Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

History 1 > Abolition of the Slave Trade > Flashcards

Abolition of the Slave Trade Flashcards

1
Q

Which factors explain the abolition of the slave trade? (4)

A
  • humanitarian campaigns and religion
  • economic/financial factors
  • work of individuals
  • changing political climate
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Give a brief description of the slave trade (what it was like etc)

A
  • capturers would entice people into ships with luxuries such as cloth
  • young children left unattended were kidnapped and shipped against their will
  • upon auction, africans were watched, shaved, oiled to make them attractive to buyers
  • british slave ship owners made 20-50% profit profit on some voyages
  • “the middle passage” - when Africans were transported across the ocean chained in rows with less than 1m
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What had raised issues related to human rights in the 18th century?

A

the enlightenment - rejection of the status quo put the issue of the slave trade into light

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Give an example of the emergence of humanitarian campaigns in british society?

A

first Foundling Hospital set up in 1739

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Who were the Quakers?

A

religious group that believed God could be found inside everyone and that all were equal in front of God - this opposed to the slave trade since 1657

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

When did the Quakers present a petition against the slave trade and how many signatures did this receive?

A

1783 petition presented with 273 signatures

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What did Quaker committees do to campaign against the slave trade?

A
  • in 1784, 10,000 copies of their pro-abolition pamphlet were distributed to MPs, the royals and the public
  • articles sent to dozens of newspapers highlighting the evils of slavery
  • visited elite schools e.g. eton to convey their message
  • provided a platform for others with similar views, well organised and provided effective challenge to slavery
  • received support of former slaves, 8 Africans presented them with an address of thanks
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What happened to the quaker’s petition of 1783 calling for an end to the slave trade?

A

the petition was ignored by all of Parliament, the group was largely ignored as their ideologies went against the social norms of the time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Who were the Evangelical Christians?

A

belief in the strength of repentance as a means of salvation, promoting the importance of turning away from sin - the slave trade was increasingly considered a sinful practice and so opposition was large among this group

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Who were some prominent Evangelical Christians who were involved in the abolitionist campaigns?

A
  • Granville Sharp
  • Thomas Clarkson
    both were able to popularise the movement (particularly following Clarkson’s essay on the morality of slavery)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What did Evangelical Christians do to push their message and was this successful?

A
  • actively campaigned using pamphlets and propaganda
  • potentially saw more success than the Quakers as they were much more accepted in society and therefore had greater influence over the public
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What did Sharp do?

A
  • created a black community of free slaves in Sierra Leone in 1787, however the colony suffered from a malaria outbreak on arrival, killing 122 and causing supplies to deplete
  • Sharp then dispatched another group of settlers to Sierra Leone following the failure of the first, 65 died during the voyage
  • also supported the French Revolution which further made him unpopular
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How did the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade push their message in the House of Commons?

A
  • achieved by approaching anti-slavery sympathiser, William Wilberforce, MP of Hull - to represent the campaign in the House of Commons
  • in May 1788, the first Parliamentary debate on the issue took place, Dolben put forward a Bill to regulate conditions on slave ships which was passed
  • another debate took place the following year, in which Wilberforce made his first speech voicing his hopes for abolition
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was the Zong Case?

A
  • 1783
  • in 1781 Captain Luke Collingwood set sail for Jamaica with 440 slaves
  • after 3 months, 60 slaves had died,
  • insurance covered loss to the captain if death due to “perils of the sea”
  • 133 slaves were thrown overboard and the captain made an insurance claim
  • at the trial it was discovered there was 420 gallons spare water on board - so the claim that water was low was not viable
  • Sharp gathered evidence against the crew in attempt to prosecute them for murder, however this was not successful
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What was The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade?

A
  • an unrivalled lobby group formed in 1787 integral in humanitarian and morality based arguments about the end of the slave trade
  • made up of social reformers from religious backgrounds e.g. Clarkson and Sharp
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How many slaves did Brookes carry?

A

480

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Who created the “am i not a man and a brother?” medallion?

A

Josiah Wedgewood

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How many anti-slavery petitions were signed in 1792?

A

519

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How many people in Manchester signed an anti-slavery petition and when?

A

10,800 /50,000 in 1787

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What years did Wilberforce present abolition bills to Parliament?

A

every year from 1791-99 (unsuccessful but showed pressure of the Society)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

How much of Britain’s income was dependent on the slave trade, causing huge opposition to the abolitionist campaign?

A

24%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What group opposed to the abolitionist movement and why was it powerful?

A

West India Lobby (group of sugar planters) - had close links with Parliament e.g. had 50 MPs closely linked to the group by the 1790s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

How long did the Society’s educational campaign last?

A

20+ years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

How many people were refusing to eat slave-grown sugar by the 1790s?

A

300,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

How much was Wilberforce’s first petition defeated by?

A

163 votes to 88 in 1791

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

How many posters of slave ship Brookes were printed by abolitionists?

A

7,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Which industries benefitted from the slave trade throughout the 18th century?

A

shipbuilding, out-fitting and textile businesses

28
Q

How many slave voyages took place in the 18th century?

A

35,000

29
Q

Where was the biggest slave-trading port in the world in the 1790s?

A

Liverpool, claimed 3/7s of European trade - creating thousands of jobs in associated industries

30
Q

What did the slave-based network mean for export markets of British merchandise from British factories?

A
  • meant that export markets thrived
31
Q

What did the slave trade do for slave ports?

A
  • generated excessive wealth e.g. Bristol - 40% of people’s income was slave-based
32
Q

In what years did 87% of Britain’s textile output go abroad to majority African markets?

A

between 1784-86 and 1805-07 - 87% of textile output went abroad (slave traders would swap goods for slaves)

33
Q

When did Britain have to rely solely on African markets for trade and why?

A

1793-1815 the wars with France halted trade with Europe

34
Q

What was a library in Oxford University financed by?

A

library in All Souls College financed by profits from Codrington plantation in Barbados

35
Q

How much did Codrington plantation make in profit per year and from how many slaves?

A

£2000 a year from 276 slaves

36
Q

How much sugar was imported into Britain by the mid-1700s?

A

6.3 million gallons of sugar per year

37
Q

How much more were British imports from Grenada worth compared to imports from Canada?

A

British imports from Grenada were worth 8x more than that of imports from Canada

38
Q

What is Eric Williams’ Decline Thesis?

A
  • competition from Cuba and Napoleon’s blockade meant there was a surplus of sugar in British ports (amounting to 6000 tons in 1806) meaning sugar was less profitable and so producers had to produce less - 1799-1807, 65 Jamaican plantations were abandoned and 32 were sold for debts - Parliamentary committee was set up in 1807 and found British West Indian planter to be operating at a loss
  • older colonies wanted the trade to stop as they were already established and smaller places would be the ones to lose business (so there would be less competition for the older islands) - explains many older islands support for the abolition bill
39
Q

How much sugar surplus was there in Britain in 1806?

A

6,000 tons

40
Q

How many plantations in Jamaica were abandoned and sold for debts between 1799-1807?

A

65 abandoned and 32 sold for debts (1799-1807)

41
Q

What is Dresher’s argument?

A
  • argues against the decline thesis (i.e. the slave trade was not abolished due to change in imperial mercantilism to a more laissez faire attitude)
  • belief that there were still a lot of imperial policies between 1783-1815 and that abolition was detrimental to Britain’s economic interests; slavery was actually at the height of its potential
42
Q

What are some specific events that question the financial viability of the slave trade?

A
  • The African Queen (in 1792, 21 crew members died during the 7/8 months at Old Calabar whilst the captain purchased the 255 slaves, of which 28 died during the wait and 114 died during the middle passage, when the ship arrived in Jamaica, one agent refused to sell its cargo as slaves were in bad condition, the following year the owner of the ship went bankrupt)
  • the Marlborough sailed in 1752, 420 slaves took over the ship killing several of the crew and losing the ship
  • the Prince of Orange ship, 100 slaves jumped overboard and 33 drowned, meaning little sugar could be bought during the last leg of the journey as triangular trade relied on good cargo at each leg of the journey to make profits
43
Q

What happened on the Juba ship?

A
  • 1787
  • 230 “prime slaves”, palm oil, redwood and 1 1/2 tons of ivory
  • 29 died, the remaining slaves were sold in the West Indies
  • on its return, the ship sank with all its goods on board, however a profit of £5835 was made
44
Q

When was the Dolben Act and what did it do?

A

1788 - regulated conditions on slave ships including the restriction of the no. of slaves allowed on ships, this was renewed every year until 1799 when it was made permanent with the Slave Regulation Act

45
Q

What did economists e.g. Adam Smith suggest about laissez faire when applied to the slave trade?

A

Slavery was not as efficient as free labour, people who were happy would do their best work and those being forced would work more slowly, slave owners also had to pay for enforcement to avoid riots/escapees which ate into profits, slow increase in rebellions costed more - soldiers had to be in garrison in some areas
- increase in laissez faire industrialisation and factory system provided an alternative means for economic growth which may have presented an alternative mode of commerce

46
Q

How much were slave trade profits by the end of the 1700s?

A

£3 million per year

47
Q

How many slave ships were subject to a revolt?

A

1 in 10

48
Q

Which individuals were significant to the abolitionist movement?

A
  • Thomas Clarkson
  • Olaudah Equiano
  • William Wilberforce
49
Q

What did Clarkson do?

A
  • wrote a prize winning essay at Cambridge, questioning the lawfulness of slavery
  • influential in the formation of the Committee for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade, persuaded Wilberforce to take up the cause in Parliament
  • travelled around Britain collecting evidence of the trade from eyewitnesses e.g. 3,000 sailors
  • travelled 35,000 miles persuading the public to support the cause by providing visual evidence of the trade
  • travelled to France in 1789 to persuade the government to abolish the slave trade - however this was unsuccessful and he subsequently lost support in Britain as he was deemed too radical
50
Q

What did Equiano do?

A
  • part of the “Sons of Africa” - group of 12 black Africans
  • became involved in the abolitionist campaign in 1786, contributed to the passing of the Dolben Act 1788
  • published autobiography in 1789
  • educated, literate, married an english woman
  • acted as an inspirational figure for other slaves, his work in “The sons of Africa” gave enslaved Africans a voice and encouraged other free slaves to take up the cause
51
Q

What did Wilberforce do?

A
  • MP for Hull
  • made first anti-slavery speech in 1789 on behalf of the the Society
  • presented a bill to parliament every year from 1991-99
  • led the parliamentary campaign for 26 years until abolition in 1807
52
Q

What other factors (changing political climate) contributed to the abolition of a slave trade?

A
  • American War of Independence
  • Napoleon and the French Wars
  • Slave revolts (Saint Domingue, St Vincent, St Lucia, Jamaica)
53
Q

When was the America lost in the War of Independence?

A

1783

54
Q

How did the American War of Independence affect the abolition campaign?

A
  • raised questions about liberty and rights of men, as many were influenced by America’s growing belief in republicanism and individual liberty, made British people question the importance of human experience and freedom
  • meant the loss of a market to sell slaves - in 1776, 20% of the Thirteen Colonies were of African descent
  • this all meant that the movement gained momentum - Dolben Act passed in 1788
55
Q

How did Napoleon/the French Wars help the abolition campaign?

A
  • 1794 slavery in France was abolished
  • Napoleon reintroduced the trade in 1802
  • opposing the slave trade then became a patriotic duty in Britain, meaning Wilberforce gained support in his bills even by William Pitt in 1806
56
Q

Which prime minister supported abolition and in which year?

A

William Pitt 1806

57
Q

How did Napoleon/the French Wars hinder the abolition campaign?

A
  • however still much support before this
  • the French revolution may have actually hindered the movement as when slavery was abolished, British abolitionists were tarnished with the revolutionary brush
  • government crackdowns against “revolutionaries” with the Sedutious Meetings Act (1795) and Treason trials of 1793 and 1794 when Paine and Hardy were put on trial for their opposition to government policy
58
Q

What are some examples of slave revolts?

A
  • Saint Domingue 1791
  • St Vincent, St Lucia and Grenada 1795
  • Jamaica 1795
59
Q

What happened at Saint Domingue 1791?

A
  • Saint Domingue was the largest part of the French slave trade, producing half the world’s coffee, sugar production was double that of all the British Caribbean islands put together
  • more than 1000 plantations burned and 12,000 white people killed in a slave uprising
  • some slaves had copies of Wedgwood’s medallion
  • in 1793, British soldiers landed to conquer the island for themselves
    (halted the industry, empowered slaves to be leaders in society, however backed up stereotypes of slaves to be violent/savage, climate of fear made among the public)
60
Q

What happened at Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent (1795)?

A
  • in Grenada 1795, the island’s governor was captured, whites were massacred and plantations were destroyed
  • in St Lucia, slaves rose up led by Victor Hugues and forced out every white slave owner and the british army over 4 months - it took 12,000 British troops against 2,000 slaves to take the island in 1803
  • in St Vincent the 2nd Carib War took place involving slaves on the side of the Caribs (indigenous people) it took a major military operation for the British to crush the revolt in 1797
61
Q

What happened in Jamaica (1795)?

A
  • free blacks known as Maroons revolted killing 36 British cavalrymen
  • approx 500 Marions rebelled against 5,000 British/Jamaican militia - yet fighting lasted for half the year and Britain spent £500,000
  • at the end of the year an agreement was made however 569 Maroons were still deported
62
Q

How much of the British army in the Caribbean died and from which years?

A

5,000 out of 89,000 died between 1793-1801

63
Q

How much of the British army in the Caribbean in 1793-1801 were discharged due to illness/wounds?

A

14,000

64
Q

How many sailors on naval or transport ships died 1893-1801?

A

19,000

65
Q

What were the 5 other reasons for abolition?

A
  • geography (improving roads - London-Edinburgh took 230 hours in 1754, to 75 hours in 1792 - meant campaign could spread faster)
  • poastal service (British Post Office went under reform in 1784, took 3 days to send a letter from London-Dublin)
  • newspapers (first french daily published at the time, Britain had 49 newspapers in 1777 to spread the abolition message)
  • coffeehouses/libraries (500 coffeehouses in London with newspapers to spread propaganda)
  • naval “press gangs” (1/2 of naval seamen were pressed into service, high levels of desertion with punishments)

History 1 (5 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions