Comparing Hannah More's 'Slavery And The Dying N'

Hannah More’s “Slavery” and “The Dying N****” by Thomas Day and John Bicknell demonstrate how White abolitionist literature is characterized by sentimentalism. Sentimentalism aimed to evoke sympathy and empathy towards enslaved Africans in an attempt to humanize them rather than perceive them as mere property. By appealing to the reader's emotions, writers of abolitionist literature intended to persuade them to be for the abolitionist movement. However, this movement reinforces harmful stereotypes of Africans as pathetic, victimized, and to be pitied, perpetuating racial hierarchies and limiting the agency of black individuals. For this reason, This paper argues that while sentimentalism intended to humanize and empathize with enslaved people,

Here, More questions the justification for oppression and the slave trade and argues that it is only because Africans possess “darker skin”. Thus aiming to get readers to re-evaluate and shift such attitudes. In this same section she also voices that “ tho’dark and savage, ignorant and blind/they claim the common privilege of kind” and “are still men, and men shou’d still be free” (140). Moore humanizes the enslaved Africans by acknowledging their humanity and arguing like other humans they should hold the same privileges. Nonetheless, she undermines her argument by referring to enslaved Africans as ‘dark and savage, ignorant and blind.” This language reflects a condescending attitude towards them and reinforces the idea that enslaved Africans are helpless and in need of a white saviour to rescue and educate them. In addition to that, this language serves to distance the reader from the enslaved Africans by emphasizing their “otherness” and difference, rather than further acknowledging their shared humanity. Ultimately, although intending to “help” the oppressed, Moore inadvertently maintains this idea of racial

However, it also reinforced harmful stereotypes and racial and cultural hierarchies. The works of Thomas Day, John Bicknell, and Hannah More illustrate how white abolitionist literature is characterized by sentimentalism. They both may intend to humanize enslaved Africans by evoking empathy and sympathy from the readers, but the way Africans are depicted in both poems is driven by racially motivated perceptions of them. In Day and Bickenell’s “the Dying N****”, they accomplish this by reinforcing the idea that white the desire for white women was a universal experience to appeal to readers' sensibilities. In More’s poem, she carries this out when she undermines her argument about how one's possession of darker skin should not strip their humanity away. She demonstrates this by referring to them as “dark, and savage, ignorant and blind” which distances the enslaved Africans from their European counterparts. Similarly, both poems exhibit the idea that Africans need to be Christianized or “white-washed” to an extent to receive this empathy and sympathy. All in all, in light of these complexities and contradictions within white abolitionist literature, it is crucial to approach these works with a discerning eye to recognize both the humanizing and dehumanizing aspects of sentimentalism. Acknowledging and