This was a very popular and straight forward question. Many of the candidates recognised most of the names of individuals connected to the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. They were also able to highlight the factors that led to the suppression of the trade. The general performance in this question was above average. The good candidates were able to highlight the following points:
(a) (i) William Wilberforce;
(ii) Granville Sharp;
(iii) Thomas Clarkson;
(iv) Ottobah Cuguano;
(v) The American Quakers (Society of Friends);
(vi) Quakers/Society of Friends;
(vii) Henry Thorton
(viii) Fowel Buxton
(ix) James Stephen
(x) Lord Mansfield
(xi) Olauda Equiano
(xii) Thomas Paine
(xiii) Adam Smith
(b) (i) individuals who had suffered from the horrors of this trade exposed the attendant evils e.g. Olauda Equiano, Ottobah Cuguano;
(ii) within Africa, some rulers made efforts to suppress the trade e.g. King Agaja of Dahomey;
(iii) American Quakers condemned the trade;
(iv) opposition also came from the British humanitarians who formed the society of the Quakers, e.g. Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce;
(v) signing of anti-slavery trade treaties with European and other governments;
(vi) activities of the Christian missionaries. This group wrote books, formed movements that spoke out against the slave trade;
(vii) passing of legislation against slave trade, e.g. in 1804 the Danish government renounced the trade, Britain in 1807 and USA in 1808;
(viii) the activities of the British Naval squadron did a lot to end the trade from its source in West Africa;
(ix) the industrial Revolution which drastically reduced the need for slave labour. |
