Thomas clarkson born

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His public speeches, supported by visual aids and engravings depicting the instruments of human bondage, struck a chord with the British populace and rallied them to take action against the slave trade.

Anti-Slavery Campaign

In 1787, Clarkson played a crucial role in forming the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

Here, too, he pursued a murder case: in this instance, the affair of the steward, Peter Green, a flute-player, who had been whipped to death by his captain in the Bonny River with a rope, for no good cause. He used this evidence to publish additional anti-slavery works, further bolstering the abolitionist movement.

Passage of the Slave Trade Act and Legacy

Clarkson's dedication and the collective efforts of the abolitionist movement bore fruit when the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807.

This committee consisted of influential figures like Granville Sharp, Josiah Wedgwood, and William Wilberforce, whom Clarkson convinced to join the cause. The monumental changes brought about by his activism continue to be celebrated today, marking him as a champion of freedom and a central figure in the fight against slavery in British heritage.

They had room, however, to exploit two highly personal incidents, involving Clarkson's letters about his financial subscription and his plea for his brother's promotion. Where possible, the authors ignored Clarkson; where they could not they disparaged him. He received the testimony of a surgeon named Gardiner, about to sail to Africa on the ship Pilgrim.

The Wilberforce's use of them attracted almost universal condemnation at the time...

The problem raised by the Wilberforce Life was identified by Henry Robinson. From Quaker informants Clarkson found evidence of the brutalities committed on a recently returning slaver, The Brothers, whose captain had tortured a free black sailor, John Dean.

He extensively researched the slave trade, reading accounts by abolitionists and interviewing individuals with firsthand experiences in the trade. He devoted his time and energy to travelling around Britain, particularly to the ports of Liverpool and Bristol, gathering evidence about the slave trade from eyewitnesses, especially from sailors who had worked on slave trading ships.

Clarkson also bought examples of equipment used on slave ships, including handcuffs, shackles and branding irons, which he used as visual aids.

Their situation is worse in rainy weather. He talked to a surgeon's mate who had been brutally used on board the slave ship Alfred; and he gained information at first-hand of the terrible affair of the Calabar River in 1767. Clarkson went to Bristol. above all, he is perfectly free from affectation; so that, though we may be wearied, we are never disturbed or offended - and read on, in tranquility, till we find it impossible to read any more.

(8) Ellen Gibson Wilson, Thomas Clarkson (1989)

The five volumes which the Wilberforces published in 1838 vindicated Clarkson's worst fears that he would be forced to reply.

Though no one thought that the government would in the foreseeable future introduce a bill for the abolition of the trade, individual members, including officials, were (thanks to the help of Pitt) encouraging, and gave him access to invaluable state documents, including customs papers of the main ports. Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament, became a prominent voice in the fight against the slave trade.

Clarkson's efforts to collect evidence and testimonials from sailors and surgeons who had been involved in the slave trade significantly contributed to the growing awareness of the atrocities committed during the transatlantic crossings.

It is readily available and cannot be ignored because of the wealth of original material it contains.

Spartacus Educational

Primary Sources

(1) Thomas Clarkson interviewed a sailor who worked on a slave-ship and published the account in his book, Essay on the Slave Trade (1789)

The misery which the slaves endure in consequence of too close a stowage is not easy to describe.

The Deputy Town Clerk of Bristol obligingly told him, however, that "he only knew of one captain from the port in the slave trade who did not deserve to be hanged". The essay attracted a lot of attention and enabled him to meet other abolitionists, including Granville Sharp.

In 1787, Clarkson and Sharp were instrumental in forming the Committee for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade.

What could Mr Wilberforce have done in parliament, if I ...