ABSTRACT
Slave Trade is formed by Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp and Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95). Nine of the 12 committee members are Quakers but the Society’s establishment broadens the base of antislave trade activity. Sharp’s call for the society to include the abolition of slavery in its programme is rejected by other members of the founding committee but he is elected chairman, with William Wilberforce as the body’s main spokesman. This is necessary as the majority of the committee are Quakers and are debarred from becoming MPs. Wilberforce is an evangelical Anglican. The Society’s seal – a kneeling black slave in chains with his hands lifted skywards and the motto ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother?’ – is designed by Wedgwood. Women are excluded from the leadership but are estimated to account for 10% of financial support given to the organisation, rising to 25% in some areas. Clarkson is despatched to the two main trading ports of Bristol and Liverpool to gather evidence through interviews to provide background for a parliamentary campaign. He conducts 20,000 interviews and obtains samples of equipment used in the ill-treatment of slaves during transportation. Clarkson’s pamphlet A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of its Abolition is published. A British government commission of enquiry into the slave trade reports that of an annual British export from Africa of 40,000 slaves, two thirds are sold on to Britain’s economic competitors; this is viewed as detrimental to Britain’s economic interests.
