Abolitionist Ideas: Battling the Slave Trade in Britain

About this episode

The episode explores the dramatic shift in public opinion that led to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in Britain.

If you visited Britain around 1700, you’d find hardly a single advocate of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. You’d hear the institution of slavery described as a moral evil, but no one would tell you that it could be done away with if only people put their minds to it. Slavery was supported by monarchy, government, church, and public opinion in general. Yet in 1807, the trade in enslaved Africans was abolished throughout the British Empire. How and why this momentous shift in public opinion took place remains a topic of heated debate, with the roles of material interest and lofty idealism proving difficult to disentangle. Join John Coffey, one of the finest historians of religious and political ideas working in Britain today, as he grapples with the question of British slavery’s dramatic, if incomplete, eclipse.

People in this episode

Guest: John Coffey

Topics covered

• abolitionism
• slave trade
• British history
• public opinion
• moral philosophy
• political ideas

Keywords

• abolitionist ideas
• slave trade
• Britain
• John Coffey
• public opinion
• moral evil
• historical debate

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British Empire

Places: Britain

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