Granville Sharp’s Fight to Free the Slaves

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the eighteenth century legal battle between British abolitionist, Granville Sharp and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, to free British slaves. Sharp was determined to end slavery, but the Chief Justice believed that justices are not lawmakers but law finders. Lord Mansfield was unwilling to abolish slavery without positive law. During this time, Lord Mansfield was the guardian of Dido Belle Lindsey, a mulatto girl left by his nephew. This chapter also includes the slave cases of Jonathan Strong, Thomas Lewis, James Somerset, and the Zong. It covers the story of the Nova Scotians, black loyalists and members of a brigade of so-called Black Pioneers who fought for the British during the American Revolution.