Women Against Slavery

Using hitherto neglected sources, Clare Midgley builds up a vivid picture of the lives, words and actions of women anti-slavery campaigners in Britain. Midgley examines the extent of women's involvement, looks at the type of women who became activists, considers the contribution that they made to the organization, activities, policy and ideology of the movement and analyses the impact of female activism on women's role in society; particularly in terms of their social roles, politics and public life. She also explores the close links between British and American women which were central to the transatlantic abolitionist network. Exploring the vital role played by gender in shaping the movement as a whole, this account makes an important contribution to the debate on gender and "race".