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Passage to Freedom

Teachers Resource Pack

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© Anti-Slavery International, London

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Contents IntroductionTimeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1400-1700Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1700-1790Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1790-1838Motions against the slave trade introduced by William WilberforceTimeline of the act to Abolish the Slave TradeCharactersCurriculum Vitae: Thomas Fowell BuxtonCurriculum Vitae: Henry BroughamCurriculum Vitae: Thomas ClarksonCurriculum Vitae: Ottobah CugoanoCurriculum Vitae: Olaudah EquianoCurriculum Vitae: Stephen LushingtonCurriculum Vitae: Zachary MacaulayCurriculum Vitae: Mary PrinceCurriculum Vitae: Ignatius SanchoCurriculum Vitae: Samuel SharpeCurriculum Vitae: William WilberforceBuxton Memorial Fountain Fact FileImage 1 – Original Memorial PlaqueImage 2 – Anti-Slavery Society plaqueImage 3 – EnamellingImage 4 – Enamelled metal roof, cross and stoneworkImage 5 – Mosaic workImage 6 – CarvingsImage 7 – PillarsHow the play works and Living History propsIssues raised by the play and activitiesArguments and counter argumentsWho writes history?Women and the campaign to abolish the slave tradeMemorials

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Introduction 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliament that abolished the slave trade to the British Colonies. The legislation was called An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

It became law on 25th March 1807.

Triangular Trade

The law ended a trade that English merchants had been taking part in since 1562.

By the 18th Century, it had become a triangular sea journey. The first leg was to Africa from ports such as London, Liverpool or Bristol. Ships were loaded with copper, cloth, trinkets, guns and ammunition. When they arrived in Africa, the cargo was sold in exchange for slaves.

The second leg became known as the Middle Passage. Slaves were taken to America and the West Indies, where they would be sold for a good profit.

The ships were then loaded for the final leg of the triangle to their home port. From the West Indies, the main cargo was sugar, rum and molasses. From Virginia, it was tobacco and hemp.

British ships made more than 11,000 journeys. It’s estimated that more than 12 million enslaved Africans were transported and that 3 million of them died on the journey.

Abolition

Until the 18th century, slavery was considered an acceptable part of the economic system. It allowed many countries to prosper from the trade of goods produced by enslaved labour.

British people began to be concerned about the slave trade and the treatment of Africans in the 1760s. There were petitions, marches, lobbies of parliament and boycotts of goods. People who campaigned against the slave trade came from all walks of life. They included: former enslaved Africans such as Olaudah Equiano and Ignatius Sancho; parliamentarians such as William Wilberforce; writers such as Thomas Clarkson; and religious groups like the Quakers and the evangelical Clapham Sect.

British citizens were also part of the campaign. It was a grass roots movement, similar in its day to the tens of thousands who worked to abolish apartheid in South Africa. The campaigners were people of courage and principle who chose to make their voices heard when it was sometimes unpopular to do so.

The 1807 Act stopped the slave trade to the British colonies. But it didn’t stop slavery itself. The campaign in Britain continued until 1838 when slaves in the British colonies finally became free.

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1441

1502

1562

1632

1646

1655

1660

1672

1675

1679

1698

Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1400 - 1700

1400

1700

The start of European Slave trading in Africa

The first African slaves arrived in the Americas

John Hawkins, a merchant, became the first known Englishman to capture and enslave African people and transport them across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

King Charles I granted a license to a group of London merchants to transport enslaved people from West Africa

The philosopher, Sir Thomas Browne, wrote against slavery

England seized Jamaica from Spain. Slave uprising in Jamaica

King Charles II granted a charter to English merchants trading to Africa

The Royal African Company was formed by London merchants to regulate the English slave trade.

35 enslaved Africans executed for conspiracy to rebel in Jamaica

Slave revolt in St Domingue

The Royal African Company lost its monopoly and the English slave trade was opened up to private traders.

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Slave revolt in Cuba and war in Jamaica between the British and runaway slaves

77 slaves were burnt in a revolt in Antigua

Free Africans release slaves on a British ship in Sierra Leone

Successful slave revolt on the ship The Adventure, off West Africa

Slave rebellion in Jamaica and Nevis

Slave uprising on 17 estates in Jamaica

James Somerset, a slave who ran away from his owner, won a court case in Britain that gave him constitutional rights to his liberty

The House of Commons debated the motion: “That the slave trade is contrary to the laws of God and the rights of man”.

131 Africans thrown overboard from a slave ship Zong so that the owner could claim insurance

Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African published

First Quaker petition to parliament against the slave trade

Thomas Clarkson published An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species

The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade formed. Thomas Clarkson published A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition. 11,000 people signed a petition against the slave trade in Manchester. Ottobah Cuguano, an ex-slave, published Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species

102 Abolitionist petitions handed into parliament

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano published

1700

1790

Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1700-1790

1729

1735

1740

1753

1760-61

1765

1772

1776

1780

1781

1782

1786

1787

1788

1789

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Slave uprising in St Domingue, led by Toussaint Louverture

310 petitions against the slave trade were handed to Parliament, with 400,000+ names. Thomas Clarkson encouraged 300,000 people to boycott sugar and its products. MPs voted for an Anti-slave trade Bill but the House of Lords voted against

Slave rebellions in Grenada and St Vincent

St Domingue was declared independent and was renamed Republic of Haiti

MPs voted for an Anti-Slave Trade Bill but the House of Lords voted against

The Foreign Slave Trade Abolition Bill became law. This banned British people importing slaves to foreign countries

March 25th, An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade became law. This banned the trade of slaves to British colonies

British West African Squadron established in Sierra Leone to suppress illegal slave trading by British citizens

Slave rebellion in Barbados damaged the harvest before it was crushed

Slave Regulation Act forced all slave owners to provide a list of all the enslaved people they owned every 2 years

300,000 people in Britain boycotted sugar in protest at slavery

Major slave revolt called ‘The Baptist War,’ led by Samuel Sharpe in Jamaica was brutally suppressed. The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave published.

Slavery Abolition Bill passed by British Parliament.The government paid slave owners compensation and forced slaves to continue working for their owners as ‘apprentices’ for another six years

500,000 people signed Thomas Clarkson’s petition to Parliament calling for an end to the Apprenticeship system. Parliament ended the system and enslaved people finally became free on August 1st

1790

1838

Timeline of slavery and the slave trade: 1790-1838

1791

1792

1795-6

1804

1805

1806

1807

1808

1816

1817

1830

1831

1833

1838

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Agreed by House of Commons but delayed by an inquiry by the House of Lords

Defeated by 61-3

Lord’s inquiry peters out

Defeated by 78-61

Defeated by 74-70

Defeated by 82-74

Defeated by 87-83

Defeated by 84-54

Passed in House Commons but rejected by the House of Lords

Defeated by 77-70

Motions against the Slave Trade introduced by William Wilberforce in the House of Commons

1792

1793

1794

1795

1796

1797

1798

1799

1804

1805

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House of Commons debated the resolution: That this House, conceiving the African Slave Trade to be contrary to the Principles of Justice, Humanity and sound Policy, will with all practicable Expedition, proceed to take effectual Measures for abolishing the said Trade, in such Manner and at such Period as may be deemed advisable. The motion was agreed by 114-15

An identical resolution was debated in the House of Lords and agreed by 41 votes to 21

Slave Trade Abolition Bill presented in House of Lords and given a 1st reading.

Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Lords from the planters of Trinidad; West Indian planters; merchants and corporation of Liverpool and the colonial agent of Jamaica

Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Lords from the merchants of London and a firm of dyers and calico printers

House of Lords approved the Bill and sent it to the House of Commons

Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Commons from the merchants and corporation of Liverpool and London

Petitions against the Bill presented to the House of Commons from the colonial agent of Trinidad, West Indian planters; the colonial agent of Jamaica; the planters of Glasgow and the proprietors of Bance Island

Bill approved in House of Commons by 283 votes to 16

Royal assent give to the Slave Trade Abolition Bill

Timeline of the Act to Abolish the Slave Trade

1806 180610 June24 June

1807

02 Jan

21, 23 Jan

2, 6 Feb

10 Feb

13, 16 Feb

19, 20 Feb

23 Feb

25 March

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Characters Curriculum VitaeThomas Fowell Buxton*

Henry Brougham*

Thomas Clarkson*

Ottobah Cuguano

Olaudah Equiano

Stephen Lushington*

Zachary Macaulay*

Mary Prince

Ignatius Sancho

Samuel Sharpe

William Wilberforce*

The characters in bold appear in the play

The characters marked by an * are mentioned on the Buxton Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens

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Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

1786

1845

Castle Hedingham, Essex

Son of a Quaker. Buxton had 8 children, 4 of whom died in an outbreak of whooping cough

Schools in Kingston upon Thames and Greenwich then Trinity College, Dublin

Partner in the Truman Brewery

MP for Weymouth

Led campaign against slavery in the House of Commons

An Enquiry, Whether Crime and Misery are produced orprevented by our present system of Prison Discipline (1818)

The African Slave Trade and its Remedy (1839)

Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (founder member)

Campaigned for starving population of Spitalfields in London

Prison Reform

Abolition of the death penalty

The slave sees the mother of his children stripped naked and flogged unmercifully; he sees his children sent to market, to be sold at the best price they will fetch; he sees himself not a man, but a thing – an implement of husbandry, a machine to produce sugar, a beast of burden!

Speech in the House of Commons (15th May, 1823)

Campaigning in Parliament against slavery

Thomas Fowell Buxton

By Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1840 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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1778

1868

Edinburgh

Eldest son of an influential Cumberland family

Royal High School, Edinburgh then Edinburgh University

Lawyer One of the founders of the Edinburgh Review magazine

Secretary to a diplomatic mission to Portugal

MP

Lord Chancellor (1830-1834)

Scientific papers on light and coloursArticles for the Edinburgh Review

Fellow of the Royal Society

Anti Slavery Society

Reform of the voting system

Education for poor children

The right to form trade unions

Equal rights for women

“Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern but impossible to enslave.” Speech to the House of Commons (January 29, 1828)

Speaking out against injustice, including slavery

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Henry Brougham

Replica by James Lonsdale, 1821© National Portrait Gallery, London

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1760

1846

Cambridgeshire

Son of a school teacher and priest

Wisbech Grammer School, St Paul’s School in London,Cambridge University (theology)

Writer and campaigner against slavery and the slave trade

Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting (1785)

An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1786)

A summary View of the Slave Trade and the Probably Consequences of its Abolition (1787)

Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade (1788)

An Essay on the Slave Trade (1789)

On the Comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition as Applied to the Slave Trade (1789)

The Print (1789) – the plan of the slave trader ship The Brookes loaded with slaves for the Middle Passage

Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade (founder member)Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of SlaveryBritish and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society

“We cannot suppose therefore that God has made an order of beings, with such mental qualities and powers, for the sole purpose of being used as beasts, or instruments of labour” His 1785 essay

“Take courage, be not dismayed, go on, persevere to the last, ahead lies the elimination of slavery from the whole world” Speaking on 12th June 1840 to 5,000 people at the first meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in London

Collecting evidence against the slavery and the slave trade and leading the campaign outside Parliament

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Sayings

Best known for

Thomas Clarkson

By Carl Frederik von Breda, 1788 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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after 1757

1803 (approximately)

Ajumako (modern day Ghana)

Little known except that he was kidnapped in 1770 and sold into slavery for a “gun, a piece of cloth and some lead”

Self-taught then school in London

Slave in the West Indies Servant in London Writer and campaigner against the slave trade

Narrative of the Enslavement of Ottobah Cugoano, a Native of Africa (1787)

Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1787)

Sons of Africa, a group of black activists in London who campaigned against the slave trade

Unknown

“If there were no buyers there would be no sellers” Comment on the slave trade from his book of 1787

“When we found ourselves at last taken away, death was more preferable to life and a plan was concerted amongst us that we might burn and blow up the ship and to perish all together in the flames.” Conditions on a slave ship, from his book of 1787

Being the first African to campaign against the slave trade

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Ottobah Cuagoano(named John Stuart by his owner)

No artistic impression of Ottobah Cuagoano is recorded

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1745 (approximately)

1797

Eboe (modern day Nigeria)

Little known except that he was kidnapped aged about 11 with his sister and taken to the West Indies and then America

Self-taught

Slave in Barbados and Virginia

Slave of a Royal Navy Officer, then a British ship captain and a merchant

Merchant seaman, explorer, civil servant, writer and Campaigner against the slave trade

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African (1789)

Sons of Africa, a group of black activists in London who campaigned against the slave trade

Extending the right to vote to all citizens

“The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each has scarcely room to turn himself.”Life on a slave ship, from his book of 1789

Being the most prominent African to campaign against the slave trade

Date of Birth

Date of Death Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Olaudah Equiano(named Gustavus Vassa by his owner)

By Daniel Orme, published 1789 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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1782

1873

South Hill Park, Berkshire

Son of the chairman of the East India Company

Eton College and Oxford University

Lawyer

Judge

MP

The Society for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (founder member)

Emancipation of Catholics and full civil rights for Jews

Reform of the legal system

Campaigning in Parliament against slavery and the slave trade. In 1824 he was chiefly responsible for an act banning the transfer of slaves between British colonies.

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Membership

Other interests

Best known for

StephenLushington

By William Holman Hunt 1862 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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1768

1838

Inverary, Scotland

Son of a Church of Scotland minister

Early education only but taught himself Greek and Latin

Clerk for a Glasgow merchant Manager of a sugar plantation in Jamaica

Governor of Sierra Leone, the colony established in 1788 for freed slaves in West Africa Secretary of the Sierra Leone Company

Editor of the Christian Observer, the magazine of the Clapham Sect

Editor of the Anti-Slavery Reporter

Negro Slavery or A view of some of the prominent features of that state of society as it exists in the United States of America and the colonies of the West Indies, especially in Jamaica (1824)

Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Secretary of The African Institution, an anti-slavery organisation

The Clapham Sect, a group of evangelical Christian reformers The Society for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery (founder member)

Fellow of the Royal Society

Compiling evidence against the slave trade and travelling on a slave ship

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Best known for

Zachary Macaulay

Artist unknown© National Portrait Gallery, London

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about 1788

about 1833

Brackish Pond, Bermuda

Daughter of slaves. Married a former slave in 1826 but was taken by her owner to England and never saw her husband again

Unknown

Slave on a sugar plantation in Bermuda and on salt pans of Turk Island

Slave to John Wood, a plantation owner on Antigua

Servant to John Wood in London (from whom she ran away)

Servant to a member of the Anti-slavery Society

The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave (1831)

Unknown

Unknown

“To strip me naked – to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence” From her book of 1831

Being the first black woman in Britain to write a book about her life. John Wood, her former owner, tried to sue her for libel but lost the case.

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Mary Prince No artistic impression of Mary Prince is recorded©

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about 1729

1780

A slave ship bound for the West Indies

When his mother died and his father committed suicide rather than live as a slave, 2 year-old Sancho was given to three sisters living in Greenwich

Educated by the Duke of Montagu

Child Slave

Butler to the Duchess of Montagu

Valet to the Duchess’s Son

Failed actor

Grocer

Writer and composer

The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782)

Unknown

Music performance and composition, literature

“In Africa, the poor wretched natives – blessed with the most fertile and luxuriant soil – are rendered so much the more miserable for what Providence meant as a blessing: – the Christians’ abominable traffic for slaves” From his book of 1782

Writing one of the earliest first-hand accounts of African slavery in English, being the first African in Britain to vote in parliamentary elections and for being painted by Sir Thomas Gainsborough

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Ignatius Sancho

By Francesco Bartolozzi after Thomas Guisborough, published 1802© National Portrait Gallery, London

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1801

1832

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Unknown

Taught himself to read and followed the anti-slavery campaign by reading newspapers

Slave, Baptist minister and spokesman of slaves in Jamaica

Unknown

Leader of the Baptist meetings in Montego Bay

Unknown

Sayings “I would rather dies upon yonder gallows than live in slavery”

Said just before his execution

Leading the 1831 Christmas Rebellion, the last big fight against slavery in Jamaica. He urged slaves across the island to refuse to work on Christmas Day unless their grievances were accepted. The rebellion lasted 8 days. Sharpe was caught and hanged at Market Square in Montego Bay. In 1975, the Jamaican government proclaimed Sharpe a national hero and renamed his execution spot Sam Sharpe Square

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

Samuel Sharpe

Artist unknown

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1759

1833

Hull

Son of a wealthy merchant. Married Barbara Ann Spooner within 6 weeks of meeting her

Schools in Hull and Putney

Cambridge University

MP

A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1806)

Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in Behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies (1823)

Clapham Sect, an evangelical Christian Group

Committee to Abolish the Slave Trade (founder member)

Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery

Society for the Suppression of Vice

Church Missionary Society (founder member)

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (founder member)

Improvement of factory conditions, Regular education for all children, Sending Christian missionaries to India

“Thank God that I have lived to witness the day in which England is willing to give £20 million for the abolishment of slavery” Speaking just before he died about the Bill to abolish slavery

Leading the parliamentary campaign to end the slave trade

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Place of Birth

Family

Education

Work

Writing

Membership

Other interests

Sayings

Best known for

William Wilberforce

By William Say, published 1820 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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Built to mark the emancipation of slaves after the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act

Anti-slavery campaigners: Thomas Fowell Buxton, William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Zachary Macaulay, Henry Brougham, Stephen Lushington and others

Charles Buxton, son of Thomas Fowell Buxton MP

Parliament Square

Victoria Tower Gardens. It was moved here in 1957 to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1807 Act to abolish the slave trade

Samuel Sanders Teulon

Gothic

The spire is made from a timber frame and clad with enamelled sheet steel

Other materials include grey and pink granite, limestone, grey and red sandstone, rosso marble, wrought iron, mosaic and terracotta

Original plaque commemorates the emancipation of slaves and the campaigners who worked for them

A second plaque commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1989

2006-2007 by the Royal Parks, Black British Heritage and English Heritage at a cost of £90,000.

History

Commemorates

Commissioned by

Original location

Present location

Designer

Design Style

Materials

Plaques

Restoration

Buxton Memorial Fountain Fact File

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Original Memorial Plaque

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Anti-Slavery Society Plaque

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Enamelling©

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Enamelled metal roof, cross and stonework

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Mosaic work©

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Carvings©

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Pillars©

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The audience meets a modern day researcher who is investigating the slave trade. The researcher sets the scene and accompanies the group throughout the play.

Together, they meet several characters who campaigned against slavery towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of 19th century. The researcher will encourage debate and invite the audience to ask questions of these characters.

They will explain how they got involved in the campaign and they’ll refer to other important figures, such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Buxton and Elizabeth Heyrick.

The characters lived at different times during the campaigns against the slave trade and slavery itself. Many of them never met and some died before the others were born or joined the campaign.

Despite this, the audience experiences a slip in time so that all the characters appear together at the end of the play. They ask the researcher about how they are remembered and what conditions are like now.

Living History Props

At the end of the play Thomas Clarkson places a number of symbolic objects on the Buxton Memorial, these are:

1A Quaker Hat, to symbolise the role of the Quakers in establishing the anti-slavery movement.

2A Copy of Olaudah Equiano’s book, to symbolise the importance of personal testimonies from former slaves and the role of former slaves in the abolition movement.

3 A petition roll, to symbolise how the ordinary people of Britain contributed the campaign, not just the great and the good. Petition rolls were presented to parliament.

4 Sugar artefacts, to symbolise the power of customer boycotts and the activism of women.

5 A copy of Mary Prince’s book, to symbolise the role of women in the abolitionist cause and the power of personal testimony in winning people to the cause (see point 2 above)

6 A photo of the Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe, to symbolise the discontent of the enslaved and how their direct action contributed to the anti-slavery movement.

Samuel Sharpe is a Jamaican National Hero and his statue stands in Sam Sharpe Square in Kingston Jamaica, this is the site of his execution spot.

How the Play Works

The play lasts about 50 minutes and takes place in Victoria Tower Gardens.

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Issues raised by the play and activities

Campaigning

The campaign to abolish the slave trade was one of the first times in history that thousands of people from different backgrounds joined together to fight for a common cause.

Activities

1 What is a campaign? As a class brainstorm a definition.

2There were many elements to the anti-slavery campaign. What do you think made the campaign to abolish the slave trade successful? Use the timelines and the play to help you. Discuss in groups and present your findings to the rest of the class.

Answers

• It had a logo (shown on the left)

• There were consumer boycotts

• Personal testimonies

• Local anti-slavery societies

• Petitions and posters

• Presenting the case and understanding the counter arguments.

3 Can you identify these campaigns? What are they about?

NOTE TO TEACHERS: Show flashcards of logos and celebrities involved. Pupils would say what campaign it is/discuss.

Answers

A Amnesty International logo

B Children in Need logo

C Recycle logo – nationwide campaign

D Fairtrade logo

4 Compare the campaign to abolish slavery with a modern campaign. What are the similarities and differences? Collect some example materials from your chosen campaign. What do you think makes a campaign successful today? Is education important? Why?

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A

B D

C

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Arguments and counter-arguments

When we meet Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson at the beginning of the play, it appears that Thomas Clarkson is a supporter of the slave trade.

It is later revealed that he is, in fact, an abolitionist and is using the counter-arguments of slavery supporters in order to help Olaudah prepare for his pubic campaign. This is known as ‘playing devil’s advocate’.

Activities

1 In groups debate the following statements (or other relevant topical issues). Put them on a scale of strongly agree, agree, unsure, disagree, and strongly disagree. The group must come to a consensus with each statement.

• 4x4 vehicles should be banned

• Fizzy drinks should not be allowed in schools

• The Olympic logo was a waste of money

• Genetically modified crops are beneficial to society

• We should all be included on the organ donor register

• Mobile phones should not be allowed in schools

NOTE TO TEACHERS: Teacher will need to cut out statements and cards for each group, see the next page

2In 2006, Tony Blair expressed a ‘deep sorrow’ for Britain’s role in the slave trade. Do you think the government should apologise over slavery. Debate this. Split the class into two. One group will prepare the arguments for and the other group the arguments against.

Useful Websites

www.understandingslavery.com

www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom

www.parliament.uk

3In 1776, The House of Commons debated the motion: “That the slave trade is contary to the laws of God and the rights of man”. What would the pro-slavery and anti-slavery arguments have been? Write a script.

4Use the table ‘Motions against the Slave Trade introducted by William Wilberforce in the House of Commons’.

• Get pupils to find out about the House of Commons and the House of Lords. What are their roles? Who are the House of Lords?

• Between 1792 and 1805, ten motions were disagreed by the House of Lords. Why do you think this was the case?

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Who writes History?

If you look at the plaque at the foot of the memorial, it mentions some of the people that worked to abolish slavery but not all.

Now look at the CVs of the people who campaigned against the slave trade and slavery. You’ll see that some of them have much more detail than others.

The CVs of Mary Prince and Samuel Sharpe, for example, have several sections where nothing is known. We don’t know what Mary or Ottobah Cugoano looked like or exactly when they were born.

Activities

1 Discuss the reasons why we know much more about some historical figures than others. Make a list of the sources of information that historians use to find out about people.

Answers

Paintings

Drawings

Letters

Diaries

Books

Newspaper reports

Official archives and records

Court reports

Obituaries

2Write an obituary for one of the abolitionists.

An obituary is a notice of a death, usually in a newspaper; it includes a brief biography of the deceased person. You can find examples in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times.

3 A day in the life of ...Imagine that you are one of the people who campaign against slavery. Write a diary entry for them. It could be at any time in their life.Eg. Samuel Sharpe, the day before the Christmas rebellion. Or Mary Prince, on being sold at auction or working at the salt ponds.

4 Who do you most admire? It could be someone living or deceased. Collect source material for that person. Why do you admire them? In your opinion what contribution have they made to society? Prepare a two-minute presentation.

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Women and the campaign to abolish the slave trade and slavery

Women played an important part in the campaign to abolish the slave trade and slavery. Yet they could not sign petitions. Women (and many men) could also not vote in elections. (It wasn’t until 1918 that most women over the age of 30 had the right to vote; for the same voting rights as men, women has to wait until 1928 – not even a hundred years ago!)

Activities

1 Find out how women contributed to the campaign to abolish the slave trade.

Answers

• Written accounts of their experiences

• Stories and poems to promote the cause

• Organised and joined anti-slavery groups

• Took part in boycotts of sugar produced on slave plantations

• Influenced men

• Brought brooches and ornaments carrying the anti-slavery logo

• Helped to finance the anti-slavery societies through subscription

2Create a CV for Elizabeth Heyrick, a female abolitionist mentioned in the play. Use the same format as presented in the pack. Were there other British women involved? What did they do?

3 Write a newspaper article detailing the roles that women played in the campaign.

4 How did Mary Prince’s account of her life as a slave influence people? Give examples.

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Memorials

The play takes place in Victoria Tower Gardens, which is the home of the Buxton Memorial.

At the end of the play, the character of Thomas Clarkson places a number of symbolic objects on the Buxton Memorial and creates an alternative memorial.

Activities

• What do you like or dislike about the memorial?

• Why do you think the names of some campaigners were not included on the memorial’s plaque?

• If you were asked to design an Anti-Slavery memorial how would you do it?

• What would you include and what would you leave out?

• Which historical figures would you choose to commemorate and whom would you leave out?

• Give reasons for the decisions you make.

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