The Industrial Age

• Black people in England

  • Up to 10,000 Africans may have been living in England in 1760
  • Their occupations included landlords, teachers, and shop owners
• When was the Somerset Case?

  1722
• The Somerset Case


  • In 1722, James Somerset escaped captivity
  • When his master tried to force him to return to slavery, the case was taken to court
  • Somerset won - he was free in England, and could not be forced to return to enslavement in the West Indies
• In England, slavery was not legal, since there was no law allowing it, but not illegal, since there was no law preventing it
• The American War of Independence

  • The British government offered freedom to encourage Black people to fight the Americans
  • They had "Liberty for Slaves" on their uniforms
  • When the war was lost, they left the USA for Britain, where many became destitute
• The Committe for the Relief of the Black Poor bought land in Sierra Leone to resettle former slaves, but the scheme failed
• When was the Napoleonic War?

  1805-15
• The Napoleonic War


  • Black men joined the armed forces
  • They were paid the same as White servicemen
• Black involvement in political action

  • Campaigning
  • The Cato Street Conspiracy
• Campaigning

  • Many Black people joined the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and published their experiences of enslavement
  • e.g. Oluadah Equiano worked with abolitionists such as Thomas Clarke to promote the rights of Black people in Britain
• Cato Street Conspiracy


  • Two Jamaicans, Davidson and Wedderburn, were affected by the brutality of the Peterloo Massacre and joined a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister and his cabinet
  • The plot failed, but Wedderburn became a leading member of the Spencean Movement