Caribbean History

March 1, 2023

Topic: Movements Towards Emancipation

Sub Topic: Campaign after 1807 to bring about Emancipation

By 1823, the abolitionists decided to restart the battle against slavery, and this time they were prepared
to withdraw only after the final victory of emancipation had been won.

A new abolition society, the London for the mitigation and gradual abolition of slavery, was formed in
1823 by this time, Thomas Farwell Buxton was a chief parliamentarian spokesman on slavery. He was
assisted in the house of commands by zochary Macaulay and Dr.Lushington, and in the house of the
lords by lord Suffield. The society attracted white-spread support so that within a year, there were 220
branches open in cities & towns throughout Britain.

They sent 750 petitions to parliament, and newspapers and the anti-slavery monthly reporter were
started. The Society wanted amelioration to be made part of the government’s policy to be enforced by
law, and to be followed by abolition at an early date.

The West Indies’ interest was determined to forestall or undermine the activities of the Anti-slavery
society (which wanted to end slavery) in order to prevent the abolition of slavery, and so the members
quickly formed a community including 10 members of parliament to plan their own campaign.

AMELIORATION
The most noticeable feature in the struggle against slavery between 1807-1834 was the attempt to
improve the conditions under which slaves lived. The policy of amelioration adds certain clearly
specified objectives:

 The flogging of slave women was to be abolished

 There was to be one day of respite before the flogging of male slaves were
administered.
 A record of corpal punishment (beating someone) exceeding three strokes was
to be kept authorized and presented quarterly to colonial ministries
 Splitting slave families by sale and selling slaves for the payment of their owners
dept was to be discontinued.
 Slaves should be allowed to give evidence in court of law.
 Slaves should receive religious teachings
FAILURE OF AMELIORATION
The amelioration policy failed because of the following:

 Planters were strongly opposed to it.

 They were totally against the acceptance of slave evidence, against a white
person in court.
 There were not enough officials in the crown colonies to supervise the
enforcement of the amelioration laws, and those who had the responsibility
were either slave owners themselves or sympathetic to the slave owners.
 Many planters feared that amelioration would erode (stop) their authoritarian
control over their slaves, that salve insubordinate would be encouraged and
that automatedly, amelioration was a violation to their rights to their property
in slaves.

Manumission- The freeing of a slave by the master, either freely or in return for payment by the
enslaved persons.

French Amelioration
In 1815 at Vienna, which ended the French revolution and Napoleonic wars, the French agreed to bring
the slave trade to an end, never the less importation of slaves to the colonist continued.

By the beginning of the 1830s, the French government responding to numerous salves revolts in the
colonies decided to introduce measures to ameliorate or improve the condition of the slaves as the
British.
 The measures where the tax on manumission was abolished and the
manumission process simplified.
 Registration of all slaves was made compulsory
 Branding and mutilation (cutting of the limb) were prohibited.
 Corpal Punishment was limited
 Elementary education and religious instruction for slaves were mandatory