ASSESS THE STRATEGIES USED BY THE BRITISH ABOLITIONISTS AGAINST THE
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. (2005).
The british government abolished slavery in the British West Indies in 1833, after over roughly
three centuries. This abolition was eventually enacted for a variety of factors, one of the main
ones being the many strategies used by the British abolitionists. Since 1797 when the society of
the abolition of the slave trade was formed the abolitionists had an initially effective approach of
gradualism to the abolition of slavery. In this society, their first step and semi-effective strategy
was the abolition of the trans-antlantic slave trade, in hopes that slavery, on a whole in the
British West Indies, would follow. Following the end of this trade in 1807, in their attempt to
abolish slavery the abolitionists used strategies ranging from propaganda and research on the
inhumane and uneconomic nature of slavery as well as placing intense pressure on the british
parliament, which all proved to be effective, helpful and persuasive. In the early1830’s the
abolitionists changed from a strategy of gradualism to immediacy, as gradualism was no longer
an effective approach and immediacy was now better suited.
PRGH 1
● Gradualism- gradualistic approach
● Effective as it did not force the idea of the complete abolition of slavery onto the British
government and parliament as if they did this, may have led to an outright no, wouldnt
have given planters more counter arguments as it wouldnt have allowed the planter a
time to find a replacement labour force if slavery was ended abruptly.
● But on the other hand, not that effective as the government just passed laws such as the
amelioration proposals to satisfy and convince the abolitionists that better treatment, and
more freedom for the enslaved was coming when in reality most planters just ignored
these proposals. Drawn out process. If they didn't push for immediate effective change it
wouldn't come.
● Therefore it was effective as it persuaded the government to consider the idea of
abolition and to have laws in place for the better treatment of the enslaved, however in
reality the planters did not obey these laws, and slaves' treatment worsened, such as
after the amelioration proposals.
PRGH 2
● Ending slave trade
● Believed that if the slave trade ended, slavery would die out, leading to its abolition.
● However this was not the case, it only worsened the treatment of the enslaved as
planters overworked them, bred them so as to produce more slaves by natural increase.
The planters also bought slaves from other european nations, therefore slave trade did
not stop the influx of new slaves onto the colonies, this also led to economic loss for the
british as their colonists were not trading with other nations.
● However the outcomes from after the end of the slave trade would have shown to the
british parliament and general public that the planters did not have the best interest of
the enslaved, aided with their propaganda campaign which would prove to be very
effective in ending the trade
PRGH 3
● propaganda
● In every “pound of sugar they consumed 2 ounces of human flesh
● This campaign convinced and persuaded the general public that slavery was wrong and
that it must be ended.
● This would have led the public to be against the institution of slavery, and therefore slave
produced products, as the abolitionists showed them the horrors of slavery and how their
sugar was made.
● Appealed to their emotions, “am i not a brother…”, saw that the africans were humans
just like them.
● Work/ research of abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson and Zachary Macaulay, on
inhumane nature of slavery and slave trade..
● Abolitionists raised this campaign to the status of a religion.
● Meant that many persons were invested in it, and passionate about it ending.
Government therefore no longer had the support of the general public.
● Boycotting of slave produced products. Switch to East Indian sugar
● The action of boycotting which resulted from the large propaganda, is one of the many
things that made this campaign so effective, as it made the institution of slavery no
longer economic. As they were no longer as many buyers of West Indian sugar, planters
therefore would not gain a profit, meaning that slavery itself was no longer profitable.
● So this strategy was effective as although the humanitarian side of the campaign and the
loss of african along with british lives did not really mean anything to the British
parliament it did however to the public, persuading and leading them to take whatever
action they could and boycott slave produced sugar. This was helpful in ending slavery
as it made slavery no longer profitable to the British government, and therefore would
give them an incentive to end it.
PRGH 4
● Petitions- 772 petitions
● Pressured government, political agitation
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Conditions of enslaved were only getting worse and planters were buying slaves illegally
from other European nations.
Effective as it resulted in legislative action
Registry bill
Amelioration proposals.
However these laws were broken and strongly ignored by the planters and colonies.
PRGH 5
● Adam Smith- discussed how slavery was uneconomic
● Work of a free man cheaper than enslaved
● A free man would be more willing to work and work efficiently, effectively and properly as
they are not only working for a wage which would provide the food and other necessities
for them but they are also not being forced, beat and whipped to do so. However a slave
is beat, treated horribly, whipped and overworked while receiving no benefits, this would
encourage them to rebel and not be willing to work properly or efficiently
● Cheaper to may a man a wage than to maintain him
● If they freed the enslaved and instead used paid labour, it would be cheaper as they
would be giving the workers one set wage which they would have to budget and spend
carefully on their necessities; in comparison to paying to maintain a slave, covering the
cost of food, shelter, healthcare, etc.
● This appealed to the economists and industrialists in British parliament and persuaded
them that the end of slavery, and paid labour would actually be cheaper and be of
benefit to the british economy as they would be making a larger profit and would be
spending less money.
PRGH 6
● Immediacy
● allow for immediate action to be taken and get straight to the point.
● Realized gradualism was only prolonging slavery and that the conditions of the enslaved
were getting worse.
● Immediate, constant action would place pressure on the British parliament
● With their strategy of immediacy, abolitionists used the aftermath of the 1831 Christmas
rebellion and the actions of the planters of killing missionaries and destroying churches,
to show the parliament that the planters had no regard for human life and had too much
power. Convinced the government that with all this power over slaves and the colonies
along with the wealth from slavery that the planters themselves may attempt to annex
themselves from Britian and take control of the colonies, causing britain to loose her
colonies.
● Rejection of the amelioration proposals also demonstrated to the parliament that the
planters had too much control
● All of this would prove effective as it was the final step in pushing and convincing the
British parliament to abolish slavery
● Even after the initial abolishment of slavery in 1833, during the apprenticeship system,
whent the abolitionists noticed the condition of the africans were improving, pushed for
immediacy as it further revealed the amount of power that the planters over the colonies
to the British parliament, persuading them to immediately put an end to all slavery and
the apprenticeship system, a few years before it was supposed to.