The Slave Trade in the British Empire.

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The Slave Trade in the British Empire

The actions of the black people played no part in the abolition slavery and the slave trade in the British Empire.  To what extent do you believe in this statement?

The slave trade was a terrible event in the history of Britain, the injustice, the racism and the unnecessary suffering of the black people was the beginning of the understanding of the rights of the people of this world.  Black people were considered ‘unequal’ to the whites.  That was the ignorance of the people living in the late 17th-18th century at that time.  The statement above is untrue in some ways; indeed the black peoples did play a role in the abolishing of the slave trade, but the white people who understood the prejudice against the black people also helped the abolition take place.

Black people were torn from their own country and so they were very eager to escape their captors at any cost.  Revolts came hand in hand with the slave trade.  Black people would occasionally attack the people who kept them imprisoned; sometimes black slaves would gain control of the slave trade ship that was transporting them to America where they would be sold, If they were lucky they could sail home to Africa, however the African tribes people did not know of sailing the seas and had no idea of how to sail the ship home.  On land if there was a group of slaves they could gather and revolt in mass burning houses and barns.  Some remote areas became home to escapes blacks.  The white Americans did not like the idea of their slaves revolting and so gradually people were deterred.  A famous group of escaped called themselves the ‘Son’s of Africa’.  Some African people showed the public in Britain what was happening; Olaudah Equiano (died in 1797) was a particularly famous black abolitionist.  He was taken from Africa to Barbados as a slave.  He then worked for the ship’s captain as a servant thus travelling great distances.  He then stayed in London for a while, where he learned to read and then he became a Christian.  He wished to be let free but his owner brought him back to America.  Eventually he was given his freedom, this is when he wrote his experiences down in a book for the public to read.  This shocked and horrified the public some turned against slavery.  He travelled around the country speaking in meetings, his actions made a big impact on the slavery abolition.  In one of his books he mentioned the notorious ‘Zong’ slavery ship.

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From 1770 the need for slaves were decreasing as Brazil and Cuba could produce cheaper sugar and the slaves working on plantations in the West Indies were needed less and less.

        On the other hand there were equal amounts of white abolitionists there were several famous individuals who decreased the slavery’s chances of continuing.  For example… Granville Sharp was a respected white man who lived in England.  In 1765 he came across a badly injured black boy called Jonathon Strong, Sharp took him to a hospital where he gradually recovered and became a messenger boy, however his old master ...

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