The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume IIClarkson, Thomas
History
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume II
Clarkson, Thomas
Slave trade -- Africa
Artifice had also been employed. Abolition and emancipation had been so
often confounded, and by those who knew better, that it must have been
purposely done, to throw an odium on the measure which was now before them.
The abolitionists had been also accused as the authors of the late
insurrection in Dominica. A revolt had certainly taken place in that
island. But revolts there had occurred frequently before. Mr. Stanley
himself, in attempting to fix this charge upon them, had related
circumstances, which amounted to their entire exculpation. He had said,
that all was quiet there till the disturbances in the French islands; when
some Negros from the latter had found their way to Dominica, and had
excited the insurrection in question. He had also said, that the Negros in
our own islands hated the idea of the abolition; for they thought, as no
new labourers were to come in, they should be subjected to increased
hardships. But if they and their masters hated this same measure, how was
this coincidence of sentiment to give birth to insurrection?
Other fallacies also had been industriously propagated. Of the African
trade it had been said, that the exports amounted to a million annually;
whereas, from the report on the table, it had on an average amounted to
little more than half a million; and this included the articles for the
purchase of African produce, which were of the value of a hundred and forty
thousand pounds.
The East Indian trade, also, had been said to depend on the West Indian and
the African. In the first place, it had but very little connection with the
former at all. Its connection with the latter was principally on account of
the saltpetre, which it furnished for making gunpowder. Out of nearly three
millions of pounds in weight of the latter article, which had been exported
in a year from this country, one half had been sent to Africa alone; for
the purposes, doubtless, of maintaining peace, and encouraging civilization
among its various tribes! Four or five thousand persons were said also to
depend for their bread in manufacturing guns for the African trade; and
these, it was pretended, could not make guns of another sort.--But where
lay the difficulty?--One of the witnesses had unravelled it. He had seen
the Negros maimed by the bursting of these guns. They killed more from the
butt than from the muzzle. Another had stated, that on the sea-coast the
natives were afraid to fire a trade-gun.
In the West Indian commerce two hundred and forty thousand tons of shipping
were stated to be employed. But here deception intruded itself again. This
statement included every vessel, great and small, which went from the
British West Indies to America, and to the foreign islands; and, what was
yet more unfair, all the repeated voyages of each throughout the year. The
shipping, which could only fairly be brought into this account, did but
just exceed half that which had been mentioned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account