Why Should We Thank the British for Being a Colony?
5:24
Slavery and the slave trade were among the most important economic, political and cultural issues of the Romantic period. Although doubts about the justice and humanity of slavery had been raised as far back as the seventeenth century in the English-speaking world, and earlier in the Spanish, it was not until the second half of the eighteenth century that the trade in slaves received widespread condemnation, and it was not until well into the nineteenth century that slavery itself was successfully challenged and finally abolished. While some defended the slave trade as a necessary evil, by the late 1780s many European nations saw the emergence of popular movements for abolition and emancipation with clear majorities opposed first to the slave trade and, later, to slavery itself. In Britain, antislavery sentiment was widespread between 1780 and 1833, particularly in the 1780s and early 90s, and again in the 1820s and 30s. As such, antislavery can be identified as one of the key movements of the Romantic era. This centrality is reflected in the cultural productions of the period: poets, novelists, philosophers and political writers joined hands with dramatists, artists, printmakers and musicians both to reflect and to influence public opinion, and in many cases writers and artists were the leaders of local and national antislavery organisations.
5:24
Slavery and the slave trade were among the most important economic, political and cultural issues of the Romantic period. Although doubts about the justice and humanity of slavery had been raised as far back as the seventeenth century in the English-speaking world, and earlier in the Spanish, it was not until the second half of the eighteenth century that the trade in slaves received widespread condemnation, and it was not until well into the nineteenth century that slavery itself was successfully challenged and finally abolished. While some defended the slave trade as a necessary evil, by the late 1780s many European nations saw the emergence of popular movements for abolition and emancipation with clear majorities opposed first to the slave trade and, later, to slavery itself. In Britain, antislavery sentiment was widespread between 1780 and 1833, particularly in the 1780s and early 90s, and again in the 1820s and 30s. As such, antislavery can be identified as one of the key movements of the Romantic era. This centrality is reflected in the cultural productions of the period: poets, novelists, philosophers and political writers joined hands with dramatists, artists, printmakers and musicians both to reflect and to influence public opinion, and in many cases writers and artists were the leaders of local and national antislavery organisations.
The History of White People, Nell Irvin Painter
In point of contrast, in the remainder of the world, e.g., in Islamic areas the practice of slavery continued.
Because internal growth of the slave population was not enough to fulfill the demand in Muslim society, massive numbers of non-Muslim slaves were imported, resulting in enormous suffering and loss of life from their capture and transportation.
The Muslim Arab slave trade was most active in West Asia, North Africa, and Southeast Africa. In the early 20th century (post World War I), slavery was gradually outlawed and suppressed in Muslim lands, largely due to pressure exerted by Western nations such as Britain and France. Among the last states to abolish slavery were Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which abolished slavery in 1962 under pressure from Britain; Oman in 1970, and Mauritania in 1905, 1981, and again in August 2007. However, slavery claiming the sanction of Islam is documented presently in the predominantly Islamic countries of Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.
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