Slavery and Sati

Abstract

Abolitionism has a distinct place in the story of the making of modern Britain. The campaigns against the slave trade and slavery brought the religious conviction of Quakers, evangelicals, and others into the political mainstream, introduced the idea of a national lobby, demonstrated how outside pressure could be brought to bear effectively on parliament, and revealed the power of a moral crusade.¹ Antislavery also refashioned the national identity. As Linda Colley and David Brion Davis argue, abolitionism fostered a sense of moral superiority that gave Britons confidence in a “mission to lead the world.”² The “idea that Britain should set a moral lead to the world” would prove lasting; as Brian Harrison notes, it informed various reform movements from antislavery onward, including the one for nuclear disarmament.³