The Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade"

Towards the end of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth century, the debate everyplace whether or not to abolish the striver trade and unloose the slaves became of premiere interest in Britain. An array of popular literature concerning slavery, written during the Romantic period, helped spur public interest in this debate. In this essay, I will first examine two popular Romantic period memoirs of former slaves, The fire communicatory of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, and The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, in order to show the viewpoint of slavery from the slaves perspective. Next, I will compargon and contrast the slaves lives with two differing British perspectives on slavery, one of which describes slavery as a moral responsibility, as presented in the play The Benevolent Planters, by Thomas Bellamy, and some other that finds slavery morally reprehensible, as seen in poetry by Ann Cromartie Yearsley and William Cowper.

Memoirs written by former slave traders and slaves supplied some of the virtually touching testimony favoring the abolition of slavery. One such work, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, written by former slave Olaudah Equiano, immediately became an international bestseller.



Through Equianos eyes, the reader sees the inhumanity of the black-and-blue slave traders, the violence inflicted upon the slaves, in particularly the female slaves, and the hardships pull down a freed slave must endure. Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, among other names given to him by his many contrary masters, was kidnapped from Africa at age ten and sold to an Englishman.

Aboard the slavers ship during the pump Passage, Equianos innocence and naiveté is reflected by his wonderment concerning his fate and the white men, whom Equiano believes are spirits because of their strange looks and ability to move the ship. Perhaps because of...

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