What Role Did The Enlightenment Play In The Abolition Of The Slave Trade

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An abolition of the slave trade in Scotland in 1807 was largely influence by moral issues but political and economic factors also played an important role. The Enlightenment brought new ideas of thinking about humans as equals . Christian values caused the public to see the slave trade as immoral . Many Scots had already made a lot of money off the slave trade which may have caused them to be more open to the idea of the abolition of the slave trade . Revolutions in Haiti, America and France showed the government what could happen if they did not make changes to the slave trade . Morals were also used to prove that slavery was acceptable which shows that morals must have been important in people’s opinions of slavery at the time . All of these factors show that not only were morals and important factor in the abolition of slavery in Scotland, but so were political and economic factors. …show more content…

The Enlightenment brought about new thinking throughout the world. In particular, new ideas about humans being equal to each other was important for the abolition of the slave trade. This new thinking was an important factor of the French and American revolutions and this continued on into the slave trade abolition. This new thinking also brought about more changes to society after the slave trade abolition such a child labour laws and factory legislation . This new thinking changed people’s morals. Now people believed that everyone was equal to each other no matter what race, age or class . It was this new thinking that caused people to demand the slave trade be abolished in Scotland . The moral issue of equality (that was started during the Enlightenment) was an important factor in the abolition of the slave trade in Scotland because it changed people’s

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