Slavery: History, Abolition, and Impact on Society

History of Slavery

Slavery Defined

Slavery refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others, who control where they live and at what they work. Slavery has existed throughout history, in many times and most places.

Life on Board Slave Ships

Slave ships spent several months traveling to different parts of the coast, buying their cargo. The captives were often in poor health from the physical and mental abuse they had suffered. They were taken on board, stripped naked, and examined from head to toe by the captain or surgeon.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade

The abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire was not going to happen overnight. Britain had been involved in the slave trade for more than 100 years before some people began to ask questions about whether it was right to argue for the abolition of the trade.

Arguments Against Abolition

The anti-abolitionists believed that the plan for the abolition of the slave trade was silly and unwise because the Negroes of Africa were apparently useless in the great scale of human society. They said that the Negroes were totally incapable of improvement, arts, or sciences. The only way to promote their civilization was to introduce them to a state of activity and industry.

On the other hand, abolition would bring ruin to Liverpool. It would mean a financial loss of more than 7 million pounds. The whole town would suffer; there would be less dock duty, less employment for boat builders, etc.

Arguments for Abolition

In the early nineteenth century, there was a debate about whether slavery should be abolished. An American poet wrote why this abolition had to happen.

The conditions were horrible during the trip on the ships before they were bought by other people. They didn't have enough space, six or seven hundred of them, all together in a very small place below deck.

Slaves were driven in the field, whipped like cattle, often branded, and treated with the greatest cruelty.

Voyages of Exploration

People go on voyages of discovery to find new lands and different peoples, to make more accurate maps, and to gather new resources.

Cook's Voyages

Cook was the first European to discover the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. Cook's voyage on board the ship Endeavour lasted two years and had great significance for Britain in improving understanding of the world.