Abolition of British Slavery: A comprehensive look into the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy
Disciplines
Ethics in Religion | Intellectual History | Labor History | Political History | Social History
Abstract (300 words maximum)
This paper explores the effectiveness of the Clarkson-Ramsay economic philosophy regarding antislavery sentiment among the British Public. The paper examines the factors that led to the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy and how did their narrative influence the public and contributed to the abolitionist movement in eighteenth-century Britain. The paper acknowledges four schools of thought: moral, enlightenment, mercantile, and labor, to analyze the arguments made by the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy and its effectiveness if moving the public towards antislavery sentiment. The moral school of thought highlights the main argument of abolitionists which revolved around the morality of the institution of slavery, while the enlightenment school reflects on the effects of the enlightenment era on the spread of the abolitionist movement to the middle-class and the public in general. The mercantile school emphasizes the discussion around the profitability of the slave trade, and the labor school argues about the discussion surrounding industrialization and the switch from enslaved labor to free labor used in the abolitionism argument. Key arguments show the mix of both moral and mercantile arguments in order to push the free labor argument as a better alternative to enslaved labor. This paper concludes that the Clarkson-Ramsay economic philosophy was effective in recruiting the public to the abolitionist movement because of multiple factors relating to the rise in literary knowledge because of enlightenment, as well as mercantile ambitions and the power free labor would bring to the masses.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - History & Philosophy
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Amy Dunagin
Abolition of British Slavery: A comprehensive look into the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy
This paper explores the effectiveness of the Clarkson-Ramsay economic philosophy regarding antislavery sentiment among the British Public. The paper examines the factors that led to the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy and how did their narrative influence the public and contributed to the abolitionist movement in eighteenth-century Britain. The paper acknowledges four schools of thought: moral, enlightenment, mercantile, and labor, to analyze the arguments made by the Clarkson-Ramsay philosophy and its effectiveness if moving the public towards antislavery sentiment. The moral school of thought highlights the main argument of abolitionists which revolved around the morality of the institution of slavery, while the enlightenment school reflects on the effects of the enlightenment era on the spread of the abolitionist movement to the middle-class and the public in general. The mercantile school emphasizes the discussion around the profitability of the slave trade, and the labor school argues about the discussion surrounding industrialization and the switch from enslaved labor to free labor used in the abolitionism argument. Key arguments show the mix of both moral and mercantile arguments in order to push the free labor argument as a better alternative to enslaved labor. This paper concludes that the Clarkson-Ramsay economic philosophy was effective in recruiting the public to the abolitionist movement because of multiple factors relating to the rise in literary knowledge because of enlightenment, as well as mercantile ambitions and the power free labor would bring to the masses.