A new abolition movement
from Christian Concern:
Regan King, Campaigns Officer, looks at the parallels between the movement to abolish slavery and the modern-day movement to abolish abortion.
Anniversary of Abolition
2017 marks 210 years since The Abolition of The Slave Trade Act (1807). The act put an end to the legal slave trade within the British Empire, in particular the Atlantic slave trade. Slavery itself remained legal in the British Empire for another 26 years. It was then that the Slavery Abolition Act (1833) finally came into British law.
The slave trade and slavery were accepted, legal, and in many circles celebrated institutions. Some considered it a right, others considered it an evil, but one that was necessary. Few saw the slave trade and slavery for the immense evil it was. Christian leaders of the land were either silent on the subject or shut out by the noise of slavery’s violent proponents.
Enter the Clapham Sect, a group of Christians (mostly based out of Clapham) whose primary purpose was to see the slave trade and slavery abolished. This group, considered radical and dangerous by many, was a motley odd-bod crew that included an ex-slave-trader turned clergyman (John Newton), a brewer (Thomas Buxton), some MPs (most notably William Wilberforce), a writer (Hannah More), and various church leaders (including Charles Simeon) among others. The members of the Clapham Sect devoted themselves to the cause of abolishing the slave trade and used their spheres of influence to impact public opinion, channelling much of their wealthy into the cause.
How slavery was exposed and eventually abolished
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