The slave trade was arguably one of the most unfortunate things that ever happened to black Africa and a dent on the moral image of Europe. For over five hundred years, this inglorious trade persisted and Africa served as the supply source and the Americas the last point of disembarkation. It profited Europe more than any other venture at the time, and impoverished Africa more than any other singler phenomenon. In the beginning of the 19th century, Britain found it expedient to abolish the trade in preference for other ‘nobler’ means of capitalism. Arguments necessitating abolition are rife; spanning both moral and economic flanks. However, there are other neglected angles that were persuasive and may have informed the early actions of the British Crown. One of the arguments appear to be the emerging wave of liberal ideas which of cause ignited the consciousness of the early Americans to the issue of equality and freedom. These ideas were potent in the revolutions in both America and France. The second was the imagined social crisis that the continuation of the trade would have engendered in Britain and her overseas possessions in America, and the spirit of rebellion often demonstrated by the slaves in the colonies. It is also plausible that the rivalry emerging in Europe at the time was another silent factor in facilitating abolition. The paper intends to critically examine these factors as necessitating the eventual abolition of the transatlantic slave trade beyond the orthodox arguments of morality and humanitarianism.
| Published in | International and Public Affairs (Volume 5, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14 |
| Page(s) | 66-74 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Challenges, Liberal, Ideas, Revolution, Abolition, Trans-Atlantic
| [1] | Asiegbu, J. U. J. (1978), Slavery and the Politics of Abolition 1787-1861, London: Longmans Green & Co Ltd. |
| [2] | Badgley, J. (1828), Report on the Old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, February, 21, 1828, CO82/1. |
| [3] | Beckles, H. M. (2007), “African Resistance to the Transatlantic Slave Trade”, in James Kwesi Anquandah (ed), The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations, Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers. |
| [4] | Boxer, C. R. (1969), The Golden Age of Brazil, 1695-1750, California: University of California Press. |
| [5] | Chambers, D. B. (1997), “My own nation: Igbo exiles in the Diaspora”, Slavery and Abolition, Vol. 18, No. 1, 72-81. |
| [6] | Coupland, R, (1933), The British Anti-Slavery Movement, London: Butterworths. |
| [7] | Curtin, P. D. (1975), “The Atlantic Slave Trade”, in Ann M. Pescatello, (ed.), The African in Latin America, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. |
| [8] | Edwards, P. (1999), (ed.), Equiano’s Travels, London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. |
| [9] | Eltis, D. (1999), Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM, New York: Cambridge University Press. |
| [10] | Emmott, C., Rowsell, J. H., and Millican, B. S. (1971), (eds.), European History, London: The Grolier Society Ltd. |
| [11] | Fage, J. D. (1933), Introduction to Reginald Coupland, The British Anti-Slavery Movement, London: Frank Cass and Co Ltd. |
| [12] | Flander, R. B. (1933), Plantation Slavery in Georgia, New York: Chapel Hill. |
| [13] | Fyfe, C. (1964), Sierra Leone Inheritance, London; Oxford University Press. |
| [14] | Hoyt, E. P. (1974), African Slavery, London: Abelard-Schuman Ltd. |
| [15] | Inikori, J. E. (1978), “The Origins of the Diaspora: The Slave Trade from Africa”, Tarikh, Vol. 20, 2-4. |
| [16] | Korieh, C. J. (2007), “African Ethnicity as a Mirage? Historicizing the Essence of the Igbo in Africa and the Atlantic Diaspora”, Dialectical Anthropology, (Springer 2007), 91. |
| [17] | Mintz, S. (1961), “Review of Stanley Elkins’ Slavery”, American Anthropologist, No. 63, (June 1961), 579. |
| [18] | Nicolls to Hay, December 4, 1832, CO 82/1. |
| [19] | Ofonagoro, W. (1978), ‘The African Presence in North America”, Tarikh, Vol. 20, 57-58. |
| [20] | Pescatello, A. M. (1975), (ed.), The African in Latin America, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. |
| [21] | Ritchie, D. G. (1952), Natural Rights, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. |
| [22] | Schwartz, S. (1970), “The Macambo: Slave Resistance in Colonial Bahia”, Journal of Social History, No. 3, (Summer 1970), 319. |
| [23] | Smith, A. (1964), The Wealth of Nations, Quoted in Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery, London: Andre Deutsch Ltd. |
| [24] | Strick, L. W. (1977), “The Black Presence in the Revolution, 1770-1800”, Mildred Bain, and Lewis, (eds.), From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil, New York: Random House. 210. |
| [25] | Thompson, A. O. (1978), “Africans in the Caribbean and the Guianas”, Tarik, Vol. 20, 42. |
| [26] | Tocqueville, A. D. (1964), Democracy in America, New York: Mentor Book. |
| [27] | William, E. (1994), Capitalism and Slavery, North Carolina: University of North Carolina. |
| [28] | Wish, H. (1977), “American Slave Insurrection Before 1861” in Mildred Bain and Ervin Lewis, (eds.) From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil, New York: Random House. |
| [29] | Woolman, J. (1977), “Revolutionary Philosophy: Its Impact on Slavery”, in Mildred Bain, and Ervin Lewis, (eds.), From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American soil, New York: Random House. |
| [30] | Woolman, J. (1977), “The Quakers and Slavery”, Mildred Bain and Ervin Lewis, (eds.), From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil, New York: Random House. |
APA Style
Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee. (2021). The Challenges of Liberal Ideas, Revolution and Social Crisis: Correlates in Supporting the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. International and Public Affairs, 5(2), 66-74. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14
ACS Style
Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee. The Challenges of Liberal Ideas, Revolution and Social Crisis: Correlates in Supporting the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Int. Public Aff. 2021, 5(2), 66-74. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14
AMA Style
Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee. The Challenges of Liberal Ideas, Revolution and Social Crisis: Correlates in Supporting the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Int Public Aff. 2021;5(2):66-74. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14,
author = {Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee},
title = {The Challenges of Liberal Ideas, Revolution and Social Crisis: Correlates in Supporting the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade},
journal = {International and Public Affairs},
volume = {5},
number = {2},
pages = {66-74},
doi = {10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ipa.20210502.14},
abstract = {The slave trade was arguably one of the most unfortunate things that ever happened to black Africa and a dent on the moral image of Europe. For over five hundred years, this inglorious trade persisted and Africa served as the supply source and the Americas the last point of disembarkation. It profited Europe more than any other venture at the time, and impoverished Africa more than any other singler phenomenon. In the beginning of the 19th century, Britain found it expedient to abolish the trade in preference for other ‘nobler’ means of capitalism. Arguments necessitating abolition are rife; spanning both moral and economic flanks. However, there are other neglected angles that were persuasive and may have informed the early actions of the British Crown. One of the arguments appear to be the emerging wave of liberal ideas which of cause ignited the consciousness of the early Americans to the issue of equality and freedom. These ideas were potent in the revolutions in both America and France. The second was the imagined social crisis that the continuation of the trade would have engendered in Britain and her overseas possessions in America, and the spirit of rebellion often demonstrated by the slaves in the colonies. It is also plausible that the rivalry emerging in Europe at the time was another silent factor in facilitating abolition. The paper intends to critically examine these factors as necessitating the eventual abolition of the transatlantic slave trade beyond the orthodox arguments of morality and humanitarianism.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Challenges of Liberal Ideas, Revolution and Social Crisis: Correlates in Supporting the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade AU - Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee Y1 - 2021/11/27 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14 DO - 10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14 T2 - International and Public Affairs JF - International and Public Affairs JO - International and Public Affairs SP - 66 EP - 74 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-4192 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20210502.14 AB - The slave trade was arguably one of the most unfortunate things that ever happened to black Africa and a dent on the moral image of Europe. For over five hundred years, this inglorious trade persisted and Africa served as the supply source and the Americas the last point of disembarkation. It profited Europe more than any other venture at the time, and impoverished Africa more than any other singler phenomenon. In the beginning of the 19th century, Britain found it expedient to abolish the trade in preference for other ‘nobler’ means of capitalism. Arguments necessitating abolition are rife; spanning both moral and economic flanks. However, there are other neglected angles that were persuasive and may have informed the early actions of the British Crown. One of the arguments appear to be the emerging wave of liberal ideas which of cause ignited the consciousness of the early Americans to the issue of equality and freedom. These ideas were potent in the revolutions in both America and France. The second was the imagined social crisis that the continuation of the trade would have engendered in Britain and her overseas possessions in America, and the spirit of rebellion often demonstrated by the slaves in the colonies. It is also plausible that the rivalry emerging in Europe at the time was another silent factor in facilitating abolition. The paper intends to critically examine these factors as necessitating the eventual abolition of the transatlantic slave trade beyond the orthodox arguments of morality and humanitarianism. VL - 5 IS - 2 ER -
Information
Email: