History

• British abolition movement


  1. Led by William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson

  2. Raised awareness about the conditions of slavery

  3. Pushed the bill through parliament
• British public


  • Signed petitions
  • Boycotted sugar
• Some historians argue that the trade became less profitable (although this is debated by historians) and so was no longer required
• The enslaved consistently resisted slavery (including in a revolution in Haiti) which made it challenging to continue
• Geography of slavery


  • Most enslaved in the USA worked on plantations in the Southern states
  • Conditions and crops in the South were best suited to plantations and slave labour
• After the American Revolution

  1. States in the North gradually rejected slavery

  2. By 1804 became Free States
• Tensions grew between the North and South

  Over the issue of slavery, runaway slaves often sought refuge in the North
• The campaign to end slavery in the whole of the USA was rooted in the North
• Slave resistance


  1. Running away was common

  2. Underground Railroad developed to help slaves escape to safety in the North and Canada

  3. Enslaved engaged in uprisings like Nat Turner's in Southampton County, Virginia

  4. Actions of the enslaved inspired writers like Benjamin Lay
• Harriet Tubman was active in the Underground Railroad having escaped from slavery herself
• The USA became very divided between North and South


  The issue of Slavery was identified by President Lincoln as being at the heart of this divide
• People in the North were influenced by writing like Uncle Tom's Cabin and were encouraged to oppose slavery
• In the South, slavery was at the root of the economy, cotton picked by slaves in the South was the most profitable US export
• The Civil War between North and South broke out


  When Lincoln (who was opposed to slavery) became president
• When the North won they were able to legally end slavery. The emancipation proclamation freed slaves involved in the war in 1864
• In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery
• The population in the South who had been defeated in the civil war were very resistant to reconstruction
• Attempts were made to try and retain the social order by keeping black people at the bottom of society, even though slavery had legally ended
• There was some change, the 14th Amendment gave them full citizenship and the right to vote and black Americans were elected into local political positions
• Organisations developed (like the Ku Klux Klan) to terrorise the newly free
• "Slave resistance, not bourgeois liberalism, lay at the heart of the abolition movement. Slave rebellions paralleled isolated criticisms of slavery in colonial America. The enslaved inspired the first abolition societies as well as the first landmark cases that developed emancipation in the Western World. The actions of slave rebels and runways, black writers and community leaders, did not lie outside of but shaped abolition and it's goals. The story of abolition must begin with the struggles of the enslaved": 'Monisha Sinha'
• Key Mughal Emperors


  • Babur 1526-30
  • Humayun 1530-40, 1555-56
  • Akbar (the Great) 1556 – 1605
  • Jahangir 1605-27
  • Shah Jahan 1627 – 57
  • Aurangzeb 1657-1707
• Babur


  Descendent of Genghis Khan and Timur, two great central Asian warriors. Founder of the Islamic Mughal Empire
• Humayun


  • Temporarily lost Babur's conquests in 1540 but re-established Mughal rule in 1555. He did help the Mughal empire become an artistic power, starting the great Mughal tradition of miniature painting
• Akbar (the Great)


  • Recovered and extended the Mughal Empire – ruled over 100 million people. Developed strong administration and tax systems. He believed all religions should be tolerated and that a ruler's duty was to treat all believers equally. His government included many Hindus in high positions – the governed were allowed to take part in the governing
• Jahangir


  • Made limited military conquests, bringing in a period of relative peace. An opium addict, he allowed his wife Nur Jahan much political influence
• Shah Jahan


  • Ruled the Mughal empire at its height. He was more interested in architecture rather than art and is famed for building the Taj Mahal. He drew many of the craftsmen who built it from the empire but also from other parts of the Islamic world. However Shah Jahan had to raise taxes considerably to pay for it
• Aurangzeb


  • His attention was on extending his lands not on art or architecture. A devout Muslim he ended the policy of religious tolerance followed by previous emperors. Under Aurangzeb the Mughal empire reached the peak of its military power but it became unstable, partially because Aurangzeb's religious intolerance and heavy taxation inspired opposition but also the empire had become too big to be successfully governed
• Were the Mughal Emperors "master gardeners"?
• Key Words


  • Mongols
  • Harem
  • Hindustan
  • Jharoka
  • Jizya
  • Mansabdars
  • Sati/suttee
  • East India Company
  • Factory
• Mongols


  Tribe who conquered much of central Asia in the 13th Century. Mughal is the Persian word for Mongol
• Harem


  The part of the court reserved for the emperor's wives and concubines (mistresses) and their entourage
• Hindustan


  Name given to the northern part of India
• Jharoka


  Special window at which Mughal emperors showed themselves to their people
• Jizya


  The poll tax that the Delhi sultans had imposed on all non-Muslims before Mughal rule began. Abolished by Akbar in 1564 but reinstated by Aurangzeb in 1679
• Mansabdars


  Nobles and officials who helped the emperor to rule his lands
• Sati/suttee


  A practice found chiefly among Hindus in South Asia, in which a widow sacrificed herself on her deceased husband's funeral pyre
• East India Company


  The British trading company which set up a trading post at Surat in 1612
• Factory


  A compound set up by European traders including warehouses and residences
• The Mughal Empire ruled much of India and Pakistan and lasted from 1526 until 1857