Civi GB 1/

U n s p o k e n A c t o rs o f A b o lit io n

Source: Abolition ! The Struggle to Abolish Slavery in the British Colonies, Richard S. Reddie.

! C HAPTER 5: A FRICAN R ESISTANCE ! Africans resisted enslavement in many ways: fought agst their capture, but If captured, they fought to free themselves. Also attacked those carrying out enslavement (called proactive resistance). ! Ex: African sacking of the French slaver Phoenix in 1730: burnt the ship.

! C HAPTER 6: A C HANGE IS G OING TO C OME : ! There is a tendency to associate the abolition of the TST almost exclusively with polite debates in P or rousing speeches from pulpits in churches = efforts of enslaved Africans seldom factored into the equation of the abolition mvt. ! Unlike their Quaker or evangelical counterparts, Africans had no access to the ballot box or the debating Chamber to discuss slavery. Their main means to end slavery invariably involved violence. ! Misconception that Africans waited for European abolitionists to free them --> both parties clearly contributed to the destabilization and cessation of chattel slavery. ! The enslavement of A was not a primary concern for many of Europe’s philosophers and thinkers who were busy discussing religious reformation, enlightenment, the earth’s place within the solar system or any other ideas or beliefs gripping Europe. They were disengaged. ! Initially, the TST was out of sight and so out of mind. ! The q° of historians is: who attempted at first to undermine slavery? Some argue that the Religious Society of Friends (known as Quaker or Friends) must take the credit for this. ! Quakers:

Have always empathized with the dispossessed and marginalized because they themselves experienced fierce persecutions for their beliefs in the early years of their existence in the 1650s. • They refused to take oaths of allegiance and were often imprisoned. • George Fox: generally considered the founder of Q movement. • Quaker: an extremely egalitarian orga that recognized and affirmed the roles of women in the 17th c. • Q did not believe in the divine right of kings, they advocated that everyone “was equal in the sight of God” and capable of receiving the light of God’s spirit and wisdom, which obviously included Africans. ! The Q were not the first, and not the last, to realize that the Bible appeared to condone as well as condemn slavery --> this created great confusion among those who looked to the good book for authoritative position on moral issues. ! The Old Testament: books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, seem to condemn the enslavement of the Hebrew people but suggest that it was acceptable for them to enslave others. ! Popes themselves condemned or condoned slavery. •

! Prior to the TST there was no historical precedent for millions of chained men, women and children. The closest comparison in the Bible is the Genesis account of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. ! Some condemned slavery, and condoned the TST, because chattel enslavement so dehumanized A that they became merely a commodity, like spices or silk. • The noted English thinker John Locke perfectly epitomizes that : he published works condemning slavery, yet he was one of the major investors of the RAC (Royal African Company). ! The Quakers were the 1st to argue that that Africans were made in the image of God ==> they questioned how, if an African could become a Christian, a fellow Christian who is made in the same image, could exploit or brutalize that individual: religious and moral approach.

! Economic approach: other anti-slavery proponents opted for econo approach which set aside issues of morality. For them slave-based labor was unprofitable when compared to free labor. • Scottish thinker John Millar one of the 1st to put forward such arguments in The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks. • Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations: for him, the work done by free men comes cheaper in the end than the work performed by slaves --> slave labor = wasteful and inefficient. o Slaves had to be bought in the 1st place, then fed and housed and clothed. Their family became the responsibility of the owner. Slaves do not give a 100 per cent’s worth of effort because of very few personal incentives to do good work. ! Pro-slavery people: encouraging ideas of African inferiority, intellectually and morally: • During the late 18th c., intellectuals as Johann Friedrich Blumenbach carried out ‘scientific’ investigations and separated the human species into 5 races: Caucasian/Georgian race (= whites), Mongolian or yellow race, Malayan or brown race, the Negro or black race, the American or red race. • •

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In his opinion, Africans were the lowest of all races. Edward Long (British guy) also concluded that Africans were not only ugly, but had more in common with apes than with men. He added character stereotypes which would help shape the way Africans were treated, and would characterize western attitudes of Africans up until 20th c. (crafty, uncouth, superstitious, lazy, insolent, violent.) Long before that, explorers had argued that the existence of indigenous slavery in Africa and the lack of Christianity was the result of moral or spiritual failing on the part of its people.

! The English, unlike the Portuguese, were not very interested in religious education of slaves. ! By the mid-18th c., many planters were used to brining their enslaved Africans with them on British sojourns. It has been estimated that up to 15 000 Africans lived in the country, as slaves, runaways of free men.

! The status of runaway slaves had to be determined: many slaves, seeing that others servants in Br were paid, absconded and took their chances. Unsure of whether they still had legal rights to their runaway slaves in Br, West Indian planters called on the gov to provide legal guidance. ! Africans believed that if they converted to Christianity, they would be free. ! Meanwhile (while law took its time to decide status of Africans), Quakers began to take a closer look at the ST horrors. ! Quakers are often regarded as peripheral figures in the abolition mvt. • Annual meetings in Philadelphia and London to debate the subject, at the center of which was Anthony Benezet (Some Historical Account of Guinea, 1772). • But not all Quakers were anti-slavery. Renowned figures such as the Barclay Brothers, whose links with slavery resulted in the establishment of Barclays bank. ! Other religious groupings joined the Q’s denunciations of slavery: the evangelicals = Methodists: George Whitefield, and John Wesley (Thoughts Upon Slavery, 1774). ! The Jonathan Strong case: slave who had been taken by his master (Lisle) to Britain in the 1760s: he brutalized the young man for unknown reasons, and left him for dead in the streets of London: but he was rescued by Granville Sharp, who took him to his doctor brother. When he was back on his feet, Sharp provided him with financial support. Two years later, Strong encountered his former master, who wanted to enslave him again, and sell him. Strong asked Sharp to help him again, which he did by appealing to the Lord Mayor of London to free him. He agreed, but Strong died soon after. ! The Strong Case helped Sharp discover his vocation. He is now recognized at the ‘godfather’ of the abolition mvt in Br. He was fighting the case long before WW & Clarkson were old enough to speak. ! The Somerset Case: a runaway living in London who arrived at Sharp’s door in 1772. He had absconded from his master in 1771, and was pursued by him and caught him, to transport him back to Jamaica. Lord Chief Justice Mansfield presided over the case. He said that Somerset could not be apprehended and transported back overseas. ! Misinterpretation of the ruling: it said that under English law—applying only in England—no runaway slave could be forced back into overseas slavery.