Slavery

In the Victorian Era.

Slavery

I – What is slavery ?

II – The Slave Trade Act of 1807 and The Emancipation Act of 1833.

III –Child labour : a form of slavery ?

I – What is slavery ?

Definition :-Slave : noun. A person who is legally owned by someone else and has to work for them.

A slave had no money, no freedom, and no choice.

But being a slave was not new, slavery had existed from ancient times. For example, slaves were used to built pyramids in Ancient Egypt.

This image reflects the state of mind of the slaves. Slaves were treated even worse than animals, but were they not men and brothers ?

The definition of slavery given by The Slavery Convention of 1926 was : “...the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised….“ (article 1.1)

II – The Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Emancipation Act of 1833.

Title : The ABOLITION of SLAVE TRADE, 1792.

• Why abolish the Slave Trade rather than Slavery itself ?

The members of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, formed on 22nd May 1787, focused on the fact that the Slave Trade had to be prohibited because they thought that if they asked for the Abolition of Slavery directly they would not succeed. They felt like it had to be a gradual process.

Thomas Fowell Buxton said: “That the state of Slavery is repugnant to the principles of the British constitution and of the Christian religion and that it ought to be gradually abolished throughout the British colonies.”

But by the late 1820s, abolitionists demanded immediate emancipation.

Thomas Clarkson

Anti-slavery groups were formed. In 1823, the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery was founded by Thomas Clarkson and Thomas Fowell Buxton who were both British abolitionists. Later it became the Anti-Slavery Society. Thomas Fowell Buxton is the speaker on the painting. Thomas Fowell

Buxton

The Anti-Slavery Society Convention by Benjamin Robert Haydon.

Elizabeth Heyrick

A lot of writers joined the cause such as Elizabeth Heyrick who was a British philanthropist and a campaigner against the slave trade. She was in favor of total abolition opposed to those who thought it had to be a gradual process. Women’s groups were very active, indeed they organized petitions, boycotts ….

Heyrick’s pamphlet

The two major acts that freed the slaves in the British Empire :

The Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807.

The Abolition of Slavery, 1833.

The Emancipation Act did not really free the slaves. They became “apprentices ”. People thought they would not be used to being independent, so they continued to work for their old masters but this time, they had low wages –or none at all. This was seen by the abolitionists as another form of slavery. This system was abolished on 1st August, 1838 after a lot of protests.

Negro apprenticeship in the British colonies, 1837.

Reverse of 2007 Abolition of Slave Trade £2 Gold Proof.

Commemorative medallionObverse of 2007 £2 Gold Proof.

III – Child Labour : a form of slavery ?

Scavengers / piecers

Factory workers

The Factory Act was passed in 1833, it prohibited textile factories from employing children under 9 and created the job of factory inspector who made sure employers respected this Act.

Chimneys sweepers

The Chimney Sweepers Act of 1788 tried to reduce child labour, especially the chimney sweeps who were used a lot because of their size and agility.

Miners

The Mine Act (The Mines and Collieries Act) was passed in 1842 and it outlawed the employment of females and boys under ten years old underground in coal mines.

Children in brickyards

Title : The brickyards of England-children carrying the clay.

Even if some legislation was passed to limit the age and the working hours, it was not enough. By the end of the 19th century, mentalities started to change concerning child labour and so the NSCCP (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was founded in 1889 in order to prevent “cruelty to children” and in 1870 the Education Act was passed, it introduced children to schooling.

Child labour was definitely exploitation but not another form of slavery. Indeed, children did not have the legal status that enslaved people had.

Sources :

-http://abolition.e2bn.org/index.php

-http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/The_Emancipation_of_Slaves

-http://rodriguez9-7.pbworks.com/w/page/10300534/Labor%20and%20Child%20labor