Metropolitan Movement Toward Emancipation

• The effects of 19th century slave revolts in Barbados, Demerara, and Jamaica decreased the labor force and increased costs for planters
• Slave revolts in the 19th century became more common and more widespread
• Effects of 19th century slave revolts

  • Massive loss of slave lives meant not only a decrease in the labor force but also a subsequent decrease in the volume of production
  • Planters became more brutal in their response, increasing security on plantations after a revolt
• Three famous 19th century slave revolts

  • Barbados revolt (1816)
  • Demerara revolt (1823)
  • Jamaica revolt (1831-32)
• The slave revolts were used by supporters of abolition to strengthen their case
• Interest groups arguing for and against slavery

  • Missionaries (argued on religious grounds)
  • Humanitarians (argued on moral grounds)
  • Economists (argued on economic grounds)
  • Planters (argued to maintain the system)
• Arguments made by humanitarians

  • Highlighted the negative effects of slavery, particularly on the mortality rate of the enslaved
  • Feared an even worse "bloodbath" if slaves were not freed soon
• Key figures in the British anti-slavery movement like Granville Sharpe, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce helped pass legislation to abolish the slave trade in 1807
• The emancipation process differed between the Spanish and French Caribbean colonies