The Abolition Of Slavery In The 18th Century

Due to an evangelical revival of Britain and the rise of the middle class with their meritocratic values in the 18th century, debates over slavery’s compatibility with morality, Christian and British values were established. Within this essay I am going to discuss and explore the key ways in which debates over the morality and potential abolition of slavery have been historically fundamental to the British Empire; including debates over the nature of race, the techniques of campaigning, and finally the role of women in the antislavery movement.
Nature of race
Debates over the preservation or abolition of the slave trade were fundamental in establishing discussions on the nature of race. The majority of modern scholars agree that “race” is a

constructed idea and that the term did not arise from scientific research as anthropologist Ashley Montagu notably argued in the 1940s.
Early 18th Century, those involved in the slave trade used the African’s perceived lack of faith as a way of rationalising their actions to ‘save their souls’ .However the rise of the antislavery movement toward the end of the 18th century pushed whose who were pro slave trade to develop new ways of defending it, which is where many turned to ‘physical differences’ between groups as an argument and furthermore the ‘natural inferiority’ of Africans making them suitable for slave labour. This focus on physical differences between racial groups provoked scientific research into the field of Craniometry, inspired by Samuel George Morton who claimed that you could judge intellectual capacity of a race by the cranial capacity, and stated that negroes had the smallest brains with an “average of 78 cubic inches”, this ‘evidence’ provided comfort and legitimization to the white public’s actions.
The rise of the middle class alongside strong motivation from religious groups such as the Quakers in Britain, began a surge of support for equality of opportunity and foundational equality based of meritocratic and Christian values. William Wilberforce was a key figure in the movement, motivated by his faith, he among many other evangelical saw the slave trade to be immoral and ungodly. He argued that Africans were capable of advancing and succeeding within society, and that they had human and economic potential that went beyond the slave trade. Davis saw the Quakers as representatives of radical strand of Protestantism and traditional figures in capitalism and that despite potential good intentions, the abolitionist movement benefited their own economic and moral interests.
Haskell presented that the change in sensibility occurred due to the changes in the economic base and the growth of capitalism. As the rise of the entrepreneurial class, the bourgeoisie began, their interests over the means of production caused them to favour a system that ensures the conformity of the less advantaged and increases workers discipline and productivity. Weber referred to this as bourgeoisie rationalisation, with this the reforms to the slave trade served the interests of the reformers. However Drescher argued that slavery was a largely profitable part of the British economy and therefore abolishing it contradicted the interests of the country.
Many argued that race is biologically fixed and that there were innate differences between ‘racial groups’, however others stated that all humans have the potential for advancing and becoming Christian citizens. However both sides of the argument are not tied exclusively to the advocators of the slave trade or the abolitionist stance, as many early liberal thinkers such as Voltaire subscribed to the polygenist line of thought, believing that because of their different origins ‘blacks did not entirely share the natural humanity of whites’ however he did not advocate for the continued preservation of the slave trade. Immanuel Kant published paper “On the Different Races of Man” in 1775 which presented ideas of race being a natural variant, he also however opposed slavery on rational grounds.

Role of women
Despite lacking any formal political representation women played a large role in the antislavery movement either through influencing men who were able to take direct political action such as that of Lady Margaret Middleton who was key to persuading William Wilberforce to act or finding their own ways of campaigning. Many women put forward their arguments and engaged in debates through writing literature pieces such as poems and stories. Notable examples of this include Mary Borkett Card’s “A poem on the African Slave Trade” and “Slavery, A Poem” by Hannah More.
The first action taken against slavery by women was in the 1760s was by the enslaved women themselves against their chattel status which resulted in the first legal action taken in opposition to the slave trade, it wasn’t until late 18th century that mass intensive campaigning from white women began, which coincided with Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792), a key piece of feminist literature.

Influenced by the anti-slavery debate Wollstonecraft repeatedly compared the control over women by men to that of the planters’ domination of slaves, which potentially influenced women to join the abolition movement as well as raising interest in first wave feminism. Women set up their own societies and expressed their abolitionist stance in a variety of activities including being involved massively in the organisation and carrying out of the sugar boycotts of the 1790s, the boycott was upheld by more than 300,000 people who bought sugar produced in the East Indies by free labour. Other activities the women’s groups did consisted of producing physical propaganda for example workbags and tapestries. There were also 206 female members of the Abolition society however they were not regarded as officers and weren’t invited to sign the petitions that the society

conducted.
The position that early feminism is linked to the rise of female participation in the abolitionist movement uses evidence such as many of the leaders of the Ladies’ National Association which was very active in the feminist political activism, were former anti-slavery activists. They had adapted concepts of abolishing racial oppression to the abolishing gender domination in society. In Britain’s major cities, including London, Manchester, and Edinburgh had strong effective suffragette groups the leading members of the committees were former leaders of the antislavery societies in all cases. The early 19th Century marked the period of increased female participation in the anti-slavery movement, a vast connected network of associations began, with links across international borders, the efficient groups heavily influenced national policy formation on issues relating to slavery. Women groups also played a key active role in acquiring public support by visiting homes, holding lectures and organising public speeches, in Birmingham women‘s groups visited more than 80% of homes to persuade citizens to support the cause.
Many of the women involved in the abolitionist movement were from conservative Evangelical ideological stances, and therefore they didn’t echo early feminist literature such as that of Wollstonecraft.

Hannah More saw women as holding distinctive qualities through their maternal instincts such as compassion and sympathy, this therefore, she believed, inevitably put women into positions of moral guardians. This provided a clear difference between egalitarian feminist who advocated strongly for rights and those women who were carrying out their maternal duties. Numerous Women chose to not include women’s rights while championing the abolition movement, seeing those talking of women’s rights, especially in the public realm as lacking decency and reputability. Women’s rights were seen by some as unsuitable to maintaining a stable society, and would lead to confused gender roles where women were no longer required to be home keepers and care givers to the family. Women in the Quaker faith often argued that their involvement in the antislavery movement was “consistent with needful attention to other duties” (Mary Caroline Braithwaite), therefore they maintain their commitment to their assigned gender roles. These gender roles were seen by men and a large number of women as biologically given and that the division of labour was the natural and scientific way society is formed. The belief that woman had sufficient representation by the husbands and fathers was expressed by Anne

Taylor Gilbert, who also argued that women having the vote would burden females with added political pressures and responsibilities that would create conflict due to their existing duties of domestic and philanthropic form.
Variants of forms of difference feminism can also be found in women’s activism in the abolitionist movement, with Anne Knight being a prime example. She argued that women’s qualities and attributes made them superior to men in certain ways. Knight among many other women activists demanded access to full political participation after the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention, as women had been such a key role in the abolition of slavery.