haitian citizenship, eg.
Spanish ship Dos Unidos,
in 1819.

17. French Abolitionist Movement
• Influential persons: Marie Jean Condorcet,Antoine
Lavoisier, Jacques-Pierre Brissot, Honors
Mirabeau,Etienne Clavier, Louis-alexandre La
Rochefoucauld, Jerome Petion.
• 1791-French national Assembly debated and
condemmed both TTA and colonial slave owning.
• Declared that any person who arrived on French soil
would be free of slavery.
• French distinguished between slave trading and slave
ownership.
• 1794-Convention in Paris abolished slavery but
continued slave trading.

18. Danish Abolition
• 1792-Danish govt. declared that from 1803 slave trade
would be prohibited in its colonies.
• Danish colonies, St. Croix and St. thomas stocked up on
slaves by importing large amounts.
• Danish govt’s position was that economic benefits of
slave trade had fallen to low level and was no longer
worth the moral and political criticism and outrage.
• African forts were no longer profitable.
• Danish govt. recommended the breeding of creole
slaves instead of purchasing new African slaves.
• Colonist encouraged to treat slaves well and promote
natural increase.

19. Past paper questions
• Assess the factors
that contributed to the
abolition of the trans-
Atlantic trade in
Africans to the
Caribbean. ( 2008)
• Discuss the view that
a combination of
developments and
ideas brought about
the abolition of
slavery in the British
caribbean.(2002)

20. American Abolition Movement
• 1780’s many states eg. Carolinas ,
Maryland and Virginia outlawed the
importation of enslaved persons from
Africa.
• 1778-Legislature of massachusetts
debated an anti-human trade bill.
• 1778- Virginians voted to free all illegally
imported Africans.