Unit 3: How Should the Struggle to Abolish Slavery Be Remembered?

SLAVE TRADE ABOLITION IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE & SUFFOLK

Unit 3

UNIT 3: HOW SHOULD THE STRUGGLE TO ABOLISH SLAVERY BE REMEMBERED?

Unit 3a: HOW IMPORTANT WAS MARCH 25TH, 1807?

March 25th, 1807 is seen as one of the days that shook the world. As the clock struck noon, King George III signed the bill to abolish the British slave trade into law. However, was this date really one of history’s great turning points? Use the TIMELINE to make your own mind up!

1791

• ABOLITIONISTS DEFEATED - William Wilberforce introduces his first Bill to abolish the slave trade. Despite the mountain of evidence that Clarkson had collected and a brilliant speech by Wilberforce in parliament it is heavily defeated by 163 votes to 88 votes.
• THOUSANDS SUPPORT SUGAR BOYCOTT - Wilberforce is now convinced that only massive public support can persuade parliament to abolish the slave trade. Clarkson travels throughout England, Wales and Scotland, covering 6000 miles in an attempt to raise more public support. He also encourages people to join the boycott of West-Indian slave grown sugar, a movement inspired by pamphlets produced by William Crafton and William Fox. 300,000 people are now refusing West Indian sugar. Hundreds of petitions from all over the country are sent to parliament calling for the abolition of the slave trade.

1792

• ABOLITIONISTS FORCED TO WAIT - Parliament debates abolishing the slave trade. Pitt gives one of the greatest speeches ever heard in parliament speech supporting Wilberforce (See Unit 2). However, Henry Dundas proposed an amendment to insert the word ‘gradually’ into Wilberforce’s motion to abolish the trade. The House of Commons agreed and by 230 votes to 85 pledged itself to ‘gradually abolish’ the British slave trade.

1793

• WAR WITH FRANCE - 1796 is fixed as the year when the trade will end but it never happens. By 1793 Britain is at war with France. Wilberforce has to work hard to keep the issue alive in parliament as the war dominates discussions. Public interest also tails off.

1804 - 1807

• CLARKSON RIDES AGAIN! - The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade expands its committee from 12 to 40 people. For the next three years they worked hard to gain support for the cause, concentrating most of their efforts on parliament. However, Clarkson tours England again building public support for the anti-slavery movement.

1807

• SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED AT LAST - The slave trade is finally abolished in the British Empire. The bill passes the House of Lords by 100 votes to 34. In the House of Commons The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act is passed by 283 votes to 16. This was a sign of the careful work carried out in parliament by Lord Grenville and the widespread support that Clarkson and other anti-slavery campaigners had built up through their campaigns and tours around the country. The new law stated that any British captain caught with slaves on board would be fined £10 for every slave on the ship.

1807-14

• THE FIGHT CONTINUES - Clarkson and Wilberforce, together with other abolitionists, fight for an international ban on the slave trade. Clarkson meets with the Russian Emperor, Alexander I. Russia has no slave trade and Clarkson hopes that Alexander, a known supporter of abolition, can persuade other European leaders to end the trade.

1814

• OPPORTUNITY LOST - Clarkson and Wilberforce also hope that when the war ends with France the British government will force the French to abolish the slave trade in return for getting its colonies back. However in 1814, under the conditions of the Treaty of Paris, France is allowed to continue the slave trade for five years. Wilberforce tells the House of Commons that the actions of the government mean a ‘death warrant’ for thousands. Meanwhile, Clarkson helps to organize local groups who encourage members of the public to express their disappointment with the government’s failure to put a block on the French slave trade. A total of 861 petitions, signed by 755,000 people are sent to parliament.

1823 -1833

• SUPPORT GROWS FOR ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT – In 1823 a new anti-slavery society is formed which aims to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. Wilberforce and Clarkson are members but younger campaigners play a key role. Thomas Fowell Buxton, for example, takes over from Wilberforce as the anti-slavery spokesman in parliament. Lecturers are employed for the first time to hold public meetings which expose the horrors of slavery. Clarkson, now 63 years old, continues to play an important role. In 12 months he travels 10,000 miles setting up meetings and organising local branches and petitions. Women also play a key role. More than 70 women’s antislavery societies are set up. They call for a new sugar boycott, urge shopkeepers not to stock slave-grown goods and call for people to only vote for MPs who support the abolition of slavery. The dramatic increase in the number of local branches and petitions being sent to parliament means that the antislavery campaign can no longer be ignored.

1833

• SLAVERY ABOLISHED THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE - The Slavery Abolition Act is passed by parliament. From 1st August 1834 all slaves in the British Empire are to be given their freedom. Some 800,000 people will no longer be slaves. Sadly, William Wilberforce dies just one month before the act is passed.

1838

• APPRENTICESHIPS ENDED - Joseph Sturge sails to the West Indies and finds that apprenticeships have not improved life for supposedly free blacks. He publishes his findings in 1837. In 1838 petitions are sent to parliament protesting about the apprenticeship system. They are signed by 449,000 people. In the Caribbean, angry apprentices stage widespread strikes and demonstrations. Parliament finally ends the apprenticeship system on 1 August 1838.

1846

• CLARKSON DIES - At 4 ‘o’ clock in the morning of 26 September Thomas Clarkson died, aged 86. During the1830s and early 40s Clarkson had become involved in the American antislavery movement and was visited by American campaigners such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. In 1840 he had attended an anti-slavery meeting held in London and attended by campaigners from the United States, Canada, France, the West Indies, Switzerland and Spain. In his last major public speech, Clarkson attacked the American cotton plantation owners who still kept more than 2 million people as slaves in ‘cruel’ conditions. His final message to his audience was to ‘take courage’ and never give up ‘until slavery was removed form the world’.

PUPIL ACTIVITY 3a

• What were the main obstacles faced by abolitionists such as Wilberforce and Clarkson?
• What were the main factors that led to the abolition of the slave trade?
• How important was the 1807 act? Was it really the key turning point in the fight against slavery? Do you think that there were other events that were just as important?

Unit 3b:THE STORY OF ABOLITION - HOW HAS IT BEEN TOLD?

The Traditional Interpretation

For over 150 years William Wilberforce has been presented as the main hero of the campaign to end slavery. Most books, newspaper articles and documentaries have tended to focus on Wilberforce’s role in the anti-slavery movement. Wilberforce has become a household name, one of the heroes of history.

A Forgotten Hero?

In contrast Thomas Clarkson’s role has been overlooked. In his own lifetime Clarkson was praised for his courage and heroism. Clarkson was one of the founders of the movement to abolish the slave trade and in the eyes of people at the time he was the ‘mastermind’ and ‘the link’ that held the campaign together. Clarkson played a key role in planning the tactics for the anti-slavery campaign. As you have seen, he travelled the country investigating every aspect of the slave trade in detail and communicating his findings to the general public through pamphlets and speeches at public meetings. Clarkson helped to form and organise anti-slavery groups in towns throughout the country and was able to create massive public support for the campaign.

Despite this, Clarkson is rarely mentioned for long, if at all, in books, articles, films and documentaries about the anti-slavery campaign. Very few people today appreciate the role he played. In contrast to the many biographies of Wilberforce that have been produced, a detailed biography of Clarkson did not appear until 1989. Also, it was not until 1996 that Clarkson was granted a memorial stone on the floor of Westminster Abbey. A larger than life statue of Wilberforce had stood there for more than 150 years.

How was Clarkson written out of history?

Why then have so many historians overlooked the role Thomas Clarkson played in stopping slavery? One problem is that Clarkson never dreamed that anyone would ever write his life-story and as a result threw out most of his papers. The publication of a very popular biography of Wilberforce by his sons (Robert and Samuel) in 1838 also had a damaging effect. This is because of the way that the biography was written. Look carefully at the following table and think carefully about the impact that this biography has had.

What was the impact of the biography written by Wilberforce’s sons?

A forgotten partnership

Clarkson was deeply hurt by Robert and Samuel Wilberforce’s biography. Many people at the time sided with him and he received many letters of support from colleagues. William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson both played very important roles in the campaign to abolish slavery. However, in their biography of their father, the Wilberforce brothers did not mention the respect and admiration that Clarkson and Wilberforce had for each other. Clarkson and Wilberforce were one of history’s great partnerships. Both played crucial roles in the campaign to abolish the slave trade. As Clarkson himself wrote

What could Mr. Wilberforce have done in parliament if I had not collected that great body of evidence … And what could the committee have done without the parliamentary aid of Mr. Wilberforce?

In 1844 Clarkson received a letter from Robert and Samuel Wilberforce, in which they apologised for the way they had portrayed him in their book. However, no public apology was ever made.

The Wilberforce biography had a powerful influence on later historians. Unlike Clarkson’s accounts of the abolition movement, it was easy to get hold of, detailed and contained lots of source material they could use in their own books. Many historians treated it as a fair and accurate account of what actually happened. Until very recently, most biographies of Wilberforce follow the main line of argument taken by his sons - that slavery in the British Empire came to an end almost entirely because of one man and his close friends.

The view that William Wilberforce played the key role in the campaign to abolish slavery can also be found in some of the films and documentaries released recently to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the ending of the slave trade on British ships.

PUPIL ACTIVITY 3b

The Biography

• Why should historians be more careful when they use the biography of Wilberforce written by his sons?
• What advice would you give a student intending to use the biography to study the history of the abolition movement?

Changing Interpretations – How has Thomas Clarkson been remembered?

• Use the extra information provided (see file: How has Thomas Clarkson been remembered?) to construct a living graph (place time on the horizontal axis and ‘popularity’ on the vertical axis) showing how interpretations of Thomas Clarkson have changed since his death. Annotate your graph to give reasons for the changes in how Clarkson has been remembered.
• You may want to complete your graph by carrying out interviews to determine how Clarkson is remembered today. How many people had heard of William Wilberforce? How many had heard of Thomas Clarkson? What does this suggest?

The Film: ‘Amazing Grace’ (released in 2007)

• Look at an advertisement for the film. What impression does this source create?
• Watch the trailer for the film. What impression does this clip create?
• How is Clarkson portrayed in the film?
• Design your own trailer to a film about the abolition of slavery that fully recognises the role played by Thomas Clarkson. You can either storyboard your film trailer or you could use MovieMaker to actually make your own trailer.

Unit 3c: THE STORY OF ABOLITION - HOW SHOULD IT BE TOLD?

Exploring the contribution made by other campaigners

However, should any story of the struggle to abolish slavery only cover the contributions made by Wilberforce and Clarkson? It is time to learn about other individuals, events and developments that had a major impact.

PUPIL ACTIVTY 3c

• Look back at the TIMELINE you studied in UNIT 3a. List other individuals who played an important role in abolishing slavery.
• Add to the list of individuals by using the information cards provided. When you have finished produce a concept map showing any links between the individuals. Vary the thickness of the lines to show how strong the connection was between different individuals. Make sure you can explain the diagram you produce.
• Work in groups. Use the information cards to research the factors behind the abolition of slavery in more detail. You may want to use bullet points or a Mind Map to summarise your findings.
• After you have researched each factor think carefully back to the trailer you planned/made at the end of Unit 3b. How would you want to change this now in order to tell the full story of the abolition of slavery?
• Imagine that a documentary is being made that aims to tell the full story of the abolition of slavery. The documentary will be 1 hour long. How long would you spend exploring each of the factors listed below? Write a short paragraph to justify each decision you make.

(a) The role played by the following campaigners:

- William Wilberforce

- Thomas Clarkson

- Granville Sharp

- Olaudah Equiano

- Quobna Ottobah Cugoano

- Ignatius Sancho

- Phyllis Wheatley

- Mary Prince

(b) Female Anti-Slavery Societies

(c) Religious Groups (such as the Quakers and the Methodists)

(d) Politicians (such as William Pitt and Thomas Fowell Buxton)

(e) Political Change

(f) Economics

(g) Slave Resistance

For the information cards see the file named ‘INFORMATION CARDS - Key Factors in the Abolition of Slavery’

Dale BanhamPage 103/06/2019