Popular Politics and British Anti-slavery

In 1792 around 400,000 people put their signatures to petitions calling for the abolition of the slave trade. This text explains how this expression of support was organised and orchestrated, and how it contributed to the growth of popular politics in Britain. In particular, this study focuses on the growing assertiveness of the middle-classes in the public sphere, and their increasingly powerful role in influencing parliamentary politics from outside the confines of Westminster. The author also argues that Abolitionists need to be understood not as "saints", but as practical men who knew all about the market and consumer choice. Thus the book examines the opinion-building activities of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the linkage between abolition, consumption and visual culture - for instance cameos, trade tokens, prints - and the dynamics of abolition at the grass roots level. A separate chapter on Thomas Clarkson also reconsiders his role in the mobilization of public opinion against the slave trade.