March 25th is the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act, “An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade”, the Act of Parliament which outlawed the trading of slaves. It was the first of three Slave Trade Acts, and slavery was actually abolished only with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The Central Office of Information says:
“Although it would be another 30 years before slaves gained their final freedom – when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire – the Bicentenary in 2007 gives the opportunity to remember the millions who suffered; to pay tribute to the courage and moral conviction of all those – black and white – who campaigned for abolition; and to demand to know why today, in some parts of the world, forms of slavery still persist two centuries after the argument for abolition in this country was won.” (1)
I was reading the other day about the campaign that led to the passing of these Acts, culminating with the total abolition of slavery. I found it very interesting for two reasons. First, it was a religiously motivated campaign; and second, it involved possibly the first ever consumer boycott.
Hey Richard, Religion Ain’t All That Bad
All of the important players in the British fight against slavery were deeply religious. Of course, at that time, Christianity was a default position, and expressions of atheism were very rare. So it’s no surprise that these men were religious. But they were more than just religious by default: to them, their faith was absolutely central to the campaign and underlined everything they did in life.
“So integral to the British economy was the slave business that there were few men and institutions of wealth who did not want to invest in it” (2)
“Given how entrenched the slave trade was at the time, it is remarkable that a campaign to abolish it which began in 1787 succeeded only two decades later.” (3)
These campaigners must have been pretty special.
“It was essentially the alliance of Clarkson, an Anglican, and the Quakers, with their existing network of preachers and supporters, that made up the abolitionist movement.” (4)
The crucial characters, all of whom were pious Christians, and several of whom were zealous evangelists, deserve mention: Samuel Hoare Jr, Joseph Woods Sr, Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce.
I haven’t read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, but I wonder if he has considered examples such as the anti-slavery campaign. Surely it shows that religion is not always a bad thing? As atheists we might prefer that these men had been freethinkers, because that is how we are used to thinking about progress towards freedom and democracy. But history isn’t so simple: the Enlightenment was subtly entwined with religion, rather than implacably opposed to it.
Of course, their Protestantism could be seen as a stepping-stone to atheism and agnosticism, turning away as it did from the monolithic dogma of the Catholic church. But I don’t think even this perspective excuses Dawkins’ shrill righteousness. In Unweaving the Rainbow he says something like sometimes things go so far in one direction that you have to push extra-hard in the other direction to make some difference. Perhaps this is his justification.
Not-Buying Power
We’re used to the idea of consumer power in the modern world, with the anti-apartheid campaign and more recently the ethically-motivated buying of Fairtrade coffee and free-range eggs. It’s not something I’ve ever gone in for. Until recently I would have justified my rejection of it by saying that it would be an acceptance that my best chance of changing things is to use my status as a consumer, rather than as an active citizen.
But this is a perverse, indulgent, ultra-left-style argument. In the case of the anti-slavery campaign, there was a boycott of West Indian sugar, and at its height 300,000 people joined in. If William Fox‘s calculations were anywhere near right – that if 38,000 families joined the boycott, slavery would end – then it seems likely that the boycott must have had an effect.
1. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859
2, 3, 4.
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8749406
Good for people to know.