Documentary Improvements: A Good Interoperation Of The Slave Trade

From: PetroMedia Studios
Date: 20 October 2016 10:12:37AM BST
To: BBC Productions Team
Subject: Slave Trade Documentary Improvements

Dear BBC Production Team,

I have read your initial proposal for the Slave Trade documentary and I believe that it is a good interoperation of the Slave Trade, however, it doesn't tell the whole story of the Abolition.
Taking into account all the other interpretations, I have composed my own version of the documentary, using the original script as my baseline.

The Slave Trade’s downfall was interpreted differently by many historians; for example

Sir Reginald Coupland believed that the Slave Trade ended because of the actions of ‘Saints’ like William Wilberforce. This is known as the ‘traditional’ British

Sometimes, villages worked together to attack British slave ships to take all the slaves back.
- Often, slaves would jump off the ships.
- One of the most famous rebellions was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture who successfully led a rebellion in 1791
- In Britain, Slaves, like James Somersett, often ran away from their masters. When they were captured, his family and friends argued in court that he was a free man and should be left alone but they soon found out there was a law that a black slave couldn't say that a white master had done anything wrong.
- In Jamaica, slaves who ran away formed communities, one called ‘Maroon’, these communities fought against British soldiers and masters.

Richard thought that it was the rebellions that persuaded the whites and changed their minds. Richard believed that the white people were intimidated by the thought that a group of black slaves could end the Slave Trade, that’s why most historians tried to make it look like it was the powerful white men who caused the end of the Slave Trade, people like William

He said that the downfall of the Slave Trade was caused by modern capitalism and that Slaves jobs were replaced by machines. He thought that the slave trade became un-profitable. He also said that the way slaves were transported and how slaves had to be fed was so costly considering that they wouldn't live long. Millions died in Africa before they even got onto the ships. It was shown by reports that an estimated one fifth of slaves died in transit across the Atlantic. The death rate in the ‘seasoning camps’ (which were the places that the slaves would stay in America) was up to 50%.

Despite the changes in historians and the general publics views, most English people still look at the Slave Trade in the ‘traditional’ way; that it was just the white powerful men who bought it all to a halt.
Alex Haley wrote a hugely popular book series in 1977 about the Slave Trade which shows the ‘traditional’ interpretation.
In 2007, Wolden Media produced a film called Amazing Grace which was about the abolition of the Slave Trade. It focused on the work of William Wilberforce and not much else. The only slave in the whole film was Olaudah Equiano; and he only spoke one