aboltion

Thought Questions

What was the cumulative effect of slavery on whites in western culture?

What is the stronger historical legacy of western civilization: slavery/racial oppression or humanitarian reform?

How does the history of slavery & abolitionism highlight the subjective nature of history?

Abolition of Slavery - background

Slavery - rooted in ancient traditions of western culture - back to classical world

Slavery accepted by Christian theologians of Medieval Europe

Arab world had long served as a center of slavery and the slave trade between Europe & Africa

By 1750, slavery was an entrenched institution in the Americas w/significant racial & economic dynamics

Abolition Movement - beginning

Enlightenment philosophy & religious philosophy undermines justification for slavery in the western world

focus on humanism, freedom of the individual, personal ethics, spur new ideas

Quakers, Methodists, German pietists view slavery as contrary to God’s mission for humanity

free blacks and black communities are also involved in organized efforts to end slavery

creation of US is rife w/contradictory messages regarding slavery

Abolitionism, early 19th-Century

International slave trade is officially abolished in GB & US in 1807

GB, US, France involved in naval efforts to stop Spanish slave-trading

Toussaint L’Ouverture (Haiti) & other slave revolts complicate issues-cause regression

Latin American independence movements spurred emancipation (Brazil is a notable exception)

Abolitionism, mid-19th C.

Many European empires officially emancipate slaves: 1833-1848

William Wilberforce & others successfully advocate legislation also tied to political & social movements of the period

Spain, US remain strong slave states, despite abolitionist efforts to end slavery

US: Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth & others become leading advocates for abolitionism

abolitionist fury spurs defense of slavery

Abolitionism, end

Slavery finally eradicated in western world US: 1865 (Civil War), Brazil: 1888

US & GB colonization for former slaves efforts lead to new, westernized African states: Sierra Leone, Liberia

anti-slavery movement becomes subordinate to imperialist goals in late 19th century: Christian expansion & trade

western anti-slavery efforts shifted to East Africa & Asia