British West Indies free essay sample

How great a role did the abolitionists play in ending slavery in the British West Indies in 1 834? The abolitionists played a very vital role in the abolition of the slave trade and the abolition of slavery itself. The movement to end slavery began in 1823 with the formation of the Society for Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery and the efforts continued with the Agency Committee formed in 1 831. There were other mitigating circumstances which also favored the abolitionists such as the Reform Act, the economic decline of West India sugar, social unrest of the slaves and the Industrial revolution.All these factors contributed to the gradual ending Of slavery in the British West Indies. They were also aware of the huge commercial and economic power of the Caribbean planter interest. By the 1 asss it was obvious that slavery was still well established in the Caribbean. Facing this reality, the old members of the abolitionist society met in 1823 and formed the London Society for Mitigating and Gradually Abolition of Slavery. We will write a custom essay sample on British West Indies or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thomas Clarion, a member traveled ten thousand miles trying to get support and to encourage the formation of local organizations. His efforts resulted in the formation of two hundred and thirty local organizations. The main strategy was the preparation of petitions and by 1 824 seven hundred and seventy seven petitions was sent to Parliament calling for the total abolition of slavery. Parliaments response was limited choosing to focus on the improvement of the slaves lives by setting forth the Amelioration proposals. The responsibility for implementing the proposals was given to the colonial assemblies but little or nothing was actually done. Many Christians complained of being abused by the plutocracy and the mutinous bad treatment of the slaves.The slaves believed that the Amelioration Proposals meant freedom and this rumor caused an uproar amongst the slaves who wanted to take action against the planters for withholding their freedom. This lead to a climate of greater instability and insecurity on the plantations. For example, the major slave revolt in Jamaica, led by Sam Sharpe in 1831-32 alerted both government and parliament about the problems of the sugar islands. It was clear that the Jamaican slaves had been only temporally under control and high ranking officials anticipated a ewe inevitable revolt that even the military could not suppress.To prevent a further rebellion Sam Sharp was captured and executed in Market Square, Montage Bay on May 23, 1832. Many of the younger activists were determined for an immediate change and wanted to get the British public more involved in the movement and win their support for immediate emancipation. So they organized their own separate Agency Committee in 1831. They divided England into five districts, each headed by a paid itinerant speaker who gave public lectures, held debates and went door- to- door educating people on the evils of slavery.The number of abolitionist groups soon topped one thousand two hundred which greatly strengthened the moveme nt. The group still maintained its religious affiliation which included many Methodists, Baptists as well as Quakers. The principal reason for the great change in the orientation of the British Empire was the Industrial Revolution, which had created a new economy and caused the emergence of new cities such as Manchester and Birmingham where the new factories were centered.However, because the electoral system was still that formulated in 682, these new towns had no political representation, while towns that had been important but now had as few as ten inhabitants still had two MSP in the House of Commons. These were known as rotten boroughs. Demand for reform had grown as the Industrial Revolution had grown, and in addition to the demand for the fairer distribution of voting towns there were also calls for a change in the voting process.At the time the vote was only open to landowners, meaning that almost 95 percent of the population had no say in political matters. The vote was done by counting hands in an open vote, a recess that made it easy for a landlord to see which of his tenants had betrayed him and so treat them worse as a result. This led to corruption. Most radicals wanted changes that would mean the vote for all and a secret ballot, where voters could cast their vote anonymously.The British Reform Act of 1 832 secured more people the right to vote in Britain and the number of people allowed to vote increased from about 400,000 to 650,000. The Representation of the people Act 1 832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. The voters were chiefly members of the industrial middle class. The industrialists had no interest in seeing the retention of slavery as their inventions would fill the gap where labor was in short supply.Besides, freed slaves meant cheap labor in their manufacturing plants as well. So it was in the best interest of the Industrialist to stay away from defending slavery. Besides, Britain no longer needed slave- based goods. The country was more able to prosper from new systems which required high efficiency, through free trade and free labor. Cotton, rather than sugar, became the main produce of the British economy and English towns, such as Manchester and Sailors, became industrial centers of world importance.Thus, for the new election for 1 832, the abolitionists campaigned directly for those candidates whom they knew would support their cause and published a list of candidates tagged with their views on abolition. As a result, t-von. Or thirds of those who supported slavery were swept from power. The once powerful West India Lobby had lost its political strength. To ensure that the newly reformed parliament remembered the question of slavery, a large march to the Prime Ministers office was organized in early 1833.Finally the bill for the Abolition Act was passed in parliament in both houses in the summer of 1833 to be effective August 1, 1834. The ban was to be applied to the whole British Empire with the exception for those territories under the control of the East India Company, Cello and the island of SST Galena. Compensation package of twenty million pounds was paid to the former slave owners. Emancipated slaves over the age of five had to serve an apprenticeship period working for their former masters until 1840 for the lied slaves and 1838 for the others.Slavery ended in the British West Indies not because of the kindness of the planters but because of the persistent efforts of the abolitionists. The abolitionists had a number of external factors working in their favor and took advantage of them as best as possible. The most notable one was the Reform Act of 1832. Other factors such as the decline in demand for West India sugar, the industrial revolution and the slave rebellions all came together at the right time to enhance the efforts of the abolitionists.