British Evangelicals, Economic Warfare and the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1794-1810

The story of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade which most historians have told is one of political achievement in Great Britain between 1789, when William Wilberforce first drew the attention of the House of Commons to the slave trade, and 1807 when abolition was at last approved. By 1806, national survival had become economic survival, and overseas trade, particularly tropical colonial trade, had become central to the struggle. During the wars, admiralty and prize law were undergoing extraordinary growth. These were the years in which Great Britain was establishing her maritime supremacy, and an evolution of maritime law — particularly prize law — accompanied that rise to dominance. The payment of prize money was a powerful incentive to the Royal Navy’s sweep of the seas. In wartime, privateers were also licensed to intercept foreign ships.

Atlantic slave trade · Colonialism · Dominance (genetics) · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Global commons · House of Commons · Incentive · International trade · Navy · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · Law · Oceanography

• To Soften the Extreme Rigor of Their Bondage”

  Open Access•Russell Smandych•Law and History Review•2005

  Add to list