This page: After Voodoo priests organized the major slave revolts and English economics dictated the first military campaign against the slave trade... did monotheism play a role in abolition? Emancipation came firstly through slave revolts, and then finally through large scale military and beaurocratic opposition to the slave trade, what made these forces possible? And for those who remained slaves, which forces relieved or increased their suffering? I look at factors that brought the slave trade to an end and conclude that economic forces were the most potent.
This page is about late and final abolition of slavery. As an institution existing amongst warring nations for well over 3000 years, China is the only notable area to not ordain slavery and that was for economical reasons not religious ones. There are occasional exceptions such as the Buddhist Emperor Wang Mang who was "probably the first recorded ruler to abolish the slave trade" [Thomas, 1993]. There are some systems that were anti-slavery, such as pagan Zeno's Stoics (342-270BCE), but as there are so few anti-slavery movements until much later, this page simply concentrates on the movements that existed at the time when the major slave trades of the world ceased to operate.
Contents:
The primitive slave trade:
The black racist slave trade:
In most of ancient history slavery has been widespread and a customary practice during war. Slaves were routinely taken by all communities big enough to control them. The larger the communities the greater the number of slaves kept. They were obtained from capturing enemy land or from surrendered enemy forces. War and slavery danced hand in hand; at its worst war was waged partially to obtain slaves, at its best slaves were kept out of compassion because the unlucky survivors had nowhere else to go.
But nevertheless in the thousands of years before the Current Era, some areas did reject slavery, normally for economic reasons. But the lack of written records about the ethical thinking of ancient civilisations, we know very little about their inner thoughts and beliefs.
It is in the classical world where we have the first records of pro- or anti- slavery.
1.1. The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire had one of the best records for the treatment of slaves. Rather than genocide or abuse, Romans favoured the good treatment of slaves, frequently granting large numbers of ruled citizens Roman Rights and general freedom. Many roman cults and pagan religions preached against slavery, many merely accepted it. Judaism was one of the earliest anti-slavery groups to come into contact with the Roman Empire, their status as a race of ex-slaves led itself naturally to a religion that was anti-slave. Despite this, Jewish arguments still supported slavery in many areas; the Old Testament laws on slavery were interpreted as a divine condoning of the practice.
Early Christianity was less opposed to Slavery than its Jewish past or its pagan neighbours.
Seneca (5BC-AD65) originally tutor and later victim of Nero, was a Roman Stoic with ideas so close to Christianity that a legend grew up about him corresponding with his contemporary St Paul, also a victim of Nero. Seneca preached submission, patience and kindness to others, as did his fellow pagan, Philo (20BC-AD60), who condemned slavery more unequivocally than did the Christian Paul."A History of Sin" by Oliver Thomson p111
The more power the Christian Church obtained, the greater the masses of slaves it acquired, directly through Christian army enslavery or otherwise. By the hey-day of the Slave Trade, Christian organisations were frequently the most extensive slave owners, granting the entire trade with sizable financial incentives and trade routes.
If religious persecution and political amorality were the first two great crimes of the sixteenth century, the third and worst was the escalation of slavery which followed the discovery of the New World. [...] By 1786 this had extracted some eleven or twelve million Africans from their homelands and shipped them westwards [...]. Christian justification for the new outbreak of slavery came first of all from the monks of St Jerome in the West Indies in 1509, but much more far-reaching were the arguments put forward by the great Spanish bishop Las Casas (1474-1566), [...] he took as biblical backing the legend of Ham, the first negro in the Old Testament[...]."A History of Sin" by Oliver Thomson p166
Although various cultures and societies preached against the owning of slaves, one common strand has predated all of them. The slaves themselves were the biggest anti-slavery activists.
Despite the brutality and inhumanity involved, the morality of the slave trade and slavery did not begin to be questioned by substantial numbers of Europeans and people of European descent until the end of the eighteenth century. With the enslaved people themselves this was a different matter, of course, and there had been many rebellions and revolts, as well as other smaller scale, more frequent acts of resistance, since the sixteenth century. Although white abolitionists were important in the various campaigns that eventually resulted in the abolition of the slave trade and slavery during the nineteenth century, the role of people of African descent cannot be underestimated. Equiano's narrative (1789), for instance, was an anti-slavery bestseller, and its account of the horrors involved furthered the campaign of those who sought to end the slave trade and slavery."A Demanding World" by Barnett, Robinson & Rose (2006)7
The slaves themselves had begun to play an obvious and undeniable role in the debate about their own future. This proved to be the turning point in the story of British abolition.
"Britain's Slave Empire" by James Walvin, p71
a freed slave called Toussaint L'Ouverture (1746-1803) in the French Caribbean colony of St. Domingue. In 1800 he and his followers rebelled, conquering the Spanish half of the island of Hispaniola. He declared himself governor of the whole island. A large force dispatched by Napoleon Bonaparte failed to suppress the revolt, and in 1804 the new republic of Haiti was recognized... the world was astonished by a successful slave revolt, and the example hastened the end of the slave trade.
Quoted from "Ideas that Shaped our World" encyclopaedia
The testimony, suffering and actions of the slaves themselves were the driving force behind abolitionism; how else could it be! The slaves, first of all people, wanted the slave trade to end. The Christian Churches condoned slavery of non-Christians, which meant all black people as blacks were inferior to Christians and could 'never understand' or be saved. Slaves were not educated; they remained illiterate. As such, they were seen as unholy and weren't allowed to touch or read Bibles, and mostly banned from entering Churches at all. The circle was one of religious and institutionalized persecution combined with religious justification and economic benefits.
The original abolitionist movements were comprised of free black people. Apart from these movements, some other forces and groups opposed the slave trade, and I look at a few of them below.
There are only 123 nominal adherents of Voodoo in England & Wales.
4.1. Voodoo
Voodoo is more correctly known as Vodun, although other titles include Vodoun, Voudou, and Sevi Lwa. "The name is traceable to an African word for 'spirit'. Vodun's roots go back to the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century Dahomey. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies" [OCRT].
Its tenets echo those of many African religions. There is a supreme god, Mahu, and a number of smaller gods or spirits, with whom humans can negotiate. 'Voodoo is everything to me, it helps me get whatever I want,' says John Togbι, a school teacher. 'If I have a problem I go to the voodoo chief, who makes sacrifices for me, and afterwards my problem is resolved. For example, my wife and I couldn't have children for many years. I asked the spirits for a child, and three years later my child was born.'The Economist (2006)6
Among people who are nominally Christian in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are many who also participate in ceremonies and rituals that can be traced back to African religions. When slaves were taken from Africa to the Americas, they took their religions with them. During the period of slavery, African tribal gods were disguised a Catholic saints and could in this way continue to be worshipped. Rites and ceremonies were held in secret."The Phenomenon Of Religion" by M. Momen [Book Review], p507
Voodoo can only be used for good, says Mrs de Souza.
4.2. Suppression of Voodoo
We have already pointed out the role of slavery in the spread of Voodoo from Africa to Haiti and the West Indies. The simultaneous suppression of voodoo forced it underground.
Vodon was actively suppressed during colonial times. 'Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. This forced some of the Dahomeans to form Vodou Orders and to create underground societies, in order to continue the veneration of their ancestors, and the worship of their powerful gods.'Vodun on religioustolerance.org.
The result of that was a series of revolts, first by the people of color in 1790 - met with brutal repression - then by the slaves in 1791 (organized by Boukman, a voodoo priest)
"Voodoo was once banned in Benin" by Christian president Matheius Kιrιkou. "Yet voodoo believers practised in secret, and eventually the bad was lifted.". Even where Christianity has been imposed on top of vodun culture, it has survived. "The Christians go to church on Sunday", says Na Honoun, a voodoo priestess. "But they come to see us the rest the of the week" [The Economist (2006)6]
4.3. Haiti
Vodun is still followed by the majority of Haiti, and the religion is increasingly popular with over 60 million adherents. The success of the hope-inspiring slave revolts was directly related to the secretive and suppressed nature of the Vodun religion within the slave culture. The underground religion naturally expanded to include underground abolitionist activism and played an inspirational and functional role, directly facilitating underground societies and powerful leaders, something which no other anti-slave movement did. This series of revolts led to Toussaint L'Ouverture and his successes in the region, which inspired and fuelled abolitionist movements world wide.
Some historians say that voodoo's bad image in the world is because Haitian slaves used it as a form of protest; it gave them a secret place where they could foment revolt against their masters.The Economist (2006)6
4.4. Voodoo and Slavery in North America
Organized revolt needed leaders of high calibre, capable of inspiring and motivating a group of followers, towards a course of action which, if it failed, meant certain death. Such leaders were few and far between - the Toussaint L'Ouverture of the Southern Slave States never emerged. Instead, Virginia got Nat Turner ['a slave preacher and mystic'] and Gabriel Prosser and South Carolina got Denmark Vesey (a free black man who had visited Haiti)"History of Slavery" by Susanne Everette p123
The economic costs of keeping, shipping and securing slaves were astronomical. Slave revolts, facilitated by the human will to survive, and organized by powerful leaders some of whom were also underground Voodoo leaders, were uncontrollable and random expenses. The increasing success and strength of such revolts made keeping large populations of slaves under control economically unviable. "1776, Adam Smith's study in economics The Wealth of Nations concluded that slavery was uneconomic due to the costs involved in keeping slaves under control."2
Of all the effective and authoritively commanding oppositions to the slave trade, the British campaign was most effective. "The French abolitionist movement, although 'socially more substantial', remained politically less effective than the British one."3 "Britain was not the first to ban the slave trade - Denmark had done so in 1803 - and although the U.S., Sweden and Holland soon followed suit, Britain's campaign [...] was by far the most widespread."4
This remarkable story raises a simple but crucial question: why did the British turn against slavery and the slave trade? Part of the reason is undoubtedly the rise of compassionate humanitarianism, particularly amongst an increasingly leisured middle class. Scholars also point to the influence of Nonconformist religion, on the one hand, and Evangelical Protestantism, on the other. But of greater significance was a shift in economic thought."British Anti-slavery" by Dr John Oldfield on BBC History website
6.1. Compassion
The "Slave trade came under only occasional attack before the second half of the 18th century from a few enlightened clerics, philosophers, poets and novelists. [...] Abolition as a planned campaign dates from 1765, with Granville Sharp, a 30 year old civil servant who came to look after a wounded slave, and was moved to defend him and other slaves legally".
Of the many individuals who took up the case of slaves, morals and Human compassion were the prime motivator. People looked to their religions in order to find support, but official organisations supported and fed off the slave trade, "The society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, Bishops, Members of Parliament, Mayors, Aldermen and Peers all jostling for a corner of the lucrative market."
6.2. Quakers & Christians
The first non-black abolitionists were American Quakers. The Germantown Protest, printed in 1688 by a group of Pennsylvanian Quakers of Swiss and Dutch descent, opposed both slavery and the slave trade. [...] Even Quakers, however, were not prepared to take a concerted stand until 1772 when it publicly condemned the trade"History of Slavery" by Susanne Everette p134
The majority of men in the first abolitionist group in 1781 were Quakers. And it was Quaker groups, which had been created across the face of Britain from the early eighteenth century, which gave the founding abolitionists an immediate national network.
"Britain's Slave Empire" by James Walvin, p68
Many of the individuals involved had Christian links. Granville Sharp was the grandson of the Archbishop of York who had decided not to follow an open career in the Church of England. John Wesley, an early abolitionist, founded the Methodist Church, and many others in the abolitionist movements were religious. This is because, of course, most people were Christian, and it is also true that most those who supported slavery were also Christian.
I believe that many individuals consciences were troubled by the existence of slavery, but that religious institutions except for underground black ones had less of an affect on abolition than economic and political interests. The anti-slavery movements in the home countries of the world's empires were not strong enough to cause governments to change their ways, and the emancipation of slaves in the homelands was only a relatively small part of the total suffering of slaves.
In Brazil, as in other Roman Catholic nations, slaves were on the whole better treated than in Protestant countries [...] The Church took a close interest in the lot of slaves, encouraging Church marriages and opposing the separation of families"History of Slavery" by Susanne Everette p92
Although small scale, it is still significant and no doubt meant a very great deal to the individual slaves involved, and the efforts of anyone who acts compassionately for the reliving of other peoples' suffering is to be praised.
6.3. Islamic pro-slavery
In the 19th century in Islam, 'What was involved was not, initially, the abolition of the institution of slavery but its alleviation, and in particular, the restriction and ultimately the elimination of the slave trade. Islamic law, in contrast to the ancient and colonial systems, accords the slave a certain legal status and assigns obligations as well as rights to the slave owner. [...] The institution of slavery not only is recognized but is elaborately regulated by Sharia law. [...] The position of the domestic slave in Muslim society was in most respects better than in either classical antiquity or the nineteenth-century Americas. [...] From a Muslim point of view, to forbid what God permits is almost as great an offence as to permit what God forbids - and slavery was authorized and regulated by the holy law. [...] It was from conservative religious quarters and notably from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina that the strongest resistance to the proposed reform came. The emergence of the holy men and the holy places as the last ditch defenders of slavery against reform is only an apparent paradox. They were upholding an institution sanctified by scripture, law, and tradition and one which in their eyes was necessary to the maintenance of the social structure of Muslim life'5.
6.4. Christian pro-slavery
In the same way, Christians with vested interests justified slavery on account of their religion although the Bible is much less openly embracing of slavery than the Qu'raan Christian arguments were used such as slavery facilitated the evangelizing of slaves, and that certain Biblical stories made blacks out to be inferior and cursed by god - although no scholars nowadays interpret these passages in this way, at the time, they did.
6.5. Religious herd versus compassion
Many people merely followed their own religion, and institutionalized religion at the time was happy with slavery, but many people also came to view slavery as wrong, and found either their justification or motive in their religions. In the case of the "followers", their herd mentality overrode their compassion and morals and this was not prevented by the way religion works. Freethinkers that felt their religion opposed slavery, or those who opposed it for moral reasons, could also use their religion to support abolition.
Rather than religion inherently opposing the slave trade, it was more a case that two forces were at work:
Without religion, humanitarian compassion would have still been present, but so would have herd mentality and commercial interests. With religion, the situation was the same - herd mentality and commercial interests versus moral issues. It was the atheist Thomas Paine (1737-1809), one of the "founding fathers" of the United States, who enshrined the first American anti-slavery law. (Some claim it was the first one worldwide, however I don't know this for a fact). He wrote the famous "The Age of Reason".
It is clear that economic interests were the only real factors that turned the tone of the world against Slavery, especially in the case of Britain who then went on to run the most potent large scale campaigns against the Slave Trade in order to further its own worldwide economic strength. After this, the most successful religious campaigns were those under the rule of Voodoo practitioners and priests. Such leaders showed the world that anti-slavery was valid, inspiring hope and valiant anti-slavery efforts, all relying upon the slaves' own will to free themselves. Human morals played their part, but mostly those who opposed the slave trade were religiously non-conformist, whereas conforming religion did and could not oppose the immorality, and Christian and Muslim religious institutions actively encouraged pro-slavery movements.
Barnett, Robinson & Rose (Eds.)
"A Demanding World" (2006). Published by The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
Everette, Susanne
"The History of Slavery" (1997 hardback). Quotes from 1997 print. Published by Grange Books.
Momen, Moojan
"The Phenomenon Of Religion: A Thematic Approach" (1999). Published by Oneworld Publications, Oxford, UK. [Book Review]
Stewart, Robert (Consulting Editor)
"Ideas that Shaped Our World" (1997). Quotes from original Marshall Editions hardback edition.
Thomson, Oliver
"A History of Sin" (1993 hardback). Canongate Press.
Walvin, James
"Britain's Slave Empire" (2000 hardback). Tempus Publishing Ltd. James Walvin is the professor of history at the University of York.
By Vexen Crabtree 2003 Apr 22