Mark and Tom were out today delivering the first public Anti Slavery Tour. Kind weather and great guests. To learn more book a tour! https://bit.ly/3DHN23D Tours each Sat, 10.30 @ Big Fish, 11.2.23 to 25.3.23. http://antislaverybelfast.com
The London 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention was a historic event that took place in June 1840 in London, England. It was organized by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and was attended by delegates from all over the world, including the United States, Canada, and various European countries. The convention was held in response to the growing global movement against slavery and the slave trade, and it aimed to bring together abolitionists from different countries to coordinate their efforts and exchange ideas. The convention was held at the Freemason’s Hall…
Very interesting podcast on Ireland and the abolitionist movement. Fin Dwyer talks to historian Christine Kinealy on how from the 1790s onwards numerous Black anti-slavery activists visited Ireland to build support for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself. This would see some of the most famous African Americans in history including Frederick Douglas visit Ireland. Info at https://irishhistory.bigcartel.com/ To learn more slavery in Belfast, sign up for the ANTI SLAVERY BELFAST TOUR via the website.
For KS3 pupils, the BBC has put together some interesting educational resources on the slave trade and Belfast. More info here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z4x747h/articles/z2fk8hv To learn more slavery in Belfast, sign up for the ANTI SLAVERY BELFAST TOUR via the website.
William Drennan was born in Belfast in 1754. He was one of 11 siblings, but only 3 survived infancy. Drennan studied at the University of Glasgow, a centre of the Scottish Enlightenment. He came to national attention through his publication of “Letters of Orellana,” supporting radical constitutional reform. In 1791, Drennan proposed a “benevolent conspiracy” for the “Rights of Man” and independence for Ireland. In 1793, he was arrested for sedition, but successfully defended himself at trial. Though Drennan did not write extensively about abolition, his friends, family and associates…
Mark Doherty and Tom Thorpe were out today with the first outing of the ANTI SLAVERY BELFAST tour today with 21 NITGA guides for a CPd familiarization tour. Thanks all for turning out!
The Bible was used by both abolitionists and pro-slavery campaigners to support their views. Some passages to support slavery included: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” (Ephesians 6:5) “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” (1 Peter 2:18) “When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his…
Richard Allen was born to Edward and Ellen Allen at Harold’s Cross near Dublin. He was the second of fifteen children. An orthodox Quaker, his business was in textiles but his interests were in reform, temperance and the abolition of slavery. He married Ann Webb in 1828. In 1837, Allen was one of three founding members, with James Haughton and Richard Davis Webb, of the Hibernian Antislavery Association. This was not the first antislavery association but it was acknowledged to be the most active. Allen served as the secretary of…
Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African American writer, abolitionist, and merchant who lived in the 18th century. He was born in what is now Nigeria in 1745 and was enslaved as a child. After being transported to the British colonies in the Americas, he worked to purchase his freedom and eventually became a successful merchant, sailor, and writer. It is not clear if Equiano ever visited Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, as a sailor, he may have traveled to various ports throughout the British Empire, including…
Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-1866) was an African American abolitionist, clergyman, and social reformer who lived in the 19th century. He was born in Maryland and became involved in the abolitionist movement in the 1830s and 1840s, working to end slavery in the United States. Ward was a charismatic speaker and was known for his powerful oratory skills, which he used to advocate for the abolition of slavery and the rights of African Americans. He travelled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, giving lectures and speeches on the abolitionist cause.…
Belfast produced not one but two abolitionist watch makers. Thomas McCabe was the first and the second was Robert Neill, on High Street from 1803. Neill supplied watches, clocks, marine chronometers, optical equipment & jewellery. Some of the company’s oldest public clocks are still extant in Belfast. Robert Neill lost his wife, Letitia Ireland, in 1845, and dedicated his remaining days to helping others. A particular passion was the abolition of slavery. As an influential member of the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society he hosted three of the greatest American abolitionists, in…
John Newton was born in Wapping, London. By the age of eleven he was serving on his father’s ship sailing to the Mediterranean. Later he was press ganged onto HMS Harwich eventually being exchanged for a merchant seaman. He resumed life in the maritime trade working on the West African coast buying slaves. For a time he was ‘enslaved’ himself and forced to work on a plantation. In 1747 he was rescued and returned to England on a ship called the ‘Greyhound’. The ‘Greyhound’ traded on gold, ivory, beeswax and…
The Zong was a slave ship that sailed from Accra on 18 August 1782 with 442 enslaved people, heading for Jamaica. During the voyage, due to a navigational error it was believed that the ship was further from its destination than presumed that the ship did enough drinking water for all on board. The crew decided to throw 142 slaves overboard and the insurance they had taken out to minimise their expected financial loss. The insurers refused to pay up and slave owners took the insurers to court and brought…
In 1807, the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed that prohibited the slave trade in the British Empire. The Act created fines for ship captains who continued with the trade. These fines could be up to £100 per enslaved person found on a ship. Captains would sometimes dump captives overboard when they saw Navy ships coming in order to avoid these fines.[1] The first case brought under the act was that of Samuel Samo, who was tried by Chief Justice Robert Thorpe at the Vice-Admiralty Court…
Charles Lenox Remond was from Massachusetts and he was the first African-American to be employed by the American Anti-Slavery Society to promote their cause, giving talks across the Northeast of the US. His parents were freed slaves, so he had a relatively privileged upbringing for a black person in those times. His passionate oratorical skills in speaking out against slavery made a great impression on all. He worked alongside journalist William Lloyd Garrison, a white man who lead the abolitionist movement in the United States for many decades. In 1840…
The Act for the ‘Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves’ received Royal assent on 28 August 1833.[1] The Act: made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire, with the exception of “the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company”, Ceylon and Saint Helena. provided for compensation to slave-owners. The British government raised £20 million to pay out for the loss of the…
The Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade received royal assent on 25 March 1807. It prohibited the slave trade in the British Empire but did not abolish the practice of slavery. Slavery was abolished in most of the British Empire in 1833. Slavery remained profitable in the British Empire up until 1807. Between 1791 and 1800, British ships made about 1,340 voyages across the Atlantic, landing nearly 400,000 slaves. Between 1801 and 1807, they took a further 266,000 individuals.[1] The Act created fines for ship captains who continued…
Lincoln ran for president in 1860, sweeping the North of America to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the Southern states viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the US Union. The US Civil War broke out in 1861 and Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states “in rebellion” to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to “recognize and maintain the freedom of…
This was an alphabet book published in 1846 by the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Written by two of the society’s members, Hannah and Mary Townsend, it aimed to educate children with abolitionist ideas. The book is prefaced with a poem, “To Our Little Readers”, that encourages readers to talk to other children and adults about ending slavery, and to refuse foods made with sugar, which was produced on plantations worked by slave labour. Each page of the main body of the book is illustrated with two decorated upper-case letters of…
John Brown (1800-1859) was an American abolitionist leader who was executed for leading a failed slave rebellion at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Brown grew up as an evangelical Christian with strong religious convictions; he believed that he was a “an instrument of God”, destined to strike the “death blow” to American slavery. Brown was the leading exponent of violence in the American abolitionist movement as decades of peaceful efforts had failed. Brown first gained national attention when he led anti-slavery volunteers and his own sons during the Bleeding Kansas…
