Gateway Chronicle 2021

The Gateway Chronicle
The Role of Irish MPs in the
Abolition of the Slave Trade
The abolition of the slave trade is one of the most
critical turning points not just in British history
but Global history. It was the start of a process that
would see the destruction of the most vial (and also
most universal) institutions to have ever scourged
the planet. After the 1807 Act of Parliament on
the issue, the British government, using the power
of the most powerful navy of the time, made its
mission to destroy slavery, even continuing to send
ships to defeat the slave trade whilst existential
annihilation was threatened by Napoleon. The past
few years have seen attempts at examining history
and finding those whose impacts had been forgotten,
with slavery being a keenly contested issue.
However, one common thread in the study of history
(especially in Britain) has continued, the ignoring
of the Irish. The abolition of the slave trade is no
exception in that.
The abolition of the slave trade was a series of
events which the repercussions are still being
experienced. Slavery had been one of the most
universal constants across cultures, with seemingly
unlinked cultures all participating over time. Some
have gone as far to argue that it has existed for over
11,000 years and all civilisations, from the Babylonians
to the Aztecs, have engaged in it. The forced
labour and movement of people for the purpose of
economic production was a constant fact of human
history until the 19 th century. Whilst the abolition
of the slave trade did not end slavery (with it taking
until 1833 for an Act of Parliament to abolish
it in the British Empire and modern slavery still
existing), it was the first major step towards the
Global ending of formal slavery. The slave trade’s
abolition, therefore, should not be underestimated
in importance, as it was the first step in removing a
universal evil of history that, fortunately, we do not
have to endure today. A World without the levels of
slavery of the pre-19 th century era is most certainly
one we should be thankful for living in.
Unsurprisingly, given both the moral nature of the
event and the international ramifications, there is
a large contest over the causes of and narratives
around the abolition of the slave trade as groups
attempt to claim their part in the story. That importance
and controversy is debated, in the UK,
in schools, where slavery it is one of two events
(along with the holocaust) which is compulsory to
teach. Not too much reading of the correct A-Level
textbooks shows careful wording on the part of
writers in an attempt to avoid coming down on any
side of the argument. There is a large contest about
who should take credit. Within school textbooks,
attempts have been made (especially in recent years)
to ensure that there is a diversity in demographics
of those who are discussed and examined on
the topic of the abolition of the slave trade, with
racial diversity playing a large role in that. Current
textbooks tend to give credit to not just the white
British, like Clarkson and Wilberforce, but also
black voices like Equiano.
The debate tends to
take place with framing
around whether it was
the: moral force Evangelicals
and non-conformists;
the economic
argument presented
by Adam Smith in the
Wealth of Nations; the
legal challenges such as
the Somerset Case; the
campaigns by formers
slaves and white abolitionists;
or William
Wilberforce’s Parliamentary
crusade that
tipped the balance. However,
like an unfortunate
amount of history, the
answer: is considerably
duller that what is
generally proposed; falls
to Parliamentary arithmetic
rather than grand
narratives; and has been
ignored when it gives
credit to the Irish.
Abolition, in the UK,
was a legal change. The
Empire where slavery
took place (with slavery
not legal in the
A medallion commissioned by
abolitionist Josiah Wedgwood for
the Committee for the Abolition of
the Slave Trade, founded in 1787
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