Slavery and Abolition Conclusion

John Hawkins’ role as the Englishman who founded the triangular slave trade means that Plymouth will always be inextricably linked with this most inhumane of practices. From small beginnings, England, and then Britain, grew to dominate the African slave trade. From the 1670s London had a nominal monopoly of the trade. Then, as the eighteenth century progressed it was Bristol and Liverpool that became the great slaving ports in England. Nevertheless, ships sailing from Plymouth during the early 1700s carried their share of cargo on the infamous middle passage from the Guinea Coast of Africa to colonies in the West Indies and Americas. From 1690 to 1807 it is estimated that over 2.8 million Africans were carried on board British ships.

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the abolitionist movement grew and people in Plymouth, including Quakers and members of the Plymouth Committee for the Abolition of Slavery played an important role in bringing an end to the slave trade, and later to slavery itself. Abolitionists made regular visits to the town, whilst Plymouth people distributed pamphlets and other abolitionist material, attended public meetings and organised petitions. And it was in Plymouth that the image of the Brookes slaver laden with its African cargo was designed and published, an image that did so much to highlight the utter cruelty of the trade. Of that, the city can be proud.

Learn more about slavery and abolition and the Plymouth connection:

John Hawkins

Slave Trade Triangle

Abolition

Conclusion

Glossary

Suggested reading

Slavery and abolition web links