“Abolitionism” generally refers to the political and cultural movement directed against the British Atlantic trade in slaves. This activity was at its height during the period from roughly 1780 to 1807 when the trade was formally abolished within the British colonies. Between 1680 and 1783 more than two million African slaves were transported to the British colonies alone, and it is estimated that British ships were carrying over 50,000 slaves a year to the Americas between 1791 and 1800 to work in the sugar plantations of the Caribbean and the rice, cotton and tobacco plantations of North America. Most of the slaves went to the sugar colonies, which were believed to account for a substantial portion of Britain’s commercial prosperity. A

This article in full comprises 2495 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

Published 14 July 2004

Citation: Kitson, Peter. "Abolitionism and Anti-Slavery (British)". The Literary Encyclopedia. 14 July 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=8, accessed 20 November 2009.]