abolition of slavery essay

abolition of slavery essay

The Abolition of Slavery: A Call for Freedom and Equality

1. Introduction

All in all, this document is a gateway to the world of 19th-century abolition of slavery and is quite extensive at that.

This document is a very well-supported and detailed argument against the institution of slavery. It is divided into many parts. These parts serve to define the pro-slavery argument, negate it, offer an alternative solution, and then give a persuasive dialogue to his own argument. Phillips cited many articles, books, and other treatises that held one of the two arguments. Many of his comments were taken from these works. His aim in referencing these works was to show that he had done a great deal of research. He hoped that he would one day provide the spark of abolition. He also hoped to reach his audience past the Civil War and onto a USA that was not yet to come.

The following document, “The Abolition of Slavery,” was a treatise written by a man named Wendell Phillips, who was a pro-abolitionist. He used his words to refute the institution of slavery and the slavery argument. He attempted to define the differences between the two arguments and then used his argument to negate the pro-slavery argument. He then moved to imply that something should indeed be done about the crisis.

2. Historical Background

The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in world history. Olaudah Equiano was one of the first advocates that brought into attention the conditions slaves endured on it, such as torture and kidnap. The conditions he used to gather evidence were from his own experiences. John Woolman, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Granville Sharpe, and other friends worked to end the British Transatlantic slave trade so that a revolution could be accomplished. The conditions the slaves endured on the slave trade ships were what helped inspire these men to fight for the slaves’ freedom.

The first crucial moment for the abolition of the British slave trade was the publication of Thomas Clarkson’s essay on the Impolicy of the African slave trade. Although many already were disgusted by the inhumane trade of African slaves, Clarkson’s essay had a deep impact, and with it, he gave evidence of his lifetime commitment to the abolition of the trade and the emancipation of the slaves in the British Caribbean. The essay was awarded a prize by the University of Cambridge, and that was what forced Clarkson to turn the essay into a much longer piece, An Essay on The Impolicy of The African Slave Trade, Their production, consumption, and the relative state of the colonies. This became his life’s work until he had to give up his involvement due to bad health. Published in 1788, it gave great insight into the possible course of action if Great Britain were to abandon the trade. In the same year, when an indefinite leave of absence was granted before he quit the cause forever, the committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was established in London. Having Clarkson as director of the committee was a great asset due to his extensive knowledge acquired over nearly 20 years of research and travel.

3. Impact of Slavery

Damages to race relations that emerged from the trans-Atlantic slave trade have had a continuing effect on the way African Americans are viewed in society today. When the Atlantic slave trade was underway, Africans were considered to be racially and culturally inferior. This belief has been persistently visible throughout the history of America. The years of slavery were followed by segregation and the civil rights movement. This era in American history saw a clear distinction between the rights and opportunities available to African Americans in comparison to white Americans. Though today’s society puts forth an effort to promote racial equality, it is still evident that these efforts have not fully achieved success. Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory practices against African Americans can be observed in numerous areas of society. Slavery and its resulting impact have caused a dehumanized image of the African American to persist right up until today. This situation presents a stark contrast to the rich cultural heritage and achievements of African Americans pre-slavery and gives testimony to the lasting damage of slavery on the way African Americans are perceived.

Slavery is an institution which has had a tremendous negative impact on society. The slave trade and its consequences have had far-reaching effects on a great many people, from the enslaved to those living in society today. Its practice has caused considerable damage to race relations. It has detrimentally influenced the socio-economic development of the African American community, and it has also had a lasting impact on many African American families.

4. The Abolitionist Movement

The antislavery movement’s farthest objective was to achieve racial integration and inculcate ex-slaves and immigrants with the democratic virtues, which they felt would provide them the key to political power. To the abolitionists, however, the black man was less a focus of consideration than a symbol. The black played two roles in the drama of history—and even at that time, he acted not much better or more heroic than when he was appearing in their sphere. As a servant of the slave power, he was a victim of its cynical and cruel trampling on the free, and his sufferings were highly useful to show the North the necessity of eradicating the vile thing which brought forth such cruelty. On the other hand, the virtues of the abused negro made an appeal that no idealist could ignore, and they were supplemented by the spectacle of ex-slaves in the West Indies weaving the life that the white race denied them. By all these things, the black’s status came to be a celebrated object lesson in sorrows and wrongs that were to be righted. Through the ferment in public opinion which the movement had achieved through the war and through their efforts during reconstruction, the abolitionists maintained an active propaganda, various and intense, on the negro question. The border state abolitionists, in a movement distinguished as much by courage as it was by futility, sought to end slavery in their own states and elevate the negro to white standards. Grim John Brown led against slavery a final Blackfreedom crusade which ended in the martyrdom of both at Harpers Ferry, and Gerrit Smith and Hopkins, the most imaginative of the abolitionists, tested the idea of rehabilitating.

5. Conclusion: A Triumph for Human Rights

It is fitting to conclude with a reflection on the overall impact of the abolition on the struggle for universal human rights. Every action of man, and every condition, and every possession is relatively good or bad. There is an old heresy that, being conservative. The abolition forever laid to rest relativist thought with regard to the right to liberty. The slowing of progress in the nineteenth century is the best evidence that the movement was not a mere byproduct of advancing industrialization. Rather, it was an ideological advance that gave rise to pressure groups, propaganda, and finally the will that legislative change be implemented. This, in itself, is a mitigation of the suffering of oppressed people. For the Negro, the abolition’s consequences can only be seen as beneficial. Alderman insists that the ex-slave ‘had not attained the intellectual or moral capacity to maintain himself in the exercise of real freedom’. This is immaterial. The abolition put freedom beyond relative.