The Abolition Of Slavery In America

Introduction

Slavery a system under which people are treated as property. Deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation, slaves were seen as little more than cattle. The most well-known occurrence of slavery is that of the African people who were not only enslaved in their homeland but taken unwilling from such to become servants under European rule in the ‘New World’ (the Americas). Slavery in the Americas had a contentious history, and played a major role in the history and evolution of some countries, triggering at least one revolution and one civil war, as well as numerous rebellions.

‘Captive Africans and their descendants paid with their blood and sweat for the phenomenal expansion of human possibilities

The abolitionists decided not to press for an end to slavery itself (though some members of the committee wanted total emancipation). Instead they opted to demand the abolition of the slave trade, which seemed more practical and manageable. After all, the bulk of the slave ships left from British ports, and Parliament could regulate or ban the movement of shipping from Britain itself. To persuade Parliament to end the British slave trade, the abolitionists had to win over opinion in both the Commons and the Lords. But they faced resolute opposition from powerful interests in Parliament, especially in the Lords, and in the country at large. After all, major commercial interests were determined to see the slave trade continue. Merchants, shippers, financiers, planters, colonial officials all these and more saw their future livelihoods tied to the slave

The most basic purpose of slavery is to rid oneself of work and force the hideous labour upon someone else. Since the time of our more primitive era, societies have taken slaves from war and conquest, and forced them to do their workaday tasks. As Robin Blackburn put it: 'The pace of capitalist advance in Britain was decisively advanced by its success in creating a regime of extended private accumulation battening upon the super-exploitation of slaves in the Americas'.

A person with freedom may lose it. He may not be confident of always having it. He may not be sure that he really does have it. We all need to understand the meaning of freedom because as human beings we are capable of great deceptions of not only ourselves but